Welcome to Samora Forum and Melahuset's traditional May Day breakfast, where this year we mark solidarity with Iran.  

Register via the registration form by Thursday, April 30th at 12 noon! 

In Iran, the year began with major protests in several cities against the backdrop of an economic crisis and dissatisfaction with the current regime. The demonstrations lasted for several weeks and tens of thousands of people were imprisoned and killed. On February 28, the two powerful military powers, Israel and the United States, attacked Iran, and within the first hours the leader of the Islamic Republic was killed. The war, which is a violation of international law, has been met with mixed reactions from the Iranian diaspora; from jubilation to condemnation. Where does the path for Iran now lie? What will it take to create the solidarity alliances needed in Iran's fight for democracy?

At the May Day breakfast, there will be a poetry reading by Asieh Amini and saxophonist Kåre Kolve, professor and activist Susan Rakhsh will talk about Iran, and there will be musical performances by Navaye Flokkr.

On stage:

Susan Rakhsh is an Iranian women's rights activist and holds a PhD in sociology. She came to Norway as a political refugee from Iran in the mid-1980s, and helped found the MiRA Center in 1989. As a researcher, she has specialized in feminist movements in West Asia and North Africa, and has researched, among other things, the "Women, Life, Freedom" protests in Iran.

Asieh Amini is an Iranian journalist and poet, human rights defender and women's activist, who came to Norway as a freelance writer in 2010. She is a cultural scientist and graduated from NTNU in Interdisciplinary Cultural Studies, Equality and Diversity (2015-2018). Amini has been awarded the Human Rights Watch Hellmann/Hammett Prize (2009), the Oxfam Novib/PEN award (2012), and the Ord i Grenseland prize (2014).

Navaye Flokkr is a Persian/Norwegian musical duo consisting of Kiana and Ole who fuse folk music while creating their own music.