{"id":18,"date":"2019-07-20T00:58:14","date_gmt":"2019-07-20T00:58:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bambisafkar.ca\/?page_id=18"},"modified":"2022-05-01T23:22:45","modified_gmt":"2022-05-02T02:22:45","slug":"die-gedanken-sind-frei-ideas-are-free-ich-denke-was-ich-will-i-think-what-i-want","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/bambisafkar.ca\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cDie Gedanken sind frei\u201d\u2014Ideas are free \u201cIch denke was ich will\u201d\u2014I think what I want"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I\u2019m Bambi\/Rima<\/em>, a scientist, human being, and a deer who believes in free thinking and free expression for all.

Je suis Bambi\/Rima<\/em>. En tant que scientifique et surtout en tant qu’\u00eatre humain, je crois en la libert\u00e9 de pens\u00e9e et d’expression pour tous.

I’ve been in the news recently. Please find more on my personal website, rimaazar.ca<\/a>

J’ai fait les manchettes r\u00e9cemment. Pour plus d’informations, voir mon site web personnel,
rimaazar.ca<\/a>

Raising Money for My Personal Defence Fund\/
<\/strong>R\u00e9colter des fonds pour couvrir les frais juridiques de ma d\u00e9fense personnelle:<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Thank you for your heart-warming support.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Merci du fond du c\u0153ur pour votre soutien chaleureux.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

ENGLISH (Le fran\u00e7ais suit…!)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hello everyone:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many thanks, from the bottom of my heart, for your heart-warming\ncontinuous support over the past 14 months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is your generosity that contributed to making the\nresolution of my arbitration process possible in the form of a confidential\nsettlement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last but not least, I would like to thank my great lawyer,\nMax, for his outstanding legal counsel throughout my journey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Below you can find the official statement for the\nsettlement, as released in emails by the university and the union.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thanks again,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rima Azar, PhD [or Bambi on her blog]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMount\nAllison University, the Mount Allison Faculty Association and Professor Rima\nAzar (the \u201cParties\u201d) are announcing today that all matters in dispute between\nthem have been resolved. <\/em><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

 The\nUniversity received student complaints and took these complaints seriously\npursuant to the Policy on Workplace Harassment and\nthe Anti-Racism Policy. The Parties agree that these processes are\nimportant and complaints of this nature from our students need to be taken\nseriously. <\/em><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Where all parties have agreed that fostering a respectful and inclusive learning environment – one which also recognizes academic freedom \u2013 is of the utmost importance, we consider all outstanding issues in dispute resolved, and no further commentary will be offered.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

FRAN\u00c7AIS<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bonjour tout\nle monde:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Un grand\nmerci, du fond du c\u0153ur, pour votre soutien continu et chaleureux au cours des\n14 derniers mois.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

C’est votre\ng\u00e9n\u00e9rosit\u00e9 qui a contribu\u00e9 \u00e0 rendre possible la r\u00e9solution de mon processus\nd’arbitrage sous la forme d’un r\u00e8glement confidentiel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Enfin et\nsurtout, je tiens \u00e0 remercier mon excellent avocat, Me Max, pour ses conseils\njuridiques exceptionnels tout au long de mon parcours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vous\ntrouverez ci-dessous le communiqu\u00e9 officiel du r\u00e8glement tel que publi\u00e9 par\ncourriel par l’universit\u00e9 et le syndicat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Merci encore,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rima Azar, PhD [ou\nBambi sur son blog]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMount\nAllison University, the Mount Allison Faculty Association and Professor Rima Azar\n(the \u201cParties\u201d) are announcing today that all matters in dispute between them\nhave been resolved. <\/em><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

 The\nUniversity received student complaints and took these complaints seriously\npursuant to the Policy on Workplace Harassment and\nthe Anti-Racism Policy. The Parties agree that these processes are\nimportant and complaints of this nature from our students need to be taken\nseriously. <\/em><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Where\nall parties have agreed that fostering a respectful and inclusive learning\nenvironment – one which also recognizes academic freedom \u2013 is of the utmost\nimportance, we consider all outstanding issues in dispute resolved, and no\nfurther commentary will be offered.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

—-<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ENGLISH (Le fran\u00e7ais suit…!)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I am an Associate Professor of Health Psychology at Mount Allison University (Sackville, NB, Canada). I have been the target of cancel culture since February 22, 2021 simply because I love to write on my Bambi\u2019s Afkar blog: https:\/\/bambisafkar.ca\/<\/a> . Here is the start of my ongoing saga: https:\/\/nationalpost.com\/opinion\/jonathan-kay-a-white-mob-comes-after-an-arab-canadian-professor-in-the-name-of-anti-racism<\/a> . I now have been suspended from my job without pay, based on false allegations. We are in a pandemic and times are tough on all. This is why your support means the world to me. I am so grateful for my union\u2019s continuous support in dealing with Mount Allison University. However, the reputational damage already done (defamation, attack to my character) has implications beyond my employer and workplace. I will use the funds raised to cover my personal legal defence fund. I love my students, job, colleagues, university, province, and beautiful country beyond words. My story is beyond academic freedom. I precisely chose to move to Canada for democracy\/freedom of expression.  Why are we doing this to ourselves?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

FRAN\u00c7AIS<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

En tant que professeure agr\u00e9g\u00e9e de psychologie de la sant\u00e9 \u00e0 l’Universit\u00e9 Mount Allison (Sackville, N-B, Canada) depuis 13 ann\u00e9es, j’ai \u00e9t\u00e9 suspendue de mon travail sans salaire, sur la base de fausses all\u00e9gations, en lien avec mes publications sur mon blog personnel Bambi\u2019s Afkar https:\/\/bambisafkar.ca\/<\/a> . Parall\u00e8lement, depuis le 22 f\u00e9vrier, je suis la cible de messages haineux et d’une violente campagne de d\u00e9nigrement sur les r\u00e9seaux sociaux.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Je suis tr\u00e8s reconnaissante du soutien de mon syndicat dans ce triste conflit avec l\u2019Universit\u00e9 Mount-Allison.  J’aime mes \u00e9tudiants, mon travail, mes coll\u00e8gues, mon universit\u00e9, ma province et tout mon beau pays du fond de mon c\u0153ur. Cependant, les atteintes d\u00e9j\u00e0 faites \u00e0 ma r\u00e9putation (diffamation, atteinte personnelle) ont des implications qui d\u00e9passent ma relation avec mon employeur et mon environnement de travail. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Les temps sont durs \u00e0 cause de la pand\u00e9mie. Votre aide me sera d’un grand secours. Les fonds r\u00e9colt\u00e9s seront int\u00e9gralement utilis\u00e9s pour couvrir les frais juridiques de ma d\u00e9fense personnelle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Mon histoire ne me concerne pas \u00e0 moi seulement. C’est tout l’enjeu de la libert\u00e9 acad\u00e9mique qui est vis\u00e9. J’ai pr\u00e9cis\u00e9ment choisi d\u2019immigrer au Canada en 1990 pour la d\u00e9mocratie et la libert\u00e9 d’expression qui le caract\u00e9risent. Qu’est-ce qui est arriv\u00e9 depuis ? Pourquoi cette automutilation? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Pour en savoir plus sur le d\u00e9but de ma saga :
https:\/\/nationalpost.com\/opinion\/jonathan-kay-a-white-mob-comes-after-an-arab-canadian-professor-in-the-name-of-anti-racism.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

—-<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ABOUT THIS BLOG: My first name is Rima and it means a little deer in my mother tongue, Arabic. Hence, the name of this blog (Bambi ?). \u201cAfkar\u201d means thoughts in Arabic. Thoughts (or thinkers) are naturally free. However, paradoxically and sadly, this does not seem to be the case in our days and time, even in a \u201cclever\u201d small town like ours (Sackville, NB). It tells us something about the state of tolerance of diverse opinions, starting with our own brains and extending to our families, communities, schools, and public spaces. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is why I decided to pay tribute to the freedom of ideas (or thoughts) on this blog by choosing a name that refers to a German song I love dearly, called \u201cDie Gedanken sind frei\u201d (https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Die_Gedanken_sind_frei<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I cannot sing, or at least hum, this song without a\nwink to the sky to you my Dear childhood friend Firas (or Serge Merhi) who left\nus too early \u2639. I would\nlike to re-post an older comment tribute to you, which I wrote on your blog\nwhilst in Toronto, Ontario. I recall having written this tribute to you at the\nexact same time of your burial in Lebanon. I miss you Firas today more than\never! I wonder sometimes how you would have found Canada, and by extension the\nWestern world, nowadays had you been still among us\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/sergitos-blogtrotter.blogspot.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Saturday,\nOctober 6, 2007<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Die Gedanken\nsind frei!<\/a> <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When you were 17 and I was 16 (a year before moving to Canada), we went to the Goethe Institute in Beirut to learn German. I can\u2019t recall how many times we used to sing \u201cDie Gedanken sind frei\u201d on our way to school, a popular old German song celebrating the freedom of thoughts. This is the song, which I will always associate with you in my heart:

Die Gedanken sind frei
My thoughts freely flower,
My thoughts give me power
No scholar can map them,
No hunter can trap them,
No man can deny:
Die Gedanken sind frei!

Firas, your voice echoes in my ears right now. Between my tears, I smile remembering how you once turned this meaningful lyric into a funny (but still very appropriate) version.

Free like a bird (as in the song), you lived your short life to its full extent, realizing so many great things in such little time! As you lived (fully, intensely), you passed away by flying in a rush to the after-life.

Brilliant, talented, loving, caring, courageous, crazy, and so handsome! You touched so many lives Firas. Not only you make us all proud, we are grateful because you made an amazing contribution to make our world a better place.

I am honoured to be your friend, Firas. Thank you for the wonderful memories in Montreal for several years. I love you so much. The last time you called me in Toronto, I told you so, adding to it \u201cplease don\u2019t forget.\u201d I hope you won\u2019t.

I promise that I will always pray for (and be in touch with) your family. My heart goes to your parents and sister, to all your relatives, friends, and loved ones wherever they are, whoever they are.

You will be missed greatly\u2026 but most importantly, you will always be remembered! Love prevails and, yes I strongly believe that it can even transcend death. By keeping your memory alive, you will always be alive in our hearts.

Rest and fly in peace, my dear friend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rima Azar<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Toronto-Canada<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Posted by Robert Chidiac <\/a>at 4:33 PM<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keeping this spirit in mind, Bambi\u2019s Afkar is a blog that is a space where I can indulge in writing and sharing personal reflections about matters, as a non-expert citizen. Bambi is not reflecting here as a scientist or an employee. Bambi refuses to be limited and categorized in any societal group of any sort; even if some would have liked to see Bambi fitting one homogeneous group, that is without regards to any inter-individual variability among the deer of the world. In other terms, this blog is about the \u201cBambi\u201d in me that loves to jump freely, just like Firas whose ideas were beyond his (short) time on earth: He had a genuine inspiring openness to the world and yet solid proud roots. His parents must have provided him with what I have been lucky to also benefit from myself: Roots and wings. Roots to remain grounded as much as possible and wings to fly as high as possible, at least in the world of dreams and thoughts.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I hope that, as readers, you will recognize yourself, or a facet of yourself, in some of the posts or questions raised. You may agree or disagree. Regardless, I hope you will enjoy and come back to visit again. I may address stories about local affairs, most likely, or about national and even international topics (when they may have an impact on our lives). Matters of interest to \u201cBambi\u201d simply and selfishly ?. Welcome to you, whether you will read silently or provide any comment to fuel an enriching discussion!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I\u2019m Bambi\/Rima, a scientist, human being, and a deer who believes in free thinking and free expression for all. Je suis Bambi\/Rima. En tant que scientifique et surtout en tant qu’\u00eatre humain, je crois en la […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bambisafkar.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/18"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bambisafkar.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bambisafkar.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bambisafkar.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bambisafkar.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18"}],"version-history":[{"count":32,"href":"https:\/\/bambisafkar.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/18\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19199,"href":"https:\/\/bambisafkar.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/18\/revisions\/19199"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bambisafkar.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}