ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Deeyah Khan - Filmmaker
Deeyah Khan is working to create intercultural dialogue and understanding by confronting the world's most complex and controversial topics.

Why you should listen

Deeyah Khan is an Emmy and Peabody award-winning documentary film director and founder of Fuuse, a media and arts company that puts women, people from minorities and third-culture kids at the heart of telling their own stories. In 2016, Khan became the first UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for artistic freedom and creativity. She has received many honors for her work supporting freedom of expression, human rights and peace, including the Ossietzky Prize, the University of Oslo's Human Rights Award and the Peer Gynt Prize from the Parliament of Norway.

Born in Norway to immigrant parents of Pashtun and Punjabi ancestry, Khan's experience of living between different cultures, both the beauty and the challenges, shapes her artistic vision. Her 2012 multi-award winning documentary, Banaz: A Love Story, chronicles the life and death of Banaz Mahmod, a young British Kurdish woman murdered by her family in a so-called honor killing. Khan's second film, the Grierson and Bafta award-nominated Jihad, involved two years of interviews and filming with Islamic extremists, convicted terrorists and former jihadis. One of Fuuse's recent initiatives, born of Deeyah’s own experiences, is sister-hood, a digital magazine and series of live events spotlighting the voices of women of Muslim heritage. Khan has also produced a number of critically acclaimed albums, including Listen to the Banned, a compilation that brought together musicians from around the world who have been subject to persecution, 'censorship and imprisonment.

The focus of Khan's work and access to voices that are often overlooked and misunderstood has led to increasing demand as a speaker at international human rights events and platforms including the United Nations. She was described by The Times of London thus: "To say Deeyah Khan is an inspiration is an understatement. She is one of the bravest, most indomitable women … facing down bullies and extremists with intelligence and unflinching spirit."

(Photo: Geir Dokken)

More profile about the speaker
Deeyah Khan | Speaker | TED.com
TEDxExeter

Deeyah Khan: What we don't know about Europe's Muslim kids

Filmed:
1,424,468 views

As the child of an Afghan mother and Pakistani father raised in Norway, Deeyah Khan knows what it's like to be a young person stuck between your community and your country. In this powerful, emotional talk, the filmmaker unearths the rejection and isolation felt by many Muslim kids growing up in the West -- and the deadly consequences of not embracing our youth before extremist groups do.
- Filmmaker
Deeyah Khan is working to create intercultural dialogue and understanding by confronting the world's most complex and controversial topics. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:13
When I was a child,
I knew I had superpowers.
0
1200
3320
00:18
That's right.
1
6920
1215
00:20
(Laughter)
2
8160
1096
00:21
I thought I was absolutely amazing
because I could understand
3
9280
4016
00:25
and relate to the feelings
of brown people,
4
13320
2136
00:27
like my grandfather,
a conservative Muslim guy.
5
15480
3400
00:31
And also, I could understand
my Afghan mother, my Pakistani father,
6
19360
4896
00:36
not so religious
but laid-back, fairly liberal.
7
24280
3800
00:40
And of course, I could understand
8
28480
1616
00:42
and relate to the feelings
of white people.
9
30120
2416
00:44
The white Norwegians of my country.
10
32560
1840
00:47
You know, white, brown, whatever --
11
35480
2576
00:50
I loved them all.
12
38080
1816
00:51
I understood them all,
13
39920
1256
00:53
even if they didn't always
understand each other,
14
41200
2336
00:55
they were all my people.
15
43560
1240
00:57
My father, though,
was always really worried.
16
45600
2936
01:00
He kept saying that
even with the best education,
17
48560
3336
01:03
I was not going to get a fair shake.
18
51920
3176
01:07
I would still face discrimination,
according to him.
19
55120
3416
01:10
And that the only way
to be accepted by white people
20
58560
2816
01:13
would be to become famous.
21
61400
2176
01:15
Now, mind you, he had this conversation
with me when I was seven years old.
22
63600
4000
01:20
So while I'm seven years old, he said,
23
68440
2976
01:23
"Look, so it's either got to be sports,
or it's got to be music."
24
71440
3376
01:26
He didn't know anything about sports --
bless him -- so it was music.
25
74840
4456
01:31
So when I was seven years old,
he gathered all my toys, all my dolls,
26
79320
4336
01:35
and he threw them all away.
27
83680
1600
01:38
In exchange he gave me
a crappy little Casio keyboard and --
28
86160
3856
01:42
(Laughter)
29
90040
1216
01:43
Yeah. And singing lessons.
30
91280
2016
01:45
And he forced me, basically, to practice
for hours and hours every single day.
31
93320
4776
01:50
Very quickly, he also had me performing
for larger and larger audiences,
32
98120
4256
01:54
and bizarrely, I became
almost a kind of poster child
33
102400
3776
01:58
for Norwegian multiculturalism.
34
106200
2080
02:00
I felt very proud, of course.
35
108760
1736
02:02
Because even the newspapers at this point
36
110520
3336
02:05
were starting to write
nice things about brown people,
37
113880
2576
02:08
so I could feel
that my superpower was growing.
38
116480
3160
02:12
So when I was 12 years old,
walking home from school,
39
120960
2976
02:15
I took a little detour
40
123960
1216
02:17
because I wanted to buy
my favorite sweets called "salty feet."
41
125200
3535
02:20
I know they sound kind of awful,
42
128759
1761
02:23
but I absolutely love them.
43
131640
1496
02:25
They're basically these little
salty licorice bits in the shape of feet.
44
133160
4440
02:30
And now that I say it out loud,
I realize how terrible that sounds,
45
138120
5240
02:36
but be that as it may,
I absolutely love them.
46
144280
2496
02:38
So on my way into the store,
47
146800
2096
02:40
there was this grown white guy
in the doorway blocking my way.
48
148920
4536
02:45
So I tried to walk around him,
and as I did that, he stopped me
49
153480
5936
02:51
and he was staring at me,
50
159440
1800
02:54
and he spit in my face, and he said,
51
162200
1936
02:56
"Get out of my way
52
164160
1216
02:57
you little black bitch,
you little Paki bitch,
53
165400
3256
03:00
go back home where you came from."
54
168680
1920
03:03
I was absolutely horrified.
55
171600
3096
03:06
I was staring at him.
56
174720
1296
03:08
I was too afraid
to wipe the spit off my face,
57
176040
2920
03:11
even as it was mixing with my tears.
58
179840
2136
03:14
I remember looking around,
hoping that any minute now,
59
182000
3696
03:17
a grown-up is going to come
and make this guy stop.
60
185720
3656
03:21
But instead, people kept hurrying past me
and pretended not to see me.
61
189400
4320
03:26
I was very confused
because I was thinking, well,
62
194160
3600
03:30
"My white people, come on!
Where are they? What's going on?
63
198640
3296
03:33
How come they're not
coming and rescuing me?
64
201960
2080
03:36
So, needless to say,
I didn't buy the sweets.
65
204760
2256
03:39
I just ran home as fast as I could.
66
207040
2120
03:42
Things were still OK, though, I thought.
67
210040
2080
03:44
As time went on,
the more successful I became,
68
212800
3096
03:47
I eventually started also
attracting harassment from brown people.
69
215920
4120
03:53
Some men in my parent's community
felt that it was unacceptable
70
221520
3296
03:56
and dishonorable for a woman
to be involved in music
71
224840
4856
04:01
and to be so present in the media.
72
229720
1960
04:05
So very quickly, I was starting
to become attacked at my own concerts.
73
233280
5416
04:10
I remember one of the concerts,
I was onstage, I lean into the audience
74
238720
5016
04:15
and the last thing I see
is a young brown face
75
243760
3256
04:19
and the next thing I know is some sort
of chemical is thrown in my eyes
76
247040
4216
04:23
and I remember I couldn't really see
and my eyes were watering
77
251280
3216
04:26
but I kept singing anyway.
78
254520
1600
04:28
I was spit in the face in the streets
of Oslo, this time by brown men.
79
256839
4721
04:34
They even tried to kidnap me at one point.
80
262360
3216
04:37
The death threats were endless.
81
265600
2056
04:39
I remember one older bearded guy
stopped me in the street one time,
82
267680
3256
04:42
and he said, "The reason
I hate you so much
83
270960
2136
04:45
is because you make our daughters think
84
273120
2056
04:47
they can do whatever they want."
85
275200
1560
04:50
A younger guy warned me to watch my back.
86
278560
2816
04:53
He said music is un-Islamic
and the job of whores,
87
281400
3016
04:56
and if you keep this up,
you are going to be raped
88
284440
2736
04:59
and your stomach will be cut out so that
another whore like you will not be born.
89
287200
4680
05:05
Again, I was so confused.
90
293560
1696
05:07
I couldn't understand what was going on.
91
295280
1905
05:09
My brown people now starting
to treat me like this -- how come?
92
297209
3680
05:13
Instead of bridging the worlds,
the two worlds,
93
301560
3096
05:16
I felt like I was falling
between my two worlds.
94
304680
3000
05:20
I suppose, for me, spit was kryptonite.
95
308000
2600
05:24
So by the time I was 17 years old,
96
312560
2016
05:26
the death threats were endless,
and the harassment was constant.
97
314600
3016
05:29
It got so bad, at one point
my mother sat me down and said,
98
317640
2762
05:32
"Look, we can no longer protect you,
we can no longer keep you safe,
99
320426
3470
05:35
so you're going to have to go."
100
323920
1776
05:37
So I bought a one-way ticket to London,
I packed my suitcase and I left.
101
325720
5400
05:44
My biggest heartbreak at that point
was that nobody said anything.
102
332160
3696
05:47
I had a very public exit from Norway.
103
335880
2360
05:51
My brown people, my white people --
nobody said anything.
104
339120
3536
05:54
Nobody said, "Hold on, this is wrong.
105
342680
2120
05:57
Support this girl, protect this girl,
because she is one of us."
106
345960
3696
06:01
Nobody said that.
107
349680
1616
06:03
Instead, I felt like --
you know at the airport,
108
351320
3040
06:07
on the baggage carousel
you have these different suitcases
109
355120
2856
06:10
going around and around,
110
358000
1256
06:11
and there's always
that one suitcase left at the end,
111
359280
2496
06:13
the one that nobody wants,
the one that nobody comes to claim.
112
361800
3016
06:16
I felt like that.
113
364840
1280
06:19
I'd never felt so alone.
I'd never felt so lost.
114
367040
3400
06:24
So, after coming to London,
I did eventually resume my music career.
115
372360
4000
06:29
Different place, but unfortunately
the same old story.
116
377000
3200
06:32
I remember a message sent to me
saying that I was going to be killed
117
380840
3536
06:36
and that rivers of blood
were going to flow
118
384400
3376
06:39
and that I was going to be raped
many times before I died.
119
387800
3456
06:43
By this point, I have to say,
120
391280
1416
06:44
I was actually getting used
to messages like this,
121
392720
2456
06:47
but what became different was that
now they started threatening my family.
122
395200
4280
06:52
So once again, I packed my suitcase,
I left music and I moved to the US.
123
400760
5240
06:58
I'd had enough.
124
406520
1256
06:59
I didn't want to have anything
to do with this anymore.
125
407800
2616
07:02
And I was certainly not
going to be killed for something
126
410440
2656
07:05
that wasn't even my dream --
it was my father's choice.
127
413120
2680
07:10
So I kind of got lost.
128
418200
3176
07:13
I kind of fell apart.
129
421400
1536
07:14
But I decided that what I wanted to do
130
422960
2336
07:17
is spend the next
however many years of my life
131
425320
3336
07:20
supporting young people
132
428680
1656
07:22
and to try to be there in some small way,
133
430360
2896
07:25
whatever way that I could.
134
433280
1696
07:27
I started volunteering
for various organizations
135
435000
3256
07:30
that were working
with young Muslims inside of Europe.
136
438280
4640
07:36
And, to my surprise, what I found was
137
444080
3016
07:39
so many of these young people
were suffering and struggling.
138
447120
4480
07:44
They were facing so many problems
with their families and their communities
139
452440
3536
07:48
who seemed to care more
about their honor and their reputation
140
456000
3616
07:51
than the happiness
and the lives of their own kids.
141
459640
2760
07:55
I started feeling like maybe I wasn't
so alone, maybe I wasn't so weird.
142
463760
4000
08:00
Maybe there are more
of my people out there.
143
468280
2320
08:03
The thing is, what most people
don't understand
144
471280
2216
08:05
is that there are so many of us
growing up in Europe
145
473520
4296
08:09
who are not free to be ourselves.
146
477840
2416
08:12
We're not allowed to be who we are.
147
480280
2080
08:15
We are not free to marry
148
483360
4056
08:19
or to be in relationships
with people that we choose.
149
487440
2936
08:22
We can't even pick our own career.
150
490400
1656
08:24
This is the norm in the Muslim
heartlands of Europe.
151
492080
3776
08:27
Even in the freest societies
in the world, we're not free.
152
495880
3080
08:31
Our lives, our dreams, our future
does not belong to us,
153
499640
3896
08:35
it belongs to our parents
and their community.
154
503560
3256
08:38
I found endless stories of young people
155
506840
3080
08:42
who are lost to all of us,
156
510880
2895
08:45
who are invisible to all of us
157
513799
1736
08:47
but who are suffering,
and they are suffering alone.
158
515559
2801
08:51
Kids we are losing to forced marriages,
to honor-based violence and abuse.
159
519520
4320
08:57
Eventually, I realized after several
years of working with these young people,
160
525280
3696
09:01
that I will not be able to keep running.
161
529000
2016
09:03
I can't spend the rest of my life
being scared and hiding
162
531040
4656
09:07
and that I'm actually
going to have to do something.
163
535720
2440
09:11
And I also realized
that my silence, our silence,
164
539640
3096
09:14
allows abuse like this to continue.
165
542760
2320
09:18
So I decided that I wanted to put
my childhood superpower to some use
166
546000
4496
09:22
by trying to make people on the different
sides of these issues understand
167
550520
4696
09:27
what it's like to be a young person stuck
between your family and your country.
168
555240
5120
09:32
So I started making films,
and I started telling these stories.
169
560960
3520
09:36
And I also wanted people to understand
the deadly consequences of us
170
564880
4416
09:41
not taking these problems seriously.
171
569320
2080
09:44
So the first film I made was about Banaz.
172
572000
2360
09:47
She was a 17-year-old
Kurdish girl in London.
173
575440
3240
09:51
She was obedient, she did
whatever her parents wanted.
174
579520
2800
09:54
She tried to do everything right.
175
582840
2416
09:57
She married some guy
that her parents chose for her,
176
585280
2616
09:59
even though he beat
and raped her constantly.
177
587920
2960
10:03
And when she tried to go
to her family for help, they said,
178
591880
2816
10:06
"Well, you got to go back
and be a better wife."
179
594720
2256
10:09
Because they didn't want
a divorced daughter on their hands
180
597000
2816
10:11
because, of course, that would
bring dishonor on the family.
181
599840
2960
10:15
She was beaten so badly
her ears would bleed,
182
603680
2600
10:19
and when she finally left
and she found a young man that she chose
183
607200
5096
10:24
and she fell in love with,
184
612320
1816
10:26
the community and the family found out
185
614160
2256
10:28
and she disappeared.
186
616440
1400
10:30
She was found three months later.
187
618440
1840
10:33
She'd been stuffed into a suitcase
and buried underneath the house.
188
621200
4120
10:40
She had been strangled,
she had been beaten to death
189
628040
3520
10:44
by three men, three cousins,
on the orders of her father and uncle.
190
632760
4520
10:49
The added tragedy of Banaz's story
191
637960
2176
10:52
is that she had gone to the police
in England five times asking for help,
192
640160
5896
10:58
telling them that she was
going to be killed by her family.
193
646080
3056
11:01
The police didn't believe her
so they didn't do anything.
194
649160
2880
11:05
And the problem with this
195
653080
1256
11:06
is that not only are so many of our kids
facing these problems
196
654360
4376
11:10
within their families
and within their families' communities,
197
658760
3096
11:13
but they're also meeting misunderstandings
198
661880
3640
11:18
and apathy in the countries
that they grow up in.
199
666640
3520
11:23
When their own families betray them,
they look to the rest of us,
200
671640
4696
11:28
and when we don't understand,
201
676360
2056
11:30
we lose them.
202
678440
1200
11:33
So while I was making this film,
several people said to me,
203
681120
3176
11:36
"Well, Deeyah, you know,
this is just their culture,
204
684320
2536
11:38
this is just what those people
do to their kids
205
686880
2191
11:41
and we can't really interfere."
206
689095
1560
11:43
I can assure you
being murdered is not my culture.
207
691880
3200
11:48
You know?
208
696280
1216
11:49
And surely people who look like me,
209
697520
1696
11:51
young women who come
from backgrounds like me,
210
699240
2496
11:53
should be subject to the same rights,
the same protections
211
701760
4096
11:57
as anybody else in our country, why not?
212
705880
3000
12:02
So, for my next film,
I wanted to try and understand
213
710360
4736
12:07
why some of our young
Muslim kids in Europe
214
715120
2856
12:10
are drawn to extremism and violence.
215
718000
2080
12:12
But with that topic,
216
720880
1256
12:14
I also recognized that I was going
to have to face my worst fear:
217
722160
3160
12:19
the brown men with beards.
218
727040
1600
12:22
The same men, or similar men,
219
730880
2816
12:25
to the ones that have hounded me
for most of my life.
220
733720
2800
12:29
Men that I've been afraid of
most of my life.
221
737560
2696
12:32
Men that I've also deeply disliked,
222
740280
2856
12:35
for many, many years.
223
743160
1440
12:37
So I spent the next two years
interviewing convicted terrorists,
224
745160
3976
12:41
jihadis and former extremists.
225
749160
2496
12:43
What I already knew,
what was very obvious already,
226
751680
3336
12:47
was that religion, politics,
Europe's colonial baggage,
227
755040
5176
12:52
also Western foreign policy
failures of recent years,
228
760240
4256
12:56
were all a part of the picture.
229
764520
1480
12:58
But what I was more interested
in finding out was what are the human,
230
766520
3256
13:01
what are the personal reasons
231
769800
1576
13:03
why some of our young people
are susceptible to groups like this.
232
771400
4320
13:09
And what really surprised me
was that I found wounded human beings.
233
777000
4360
13:15
Instead of the monsters
that I was looking for,
234
783760
2456
13:18
that I was hoping to find --
235
786240
1376
13:19
quite frankly because
it would have been very satisfying --
236
787640
3136
13:22
I found broken people.
237
790800
1600
13:25
Just like Banaz,
238
793520
1496
13:27
I found that these young men
were torn apart
239
795040
3256
13:30
from trying to bridge the gaps
240
798320
2536
13:32
between their families
and the countries that they were born in.
241
800880
3480
13:37
And what I also learned
is that extremist groups, terrorist groups
242
805720
3376
13:41
are taking advantage
of these feelings of our young people
243
809120
3456
13:44
and channeling that -- cynically --
channeling that toward violence.
244
812600
3856
13:48
"Come to us," they say.
245
816480
1576
13:50
"Reject both sides,
your family and your country
246
818080
2976
13:53
because they reject you.
247
821080
1656
13:54
For your family, their honor
is more important than you
248
822760
3096
13:57
and for your country,
249
825880
1256
13:59
a real Norwegian, Brit or a French person
will always be white and never you."
250
827160
5880
14:06
They're also promising our young people
the things that they crave:
251
834040
3456
14:09
significance, heroism,
a sense of belonging and purpose,
252
837520
4336
14:13
a community that loves and accepts them.
253
841880
2400
14:17
They make the powerless feel powerful.
254
845200
2936
14:20
The invisible and the silent
are finally seen and heard.
255
848160
4880
14:27
This is what they're doing
for our young people.
256
855120
2536
14:29
Why are these groups doing this
for our young people and not us?
257
857680
3840
14:34
The thing is,
258
862760
1576
14:36
I'm not trying to justify
259
864360
3336
14:39
or excuse any of the violence.
260
867720
3736
14:43
What I am trying to say
is that we have to understand
261
871480
3576
14:47
why some of our young people
are attracted to this.
262
875080
3160
14:51
I would like to also show you, actually --
263
879680
2336
14:54
these are childhood photos
of some of the guys in the film.
264
882040
3280
14:59
What really struck me
is that so many of them --
265
887240
2960
15:02
I never would have thought this --
266
890960
1656
15:04
but so many of them
have absent or abusive fathers.
267
892640
3320
15:08
And several of these young guys
268
896800
1936
15:10
ended up finding caring
and compassionate father figures
269
898760
4136
15:14
within these extremist groups.
270
902920
1600
15:17
I also found men
brutalized by racist violence,
271
905920
3160
15:21
but who found a way
to stop feeling like victims
272
909800
2256
15:24
by becoming violent themselves.
273
912080
1496
15:25
In fact, I found something,
to my horror, that I recognized.
274
913600
5296
15:30
I found the same feelings that I felt
as a 17-year-old as I fled from Norway.
275
918920
6320
15:38
The same confusion, the same sorrow,
276
926160
3376
15:41
the same feeling of being betrayed
277
929560
3480
15:46
and not belonging to anyone.
278
934760
1600
15:50
The same feeling of being lost
and torn between cultures.
279
938560
3120
15:54
Having said that,
I did not choose destruction,
280
942760
2536
15:57
I chose to pick up a camera
instead of a gun.
281
945320
2736
16:00
And the reason I did that
is because of my superpower.
282
948080
3336
16:03
I could see that understanding
is the answer, instead of violence.
283
951440
4896
16:08
Seeing human beings
284
956360
1696
16:10
with all their virtues and all their flaws
285
958080
3736
16:13
instead of continuing the caricatures:
286
961840
1856
16:15
the us and them, the villains and victims.
287
963720
2656
16:18
I'd also finally
come to terms with the fact
288
966400
2096
16:20
that my two cultures
didn't have to be on a collision course
289
968520
3656
16:24
but instead became a space
where I found my own voice.
290
972200
3120
16:27
I stopped feeling
like I had to pick a side,
291
975840
2736
16:30
but this took me many, many years.
292
978600
2080
16:33
There are so many
of our young people today
293
981640
2016
16:35
who are struggling with these same issues,
294
983680
2016
16:37
and they're struggling with this alone.
295
985720
2000
16:41
And this leaves them open like wounds.
296
989440
2640
16:44
And for some, the worldview
of radical Islam
297
992560
3056
16:47
becomes the infection
that festers in these open wounds.
298
995640
3360
16:53
There's an African proverb that says,
299
1001160
3000
16:57
"If the young are not
initiated into the village,
300
1005960
3016
17:01
they will burn it down
just to feel its warmth."
301
1009000
2760
17:05
I would like to ask --
302
1013240
1480
17:07
to Muslim parents and Muslim communities,
303
1015640
2536
17:10
will you love and care for your children
304
1018200
2416
17:12
without forcing them
to meet your expectations?
305
1020640
2776
17:15
Can you choose them instead of your honor?
306
1023440
2440
17:18
Can you understand
why they're so angry and alienated
307
1026400
3015
17:21
when you put your honor
before their happiness?
308
1029440
2320
17:24
Can you try to be a friend to your child
309
1032520
2576
17:27
so that they can trust you
310
1035119
1777
17:28
and want to share with you
their experiences,
311
1036920
2295
17:31
rather than having
to seek it somewhere else?
312
1039240
2240
17:34
And to our young people
tempted by extremism,
313
1042359
3081
17:38
can you acknowledge
that your rage is fueled by pain?
314
1046680
3640
17:43
Will you find the strength
to resist those cynical old men
315
1051640
3416
17:47
who want to use your blood
for their own profits?
316
1055080
3200
17:51
Can you find a way to live?
317
1059040
1920
17:53
Can you see that the sweetest revenge
318
1061880
2256
17:56
is for you to live
a happy, full and free life?
319
1064160
3456
17:59
A life defined by you and nobody else.
320
1067640
2360
18:02
Why do you want to become
just another dead Muslim kid?
321
1070560
3680
18:07
And for the rest of us, when will we start
listening to our young people?
322
1075080
4160
18:12
How can we support them
323
1080520
1256
18:13
in redirecting their pain
into something more constructive?
324
1081800
3960
18:18
They think we don't like them.
325
1086760
1456
18:20
They think we don't care
what happens to them.
326
1088240
2776
18:23
They think we don't accept them.
327
1091040
1776
18:24
Can we find a way
to make them feel differently?
328
1092840
2720
18:29
What will it take for us
to see them and notice them
329
1097280
2936
18:32
before they become either the victims
or the perpetrators of violence?
330
1100240
4936
18:37
Can we make ourselves care about them
and consider them to be our own?
331
1105200
3576
18:40
And not just be outraged when the victims
of violence look like ourselves?
332
1108800
4856
18:45
Can we find a way to reject hatred
and heal the divisions between us?
333
1113680
5016
18:50
The thing is we cannot afford
to give up on each other or on our kids,
334
1118720
3976
18:54
even if they've given up on us.
335
1122720
2136
18:56
We are all in this together.
336
1124880
2176
18:59
And in the long term, revenge and violence
will not work against extremists.
337
1127080
5480
19:05
Terrorists want us
to huddle in our houses in fear,
338
1133480
3776
19:09
closing our doors and our hearts.
339
1137280
2176
19:11
They want us to tear open
more wounds in our societies
340
1139480
3816
19:15
so that they can use them
to spread their infection more widely.
341
1143320
3536
19:18
They want us to become like them:
342
1146880
2696
19:21
intolerant, hateful and cruel.
343
1149600
2240
19:26
The day after the Paris attacks,
344
1154200
2456
19:28
a friend of mine
sent this photo of her daughter.
345
1156680
3400
19:32
This is a white girl and an Arab girl.
346
1160800
2456
19:35
They're best friends.
347
1163280
1200
19:37
This image is the kryptonite
for extremists.
348
1165120
3480
19:43
These two little girls
with their superpowers
349
1171240
3056
19:46
are showing the way forward
350
1174320
1496
19:47
towards a society
that we need to build together,
351
1175840
3400
19:52
a society that includes and supports,
352
1180120
3320
19:56
rather than rejects our kids.
353
1184480
2200
19:59
Thank you for listening.
354
1187960
1336
20:01
(Applause)
355
1189320
8992
Translated by Crawford Hunt
Reviewed by Joanna Pietrulewicz

▲Back to top

ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Deeyah Khan - Filmmaker
Deeyah Khan is working to create intercultural dialogue and understanding by confronting the world's most complex and controversial topics.

Why you should listen

Deeyah Khan is an Emmy and Peabody award-winning documentary film director and founder of Fuuse, a media and arts company that puts women, people from minorities and third-culture kids at the heart of telling their own stories. In 2016, Khan became the first UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for artistic freedom and creativity. She has received many honors for her work supporting freedom of expression, human rights and peace, including the Ossietzky Prize, the University of Oslo's Human Rights Award and the Peer Gynt Prize from the Parliament of Norway.

Born in Norway to immigrant parents of Pashtun and Punjabi ancestry, Khan's experience of living between different cultures, both the beauty and the challenges, shapes her artistic vision. Her 2012 multi-award winning documentary, Banaz: A Love Story, chronicles the life and death of Banaz Mahmod, a young British Kurdish woman murdered by her family in a so-called honor killing. Khan's second film, the Grierson and Bafta award-nominated Jihad, involved two years of interviews and filming with Islamic extremists, convicted terrorists and former jihadis. One of Fuuse's recent initiatives, born of Deeyah’s own experiences, is sister-hood, a digital magazine and series of live events spotlighting the voices of women of Muslim heritage. Khan has also produced a number of critically acclaimed albums, including Listen to the Banned, a compilation that brought together musicians from around the world who have been subject to persecution, 'censorship and imprisonment.

The focus of Khan's work and access to voices that are often overlooked and misunderstood has led to increasing demand as a speaker at international human rights events and platforms including the United Nations. She was described by The Times of London thus: "To say Deeyah Khan is an inspiration is an understatement. She is one of the bravest, most indomitable women … facing down bullies and extremists with intelligence and unflinching spirit."

(Photo: Geir Dokken)

More profile about the speaker
Deeyah Khan | Speaker | TED.com

Data provided by TED.

This site was created in May 2015 and the last update was on January 12, 2020. It will no longer be updated.

We are currently creating a new site called "eng.lish.video" and would be grateful if you could access it.

If you have any questions or suggestions, please feel free to write comments in your language on the contact form.

Privacy Policy

Developer's Blog

Buy Me A Coffee