Stories about Arabic from August, 2008
Egypt: Respecting Traffic Lights
What does people's attitudes towards crossing the road have to do with where their country stands in the world? Egyptian blogger Egyptian in the USA brings us the answer in this translation from Arabic.
Bahrain: Bloggers are Trouble
Bahraini blogger and administrator of the locally banned Bahrainonline [Ar] online forum Ali Abdelemam posts an interview with him in an LA newspaper – on blogging and the how authorities...
Jordan: Ramadhan, Prayers and Clean Blogging
With very little to go before the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadhan, which is signalled by the sighting of the new moon with the naked eye, Jordan's blogs are already abuzz with greetings, religious observations and personal promises.
Kuwait: Parading Purchases at the Olympics
Arabs really love shopping, they spend hours after hours in malls, and that's why they wanted to show their shopping skills at this year's Summer Olympics. Unfortunately shopping is not included in the games, but this couldn't stop some Arabs from parading their purchases.
UAE: Favourite Show Host Interview
From the United Arab Emirates, Fahad shares with us an interview [Ar] with his favourite television show host.
Palestine: A New Blogging Revolution
Blogger Times, a blogging magazine written by Arab bloggers, covering new developments and current issues within the Arab blogging world, has published a new story called Blogging.. a Palestinian revolution.” How is the blogging scene in Palestine and what should bloggers focus on?
Egypt: Blogger Detained
Elijah Zarwan, from Egypt, draws our attention to yet another blogger detained. “Mohammed Refaat, a student and a blogger, was detained on July 21 on charges of ‘threatening public security’...
Bahrain: Celebrating the Imam Al-Mahdi’s birth
In the middle of the Islamic month of Sha’aban, the month before Ramadan, festivities take place all over Bahrain celebrating the date of Imam Al Mahdi’s birth. The occasion is called Nasfa [Ar], and it is not just a Shiite religious feast, but an event celebrated by Bahrainis of all communities.
Egypt: Parliamentary Fire Reactions
People's reactions here are really confusing ... ehm ... and amusing as well. Ok, believe it or not, but some people here were really happy that a fire has destroyed Egypt's iconic Parliamentary building.
Jordan: 100,000 Bloggers on Jeeran
Arabic blogging platform Jeeran [Ar] announced that there were 100,000 blogs affiliated to it. The post also claims that 70 per cent of Egyptian bloggers use Jeeran to blog.
Silencing online speech in Tunisia
Blocking web 2.0 websites (Youtube, Dailymotion, Facebook) and barring access to local outspoken websites and blogs is the most obvious way of cracking down of the online free speech in Tunisia. It should be emphasized, however, that this is only one tool in the regime’s hand. Tunisia has adapted to the web 2.0 revolution by developing a broader strategy composed of a wide range of instruments
Egypt: Parliament on Fire
Egyptian bloggers are in a daze, after the country's iconic Parliament Building, went up in flames earlier today. And while an official reason has yet to be announced for the cause of the fire in the 19th century palace, which houses the lower parliament or Shura (consultative) council, bloggers are seething - though not lost for words.
Saudi Arabia: It's all in the name
It is common practice for converts to Islam to adopt Muslim names. But is it necessary - and what kind of name is appropriate? One Saudi blogger ponders the question, while some others are thinking about the use of aliases in the blogosphere - and yet another encourages the government to 'name names'.
Egypt: Death of Three Arab Cultural Icons
The Arab world lost three of its cultural icons in the spam of a month. They are Egyptians philosopher Dr Abdelwahab El Mesery and film maker Yousef Chahine and Palestinian poet Mahmood Darwish. Egyptian Blogger, ElGharep, or The Stranger, reflects on the loss in this post [Ar].
Bahrain: Code of Ethics Site Launched
“In order to consolidate all our efforts regarding the Code of Ethics Against Hate Speech and the mechanisms which will be adopted in the future to effect the Code and...
Palestine: Is literature in Gaza dead?
With the death of Mahmoud Darwish, the Arab world has mourned the loss of one of its greatest poets. However some Palestinians have been critical of Darwish. One Gazan blogger can't understand this, and he asks what has happened to literature and creativity in Gaza today.
Saudi Arabia: Is a housemaid necessary?
For many who live in the Gulf, employing a housemaid is a normal part of life. One Saudi blogger who prefers not to has been facing much criticism.
Jordan: Boys, Girls and Facebook
Jordanian Sha3teely [ar] is annoyed of boys who tarnish the reputation of women on social networking sites like Facebook, once their relationship goes sour.
Saudi Arabia: Whither Saudi blogging?
Saudi Arabia has a large and active blogosphere, in which all kinds of voices and opinions can be heard, including opinions that cannot be expressed in the country's media. But can blogging play a bigger role in changing Saudi society? One blogger poses the question.
Saudi Arabia: Slavery in the Gulf
Two weeks ago there were strikes and violent demonstrations by Bangladeshi workers in Kuwait, protesting low pay and poor working conditions. Following the demonstrations, more than two hundred workers were deported. In this post, two Saudi bloggers tell us what they think of modern-day ‘slavery’ in Saudi Arabia and the rest of the Gulf.
Saudi Arabia Bans Women from Olympics
Egyptian bloggers Mona Eltahawy and CP wrote about Saudi activist Wajeha Al Huwaider, who is protesting against her country's decision to ban Saudi women from taking part in the Olympics.
