Stories about Arabic from April, 2009
Israel: Arab and Jew Represent Israel at Eurovision Contest
Israeli Arab Mira Awad and Israeli Jew Avinoam Nini will represent Israel in the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest with “There Must Be Another Way,” sung in Hebrew and Arabic. Awad's...
Syria: Reactions to the Hariri Tribunal
The UN's Special Tribunal for Lebanon today ordered the release of all four suspects in the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri on February 14th, 2005, in Beirut. Syria was largely blamed for the attack, and that caused the deterioration of its relations with the West, including the Bush Administration's recall of the American Ambassador to Damascus. Anas Qtiesh rounds up reactions from Syrian bloggers in this post.
Egypt: Plans for Sexual Harassment Film Unveiled
After the success of Egypt's Anti-Harassment Day, Egyptian blogger Asser Yasser invited women to share their personal experiences with this issue. Women and young women will be filmed going about their everyday lives, registering the different forms of harassment they are subjected to. Marwa Rakha has the story.
UAE: Torture video sends shock waves around the world
Last week, a grainy video from 2005 made headlines, shaking up viewers around the globe. The video, first shown on U.S.-based ABC News, showed Sheikh Issa bin Zayed al-Nahyan - brother of UAE's crown prince torturing an Afghan grain farmer, attacking him with a cattle prod then literally pouring salt on his wounds. Jillian C. York brings us reports from the blogosphere.
Egypt: Stigmatized by AIDS
A group of Egyptian bloggers and independent media personalities are putting their hands together in support of the “Openness” initiative, which aims at anti-stigmatizing AIDS patients, and calls for integrating them in the society instead of alienating them further by educating people on how to deal with them to avoid getting infected, reports Marwa Rakha.
Egypt: Interviewing a Baha'i Assailant
Egyptian blogger Ibn Rushd interviewed one of the Baha'i assailants. Marwa Rakha translates the interview, in which the assailant admits to his role in the burning of six homes belonging to Baha'i families in the village of Shoraneya, from Arabic.
Morocco: AIDS, Money and Sex Toys
Morocco has a reputation of tolerance, and although this is mainly a young and fairly open society there are still instances of prejudices suffered by people infected with HIV/AIDS, and the stigma attached to the disease, writes Hisham, as his country marked a nationwide day of campaigning, information and screening on April 25.
Syria: Damascus Real-Estate is the World's 8th Most Expensive
Syriangavroche writes [Ar] that commercial real-estate in Damascus is the 8th most expensive in the world, topping international hubs such as New York.
Egypt/Morocco: New Technical blogs in Arabic
Recently the Arab blogsphere witnessed the launch of two unique Arabic blogs – One by Moroccan blogger Mohamed S. Hjiouij, which focuses on professional blogging; and Techno-Media by Egyptian blogger...
MENA: Reflections on Durban II
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's speech, and the way European Union representatives reacted to it at the United Nations Conference on Racism in Geneva (Durban II), has stirred debates among bloggers across the Middle East. Eman AbdElRahman sums up reactions in this post.
Morocco: ABC Blogging Book Available Online
Moroccan blogger Mohammed Saeed Hjiouij has published the second edition of his book ABC Blogging [Ar], which can be freely downloaded here.
Lebanon: Activists Experiment with Social Media
The use of social media tools such as Facebook, Youtube, Twitter, and mobile technology has become increasingly popular in activism and advocacy work worldwide in recent years. In Lebanon, a group called Social Media Exchange teaches activists how to utilise social media to promote their work and reach a wider audience. Mohammmad Azraq digs into the Lebanese social networking and online scene to find out more.
Saudi Arabia: Support for fatwa prohibiting “immoral” women's sports clubs
Writing on Arabic online forum Al Saha Abu Marmesh applauds a new fatwa (religious edict) by a Saudi scholar which bans women only health and sports club in Saudi Arabia....
Kuwait: Election rhetoric, arrests and the whole shebang
Greetings fellow global bloggers and readers! My name is Amer Al-Hilal and I am the new 'Global Voices' co-author covering Kuwait; a vibrant, highly passionate and astute blogging community, one that has throughout the years encompassed all sorts of interests and events, from consumer-oriented services and products to politically charged calls for protecting freedom of speech, culminating with and leading the 'Orange' 5 for Kuwait movement, which has led to the government redistricting five political constituencies instead of 25.
Syria: Syrian Users Kicked off LinkedIn
From Syria, An@s Online [Ar] reports that LinkedIn has suspended all the accounts of its Syrian users. “Syrian users are now afraid that the day will come soon when they...
Syria: The Excuse for Blocking Facebook
Ahmed Bakdash [Ar], from Syria, remarks on comments made by Syrian media advisor Dr Buthaina Shaaban on the ban of Facebook in her country. She claimed that it was blocked...
Egypt: Industrial Tweeting
Industrial Tweeting is coming to Egypt, notes Arabawy, who posts a photograph of textile “Ghazl el-Mahalla labor leader Kamal el-Fayoumi experimenting with Twitter…”
Egypt: Cleanliness Day on April 10
We have been paying close attention to the creative ways in which Egyptian bloggers and activists have been using online social networking to rally support for their causes and initiate social and political change. In this post, Marwa Rakha writes about a Facebook campaign by Mostafa Ahmed and more than 4,500 enthusiasts, who joined hands to mark Egypt's first Cleanliness Day on April 10.
Egypt: Should rapists be hanged on TV?
Between examining the profile of a sexual offender in Egypt and rallying against sexual predators, an Egyptian member of Parliament proposed a law that allows broadcasting the hanging of rapists live on television. Should rapists be hanged live on television?
Bahrain: Unblock Political Websites
Bahraini blogger Zainab Abdel Amir requests the government to unblock the political websites that are currently banned in the country [Ar].
Palestine: Jerusalem As Arab Cultural Capital
Gazan blogger Abu El Sherif has posted a short video [Ar] he made for a programme called Alli Sootak (Speak Up) shown on Palestine TV about choosing Jerusalem as this...
