Stories about Arabic from May, 2010
MENA: Rage after Israel Attacks Gaza-bound Flotilla
Emotions are running high across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), after Israel attacked a peaceful flotilla carrying humanitarian aid to besieged Gaza - and the Twittersphere is ablaze. Also, are tweets commenting on the situation being censored?
Jordan: A Day with a Grave Digger
From Jordan, Karabeeb (Ar) interviews a grave digger – and discusses his profession.
UAE: Dubai Road Stunt Enrages Bloggers
Bloggers in the UAE are outraged after a video was posted on YouTube showing young men driving in a reckless manner in broad daylight on one of Dubai's busiest streets.
MENA: To Draw or Not to Draw Muhammed
The fire ignited by the Everybody Draw Mohammed Day on Facebook, is still raging. Here is a snap shot of reactions from across the Middle East.
Egypt: On Street Activists and Citizen Journalists
Between online activists, citizen journalists, and street demonstrators, it seems that the cause lost it's purpose and the Internet turned into a soundproof room for cursing and cussing. Marwa Rakha takes a closer look at online activism and its relationship to events on the ground.
Egypt: 30 Days of Blogging
Egyptian bloggers are taking part in an initiative called 30 Days of Blogging, where they should write a new blog post every day for one whole month. The drive started on May 1 and here are reactions from the bloggers.
Egypt: Parliament Votes to Extend Emergency Law
The Egyptian Parliament decision to extend state-sanctioned emergency rule for another two years garnered international criticism and domestic backlash, as the law gives exclusive right to the Ministry of the Interior to detain suspects without charge, monitor communications and wiretap contact networks, restrict newspaper content and impede political assembly and demonstration. Bloggers react to the development.
Egypt: Fat7enha Forga Launched
Mahmoud Saber announced the launch of Fat7enha Forga, which is a new idea to share movies and independent video projects on the Internet. The debut is a video named “ Let’s Hope”.
Lebanon: Nationality problem
Farfahinne Kob expressed [Ar] her anger from a contradicting piece of news – where a Lebanese man married to an Israeli woman was able to transfer his nationality to his children, while Lebanese women can not do the same – no matter what the nationality of their husband.
Morocco: Discussing a Free Thinker's Legacy
The death of Moroccan philosopher and social theorist, Mohammed Abed al-Jabri, has gone with little notice in the media. Yet al-Jabri's contributions over the last decades to the uphill battle between rationality and religious thought has probably never been so relevant as today. Bloggers have been commemorating his legacy.
Egypt: No Longer Jewel of the Nile
Four of the seven upstream Nile Basin Initiative countries have decided to sign a new Nile deal. Despite strong Egyptian and Sudanese opposition, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda and Ethiopia signed a new water-sharing agreement. Egyptian bloggers react to the news in this post by Marwa Rakha.
Saudi Arabia: Al Farhan Returns to Blogging
Popular Saudi blogger Fuad Al Farhan is back to blogging - to the delight of the blogging community. In this third debut into the world of blogging, Al Farhan discusses his experience with social networking and why blogging is his first passion.
MENA: International Day Against Homophobia Celebrated
May 17th marks the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia (IDAHO). The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) is still a region for concern according to the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (IGLA), as homosexual acts are still legally punishable in all MENA countries with the exception of Israel. Despite this, there are associations in the region which openly and passionately celebrated IDAHO; Katharine Ganly takes a look at some of the major events in the region.
Bahrain: Why was Al Jazeera's Office Shut Down?
Bahrain temporarily shut down the office of Al Jazeera Satellite Channel for "violating professional conventions." Bloggers and tweeps react to the development in this post - especially after rumours surfaced that the Qatari station's bureau was closed because of a report it aired on poverty in Bahrain. Meanwhile, Al Jazeera says it doesn't even operate an office in Bahrain so what exactly is going on?
Levant: Bloggers start warming up for World Cup 2010
The World Cup will kick off in about three weeks and bloggers across the Levant have already been busy using their keyboards and camera shutters trying to capture the hysteria that engulfs the world once every four years. Anas Qtiesh brings us the reactions of Syrian and Lebanese bloggers in this post.
Bahrain/Saudi Arabia: Rain Rain Go Away!
Yesterday afternoon brought with it some rain, gusts and dust to the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia and neighbouring Bahrain, spurring a buzz on Twitter and other social networking platforms.
Lebanon: Blogging the elections
Asaad Thibian writes, in Arabic, about the experience that he and almost 20 other bloggers had when covering the municipal elections. He mentions some of the violations that they uncovered as well as events they posted about before the other news outlets on the internet.
Syria: Commemorating Martyrs’ Day
Traveling towards God (الرحيل إلى الله)[ar] blog writes about a Syrian village's annual tradition of putting flowers on martyrs’ graves on Martyrs’ Day that's commemorated in Syria and Lebanon on May 6 of every year.
Bahrain: More Freedom Please
A new Facebook group, entitled Enough restricting Bahraini freedom, has been set up in Bahrain, calling for more freedom. So far, 257 members have joined the group.
Tunisia: A Black Day for Bloggers
Several Tunisian blogs, even those which have been inactive for months, have been blocked by the authorities for "no reason." Lina Ben Mhenni brings us the story.
Saudi Arabia: Covering the Rain
Saudi Arabia's citizen media community pulled all the stops to cover torrential rains which struck Riyadh today. Scores of videos, hundreds of photographs and thousands of tweets are being exchanged at the time of writing this article. Here's a quick snap shot.
