Stories about Arabic from October, 2010
Jordan: Political Cartoonists Take Aim at Campaign Posters
Jordanian social media writers continue to focus their writing about the November 9th parliamentary elections on the election posters covering the country, and particularly the capital city, Amman.
Lebanon: TV Shows on Homosexuality Create Buzz
"A gay killer has the passion of a woman and the aggression of a man," states Zaven Kouyoumjian, Lebanese host of Siree Wenfatahet, a program broadcast by Future TV and one of the highest rated TV shows in the Middle East. Following are reactions from the LGBT community in Lebanon on this show and others dealing with the gay community on television.
Saudi Arabia: Genie in Court
"I was under the influence of a genie" is the latest excuse for administrative corruption in Saudi Arabia. A corrupt judge, a genie and a religious investigation panel, which claims to have interrogated the genie, create a plot to good for Saudi netizens to pass on. Haifa Alrasheed brings us the latest reactions on the story.
Kuwait: Police Brutality Caught on Video?
Police brutality has been caught on video around the world. Here's one from Kuwait which was posted on a popular blog and attracted a lot of comments - many attacking the blogger for posting it.
Egypt: Bad Bad Facebook
A TV show discussing Facebook on the Egyptian state-run television channel soon became the source for rumours, mockery, and loads of fun on blogs and Twitter. Tarek Amr has more in this round up of reactions from Egyptian netizens.
Saudi Arabia: Calls to Free Samar Albadawi
Samar Albadawi, a divorced Saudi woman is currently being held in Brayman jail in Jeddah for disobeying her father. While some netizens are furious others are skeptical about her case and the debate still continues among Saudi bloggers and tweeps.
Egypt: Firing Eissa, or Firing Free Press
Al-Dostour - one of the leading Egyptian independent newspapers - new owners have fired the paper's editor-in-chief and founder Ibrahim Eissa, opening the door for bloggers to put the incident and Egypt's media scene on the discussion board.
Morocco: Another Magazine Bites the Dust
Morocco's only weekly magazine published in the local Arabic dialect, darija, Nichane is closing shop after a sustained advertising boycott. Bloggers lament the loss of a publication which filled a niche in Morocco's ever-growing publishing industry, covering topics from a point of view usually reserved for the country's many French-language publications.
Kuwait: Let the Tomatoes Rot!
Tomatoes are now eight times more expensive in Kuwait than they were a month ago - and netizens are not taking the change in prices in stride. They cannot find an explanation to why the cost of a box of tomatoes jumped from half a dinar ($1.70) to KD4 ($14) in just a few days.
Algeria: On the Rich, the Poor and the Middle Class
What is it like to be poor? And what is it like to be rich? Algerian Salim looks into the two situations and also reflects (Ar) on those who are hanging in between.
Lebanon: Feminist Video Rant
“I’ve been wanting to write up some articles about basic arguments we have to face as feminists every day, dealing with stupid questions that are often sexist comments disguised as questions. This time, I decided to do a video rant instead of a written one.” Quoting Nadine Mouawad on Sawt...
Muslim World & US: Burning the Quran, Media Attention & Terry Jones
Terry Jones and his Dove World Outreach Center have drawn vast international media attention for a plan that had scheduled the burning of the Quran today, September 11th, in Gainesville, Florida. Than plan has since been scrapped. Netizens react in this post.
