Stories about Protest from May, 2009
Pakistan: Use of Soical Media Tools In Activism
Tamara Palamakumbura of DigiActive took an interview of Pakistani blogger Dr. Awab Alvi where they discussed the use of social media tools in Pakistan by citizen journalists in reporting the 2009 long march protests.
China: The democracy movement since 1989
During the last mother's Day weekend on May 10th, a number of intellectuals in Beijing organized a seminar discussing 20 years of the democracy movement in China. This is a very significant event in breaking the long silence among intellectuals on the June 4th student movement, as well as in...
Sri Lanka: Bloggers react to the death of the LTTE leader
The government of Sril Lanka announced via state media and SMS today (Monday, May 18, 2009) afternoon that the leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), Vellupillai Prabhakaran, is dead. Obituaries of Prabhakaran note that he was a hero to some and a ruthless killer to others. Sri Lankan Bloggers lament on the legacy of this war lord and what his demise means for the future of the Tamil people and Sri Lanka.
Haiti, Dominican Republic: Repercussions
Wadner Pierre republishes an article from Haiti Liberte that examines the repercussions of the decapitation of a Haitian man by another from the Dominican Republic.
China: Good Citizenry
ESWN translated government banner propaganda advocating “good citizenry” in Jiangsu province. The purpose is to encourage the residents to accept the relocation plan.
Israel: Eurovision Peace Duo Push for Another Way
Can music help bring us closer together? Noa and Mira Awad hope their message from the Eurovision Song Contest reaches far and wide. Gilad Lotan updates us about the journey of those two musicians and reactions to their performances in the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest.
Latvia: Baltic Pride March
“The Baltic Pride march took place in Riga on May 16 with almost no problems,” Free Speech Emergency in Latvia reports. “The active counter demonstrators were just a little more in number than the marchers. […] An interesting observation […] was a scene at one street crossing passed by the...
Armenia-Azerbaijan: Political Eurovision
As voting for the Eurovision Song Contest gets underway in Moscow, bartlemot tweets that the telephone number to vote for the Armenian entry in Azerbaijan was censored. In a second tweet, the same user says that instead of displaying a telephone number in the lower section of the screen it...
Iran: Karroubi supporters armed with Facebook in presidential election
Facebook was banned in Iran until recently, but now supporters of the former speaker of the Iranian parliament, Mehdi Karroubi, use it as a vehicle to promote his candidacy in the upcoming presidential election.
Azerbaijan: Bloggers speak about Baku youth protest, detentions
Following a terrifying shooting spree at a Baku university which left 13 dead, students took to the streets to demand that a national day of mourning be declared in Azerbaijan. With the request falling on deaf ears, several youth activists, among them some bloggers, planned to protest the inaction, and specifically a festive holiday of flowers scheduled for 10 May. Many were detained.
Sri Lanka: Understanding The Tamil Conflict
G. Kuganesan at Voices In Exile sheds a light into the background of the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka: “The Tamil conflict has deep roots, distant ties that date well beyond the mere formation of a violent LTTE (Tamil Tigers) movement, a history buried in discrimination, segregation, and specific ethnic...
Bangladesh: NSU Students Protest Against Tution Fee Hike
Hussain M. Elius writes in details about the unjustified tution fee hike of one of the leading private universities in Dhaka, Bangladesh and the protest of the students.
The Gurkhas: Long History Of Discrimination
The Gurkhas, young men from Nepal who serve in the British military, have served the Queen and the United Kingdom for almost two centuries. Unfortunately, the British government has been less than fair when it comes to honoring their service and sacrifice. The British press and blogopshere are buzzing about the new government proposal that is very unfair to the Gurkhas.
Malaysia: Massive arrest of activists
A black T-shirt caused the massive arrest of 116 opposition members by the Malaysian government. Chong reports on the recent suppression of oppositional party in Malaysia at interlocals.net.
Iran: A blogger and social activist was arrested
Change for Equality reports that six members of One Million Signatures Campaign were arrested during and after a peaceful demonstration on Friday which was held in Tehran to celebrate May 1st. One of them is Nikzad Zanganeh, an Iranian blogger.
Azerbaijan: Bloggers, Global Voices Online author reportedly detained in Baku
Frontline Club blogger and Global Voices Online author Ali S. Novruzov has reportedly been detained in Baku as the Azerbaijani capital prepared for a planned youth demonstration. Tweets from a reliable source report that at least one other blogger was also detained along with the head of the National Democratic...
Malaysia: “Death of democracy” in Perak
Blogger ktemoc from Malaysia writes that the forcible removal of the Speaker of the Perak State Parliament by unidentified outsiders is “deplorable, disgraceful and deceitful in a democracy.”
China: Car racing incident
On 7 of May, around 20:05, a 25 year-old young man Tan Zhuo (譚卓 see thumb nail photo) was hit and killed by a racing car when he was walking in a zebra crossing at Wen E Si road in Han Zhou. According to witnesses, the car was racing with...
Taiwan: Labors protested against unemployment on Labor Day
Chaotang took some photos on Labor Day showing the protest against unemployment. David had an article describing why the labors gathered.
Georgia: Public discontent and political strategies
Social Science in the Caucasus comments on the relatively low turnout at opposition rallies in Tbilisi, Georgia. The blog notes that while discontent with the government is high, that does not mean the majority of Georgians support the opposition. In fact, the analytical blog argues, many are instead undecided and...
China: Journal entries from summer 1989
Philip J. Cunningham at Frontier International continues his series of posts tracking the day-to-day developments from this time twenty years ago, during his time as a journalist in Beijing, and updates today with an old journal entry and photos of a lunch with Hou Dejian, among others.
