· June, 2005

Stories about Middle East & North Africa from June, 2005

Thursday Global Blog Roundup

  30 June 2005

We’re always looking for new ideas and good stories to write about. If you have a story or a blog post that you think would be a good fit for our daily roundups, email us with the link! Latin America Venezuelan News and Views speculates on why neither Trinidad and...

Syrian online journalist jailed two years in inhuman conditions

  29 June 2005

During the second year of his journalism studies, Massud Hamed, a 29-year-old Syrian student, had posted photos of a peaceful Kurdish demonstration in front of the UNICEF headquarters in Damascus in a Kurdish website. On 24 July 2003, during an exam at Damascus University, the local police arrested him, and...

Wednesday Global Blog Roundup

  29 June 2005

We’re always looking for new ideas and good stories to write about. If you have a story or a blog post that you think would be a good fit for our daily roundups, email us with the link! Africa The Kenya Democracy Project applauds the growing independence of the Kenyan...

Tuesday Global Blog Roundup

  28 June 2005

We’re always looking for new ideas and good stories to write about. If you have a story or a blog post that you think would be a good fit for our daily roundups, email us with the link! South-East Asia Tales from Disiniland suggests that embattled Philippines President Gloria Arroyo...

Monday Global Blog Roundup

  27 June 2005

The Middle East A Free Iraqi does an interesting Q&A with his readers. Crossroads Arabia points to a news story that says that 2,500 scholarships are available for Saudis who want to study at American universities. While 2,500 students is a fairly large number, the American university system is so...

Iranian Election Reaction

  25 June 2005

Here's a quick roundup of Iranian blog reaction to the fundamentalist victory in Friday's Iranian Presidential election: Hoder notes that Rafsanjani “was beaten by the outcome of his policies.” In the same post, he outlines some strategies that the reformist movement would do well to adopt if they want to...

Friday Global Blog Roundup

  24 June 2005

South Asia United We Blog! puts out the call for more Nepalase bloggers. In furtherance of this goal, Uzz of UWB has translated WordPress into Nepali, and that tool will be availble to the public within two months… South-East Asia Sakdipat, at Thai-Blogs, blogs about her first day of school…...

Thursday World Blog Roundup

  23 June 2005

Africa: As Zimbabwe's government crackdown called “Operation Restore Order” evokes an international outcry, Sokwanele describes what it's like to “have stared into the face of evil.” The Zimbabwean Pundit calls for a boycott of South African goods to protest the fact that South African President Thabo Mbeki could be doing...

Wednesday World Blog Roundup

  22 June 2005

Central Asia & the Caucuses: The Farsi blog Shared Pains (winner of the 2005 RSF Freedom Blog award) has a post in English on freedom of expression in Afghanistan (hat-tip to Afghan Lord). Registan points to an interview with the leader of Uzbekistan's opposition coalition. On the 40th day of...

How Iran filters the Internet

  21 June 2005

Microsoft is not the only U.S. company whose technology is assisting in blocking free speech, and China isn't the only country where it happens. The OpenNet Initiative and Berkman Center have just released a new report: Internet Filtering in Iran (PDF). The press release is here (also PDF..sorry). Here is...

Tuesday Global Blog Roundup

  21 June 2005

The Middle East Mahmood of Mahmood's Den announces that he's not only going to take Reporters Without Borders’ guidelines for a free internet and translate them into Arabic, he's going to fax them to his members of Parliament. Why not email? Well, sending email to Bahraini MPs doesn't seem to...

Lebanon Skypecast #2: Blogger “Lebanon.Profile”

  21 June 2005

After hanging up the Skypeout call with Gustave of the Lebanese Political Journal, I called the Beirut cellphone of his co-blogger who goes by the blog-name “Lebanon.Profile.” LP prefers not to have his name revealed. As he explains in our conversation, if he identifies himself he won't be able to...

Lebanon Skypecast #1: Blogger Gustave Cordahi

  21 June 2005

In the wake of an election victory for Lebanon's anti-Syrian alliance and the asassination of another anti-Syrian politician, I spoke to two Beirut-based bloggers who author the popular blog, Lebanese Political Journal. My first interview was with blogger and journalist Gustave Cordahi, who blogs under the name “Cedar Guardian.” (Technical...

Monday Global Blog Roundup

  20 June 2005

East Asia New Mongols, under the guise of a complaint about a Chinese museum of Mongolian culture, takes a close look at patriarchal Chinese attitudes towards Mongolia. An in-store McDonald’s ad has been accused of insulting all Chinese customers, reports Danwei. Like many similar stories that have come out of...

Question to Iranian bloggers: What are the Persian blogs saying?

  20 June 2005

Global Voices invites a Persian-speaking blogger to help inform the world about what the Persian blogs are saying about Iran's election. Unfortunately we do not have a person on our team who reads Farsi. If you would like to help, please post an English-language roundup on your blog – with...

Iran: bloggers mull election results

  20 June 2005

With election authorities now ordering a partial recount and a run-off between Rafsanjani and the conservative Ahmadinejad scheduled for this coming Friday, bloggers continue to chew over the results and disagree about what to do next. From Teheran, Hossein Derakhshan (Hoder) writes of “the coming coup.” He says: “ All...

Petitions for jailed Iranian bloggers

  18 June 2005

The Committe to Protect Bloggers has an online petition calling for charges to be dropped against jailed Iranian blogger Omid Sheikhan. Click through to the links with more information on his case and offer your support if you agree with the cause. The CPB also has a petition campaign for...

Iran election: bloggers disappointed

  18 June 2005

NOTE: this post will be updated as more reaction comes in. The news is now out, Rafsanjani and Ahmadinejad are the two top vote-getters and will contest in a run-off. The bloggers’ favorite, reformist Dr. Mostafa Moeen, the only candidate with his own blog, did not do well. After visiting...

Friday Global Blog Roundup

  17 June 2005

The Middle East Regime Change Iran has a story about the difficulties that US-based Iranians have in voting. Mr. Behi has running coverage of election day. Highlights: “This [extension of voting hours] is always happens regardless the number of voters so make it look big.” Hoder can’t believe that the...

Thursday World Blog Roundup

  16 June 2005

We’re always looking for new ideas and good stories to write about. If you have a story or a blog post that you think would be a good fit for our daily roundups, email us with the link and a short description of the post! The Middle East Hoder notes...

Talking to Mr. Behi in Iran

  16 June 2005

On the eve of Iran's Presidential elections, I tracked down Mr. Behi in Teheran. (For consolidated blog coverage of the elections from within Iran – including election coverage from Hoder – as well as analysis from without, Iran Scan is a must-read.) Adventures with Mr. Behi is written by an...

About our Middle East & North Africa coverage

Mariam A.
Mariam A. is the editor for the Middle East & North Africa. Email her story ideas or volunteer to write.