Stories about Middle East & North Africa from February, 2009
Iran: A village where smoking is a sin
Potin has publsihed several photos of an Iranain village, Makhoonik, in South Khorasan Province where smoking is considered as a sin and villagers has another name for TV:Satan!
Israel: Battling Cancer
Daughter of Cancer from Israel describes the suffering her 56-year-old mother is going through battling brain cancer.
GCC: Currency Dilemma for Arab Gulf Consumers
The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) hopes to achieve a monetary union, with a common currency, by 2010. Bloggers from the region, which groups Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Oman and the United Arab Emirates, debate the merits of the union and more importantly what name they want for their new currency.
Lebanon: Christopher Hitchens’ Beirut Scuffle Sparks Debate
Former leftist turned conservative writer Christopher Hitchens ran into trouble in Beirut last week when he attempted to deface a poster/memorial of the Syrian Social Nationalist Party (SSNP), a Hezbollah ally. Versions of the event claim a heavily intoxicated Hitchens shouted obscenities at the party, ultimately resulting in an altercation with several SSNP members nearby. These allegations have sparked a debate across continents, writes Antoun Issa.
Saudi Arabia: First Internet Crime Sentence Upheld
Crossroads Arabia writes that the verdict has been upheld of the first Internet crime brought to court in Saudi Arabia, involving a man who hacked into a woman’s e-mail and tried to blackmail her with what he found there.
Morocco: Simply Delicious
This week, the talk in the blogoma seems to be about all things edible. Moroccan cuisine, widely considered one of the most complex and best in the world, is derived from Arab, Spanish, Turkish, Jewish, and native Amazigh culinary traditions and is well-known for its use of vegetables and spices....
Criminal Minds: The Egyptian Sexual Offender's Profile
Will Facebook groups, anti-harassment T-shirts, posts, articles, bloggers, and activists put an end to sexual harassment in Egypt? Wandering Scarab does not think so!
Syrian Ambassador in Washington Lectures on Syrian-American Relations
Syrian Ambassador in Washington lectures university students on Syrian-American relations and asks them not to be overly optimistic in regards to the future of the relations since the Obama Adminstration hasn't set its course of action with Syria yet, reports [ar] Maurice Aaek.
Arab Bloggers Rally Against the Judaization of Jerusalem
As Israeli authorities evict Arab residents and demolish their houses in Jerusalem, Arab bloggers are set on not letting this pass unnoticed. Another blogger calls for designating a week to blog for Jerusalem.
Egypt: 10,000 days of Mubarak
Egypt marks its 10,000 day under Hosni Mubarak's rule. Mohaly briefs us about two books which discuss the occasion.
UAE: A great shame
“Before the boom, people would travel to South East Asia to get their sin fix and bring back AIDS. The only difference being the prostitutes are here, and all the nefarious enablers that goes with it. A great shame,” according to a UAE national, writes Secret Dubai Diary, which is...
Iraq: Predications and Politics
Iraqi Arab Woman Blues discusses ‘predictions’ she had made about the political situation in her country and others in the region – and how they proved to be correct.
Syria: Violation of Terms of Service
Syrian Hosam Akras writes that WordPress has disabled a blog which lists Israel's “crimes against humanity” because it did not comply with its terms of service.
Jordan: Low Quality Photo Essay
Roba Al Assi, from Jordan, features a web exclusive art photography collection in this post.
Jordan: The Unborn Banned in Cinemas
Jordanian Moey reports that The Unborn has been banned in his country's cinemas – because of its ‘violent’ content.
Iraq: A different Baghdad
Mosul-based Moma visited Baghdad – and wasn't happy with the changes in her old neighbourhood.
Jordan: Oscar Predictions
Jordanian Hareega made some Oscar predictions here. Check out whether any of his guesses were right.
Iraq: Blogger's Birthday and Closed School
Sunshine, from Iraq, celebrates her 17th birthday, in a war-torn Iraq. Also in this post, Sunshine tells us why her school was closed.
Palestine: Canada Speaking Tour
Palestinian blogger and journalist Laila El-Haddad starts a speaking tour in Canada on March 2.
Saudi Arabia: Nora Al Faiz Bio
Saudiwoman's Weblog sheds light on Nora Al Faiz, who was appointed as the first female Saudi deputy minister recently.
Jordan: Economic depression?
“I don’t know what is going on lately, but I feel that everyone around me are in a hibernation mood. Businesses are not moving. Everything is running very slowly. People are disappearing and communication channels are off!!” notes Sha3teely from Jordan.
About our Middle East & North Africa coverage
Mariam Abuadas is the editor for the Middle East & North Africa. Email her story ideas or volunteer to write.
