Stories about Middle East & North Africa from August, 2010
Egypt: Utilizing Technology to Demand Accountability on Torture, Police Brutality
Bloggers and activists in Egypt are using freely available online tools to expose torture and police brutality and to hold the government accountable for these human rights abuses.
Morocco: The Sublime Sufi Revival
The rhythms of a Sufi revival are passionately reverberating through the corridors of Morocco, and they are not going unheard, especially by the nation’s youth.
Egypt: Ramadan Television and the Muslim Brotherhood
This year in Ramadan the Egyptian TV decided to produce a series about the opposition party Al-Ikhwan (The Muslim Brotherhood). The TV series, which is called El Gamaa, tries to...
Palestine: Abu Rahmah convicted of incitement for non-violent protest
Strong international, European, Arab, blogger, Twitter and media condemnation followed the conviction of non-violent Palestinian peace activist Abdallah Abu Rahmah, sentenced to prison by Israeli military court. Gabriel Nada rounds...
MENA: Kuwaiti Cartoons Cause Moroccans Offense
A popular Kuwaiti television programme has upset some Moroccan viewers, who say it depicts Moroccans in a negative light. The cartoon, called Bu Qutada wa Bu Nabeel, portrays Morocco as...
Algeria: Bloggers Denounce the Exclusion of Egypt from the Algiers Book Fair
Following the tensions from a football match in Cairo between the Egyptian and Algerian football teams, Algiers Book Fair (SILA) decided to exclude Egyptian books from the event. The decision...
Iran: Blogger May Face Charge of ‘Waging War Against God’
There is a growing concern that Shiva Nazar Ahari, a jailed human rights activist and blogger may be charged with moharbeh (waging war against God/enmity against God) in an upcoming...
Technology for Transparency: Five Lessons Learned
Rebekah Heacock and Renata Avila outline the learnings from the first round of Global Voices' Technology for Transparency Network collaborative research project, sharing links to several successful online initiatives.
Lebanon: Giving Palestinian Refugees the Right to Work
Lebanon is home to over 400,000 Palestinian refugees, who are not allowed to own property, cannot access the health care system, and need a special permit to leave their refugee...