· April, 2010

Stories about Lebanon from April, 2010

Lebanon: Marching for Secularism

  18 April 2010

Lebanese Laïque Pride will hold a rally for secularism on April 25. They are a group of citizens who are calling for the full implementation of article (c) of the Lebanese Constitution's preamble: “Respect for the freedom of opinion and belief,” “social justice,” and “equality of rights and duties between...

Lebanon: 24/7 Campaign for Migrants’ Rights

  18 April 2010

The 24/7: Campaign is a new online campaign working to alter the servant stereotype established between an Asian/African person and a Lebanese person. It is raising awareness to the fact that migrant workers are business persons from sophisticated cultures. The campaign aims at improving work conditions which, despite the recently...

Lebanon: Combating Domestic Violence

  18 April 2010

“In the Middle East, many still believe it is ok for a man to beat his wife. KAFA is one organization that is working hard to erase this mentality of acceptance. Dinosaurs are extinct; it’s time for domestic violence to become extinct, too.” Developing Lebanon posted about an event held by...

Lebanon: Virginity and Hypocrisy

  18 April 2010

“I attended […] a discussion with [the] creator of Jasad Magazine about the language of the body, sexuality and relationships, and the last part was about how virginity and the lack of it are perceived in the Lebanese society. The hymen restoration was brought up, and yada yada…” writes Liliane...

Lebanon: Hamra's graffiti and posters

  17 April 2010

“While walking in Hamra, the graffiti and what people post on the walls can’t but grab your attention! I took the photos below in a less than a 15 minutes walk there,” writes Rami alongside the photos he took.

Lebanon: A Bold Move

  12 April 2010

Lebanese blogger Mireille shares her friend Rita‘s plan of shaving her head to “break the chemo-therapy taboo and the conventional beauty standards” and to “raise awareness and funds for cancer” in her latest post.

Lebanon: Dissemination of Information in the Arab World

  5 April 2010

“In 1991, the Arabs were terrified of Western supremacy in technology (smart bombs for example that CNN kept showing their devastating effects in collateral damages on civilians)… In 2003, Arab/Moslem masses had Al Jazeera channel to cover the war among 32 other satellite channels…This information victory scared the Western civilization…”...

Lebanon: First Muslim-Christian Feast

  5 April 2010

“This year, Lebanon finally celebrated its first Muslim-Christian feast: the Annunciation (البشارة) on March 25th… At first, I was quite skeptical about this inter-religious feast…[later] I started to feel that there was something good about that celebration…” writes Worried Lebanese about the newly declared unified Muslim-Christian Holiday commemorating the Virgin...

Lebanon: Chant and Scent

  5 April 2010

While hundreds of well dressed Lebanese were flocking towards the churches of Beirut to the religious chants emanating from loud speakers, a strong scent of the shiploads of cows penetrated every street and house. This took place on the night of Good Friday as reported by Bech.

Lebanon: Special Tribunal Monitor

  3 April 2010

The Special Tribunal for Lebanon Monitor is a blog of the Lebanese Center for Human Rights (CLDH) which publishes daily press reviews, UN documents and similar information related to the Special Tribunal for Lebanon that was set up to try those involved in the assassination of former prime minister Rafic...

Lebanon: Who's the Pervert

  3 April 2010

Ibrahim Arab writes about the stunned reaction by the Arab youth to the news that Ricky Martin is a homosexual, using the Arabic word شاذ which means pervert or not normal. He comments “your perversion, Ricky Martin, is more merciful than our perversion,” pointing to issues of injustice and crimes...

Lebanon: Sabotage in the University

  3 April 2010

Lovanlife wrote, in Arabic, about how the commemoration of “Land Day” by the People's Movement, of which he is a member was sabotaged, by rival parties at the University of Lebanon.

Lebanon: Harassment on the Streets of Beirut

  3 April 2010

“One man decided to actually follow me, ten meters behind… I sprinted.. He ran too!! I then pulled the biggest Lebanese drama you can imagine on him,” Ivy Says reports on her personal experience of sexual harassment on the streets of Beirut.

Lebanon: ArabNet discussed the future of Arabic web in English

  3 April 2010

Arabnet 2010 is a tech conference that was held in Beirut recently. While many of the participants considered it a success, there was a major criticism that kept people talking and writing about it days after the conference was concluded. The problem was that while the conference supposedly focuses on Arabic web it adopted English as its official language and the website, discussions, and presentations were all in English.

Lebanon: First Threatened Voice

  1 April 2010

Lebanon has been known and envied in the MENA region for its free cyberspace. Well not any more since March has marked Lebanon's first cyber censhorship incident. Layal Al Khatib has more details in this post.

Lebanon: Internet speed up soon

  1 April 2010

Lebanese Inner Circle reports on the news that fiber optics will soon be utilized in Lebanon to provide easier international calls as well as an increase in internet speeds by 10 to 20 per cent.

Lebanon: Culture of Racism and Discrimination

  1 April 2010

“Culture of Racism and Discrimination in Lebanon” is a new blog which aims to break the traditional ways in which research has been presented about racism and discrimination by being an online journal and by incorporating the use of social media tools.

Lebanon: Organizing Blogging

  1 April 2010

Hanibaael posts an article in Arabic in which the blogger gives a short account of the history of blogging in Lebanon and the current attempt to organize Lebanese bloggers into formal group called “Lebloggers”.