· September, 2008

Stories about West Asia & North Africa from September, 2008

Blogger of the Week: Sami Ben Gharbia

This week's Blogger of the Week is none other than Global Voices Advocacy Director Sami Ben Gharbia, known for his dedication to the fight against oppression and censorship. Sami is originally from Tunisia, but has been based in The Netherlands since 1998. He blogs at fikra.

28 September 2008

Morocco: Rural Women

Peace Corps volunteer Duncan Goes to Morocco explains what life is like for women in the rural community where he lives.

28 September 2008

Morocco: Schools Closing

The View from Fez reports that the Moroccan government plans to shut down 60 Qur'anic schools around the country, all of which are associated with Sheikh Mohamed Ben Abderrahman Al-Maghraoui,...

28 September 2008

Egypt: National Theater on Fire

It seems that the Egyptians have succeeded in bringing Nero back to life. And the Egyptian Nero has a long list of places to burn. He started with the Egyptian Parliament a few weeks ago, and now it's time for the Egyptian National Theater.

28 September 2008

Russophone Bloggers Discuss the U.S. Presidential Candidates

Last week, Israel-based LJ user avva asked his Russophone readers - some of whom are eligible to vote in the upcoming U.S. election - whether they supported Barack Obama or John McCain, and for what reasons. The post generated over 300 comments from bloggers based in the United States, Israel, Canada and Russia. Below are some of the responses.

27 September 2008

Kuwait: Is Kuwait Being Finlandized?

Kuwaiti blogger Don Veto introduces his readers to the word Finlandization and asks: “Is history repeating itself? Is Kuwait being gradually Finlandized because of its powerful neighbors?”

26 September 2008

Egypt: Jihad Hackers

Is Jihad spilling from the ground on to the virtual world? Egyptian blogger Marwa Rakha writes here (and here) about how the internet has affected the ongoing debate between the secular and Islamic camps in Egypt.

26 September 2008

Jordan: Think before you Fire

Jordanian Jazarah links to a story from India where a mob of dismissed workers beat the CEO of their company to death with a hammer. His advice: “Think twice before...

26 September 2008

Iran: Iranian American Writers

Parsarts says that the Association of Iranian American Writers (AIAW) has just launched their website, iranianamericanwriters.org, which features member profiles, excerpts of member work, and a blog.

26 September 2008

Bangladesh: Meeting Queen Rania

BRAC Blog reports that Dr. Fazle Abed, founder of BRAC, the largest NGO in Bangladesh and the world met with Queen Rania Al Abdullah of Jordan and she writes about...

25 September 2008

Palestine: Ramallah bling

In the West Bank, Alajnabiya describes shopping for her daughter's wedding: “The problem is that I like looking at this stuff, but I really want to buy it and hang...

24 September 2008

Saudi Arabia: Part of the tribe

Saudiwoman explains the significance of belonging to a tribe in Saudi Arabia: “To urban families, being called Bedouin has connotations of being unrefined and unruly. And in Bedouin families, being...

24 September 2008

About our West Asia & North Africa coverage

Walid El Houri
Walid El Houri is the West Asia and North Africa Editor. Email him story ideas or volunteer to write.