Stories about Middle East & North Africa from January, 2010
Morocco: Meet the Cartoonists
Casey Scieszka and Steven Weinberg are two American cartoonists, creators of “a book/art/zine/stuff” operation called Telephone and Soup. They have settled recently in Morocco and are announcing the organization of a meet up in a café downtown Rabat on January 26, around the Shitty Kitty comics concept, inviting people to...
Tunisia: And They Censored Arabicca!
Tunisian blogger Fatma Arabicca, who was arrested two months ago, decided to resume blogging last week. With only one post on her new blog, authorities swooped in to block it. Tunisian bloggers react to the ban and to the censorship of other blogs as well.
Saudi Arabia: A Barcamp
Qusay announced that a new Barcamp, in Saudi Arabia, will be held at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) on January. The barcamp will focus on entrepreneurship.
Egypt: Portraits of Egyptians
Tabsir.net published (here and here) few portraits of ordinary Egyptians, by the English artist Frederick Goodall (1822-1904), in the mid to late 19th century. Goodall's work is famous for providing a meticulous “ethnographic” view of Egypt at the time.
Egypt: Farewell Jean Simmons
Egyptian famous director, Mohamed Khan, and blogger Zeinobia mourned the death of their favorite American actress Jean Simmons (1929 – January 22, 2010).
Israel: Activists and bloggers protest against deterioration of human rights
As activists are rounded up and arrested on the ground, Israeli bloggers and Twitter users turn to the Internet to fully employ alternative media platforms to influence public opinion and public opinion and struggle for democracy, writes Carmel L. Vaisman, who also updates us about Israel's new biometric law.
Morocco: Bloggers Mourn Freedom of Expression
Nebrash Eshabab [Ar] is a Moroccan collective blogging platform. It published a call for Moroccan bloggers to “mourn freedom of expression in Morocco during a week, from 25 to 31 January,” in order to raise awareness about the deteriorating situation of free speech in the country.
Egypt: Severe criticism for the human rights situation
Alaa Kamal discusses [Ar] the upcoming Human Rights Watch (HRW) annual report, that will be published over the next days. He says that the Arab countries received the biggest share of criticism. Also, the report clearly focused on the deteriorating human rights situation in Egypt.
Saudi Arabia: Moving closer to child marriage ban
Crossroads Arabia speculates that the Saudi government seems to be moving closer to a ban on marriages of women under the age of 18.
Jordan: Give to Haiti
Naseem, author of The Black Iris, urges his readers or anyone who may stumble on his blog to give to Haiti if they haven’t done so already.
Jordan: TV channel logos
Read this interesting review by Roba about logos for popular and reputable Arab TV satellite channels.
Best photos from Morocco
After spending 15 months in Morocco, American blogger, Ibn Ibn Battuta decided to publish a series of the best photos he took there. He started with “Rural Scenes” and “People“.
Global Screening Of Gaza War Documentary “To Shoot An Elephant”
To Shoot An Elephant is a documentary by Alberto Arce and Mohammad Rujailah, filmed in Gaza during the war a year ago. To mark the first anniversary of the end of the war, the film, released under a Creative Commons licence, was shown at special screenings around the world.
Egypt: America and Israel get to choose the new president
The chairman of the foreign affairs committee in the Egyptian Parliament, Dr Mostafa El Feki, in his article in Al Masry Al Youm Newspaper, stated that America and Israel have to approve of President Mubarak's successor. Zeinobia blogs the Presidency's disapproval.
Egypt: How to cross a street
Christopher Gibson demonstrated in pictures how to cross a street in Egypt.
Palestine: Christians Prevented from marking Epiphany on Jordan River
The corner report published an article stating that the Israeli officials prevented Christian pilgrims from performing the traditional baptism ceremony to mark Epiphany on the Jordan River.
Palestine: Floods due to dam opening
Philip Rizk, who blogs in Tabula Gaza, comments on the news that says Israeli opened a dam, causing the banks of the trickling river to flood the homes, fields and possessions of tens of families in the Gaza Strip.
Turkey: Solve the Hrant Dink case…
Erkan's Field Diary comments on the case of Hrant Dink, an ethnic Armenian journalist who was assassinated in broad daylight in Istanbul, Turkey, three years ago this week. The blog says that if the authorities actually solved the case completely they would also solve that of another — the controversial...
Egypt: Detained Bloggers Tell their Tales
More than 20 Egyptian bloggers, who were on their way to pay their respects to the families of the victims of the Coptic massacre, were arrested when their train arrived in the village of Naga Hammady in Upper Egypt. They were released shortly afterwards and they are now telling us their side of the story.
Morocco: Blogging About Blogging
Moroccans, as usual, are blogging, only this time it's about…blogging! This year, two awards are being offered in the blogosphere: the third annual Maroc Blog Awards and the brand new Best of Morocco Blog Awards (or BOMBies).
Morocco: Tips for Women Travelers
Evelyn in Morocco writes up a list of tips for foreign women traveling in the kingdom.
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