Stories about Middle East & North Africa from July, 2010
Morocco: Horse Riding in Morocco
The View from Fez introduces us to horse riding in Morocco.
Iran:”The Persian Wikipedia got filtered”
Several bloggers including Sabz21baltarin reported[fa] that the Persian Wikipedia got filtered by Iranian authorities.
Saudi Arabia: Dear Moron
In Saudi Arabia, all businesses shut down during prayer times. Ahmed Al-Omran sends out the following tweet: “Dear moron at post office who refused to serve me b/c “it's prayer time,” 1) u r a disgrace to this religion, & 2) I paid for this service.”
Lebanon: Sex and the City
From Lebanon, Guy Meets World reviews Sex and the City, the movie.
Jordan: Jailed for MSN Messages
A Jordanian computer science student has been sentenced to two years in prison by the State Security court for supposedly insulting HM King Abdullah during a chat with a friend on MSN Messenger. Naseem Tarawnah reacts.
Iran: Bloggers remember Shamlou
Several bloggers wrote about Ahmad Shamlou‘s 10th anniversary. Shamlou was probabaly the most influential poet in modern Iran. VatanParast, Iranian blogger, quotes [fa] Shamlou: “underdeveloped countries are like people who are sleeping.”
Iran: A village in the middle of rocks
Kandovan is a ‘strange’ Iranian village in Eastern Azarbaijan province where houses are in the middle of rocks. Watch the photos.
Turkey: Armenians and Turks show Gay Pride
Despite a long history of animosity between Armenia and Turkey, Unzipped: Gay Armenia posts photographs of Armenians and Turks side by side at this year's Gay Pride rally in Istanbul. The blog says that the pictures are incredible.
Egypt: Liberals mourn the death of Dr. Nasr Hamed Abu Zeid
Dr. Nasr Hamed Abu Zeid, a prominent Egyptian scholar once accused of apostasy for his contemporary interpretation of Islam, has died on July 5, 2010. He was 66. Officials at the Cairo hospital where Abu Zeid had been receiving treatment for the past two weeks said he died Monday from a brain infection. Liberal Egyptian bloggers mourn his death.
Egypt: Niqab ban in France stirs controversy
The lower house of the Spanish Parliament is debating a proposal to prohibit the wearing of body-covering burqas and face-covering niqabs in all public spaces in Spain, and the French parliament just approved a ban on niqabs (face veils). Bloggers from across the Middle East react.
Lebanon: “Looks like Beirut” Award
Lebanon News: Under Rug Swept periodically awards the “Looks Like Beirut” Award “in recognition of the work done to keep the overused, worn-out, tired cliché “…looks like Beirut…” alive. It is awarded to Hull and East Riding here, a Weymouth resident here, and a resident of Strabane here.
Morocco: A Young Blogger Greets the World
Salma started blogging at the age of six to keep in touch with friends and family. Under the supervision of her parents, this young Moroccan blogger likes writing short stories and sharing her daily encounters at school with the rest of the world.
Egypt: Television's 50th Anniversary
Today is the Egyptian television's 50th anniversary, and Zeinobia wrote a post in her blog on this occasion.
Israel: Conviction of “rape by deceit”
Sabar Kashur, an Arab resident of East Jerusalem, was charged with rape for posing as a Jewish bachelor in order to seduce a woman. He has been convicted to 18 months prison. His conviction has proved controversial with many outraged at the judge's decision; others feel it is the correct application of the law. In this post, Katharine Ganly presents some of these opinions.
Palestine: A Green Home Away from Home
In this post we hear about two women with a great love of nature: a nun who has found her home in the convent garden, and a city-dwelling mother who has brought her dreams of a village garden to the balcony of her apartment.
Jordan: Has Technology Killed Our Romanticism?
Computers and technology play an important role in our everyday lives. One blogger from Jordan remembers the romanticism of getting a letter in the mail and declares on her blog: "I hate electronics."
Lebanon: The Rule of Dinosaurs
Shortly after the recent cyber censorship incidents in Lebanon, the term "The Rule of Dinosaurs" started to be used by the e-activists in their campaign against this invasion of their cyberspace. Lebanese blogger Tony explains what it means.
Lebanon: FTP for Non Geeks
Lebanese blogger and freelancer Mir explains what FTP (File Transfer Protocol) means to the non-technical people in this post.
Lebanon: Saving the Planet and Sustainability
In this post, Ghassan Karam argues that “the biggest threat to human civilization and biodiversity as we know it is the human species itself” since the increase in the population of the Earth is resulting in an inevitable ecological degradation. He also mentions that Lebanon ranks as the 129th most...
Lebanon: The Plight of Palestinian Refugees
“We can work in any field or industry, they can’t. We can learn for free, they aren’t allowed. We have access to free healthcare, they don’t. We enjoy our dignity and human rights while they struggle to simply maintain theirs. And this has been going on for a good portion...
Lebanon: Swimming Pool Discrimination
“A group of independent activists organized a direct action on a number of touristic resorts that adopt racist policies towards migrant workers in Lebanon on the basis of color, race, and class.” The video in this post shows activists trying to get a migrant domestic worker (an activist of the Madagascari...
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