· November, 2011

Stories about West Asia & North Africa from November, 2011

Egypt: Revolutionaries Shrug at Cabinet Resignation

The Cabinet of Dr Essam Sharaf has just asked if it could resign and the Supreme Council for Armed Forces (SCAF) is yet to decide whether it would accept their resignation or not. For activists and protesters battling police and the army for the third day in and around Tahrir Square, the news does not bring anything new to the table. Their main demand is for SCAF to leave power and hand over authority to a civil government.

21 November 2011

Morocco: Online Debates Rage Days Ahead of Parliamentary Elections

Moroccan are using the Internet extensively to discuss the upcoming legislative elections. Part of the discussion is revolving around the electoral programs of the competing parties, the question of whether to boycott or participate in the poll and the role played by the pro-democracy youth movement, February 20.

21 November 2011

Tunisia: Execution of a Tunisian in Iraq Divides Netizens

The execution of Yosri Trigui, a Tunisian convicted of terrorism, in Iraq has divided Tunisian netizens. A terrorist who deserves what he obtained, or a young victim of manipulation, and a trial that did not meet international standards? Read Afef Abrougui's round up of reactions from Tunisia to find out.

20 November 2011

Morocco: Call to Free Rapper Haked

In Morocco, a call has gone out for netizens to join in a campaign to free jailed rapper Haked. Mamfakinch tweets: “Help free Moroccan democracy activist & rapper Mouad Haked....

19 November 2011

Egypt: The Question of Election Symbols

A car, a gun, a toothbrush, a spaceship and an eye! Those are just some of the symbols you can see on the election banners on Egyptian streets as the countdown for election day in Egypt nears. Tarek Amr looks up what netizens have to say about those symbols.

19 November 2011

Egypt: The Mini-States Of Cairo

So you thought Cairo was a city? Actually it's a series of mini-states that operate independently of each other. In this post, blogger Karim Shafei explains how Cairo really works.

18 November 2011

Kuwait: Protesters Storm the National Assembly

Thousands of angry Kuwaitis stormed the National Assembly building on Wednesday 16 November, after police and security forces clashed with protestors. Kuwait's political sphere has been extremely tense in the past few years, and with the Arab Spring earlier this year, the situation took a new turn.

18 November 2011

Yemen: Reuters Yields to the Power of Twitter!

Yemeni netizens scored big time when their Twitter campaign 'Shame on Reuters' pressured the international news organisation to stop its stringer Muhammad Sudam, who has also been the Yemeni President's personal translator and secretary since 2009, from reporting.

18 November 2011

Kuwait: Video Campaign to Teach Citizens about the Constitution

To mark the 49th anniversary of the Kuwaiti constitution, a group of activists decided to remind citizens of the different clauses of the constitution. Under the theme of Tadry [ar] (Did you know?), Sout Al-Kuwait (Voice of Kuwait) produced six videos, each spanning a few seconds, explaining to citizens six select articles from the constitution.

16 November 2011

Egypt: Commemorating 40 Years of Pope Shenouda on Twitter

Egyptian Copts, among others, decided to criticize Pope Shenouda III on the occasion of his 40th Ordination anniversary. The anniversary coincided with the end of the 40 day mourning period after the Maspero massacre, where 27 Egyptians, mostly Coptic Christians, were killed.

16 November 2011

UAE: Detained Activists Begin Hunger Strike

Five activists held in the UAE since April and currently standing trial for publishing material online, using aliases, have started an open-ended hunger strike to draw attention to their plight and the abuse they are receiving in prison. Mona Kareem checks out netizens' reactions to their cause.

15 November 2011

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.