Stories about Middle East & North Africa from January, 2008
Bahrain: Highbrow to Eyebrow
“Before moving to Bahrain I had never touched my eyebrows,” writes Bint Battuta, who has since caved in to pressure and religiously follows threaders around.
Morocco: Who is Responsible for the Gaza Crisis?
From Morocco, Abdelilah Boukili asks who is responsible for the current situation in Gaza.
Saudi's Women Drivers
El Naar links to an article which discusses Saudi Arabia's plan to allow female drivers.
UK: Disgrace
Blogrel comments on yesterday's desecration of a stone cross erected in memory of the victims of the Armenian Genocide in the Welsh city of Cardiff. The blogger says that as the vandalism was a disgrace and marked a new low coming as it did on Holocaust Memorial Day he hopes...
UK: Genocide Memorial Vandalism Update
Blogian posts a photograph of the monument erected in the Welsh city of Cardiff that was vandalized yesterday. The desecration of the Armenian stone cross came on the eve of a special event to mark Holocaust Day as well as to pay respects to the memory of Turkish-Armenian editor and...
UK: Armenian Genocide Memorial Vandalized
Blogian and Unzipped report on the desecration of a monument erected to honor the victims of the 1915 Armenian Genocide in the Welsh city of Cardiff. The vandalism occurred on the eve of an event to remember slain Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink. Seta's Armenian blog posts a press release stating...
Francophone Morocco Roundup: Algeria's response to the UN, anti-French sentiment and more
This week in the Moroccan blogosphere, Algeria fails in its duties, anti-French sentiment still strong in Morocco, DJ Awards and rose petals galore.
Blogger of the Week: Salam Adil
Global Voices Online kicks off a series of weekly interviews with the bloggers and cyberactivists who amplify the voices of citizen journalists in their countries on this site. Our first interview is with Iraqi Salam Adil, who brings us the heartbreaking stories, joys, observations, tribulations and hopes of Iraqi bloggers.
MENA: Brrrrrrrrrrrrrr…It's Freezing
Brrrr... It's freezing in the Middle East is the message that has been popping up on blogs recently. Here's a round up of what some of the region's bloggers had to say about the cold spell, in the otherwise warm and sometimes explosive hotspot of the world.
Flagging at the Iraqi Blogodrome
Iraq has a new national flag. Some people may say that flags are really not important, but for Iraq it is big deal. Every new regime has sought to cement its presence through the national symbol. And this government is no exception. So what do Iraqi's really think and were the media right? And, if you read to the end, find out what design the Iraqi bloggers collectively agreed upon.
Davos: peeking in and participating through videos
The World Economic Forum´s annual meeting of political and business leaders is taking place between January 23rd and January 27th in Davos, Switzerland. This year, common people can participate in this forum by giving their ideas to make the world a better place and posting it on the YouTube video sharing site.
Iran:Bahai Students are out of universities
Shahrahsolh (means highway of peace), a Bahai blogger,writes[Fa] that government does not allow Bahai students go to universities in Iran.The blogger adds that government wants to marginalise Bahais, more and more, in society.
Iran:Photos for Peace
Photos for Peace calls itself a photo-sharing network of activists dedicated to stopping the United States from starting a war with Iran.
Iran:USA does business with Iran and Syria
Ali Mostofi in Iranian.com blog gives a link to an article about USA business with Iran and Syria.The blogger adds If the US looked at home, instead of anywhere else, the situation with the Seyyeds[clerics] would have been sorted out a long time ago.
Morocco: Sacred Music Festival
The View From Fez announces the programme for this year's Festival of World Sacred Music.
Tunisia: An Introduction
The "Tunisphere" is a group a passionate Internet users and bloggers even if their number is not as high as in neighbouring countries like Morocco. Naruto introduces us to some of his country's leading bloggers in his first post for Global Voices Online.
Bahrain: Save the Patients
A doctor by profession, Bahraini in Alaska is appalled with the inhumane manner in which certain patients are dealt with at the main government hospital in Bahrain.
Yemen blocks independent news websites
Numerous Yemeni websites have been blocked recently by government-controlled ISPs. Among them is the popular YemenPortal, Yemen’s first multi-source news crawler and search engine, which extracts headlines from news sites that are being blocked by the authorities. YemenPortal is inviting Yemeni internet users to access the website through a mirror they build at yemen.arabiaportal.net.
Kuwait: Get Children off the Streets
Fonzy from Kuwait calls upon parents to get children off the streets – where accidents are waiting to happen.
Morocco: Obama and Religion
“Thanks to Barack Obama, Islam may have to redefine “believer” in Islamic terms as well as who is considered a Muslim, or the world community may have to start working on a new definition for “ethnic Muslim” to accommodate complicated individuals such as Mr. Obama,” writes Myrtus from Morocco.
Lebanese Contestant in Italy's Big Brother
Beirut-born Ali Ayach, 28, is one of the nineteen contestants in the eighth edition of Grande Fratello, Italy's version of Big Brother, reports Lebanese blogger Skylark.
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