Stories about Middle East & North Africa from March, 2008
Egypt: Flood Jail with Mail Campaign Picks Momentum
Calls continue in support of a two week campaign to flood an Egyptian jail with mail in solidarity with jailed Egyptian blogger Kareem Nabeel Sulaiman, writes Free Kareem.
Netherlands: What is the problem,Mr.Wilders?
Kamangir,an Iranian blogger, shares his idea about Geert Wilders’ famous video:”the video contradicts itself when at the end it asks for the Islamic ideology to be defeated. If that’s what you are asking for, Mr. Wilders, which I totally agree with you in it, then why offend billions of Muslims?”
Iran:Women in Baluchestan
You can watch Iranian women in Baluchestan in 18 photos in Chn Photo.
Egypt: University Faculty Staff Strike
“For the first time ever in Egyptian history, most Egyptian university faculty members went on strike as a first step towards forcing the government to improve their living conditions and the conditions of higher education in the country,” writes Eman from Egypt.
Egypt: University Strike Update
Zeinobia from Egypt updates us about the university professors strike.
Egypt: Call for General Strike
“A coalition of opposition groups—including the suspended Labor Party, Kifaya, the banned Muslim Brotherhood, the unlicensed Karama (Dignity) Party, the unlicensed Centrist Party, the workers of Mahalla, the Lawyers’ Syndicate, the Movement of University Professors, and others—is calling for a general strike on April 6, two days before the local...
Egypt: Journalist Sentenced for Six Months
“Ibrahim Eissa received a prison sentence of six months for having spread false information about President Mubarak´s health in August 2007. The sentence was given by Judge Sherif Kamel Mustapha at Bulaq Court of misdeamenours this morning. He was found guilty of having harmed Egypt´s economy,” announced Ibn Al Dunya...
Bahrain: Frustrated Hitch Hiker
Bahraini blogger emoodz discusses a talk he had with a frustrated hitch hiker in this post.
Algeria: Kosovo and the Islamic Ummah
Algerian Nouri Luhemiya writes about Kosovo and the Islamic Ummah.
Yemen blocks Maktoob blogging platform
Maktoobblog.com, one of the most popular Arab blogging platform, has been recently blocked in Yemen cutting off Yemeni Internet users from the more than 46960 blogs the service hosts. According to MaktoobBlog, there are currently 1226 Yemeni blogs hosted by the service. All of them disappeared from the Yemeni Internet.
Arabeyes: Bloggers Indifferent to Magdi Allam's Conversion to Catholicism
During Easter weekend, Pope Benedict XVI baptized several adults into Catholicism. Among them was Magdi Allam, an Egyptian-born Muslim who has lived in Italy for more than half his life and is known as a critic of Islamic extremism.
March Madness in Kuwait
Just as there is March Madness in the US, the phenomena seems to have spread to Kuwait - not for basketball but elections. Abdullatif Al Omar brings us the Kuwaiti bloggers reactions to the resignation of their government, the dissolving of Parliament and the looming elections in June.
Lebanon: Desperate People
“This country is a factory that produces and exports desperate people,” says Tantalus about Lebanon.
Iran:Protest against filtering
Key1one says[Fa] that Cloob.com,a Persian-language social networking website, mainly popular in Iran, has been filtered for about one month.About 2000 people signed a petition and protested against this filtering.
Czech Republic: Iraqi Mini-Protest
The Czech Daily Word posts pictures and reports on a mini-protest by Iraqis that was held in Brno.
Tunisia: relentless campaign against imprisoned blogger and journalist Slim Boukhdhir
In the last few weeks, Slim Boukhdhir, the 39-year old imprisoned blogger and journalist, is reported to have been subjected to an unusual level of harassment by prison authorities where he is serving the one-year sentence imposed by a Tunisian court on December 4th, 2007. His wife, Dalenda Boukhdhir, told Global Voices that the prison authorities placed Slim in “dry cell” for three days, from 20-23 March, 2008, turning off the water in his cell so he couldn't wash.
Blogger of the Week: Abdulrahman Warsame
Today's Blogger of the Week series features yet another global voice - Abdulrahman Warsame, who amplifies the reactions of Somali bloggers on Global Voices Online. A Somali born in Saudi Arabia, educated in Egypt and Australia, and currently working for Al Jazeera in Doha, Qatar, as a Senior Analyst in New Media, Warsame shares his thoughts on blogging in his country and the rest of the Arab world.
Liquid assets: Bloggers on World Water Day
It's known as the universal solvent, Adam's Ale, government juice, council pop, H2O, dihydrogen monoxide, hydrogen hydroxide, has a ton of different names in Arabic and yesterday (March 22) the world was called upon to pay it special attention. World Water Day 2008 marked the start of the fourth year of the UN International Decade for Action on Water that began in 2005, and to mark the occasion the bloggers weighed in with insights and commentary from various corners of the world.
Lebanon: Easter Morning
Diamond in Sunlight shares with us her Easter Morning in Beirut.
Lebanon: On Affiliation
Tantalus shares his sarcasm about the “Lebanese tradition of affiliating with anything but [their] country…”
Lebanon: Presidential Election and Foreign Intervention
Lebanon is now in its fifth month without a president. Political bickering between different parties has reached dangerous levels to the extent that there is a genuine fear of civil strife among people - especially since street fights are breaking out every now and then between supporters of various groups, writes Moussa Bashir, who takes a closer look at the reaction of bloggers towards politicians travelling abroad to rally support for their teams.
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