Stories about Middle East & North Africa from December, 2008
World Runner Comes to Jordan
Danish Runner Jesper Olsen is running around the world crossing four continents to promote running as something all cultures have in common.The Danish Ambassador to Jordan HE.Thomas Lund-Sørensen writes about this: As I am writing these lines the Ultra Runner Jesper Olsen from World Run II is crossing the Ramtha...
Palestine: Dozens Killed in an Israeli Attack on Gaza
Israeli aircraft launched air attacks across Gaza on Saturday, killing at least 100 people, including the Hamas police chief, according to Israeli and Palestinian sources. Zeinobia wrote a new post about the “Ongoing Massacre in Gaza“.
Saudi Arabia accuses Egyptian of Espionage
27 year old IT programmer Youssef Al Ashmawy is currently detained in a prison Riyadh and is accused of spying on the Kingdom. Zeinobia wrote: Saudi Arabia is detaining Egyptian Internet activist Youssef Al Ashamawy. Youssef is being accused of spying on the kingdom for the Egyptian intelligence!! Youssef is...
Iran: Islamist bloggers support Gaza
Several Islamist bloggers have launched a campaign against the Gaza Strip blockade and to ask worldwide Muslims to help Palestinians. The bloggers have used different tools such as Google bombs and banners to spread the word.
Egyptian and Tunisian Bloggers against Censorship
In December 2006 frustrated Tunisian bloggers launched the "Action Blank Post" initiative in defense of freedom of speech. Supporting bloggers from all over the world posted a blank on their blogs on the 25th of December, and now bloggers have united again in this anti-censorship tradition, as Marwa Rakha shows.
Morocco: A Moroccan Christmas
As Morocco is primarily a Muslim country, the majority of its residents do not celebrate Christmas. Still, bits and pieces of the holiday can be found, thanks to French influence and a good-sized expat community. This year, expat and Peace Corps bloggers share how they celebrated the holiday.
Morocco: Condolences to Guinea
Daily Maghreb reports that King Mohammed VI of Morocco sends his condolences to Guinea, a country which recently lost its leader, President Lansana Conté. Shortly following Conté's death, the country experienced a military coup d'etat.
Bahrain: The bunny must go
Bahraini blogger Ammaro reports on the sudden interest of MPs in ridding Bahrain of anything with the Playboy rabbit on it: “The bunny logo has been spotted everywhere from supermarkets, to perfume and accessories shops, and it renders anyone staring at it for more than 2 seconds to be transformed...
Palestine: No Christmas in Gaza
In Gaza reports on the Christmas celebrations – or lack of them – of Gaza's Christians: “Father Manuel’s Christmas Eve service was lethargic. It was a desperate plea from a priest who has seen too many painful Christmases in Gaza and whose congregation has reached their breaking point.”
Lebanon: Jews of Lebanon blog Transforms to website
“After nearly 3 years of work, The Jews of Lebanon Blog will close … I started this site possibly as a naive college student trying to relive the nostalgia of his parents’ memories in Lebanon but today it’s much more than that.” The blogger explains that the work will continue...
Lebanon: Abolishing the death penalty
Sursock posts about Lebanon's current plan to abolish the death penalty and a brief history of the activism that lead to this decision.
Caucasus: 2008 Blog Review
Last year ended with a state of emergency declared in Georgia, but few could imagine that the events of 2008 would eclipse those of 2007. Three presidential elections, a war, and yet another state of emergency defined the South Caucasus this year, and bloggers were there to document events from...
Saudi Arabia: Attitudes towards suicide
Saudiwoman discusses suicide in Saudi Arabia: “In general, Saudi society views suicide as deeply sad but not quite shameful. It’s better to have someone in the family who committed suicide than a daughter who elopes or a son addicted to drugs.”
Bahrain: Comparing the Bahraini and Japanese work ethic
Bahraini blogger Yagoob is currently studying in Japan - and has seen firsthand the legendary Japanese work ethic. In this post he compares the attitude of many Bahrainis towards work with that of the Japanese.
Morocco: Obama to Speak?
Algerian-American blogger The Moor Next Door has reported on a campaign set up by Moroccans to encourage President-Elect Barack Obama to make his first speech abroad in Morocco. The blogger states: This clever Moroccan site — Obama to Speak in Morocco — is marketing that country as the best candidate...
Western Sahara: Student Reported Detained
Saharawi-students.org reports that a Saharawi law student has been detained in Tan Tan. The student was released after 10 hours.
Iran:Campaign to Free Jailed Doctors in Iran
Digiactive reports about a new campaign to free jailed doctors in Iran. Dr. Arash Alaei and Dr. Kamiar Alaei have been in prison for six months.
Gaza/Sderot: Israel and Palestine together on video
The Gaza/Sderot: Life in Spite of Everything Project is one of the prime examples of the variety of ways a bridge between different cultures and world-views can be created through online media. In this project created by ARTE.tv, a French-German cultural television station, twelve people going on their day to day business on either side of a violent border were exposed on a website for ten week project which ended on December 23rd. The two minute videos documented snippets of the lives of 6 characters in Gaza, Palestine and 6 characters on the other side of the border in Sderot, Israel during two months.
UAE: On being white and speaking Urdu
Lucky Fatima is a white American who lives in Dubai – and speaks Urdu. In this post she writes about how white privilege affects the way her language skills are viewed by Urdu speakers.
Egypt: Internet cables cut again
Once again, fibreoptic cables have been cut in the Mediterranean, affecting the internet in Egypt and other parts of the Middle East. Elijah Zarwan at The Skeptic asks, “What accident could account for three cuts in three locations over the course of a year?”
Iran: Muslim Bloggers site was hacked
We read [fa] in Iran based Muslim Bloggers site that it was hacked a few days ago while it had launched a campaign to support Gaza Strip people. It seems that several other conservative sites such as Shiayan recently were hacked in Iran.
About our Middle East & North Africa coverage
