Stories about Middle East & North Africa from January, 2009
Syria: Arab Leaders and the Summit
“The Arab summit today was truly surprising and from what has been ‘said’ so far it seems that finally the Arab leaders are saying what the people want to hear, and are actually doing what the people want them to do,” says Arabia Camel: The Revolution, from Syria.
Syria: Where's The Daily Star?
“Qifa Nabki has got the story. It looks like the (Lebanese) Daily Star has published its final edition,” reports the Syria News Wire, in this post.
Israel: Back to Books and Bible Lessons
Imshin from Israel notes that life is going back to its normal routine. He writes: “It’s nice to be back with books and things. Last night I finally made it to the third lesson of a series of Bible lessons I had been planning to go to. I was far...
Bahrain: Why is God not Saving Palestinians?
American Coolred38, who lives in Bahrain, asks: “In your opinion…is it safe to assume…that the millions of prayers sent to God by Muslims asking for Palestinians to be saved and for the genocide to stop once and for all have fallen on deaf ears…but prayers sent out with hopes of...
Bahrain: Links to Gaza Map of Bombing
Bahraini Abdulhadi Khalaf, who lives in Sweden, shares with us links to interactive maps, which show the intensity of bombings and number of casualties in Gaza.
Bahrain: Mafiwasta Interview on Rights of Migrant Workers
Bahraini Esra'a, at Mideast Youth, reposts an interview conducted by Migrant Rights with Nick McGeehan, founding member of human rights group Mafiwasta, set up in 2005 to bring to attention abuses of migrant workers in the Gulf.
Queen Rania of Jordan on Gaza: “Hell on Earth”
Jordanian blogger Ali Dahmash links to this video featuring Queen Rania appealing for aid towards the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) operating in war torn Gaza.
Russia, UK: Rallies for Israel, Gaza
LJ user mgor (a London-based native of Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine) posts photos from a London rally in support of Gaza. LJ user drugoi (Roustem Adagamov, one of the most popular Russian bloggers) posts photos from a Moscow rally in support of Israel. (Text in Russian.)
Palestine: Assessing the Aftermath in Gaza
On Sunday evening the Israel Defense Forces began a troop withdrawal from Gaza, following three straight weeks of attacks. Israel's unilateral ceasefire was announced earlier in the day, and met with an offer for a one-week ceasefire from Hamas. Ayesha Saldanha shares blog reactions from Gaza.
The Balkans: Gaza and Srebrenica
Jasmin's Heart recalls Srebrenica as she is thinking about the situation in Gaza.
Czech Republic: Relations With Israel and the EU
The Reference Frame writes about the Czech PM's stance on the situation in the Middle East: “The Czech politicians have clearly come under fire from the self-proclaimed exclusively politically correct European politicians who effectively sleep with the terrorists in Hamas.”
Israel, Palestine: A Bosnian Refugee's View
Amila Bosnae is wondering if “a state of Palestine [will be] established somewhere in Europe or the USA in the near future.”
Israel: IDF Operating a Moral War in Gaza?
Bloggers have been defending the IDF which has been highly criticized for operating an unjust war in Gaza. Many choose to highlight facts which are not necessarily presented in mainstream news on its fighting techniques - minimizing civilian casualties by using precise missile technology, calling homes and dropping warning leaflets, while focusing on the target: weakening Hamas, destroying their artillery and ability to fire missiles into Israeli territory.
Israel: Unilateral “Ceasefire” Goes Into and Out of Effect
Israel declared operation ‘Cast Lead' a success and announced that its security cabinet has voted in favor of a unilateral ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. Although the ceasefire has since been broken, with Hamas sending missiles into Sderot, here are some reflections of Israeli bloggers on developments on the ground.
Indonesia: Bloggers Vs mainstream media on Israel-Palestine issue
Global Voices author Martin Manurung analyzes the media coverage of the Palestine-Israel conflict in Indonesia. He notes that Indonesian bloggers seem to be more mature and informed than most of the Indonesian mainstream media.
Palestine: Lies & Murder
Mohammad of the Arab-American blog KABOBfest questions the intentions of Israel's latest ceasefire.
Syria: Sights to Behold
The Blog and the Shower commits a post to the beauty of the Sayyida Ruqqaya mosque.
Morocco: Medical Malpractice
The Magic of My Universe examines the cost of medical malpractice in Morocco in this chilling post.
Poland, Israel: “Using the Holocaust to Beat the Israelis”
The beatroot wrote on Jan. 8: “When protestors – who know little of either Gaza or Warsaw – shout slogans involving ‘holocaust’, or ‘genocide’ or ‘Warsaw ghetto’ they degrade all those terms and memories, and put off one person – me – who would like to join them in condemning...
Russia, Israel: Gaza War Online
IZO reports that “a blog in support of the current Israeli military action in Gaza on the super-popular social site odnoklassniki.ru (27 million members) was hacked and destroyed after it entered into polemics with an anti-Israel site on Facebook”; and comments on the controversial post by Anton Nossik/LJ user dolboeb,...
Russia, Israel: “Chechnya and Gaza”
A Step At A Time quotes a piece by Ben Cohen, comparing Israel's military actions in Gaza to those employed by Russia in Chechnya: “Oleg goes on to explain in his broken Hebrew that if Russian soldiers were sent into Gaza they would take care of things in three or...
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