Stories about Syria from November, 2008
Angry Arab's Blog Blocked in Syria
Lebanese Dr As'ad Abu Khalil, who lives in the US, writes: “A reader in Damascus tells me that my website is still blocked there. Maybe this will lift the ban: Down with the Syrian regime.”
Syria: What About the Palestinian Human Rights?
Majd Syria (Ar) writes: “Western countries show off their support for human rights.. at the time they turn a blind eye to the most basic rights of Palestinians – their right to live in an independent free state, with sovereignty, an army, a currency, language, identity and capital.
Syria: A Blogosphere Divided
The Syrian blogsphere has been embroiled in a heated debate over the weekend. It is a debate that is quite reflective of some of our modern disagreements as Syrians, over a wide range of basic issues: identity, religion, state and personal freedom. Yazan Badran gathers the different threads of this controversy here.
MENA: How to deal with Somali piracy?
Last week a Saudi supertanker was hijacked by Somali pirates off the coast of Kenya, making it the largest ship ever to have been seized in this way. The problem of Somali piracy is growing; in this post we hear bloggers' reactions from around the Middle East.
Syria: Stop Generalisations
From Syria, Maysaloon [dead link/this post has since been deleted] wishes that writers and bloggers will stop generalising when addressing political issues and “stop speaking for ‘most’ or ‘many’ Syrians.”
Syria: Art of Dialogue
“An argument in olden Arab times was like a dance. People wooed each other, rejected or accepted, negotiated, insulted and convinced each other using subtle messages & connotations, all applied courteously,” notes 50% Syrian.
Syria: Misquoted
Syrian blogger Rime Allaf says she was misquoted in a Press interview. “I have been misquoted in the past, about more “serious” issues resulting in strange statements, but I think this one takes the lead as the most ridiculous misquote,” she notes.
Syria: No More Bab el Hara
Ayman Haykal [Ar] links to a report published on Haaretz that says the Israeli cellular provider, Cellcom, made a profit of approximately 400.000 shekels per month this year from the Syrian soap opera, Bab El Hara (Neighborhood Gateway).
Syria: No for Sunni/Shiaa Divisions, We're Muslims!
Feras [AR] comments on the so called “Shia-Sunni conflict” in the region. He says that this conflict is not only due to Zionists and Americans’ policies in the region, but also due to Arabs themselves. He asserts that it is Arabs who are enhancing such sectarian divisions. He ends his...
Syria: Love is in Stuttgart
Forget politics, Obama or the economic crisis. The new buzz in the Syrian blogosphere is about love. Mariyah, a Syrian blogger from Damascus, has been playing with the hearts of her readers with the most delicate series of posts about the story of Ghassan and Alexandra. It all starts on...
Syria: Using ScribeFire
In this post, Omar [AR] tells us that he used the FireFox add-on, Scribefire, to publish his post. He explains how it is easy to add the plug-in in your browser and publish posts without necessarily signing into your blog account. And to those who own several blogs he adds:...
Syria: Bloggers Unite to Read
For the first time in the Syrian blogosphere, local Syrian bloggers have came up with a refreshing idea; forming an online book club in which they decide on reading a certain book, and after 10 days, each reader would offer her/his reading of the book on their personal blogs. The...
Syria: Unprofessional Websites
Salam [AR] lists in this post problems most Arabic internet users face as they're viewing Arabic websites. He argues that the reason behind such problems is mostly due to the profession of these websites’ owners: they're not websites’ designers nor developers, but rather money makers.
Syria: New Dawn for Humanity
Blogger Anas, shows an excerpt from the top of the front page of Al Watan Daily Syrian Newspaper, with a text saying....
Syria: Comments on the U.S. Elections
The Syrian blogosphere, particularly the contingent that blogs in English, has been somewhat quiet about the U.S. elections, at least in comparison to its neighbors. It's no secret that many bloggers in the Arab world are frustrated with some of Obama's policies, even if they are glad that some change has come. In this post, we will take a look at three different Syrian perspectives on the recent elections in the U.S.
Syria: On Holograms
Syrian blogger Gardenia shares her opinion on hologram technology.
