Stories from 16 July 2008
Bosnia & Herzegovina: Anniversaries of Massacres
Every year, bloggers and journalists remind their readers of the tragic events that took place in Bratunac in 1992 and in Srebrenica in 1995. The truth is painful, but nobody should be silent about war crimes. Here is a roundup of several opinions and experiences related to the massacres in eastern Bosnia and Herzegovina during the 90's.
Brazil: Calling for investigation into Brazilian Supreme Court
Hélio Paz [pt] calls everyone to be part of a peaceful rally for investigations into Gilmar Mendes, the president of the Brazilian Supreme Court, over allegations of corruption. “We will make history with the second postmodernist resistance movement in Porto Alegre”. The gathering takes place at 10 am next Saturday,...
Morocco: The Hammam
In Search of Baraka… discusses the traditions of the Moroccan hammam.
France: Morrocan Woman Denied Citizenship
Blogger Sabria Jawhar writing for Arabisto comments on the recent French ruling denying citizenship to a Moroccan woman for wearing a “burqa”.
Turkey: Freedom Train
“My main objection is why the newspaper needs such a campaign,” writes Erkan's Field Diary in response to a recent “Freedom Train” campaign started by the Hürriyet newspaper to draw attention to human rights in Turkey.
Bahrain: Anti-sectarianism initiative losing momentum?
Redbelt reports on a meeting hosted by a Bahraini newspaper with the aim of promoting a commitment to fight sectarianism and discrimination online – but with a low turnout by bloggers, he worries that no one really cares.
Zimbabwe: Slideshow to understand the crisis
DanHrstich posted a comprehensive presentation on Slideshare on the current crisis in Zimbabwe, especially interesting for those not familiar with the situation in the country.
African bloggers react to ICC charges against Sudanese President al-Bashir
Bloggers from around the world are reacting to the International Criminal Court's recent recommendation that Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir be charged with multiple counts of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. Many of those bloggers are criticizing the potential indictments, claiming they are difficult to enforce and that they will bring more unrest to an already unstable nation.
Lebanon: Return of prisoners
Today was declared a public holiday in Lebanon, which is giving five of its citizens/fighters a hero’s welcome. These resistance fighters have just been released from Israeli prisons. The release came as a result of a swap deal between Israel and Hezbollah/Lebanon. Here are some of the immediate reactions from Lebanon's bloggers.
Chile: Student throws water at the Minister of Education's face
In Chile, a student fed up with the repression and incarceration of participants in the protests against the new General Education Law (LGE) and the beatings and abuse sustained by her from the military during these protests complained to the Minister of Education at one of the Participatory meetings organized by the Ministry to discuss the LGE, discussion which ended with a jug of water thrown in the Minister's face as can be seen on the following video.
Sri Lanka: Obama and the New Yorker cartoon
Going Global on the New Yorker cartoon that highlights the smear campaign against Obama.
Morocco: Bring on the Gnaoua!
Every year in June, thousands upon thousands of tourists from around the world and Moroccans from all over the country flock to Essaouira, a small coastal city about 200 kilometers from bustling Marrakesh, for the annual Festival of Gnaoua and world music. The town, made famous by the Rolling Stones and Jimi Hendrix (Castles in the Sand is rumored to have been written about Mogador), is a year-round hot spot for Moroccan musicians of all kinds, but truly livens up during the festival. This year, many bloggers were in attendance.
Turkey is Typing…Terrorists and Other Threats to the Nation
The past two weeks have been tough for the Republic of Turkey as they have been dealing with enemies from within. On July 9th, a terrorist attack on the US Consulate in Istanbul has the authorities stumped as to who is responsible and why. And on Monday the 14th, Istanbul’s chief prosecutor filed a long-awaited indictment on the controversial Ergenekon case against 86 defendants charged with forming a terror group with the aim of a government coup.
Pakistan: The D8 Summit
The Pakistani Spectator on the D-8 summit, and the focus on food production and trade cooperation.
Palestine: Obama in the News
Presidential Candidate Barack Obama is making headlines this week in the Palestinian blogosphere: partly for his impending visit to the West Bank and partly for his turn on the cover of this week's New Yorker. Jillian York reviews Palestinian blogs.
India: Minority Educational Institutes
Reality Check India on the issue of reservations for students from minority communities in certain educational institutions.
Bangladesh: Students Unity Against Rapists
Unheard Voices on students protesting against sexual harassment in Jahangirnagar University in Bangladesh being handed expulsion orders.
Sudan: Campaign to support the ICC's indictment
The Avaaz community blog informs of a recent ad campaign that they have just launched to support the International Criminal Court's indictment to Sudan's President Omar Al Bashir for genocide. The posters say: “Are charges of rape and genocide a Western crusade?”
Saudi Arabia: Prize for new media announced
Saudi Jeans reports on the announcement of the Hadeel International Prize for New Media, established in memory of Saudi blogger Hadeel who recently passed away. The prize is an international award that aims to encourage Arab talent in new media, with five categories: blogging, specialized blogging, personal blogging, podcasting and...
Saudi Arabia: Keep out of my space!
Nzingha is used to people keeping a physical distance from each other in Saudi Arabia – but she says that in Bahrain those boundaries of personal space are not respected.
Trinidad & Tobago: Draft Constitution
Jumbie's Watch wonders “wither did it come from?”, referring to Trinidad and Tobago's new draft constitution.
