Arab World: RIP Whitney Houston  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Arabs join the rest of the world in mourning the death of superstar Whitney Houston, who was found dead in her hotel room at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, at the age of 48. Reactions on social media platforms ranged from sadness and shock to those questioning why the death of Houston got more coverage in a few hours than the death of thousands of Syrians over the last 11 months.
From Dubai, UAE, Official Herv on YouTube shares this video showing the Dubai Fountains synchronised with Houston's I Will Always Love You!. This video has been watched 115,600 times since it was uploaded yesterday:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBquqHc_WHo
Back on Twitter, Egyptian Marwa G H draws a comparison to how news of the daily carnage in Syria is being received around the world. She tweets:
@Marwa_G_H: everyone is sad & posting about Whintey's death?! 100 people die every day in #Syria – it makes no-one sad. Maybe they should start singing?
Misha Zand, who lives in Cairo, responds:
@MishaZand: Thank you! WH has been a process of suicide waiting to happen for almost two decades now! While others fight to survive. #syria
Singer Whitney Houston performing on Good Morning America, 2009. Image by Flickr user asterix611 (CC BY-SA 2.0).
And Fadi Al Qadi adds:
@fqadi: either we'ren't informing world properly, or it doesn't want be informed: millions of RIP to Whitney Houston, few for 1000s #Syria victims
Syrian Amal Hanano looks at it from a different perspective, sharing lines from a Houston song:
@AmalHanano: “No matter what they take from me, they can't take away my dignity.” #Homs #Syria #favoritewhitneysong
While Dalia Ezzat questions:
@DaliaEzzat_: What is it with the twitter conscience police? Whether people want to tweet about Syria, Greece, or Whitney Houston is their prerogative.
Finally, Qatari diplomat Nasser H Al Khalifa reminds us:
@NasserIbnHamad: Whitney Houston passed away and with her part of my generation memory.She had a great voice and deep feelings you can feel listening to her