Ayesha Saldanha · September, 2008

Latest posts by Ayesha Saldanha from September, 2008

Palestine: Retaining a sense of humanity in Gaza

As the situation in Gaza deteriorates from one day to the next, many are struggling not only with the enormous difficulties of daily life, but with the change in values they see around them, in a society that has become dominated by Islamist thinking. In this post, a blogger in Gaza writes a passionate cry of despair.

29 September 2008

Palestine: Ramallah bling

In the West Bank, Alajnabiya describes shopping for her daughter's wedding: “The problem is that I like looking at this stuff, but I really want to buy it and hang...

24 September 2008

Saudi Arabia: Part of the tribe

Saudiwoman explains the significance of belonging to a tribe in Saudi Arabia: “To urban families, being called Bedouin has connotations of being unrefined and unruly. And in Bedouin families, being...

24 September 2008

Palestine: Prejudice in the USA

Palestinian blogger Laila El-Haddad has had an unpleasant encounter with a man in Virginia: “Free Palestine? Palestine's already free!!” he raged, gesturing to a bumper sticker on the back of...

22 September 2008

Saudi Arabia: Fighting hypocrisy

Saudi blogger Sara is tired of the hypocrisy she sees around her: “an example is people in ramadan do pretty weird things .. pretending to go to a religious lecture...

18 September 2008

Bahrain: Hair-raising conversation

Sous, a Swede living in Bahrain, repeats a conversation she had with an Indian woman, who after finding out that Sous was fasting told her she should cover her hair:...

17 September 2008

Saudi Arabia: Sarah Palin for Saudi?

American Bedu wonders whether Sarah Palin would make an ideal citizen of Saudi Arabia: “she favors creationist teaching instead of evolution…She does not believe in abortion… She ‘should’ know much...

15 September 2008

Arabeyes: Daily life during Ramadan

In this post we look at different experiences of everyday life across the Arab world during Ramadan. We hear how Palestinians are coping in Gaza, how an Italian deals with Ramadan in the West Bank, have a glimpse into a Saudi household about to break the fast – and get tips from Bahrain on how to curb profanities during the holy month.

12 September 2008

Bahrain: Lost in translation

Coolred, an American living in Bahrain, reflects on the difficulty of not knowing the language her children are being educated in: “As she quickly dug a book from her bag...

11 September 2008