Latest posts by Ayesha Saldanha from February, 2009
Saudi Arabia: First Internet Crime Sentence Upheld
Crossroads Arabia writes that the verdict has been upheld of the first Internet crime brought to court in Saudi Arabia, involving a man who hacked into a woman’s e-mail and tried to blackmail her with what he found there.
Palestine: Attacks On Gaza Continue
Despite the announcement of unilateral ceasefires by both Israel and Hamas, attacks by the Israeli military on Gaza continue while Palestinian factions have been launching rockets into Israel. In this post we hear the latest from Gaza's blogs.
Saudi Arabia: A Romantic Society?
Murtadha Almtawaah, a Saudi blogger currently studying in the United States, writes about romanticism in Saudi society: “I think Saudi people are very romantic but they don’t express or talk about Romance in public. They really look for it in their private life.”
Bahrain: “Ministry websites an embarrassment”
Bahraini blogger Hussain Yousif suggests that the Bahraini government block its own ministry websites before any others, as he says many of them are out-of-date and of poor quality.
Palestine: The Story of a Gazan “Martyr”
The death of anyone close to you is painful, but how do you cope with it if that person has actively sought death? Gazan blogger Samaher Al Khazandar has written about her nephew, Mu’min Musa Al Khazandar, who joined the military wing of Hamas, and was determined to die as a martyr while fighting for Palestine.
Bahrain: “Just Ban It”
Bahraini blogger The Dude is frustrated: “Our ‘parliament’, in their infinite wisdom, have decided that they can best serve society by banning everything and anything that they disagree with, for reasons that they clearly invent.”
Palestine: From Gaza to Puerto Rico
Palestinian blogger Laila El-Haddad, currently based in the United States, describes a visit to Puerto Rico to give a talk: “It was clear the people of Puerto Rico were thirsty for knowledge about the Palestinian conflict, and have a deep sense of the injustice of it all.”
Palestine: Appointment of Female Islamic Judges Ratified
Palestinian blogger and journalist Kawther Salam, currently based in Vienna, has interviewed the two women whose appointment as judges in Islamic courts has just been ratified in the West Bank.
Palestine: A community oven in Gaza
Canadian activist Eva Bartlett describes how a community oven has been set up in a village in southeastern Gaza: “For the many villagers who can’t afford, or can’t find, cooking gas and who are exhausting firewood supplies (although the Israeli military’s bulldozing and tank-ravaging of olive and fruit trees provides...
Palestine: Gaza's Valentine's Day flowers
In Gaza, Prof. Said Abdelwahed reports: “For three years Israel gave no permission to any farmer to export flowers! Gazans had to “eat and drink’ flowers for two years. Well, this year, after the invasion, Holland bought 25000 flowers to be shipped in three shipments. Yesterday, Israel permitted shipping 10000...
Bahrain: The importance of Arabic in advertising
Bahraini blogger aMaL laments the poor Arabic used in advertisements: “As an Arab country, and in the face of the capitalist global campaign to “blend” all cultures together and implant a consumerist heart in their core, it is our duty to preserve one of the few identity symbols we have...
Bahrain: No decent Internet provision?
Bahraini blogger Abdulla asks: “I seriously don’t get it, 22 licensed ISPs in Bahrain, and not a single company providing proper internet?”
Bahrain: No need for speed
Maldita, a Filipina living in Bahrain, thinks Bahraini teenagers should be provided with more recreational facilities – instead of using public roads to entertain themselves in their cars.
Bahrain: How much longer for Valentine's Day?
Bahraini blogger Farah Mattar imagines a scene in the future where Valentine’s Day is banned by Bahrain’s MPs: “We have received many complaints from individuals that their neighborhoods were turning into rose infested slums.”
Bahrain: A ban on pork?
Bahraini blogger Ammaro cannot believe some MPs have called for banning pork: “Banning something doesn't make people more religious…Oh, and this may shock you MPs, but the people who usually purchase pork AREN'T USUALLY MUSLIM.”
India: Outrage at attacks on women by Hindu vigilantes
On the afternoon of January 24, a group of young women in Mangalore in the southern state of Karnataka were attacked by Hindu vigilantes in a pub (bar). Dozens of activists from the little-known Sri Rama Sene (Lord Ram's Army) assaulted the women (and men, according to some reports) in...
