Latest posts by Yazan Badran
Syria: A Protest Against Censorship
To crown the two months of rapid internet censorship, last week the Syrian government decided to block Facebook (The popular social network site) and Shabablek, a very popular local forum for young people, among other websites. Now, cyberactivists are defying the challenge and demanding their freedom of speech.
Syria: Mourning Lost Sailors
This week, the Syrian coast was washed in the black color of mourning, after the shocking news of the Syrian vessel [Georgian flagged, but owned and operated fully by Syrian crew] "Haj Ismail" was hit with the horrendous storm that hit the Black Sea last week, along with another nine ships. Yazan Badran brings us the latest buzz from the Syrian blogosphere.
Syria: Foreign Policy
Which international and regional powers (Turkey, Iran, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the Untied States, Russia, France) should Syria try to have good relations with. Should Syria be more involved or more hands off in its surrounding region's many conflicts? Yazan Badran sums up the Syrian blogosphere's reactions to this question posted on Creative Syria's Blogger Forum.
Syria: History, Culture and Identity
In our roundup this week, we will overlook politics again to talk more about the people. Abu Fares in this sensational post, laments the simplicity of the old Levantine-Mediterranean lifestyle. One that has been trenched and swept off with a new wave of “neo-cons” as he describes them, whether the...
Greece: On Fire
We've probably all heard it in the news by now: Greece is ablaze. Today the fires reached the ancient city of Olympia, the birthplace of the Olympics and home of the Olympia Museum, which houses one of Greece's greatest archaeological collections. Athens in Flames (From flickr user alefbetac) While the...
Syria: How Can Expats Help?
This month's topic of Creative Syria's Blogger Forum was solely dedicated to the Syrian expatriate community. "What role could expatriates play in building a better Syria? Are you satisfied with the government legislations concerning them? Are you satisfied with the performance of the Minister of Expatriates' Affairs Dr. Buthayna Shaaban?" were the questions waiting to be answered. Syria's expatriate community, albeit dispersed, counts for almost 16 million, with a very high percentage of highly educated individuals. This makes the topic ever more relevant, as their contributions can help speed up the social and economic changes in the country and help rebuild it, writes Yazan Badran.
Syria: Journalists Arrested in Occupied Golan
“Two Syrian journalists have been arrested by Israeli Occupation Forces. Ata Farahat and Yousef Shams – correspondents for Al Watan – have been detained on unknown charges. They are Syrians, working on Syrian territory,” Sasa reports.
Syria: Ambassador's Summer Holiday
Syria's Ambassador to the USA Mr. Imad Mustapha, takes some time off from Washington DC, hops on a plane back to Syria and spends his summer holiday with his family water-parachuting in Latakia's Cote d'Azure. He writes about his time here.
Syria: On PM Maliki's Visit
Sasa from The Syria News Wire reports that Iraqi PM Nouri Maliki praises Syria's cooperation, during his three-day visit to Damascus this week. “He says Syria's co-operation is helping to stabilise Iraq. The US accuses Damascus of the exact opposite.”
Syria: On Expatriates
Medaad [AR] brings up the topic of an expat's sense of belonging. “Maybe we forgot that most of us are expats in our own countries, as is the case for most of our Arab people. And maybe we forgot that expats don't eat with golden spoons, that they also have...
Syria: How Do You Feel?
Abu Fares shares his feelings with this clip that he shot in an art exhibition in Venice.
Syria: Through the Bloggers’ Cameras
Hovic and Abd are two friends from Aleppo in northern Syria. They are also among the finest photo bloggers on the blogsphere. Hovic and Abd's Blogs, named, Syria Looks and Syria Winks, are online show rooms of Syria. Here is a journey through some of their most amazing collections.
Syria: On Lebanon and Motorcycles
Just as the heat is cooling from an inter-Arab spat involving Jordanians and Iraqis, we move on to the Syrian blogosphere where bloggers are fanning the flames of a Palestinian-Lebanese virtual stand-off. Read Yazan's Badran round up to learn more.
Syria: Occupied Golan Heights Campaign
Golaniya posts a link to a new campaign for solidarity with Syrian prisoners in Israeli jails. With links to a complete list of known prisoners and their photos.
Syria: The Bloggers
Yazan Badran dedicates this must-read post to the lives of some of the wonderful individuals that make the Syrian blogsphere.
Syria: Lebanese Border and Toilet Etiquette
Yazan Badran takes us on a tour of Syrian blogs where bloggers are discussing the worsening of conditions of Syrian workers and families at the Lebanese-Syrian border, calls for the return of the Golan Heights occupied by Israel to Syria, the Czech machine gun and toilet etiquette.
Syria: Change in Syria
This month's topic on Creative Syria's Blogger Forum was titled, "If you had the choice what would you change in Syria?"... The views ranged from those that advocated the political reform as base, to those that saw that social reform should be the kickstart.
Syria: Dead Cities
Hovic takes us on a photo tour in Surkania, one of the Dead Cities in the Syrian desert between Damascus, Aleppo and Hama.
Syria: Blogspot Unblocked
Sasa from the The Syria News Wire reports that the .blogspot domain has been unblocked in Syria, after many months of blocking all blogs on Blogger.com from being accessible from Syrian ISPs. It comes as good news to the blogsphere that has suffered immensely from the ban.
Syrian Blogsphere: Reform, Arab Nationalism and Travel
Why was a Syrian student blogger sued in the US? What should the Syrians do in Lebanon? Where is Arab Nationalism leading us to and what do you feel when you pack five cities into 11 days? These are some of the issues Syrian bloggers were talking about in this week's review by Yazan Badran.
Syria: A Letter from a Syrian Worker in Lebanon
Golaniya posted a letter from a Syrian Worker in Lebanon. “In Lebanon, our hopes are now starting to flee away. We are outcasts. We receive all kinds of cursing and swearing from people. We sometimes got hit and killed. This happens when politicians, deliberately and non deliberately, make their loaded...
Yazan Badran's space
Syria Planet is the online portal of all Syrian bloggers. It's the place where you can trace Syrian thoughts across the globe.
