Friday 3/9/2010
By Eman AbdElRahman Syrian blogger Maysaloon reflects on a conversation that took place following the Tarawih prayers, after meeting Sheikh Abu Salem in a mosque in London.
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By Anas Qtiesh Overview of the index of perception of corruption, 2009. (The highest perception of corruption is colored red, and lowest is colored green.) Source: Wikipedia According to Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index, the vast majority of countries in the Middle East and North Africa region score very poorly to various degrees. The often oppressive and hostile policies towards activists and organizations that are involved with civil society and governance (including
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By John Kennedy Just how how hard can it be, asks Sina blogger and freelance journalist Chen Zikun in his August 6 post, for Chinese travelers to get a visa—with Chen's answer apparently being: not too hard—in which he shares the stories behind visas for the many countries he's been to: 第一次出国办理签证前，一直喜滋滋地认为：来自一个经济快速发展的大国，特别是CCTV等根红苗正的媒体经常自鸣得意地报道“中国游客的奢侈品购买力高居世界第一”时，心里的底气就更足了。中国都已经“可以说不了！”哪个国家还敢不会笑脸相迎，顺利给予签证放行呢。 然而，事与愿违…… Until I went to apply for a visa for my first ever trip out of the country, I was always
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By Marwa Rakha In October 2009, the Niqab (or face cover) stirred a lot of controversy when the late Sheikh Mohammed Tantawi - head of Al Azhar and Egypt's Imam - asked a 13-year-old girl to uncover her face while he was inspecting an Azhar school in Cairo. He told her that the niqab is a tradition that has nothing to do with religion. Currently the lower house of the Spanish Parliament is debating a
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By Amira Al Hussaini Trouble is brewing in the Golan. Egyptian Chronicles zooms in.
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By Amira Al Hussaini Syrian Maysaloon has a lot to say about the Lebanese in this post.
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By Tarek Amr Bloggers across the Middle East mourned the death of Portuguese writer Jose Saramago - the only Portuguese language Nobel Prize Winner in Literature, who has his own religious and political controversial views. People in the Lusosphere and all over the world reacted to his death, and the Arab world is no exception. Yazan Ashqar published this photo of Saramago in his blog and wrote one of his
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By Jillian C. York As usual, the Twittersphere was abuzz during the final game of Saturday, June 12: the USA/England match. The game was highly anticipated in the United States, where TV advertisements touted it as the “most anticipated” match of the World Cup, whereas across the pond in England, fans were nearly certain their team would win. Despite the tension, however, the Twittersphere found time for some humor. For example,
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By Deborah Ann Dilley As there is an increase of support for both Turkey and Palestine in the wake of the Israeli raid on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla, Kurdish bloggers caution against supporting a country whose human rights record leaves much to be desired. Esra'a blogging for MidEast Youth starts this conversation: I will first start by revealing that I completely sympathize with the Palestinian struggle for justice and freedom from Israeli
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By Anas Qtiesh A protest in Boston - Photo by Anas Qtiesh The deadly Israeli raid on the aid convoy headed to Gaza to break the blockade has once again brought the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza into the limelight. The political and public outcry has been remarkable and has generated a heated global debate on what had happened. Syrian and Palestinian bloggers are making sure they're not left out. Gazan blogger
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