Nice write up on Salon.com:
Friday, 16 December 2011
Christopher Hitchens R.I.P.
Gone is Christopher Hitchens. A great man. Though I didn't agree with him a some of the time, few people are as eloquent in stating the argument for atheism:
Tuesday, 6 December 2011
More interesting developments in the region.
Here's some more interesting developments in the region:
4 days ago Iphones got banned in Syria:
Academics at Saudi-Arabia's highest Religious Council ruled that allowing women to drive in the country will eliminate the existence of virgins within 10 years:
In an unprecedented move Turkey's Prime Minister apologizes for the killing of almost 14.000 Alevi Kurds. Of course this opens a huge can of worms in a country that refuses to deal with many dark episodes in its past. Great write up in the IBTimes:
Egypt voter turn-out was 52 percent rather than 62 percent:
Saturday, 3 December 2011
Syria on the brink of civil war?
That seems to be what the stars are hinting at.
Now, before we do some analysis of our own, here's some links to articles to get you up to speed:
- Al Jazeera has a report about the Free Syrian Army getting stronger and better organized:
- An unnamed Libyan source claims this army will be partly trained and armed by them. Of course, unnamed Libyan sources have often made unsubstantiated claims in the past months, so read this with a grain of salt. If true though, it will definitely add some spice to a volatile situation:
- James Miller makes a case for a no-fly zone over at Enduring America:
For more information about current events in Syria, either visit the Syria Live-Blog of Al Jazeera:
Or the well informed blog of Joshua Landis:
Thursday, 1 December 2011
Welcome back dear friend...
... it's been such a while that I was busy with other projects, that I couldn't bring myself to even write down random thoughts and observations about what occupies my mind. Too bad really, as the focus of this blog, human rights and the middle-east, is an issue that needs a lot of thinking, analyzing and writing these days.
One issue is that of Aliaa al Mahdy, the Egyptian blogger who posted a picture of herself on her blog: http://arebelsdiary.blogspot.com/?zx=7722a5512dce8618
The result was hundreds of thousands of hits, thousands of comments (in favor and against her action) and a lively debate about the position of women in Egyptian society. Let me state here that I am a fan of Aliaa, and am impressed by her bravery (she posts with her own name, always, risking her life and more). However, what interests me is if the discussion is had within Egyptian society, or if it's only feminists outside of Egypt supporting her and advocating women's rights based on this action?
For instance, how will this Israeli women's initiative help the discussion in Egypt? http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4150344,00.html
Or the hundreds of Iranian women for that matter, who've spoken up in support, and in some cases have even shed their clothes. At any rate, I want to hear about Egyptian women! Let's see if we can find a few.
Conservative elements in the revolution are quick to brush her aside as a plot to derail the revolution. Here's an article in which it's claimed even the April 6th Youth movement denies such a person could ever be part of their revolution: http://www.albawaba.com/editorchoice/naked-blogger-egypt-aliaa-ostracized-401455
Anyway, now you know who she is and why you should follow developments around this story. I'll post more as the story develops.
PS. You'll be happy to know that my friend Arturo (de)Simone is opening an exhibition of his work in the Mezrab. In the exhibition he features two drawings of Aliaa. Two other drawings of her made by Arturo are currently up on her blog, so go check it out.
Saturday, 13 August 2011
More Syrian linkage
A great report by a (Syrian) traveler writing his personal observations in Syria.
http://www.joshualandis.com/blog/?p=11352
taken from the blog that in itself is a wealth of information:
http://www.joshualandis.com/
Cities rally for and agains Assad
http://globalvoicesonline.org/2011/08/11/syria-world-cities-rally-against-and-for-bashar/
Friday, 12 August 2011
Some Syrian links
Radio Zamaneh interviews a Syrian activist (Persian):
http://radiozamaneh.com/politics/2011/08/10/6097
A European blogger updates us on Syria (English):
http://www.voxorient.com/
New York Times talkes about Iraq supporting Syria's Assad regime:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/13/world/middleeast/13iraq.html?_r=1
Syria & Iran
Overheard from a Syrian activist during the Egyptian revolts: "If they fail in Egypt, there is no hope for us in Syria". True words and they didn't fail, though what they achieved in Egypt remains fragile and is still in danger of being wiped out by the military council.
What was said about Egypt however, also applies to Syria and maybe to a larger scale. Because of its geo-political position, if Syria fails, there's no hope for the rest of the Middle-East. If people manage to get their basic human and political rights, this is a blow to both Iran and Hezbollah, who lose an important ally in the region. It also shows the people in other regional dictatorships that this type of protest cannot be silenced, even with the level of brutality show by the regime of Assad.
For Syrians especially Iranians have become the cartoonesque bad-guys to be feared and hated. Videos appeared on the internet of (alleged) Iranian forces being captured by demonstrators and questioned about their role in helping Syrian armed forces in squashing dissent. It is important to note that the Iranian post-election protests of 2009 where not shown in Syria. Many Syrians are unaware of Iranians showing their discontent with their government and the large amount of students, lawyers, journalists, politicians and ordinary citizens locked up to this day.
Friends told me of their visits to Paris this week, going to Syrian protests and being afraid to identify themselves as Iranians.
It is instrumental that in this time when our governments find ways of collaborating the Syrians and Iranian people do the same. We don't share a language, but we do share a common dream of democracy, freedom and dignity.
---
An insightful article on the struggle in Syria here:
http://www.merip.org/mero/mero081011
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