Stories about Arabic from February, 2008
Iraq: Ben Kerishan and Wahhabism
Emirati Ben Kerishan blogger (Arabic) provides a concise, humorous and insightful summary of the history of development of Salafist Wahhabism in Saudi Arabia, one of the most dangerous evils in our present world, writes Iraqi blogger Abbas Hawazin in this post.
Egypt: Praying against Mubarak in the Metro
From an offer to give up a seat at the metro, to an impromptu protest against Egyptian President Mohamed Hosni Mubarak. Eman Abdurahman brings us the story from Egypt.
Yemen: Gaza, My Grandmother and Candles
Yemeni blogger Maysaa Shuja has written a profoundly thoughtful post about candles, electricity, and the possible introduction of nuclear energy to her native country - a country which cannot supply a steady stream of electricity. And while the outpour of sympathy for Gaza and its electricity problems continue, Maysaa Shuja talks about how her enterprising grandmother, may Allah rest her soul in peace, taught them the value of candles at their greatest hours of need.
Kuwait: Celebrating National Day through Art
5roofa, from Kuwait, posts the art works of students from the class she teaches to mark her country's National Day.
Bahrain: Lost causes?
Recently a number of bloggers have complained about a lack of real education, a lack of critical thinking, and a lack of political engagement in Bahrain. Ayesha Saldanha tunes into the Bahraini blogosphere to bring us the story.
Kuwait: A Dusty but Profitable Week
Dust storms are wreaking havoc in Kuwait. But amid the dust, there is a silver lining, with a Cabinet decision to grant an extra KD120 (US $435) monthly bonus for Kuwaitis employed in the public and private sectors. Abdullatif AlOmar has more.
San Francisco Gay Choir, in Arabic
Zizou from Djerba blogs about the San Francisco Gay Choir‘s performance of Safeer El Layl, quite possibly the world's first gay-themed choral number to be written and sung in Arabic.
Lebanon: Escalations Continue
“Hizballah and Amal continue to pit the Lebanese Shiite community against the rest of their compatriots in an effort to satisfy the agendas of their regional allies,” remarks Blacksmith Jade, who also links to videos of the latest political situation in Lebanon.
Egypt: Dov'è L'Amore
Last Thursday was Valentine's Day, and for sure Egyptian bloggers couldn't miss such opportunity without writing about it, or even dedicating a special recipe of a Chocolate Pie for this occasion and calling it "The meal of Love". Tarek Amr has more.
Bahrain: Songs Exchanged between Saudis and Egyptians
From Bahrain, Silly Bahraini Girl posts two videos – one showing a rap song by Saudis targeted against Egyptians and the other containing a response for the first video.
Middle East: Protesting Love
Valentine's Day has come and gone, but in the Middle East, the debate still continues on whether it is an occasion which should be celebrated or shunned. With both Saudi Arabia and Kuwait warning against Valentine's Day celebrations, bloggers had a lot to talk about.
Arabeyes: No to ‘Offensive’ Blogs
The Arab Bloggers Union is urging (Ar) bloggers to report 'offensive' blogs. The aim is to curtail the spread of offensive material online, which the union says threatens our morals, ethics and values.
Bahrain: Response to Hezbollah leader's death
Hezbollah has wide support in Bahrain, and there has been an immediate response to the news of the death of Imad Mughniyeh, a top Hezbollah leader, reports Ayesha Saldanha.
Egypt: On Winning the African cup of Nation, Ghana 2008
Ask any Egyptian, he’d tell you that last Sunday night, February the 10th, wasn’t like any night.. a night like “thousand nights”.. Egypt won the African Cup of Nations in Ghana 2008 after a fierce match with Cameron 1-0. A marvelous score in a beautiful ditto between Abu Tarika and Zeidan. Egypt won.. Celebrations was almost every where on each and every street in Egypt, as well as in many other Arab countries.
Bahrain: For sale?
In this post we look at some of things that Bahraini bloggers have been saying during the last month. We start with a complaint about the privatisation of utilities in Bahrain, followed by an opinion about changes at the Ministry of Information, and another about the role bloggers can play...
Syria: Free Tariq Campaign
Syrian blogs are abuzz at the moment with another crack down on freedom of speech by the Syrian regime. Except, this time it's one of our own. Tariq's case took around six months to catch the attention of bloggers - six months he's still languishing in jail, writes Yazan Badran.
Egypt: Twitter Messages from Gaza
Nora Younis from Egypt writes about her visit to Gaza and shares her Twitter messages in this post.
Kuwait: Crazy Month Rolls By
It's been a 'crazy' period of life at the Kuwaiti blogosphere, reports Abdullatif Al Omar - from crazy weather patterns to nutty Internet connections and price hikes.