· December, 2008

Stories about Digital Activism from December, 2008

Morocco: “We Are All Gaza”

  31 December 2008

Rabat is 2,393 miles away from Gaza as the crow flies, but that doesn't stop Moroccans from feeling a strong sense of solidarity with Palestinians. As Israel's attacks against Gaza continue to worsen, Morocco's bloggers continue to speak out.

Bermuda, Grenada: Freedom of Information

  31 December 2008

Bermudian blogger Vexed Bermoothes reports that Grenada is in the process of introducing a Freedom of Information Act and public sector integrity legislation, with additional plans to “establish a common code of practice and ethics for media.”

Iran: Two bloggers in jail

  31 December 2008

Iranian judicial authorities announced that Hossein Derakhshan was being held in prison in connection with his comments about key figures of the Shiite faith.In the same time several bloggers such as Freedomvatan reported [fa] that Esmail Jafari, a journalist and blogger ‘was arrested by Iranian security agents’.

Egypt: Solidarity with Palestine

  30 December 2008

Since they’ve heard, Egyptian Bloggers expressed their immediate solidarity with their Palestine brothers against the brutal attack. Everybody condemned the Siege, as well as the blind Israeli bombings that does not differentiate between killing militants or civilians, women, children and men. Mostafa launched a Jaiku channel to pass news about...

Syria: More on the Israeli Massacre in Palestine

  30 December 2008

Diana Ghazzawi, a Gazan blogger who is now based in North America, shares with us her worries that she might not meet her relatives in Gaza one day, if they don't get lucky from the strategic Israeli shelling on the Gazans: This is not about politics. It's not about specifics...

Syria: Myths about Israeli Attacks in Palestine

  30 December 2008

Our coverage of Syrian bloggers reacting on the ongoing Israeli war in Palestine continues. Israel is still proceeding the attacks in Palestine for the forth day causing 385 civilian deaths and leaving 1700 injured. Yaman Salahi, a Syrian blogger based in the US, has posted a note on his Facebook...

Serbia: Blogger Krugolina Borup Wins Disruption Prize

  30 December 2008

On Dec. 18, Sinisa Boljanovic wrote about Serbian blogger Krugolina Borup and her "Mother Courage" initiative. A few days later, Krugolina Borup (whose real name is Branka Stamenkovic) became the fifth laureate of the Disruption Prize, which Luna TBWA Agency has been awarding to individuals or organizations from Serbia for social liability and changing of social conventions.

Cuba: Waiting for Cable

  29 December 2008

The submarine cable linking Cuba and Venezuela has “a vague completion date” of 2011, but Generation Y is clear about “what this projected umbilical cord should bring us.”

Bahamas: Students & Drugs

  29 December 2008

“In the Bahamas, the average age for male and female students who peddle and smoke weed/drugs is age 13 and 14, respectively”: Adrian Gibson at Weblog Bahamas says that “the illicit drug plague has ripped our social fabric and will unremittingly haunt the history of our island chain for many...

Haiti: Restavek

  29 December 2008

“In the truest definition of the word it means ‘one who stays with'”: Tara at The Livesay Haiti Weblog says that the Restavek system “might be one of the most frustrating ones of all for me to accept. The fact that children are used for labor and for the benefit...

Trinidad & Tobago, Cuba: City of Contradictions

  29 December 2008

Trinidadian blogger Tattoo spends Christmas in Havana and comes away with the impression that “the revolution has not achieved a new equilibrium. Instead, it has re-appropriated the inequalities inherent in any capitalist society and ensured that those in power are the haves as opposed to the have nots. And this...

Bangladesh: Microblogging an election

  29 December 2008

In a few hours time 81 million Bangladeshi voters (51% women) will go to vote for the ninth parliamentary election. The election is crucial for the nation as it will bring the country back into the track of democracy after two years of emergency rule of an interim government backed...