The latest news is that talks are set to resume on February 10, informally, in upstate New York. Bloggers are weighing in with their thoughts on what the future might hold for the region. Maghreb Blog, whose author is based in the U.S., gives a bit of background to the conflict, and offers this opinion:

If the plan is not to their liking, which is obviously the case, then it is incumbent upon Algeria and the Polisario to step up to the plate and propose a non-obstructionist, realistic alternative. The blind rejectionism of anything Moroccan will only lead to maintaining the current status-quo largely in favor of Morocco at this point. Any meaningful compromise between Morocco and Algeria is beneficial, not only to the two countries, but also to the other three countries in the Maghreb region, as it could be a tremendous step towards full economic and political integration.

Commenter Chasli expresses disagreement with the blogger's assessment, saying:

You and clearly Rabat are in total denial that the Polisario has already offered a plan. Shortly before Morocco officially came forward with their autonomy plan the Polisario presented a plan that called for a referendum that, as far as I can tell, could include just about anything as long as it included independence as an option. And if the inhabitants voted for independence the Polisario pledged to allow the illegal Morrocan colonists to remain and to institute a special relationship with Morocco. This is I feel a very impressive compromise that deals with a number of Rabat's concerns; however, because Rabat flatly refuses to discuss the UN-mandated referendum on self-determination they have totally ignored the Polisario plan.

The debate continues throughout the comments section.  Blogger Analitikis also takes on the subject in a recent post; discussing a recently-issued UN statement, the blogger writes:

Reading the statement and subsequent euphoria on the seeming acceptance of the parties to engage in yet another round of “talks”, one would think that a resolution to the Western Sahara conflict is within reach; that all it takes is a Security Council’s resolution, a Secretary General’s report, a Special Representative’s statement, and a parties half-hearted acceptance for a 35-year-long intractable conflict to be resolved. Little attention is paid to the process, to the parties’ readiness, and to the contextual conditions that may signal the opposite. As far as I know, neither the parties nor the UN (I use the term loosely here) are ready for any kind of serious and honest engagement that would put an end to the conflict of attrition known as the Western Sahara conflict.

Ethan Bronner referred your query to me, the foreign editor. Here is my comment: Mr. Bronner's son is a young adult who makes his own decisions. At The Times, we have found Mr. Bronner's coverage to be scrupulously fair and we are confident that will continue to be the case.

Nearly two weeks later, the NYT's Public Editor, Clark Hoyt, stated in his column that he too believed that Bronner should be reassigned.  Executive editor Bill Keller disagreed.

The Angry Arab, whose prior comments can be found here, here, and here, was unconvinced by Keller's explanation:

If only one reporter for the New York Times would, for purposes of an experiment, announces that he/she has a son who has joined Hamas or Hizbullah forces, we would like then to see if Bill Keller would make the arguments that he has made regarding Ethan Bronner's son. I mean, Mr. Keller. Who are you kidding?

Arab-American blogger Suleika Jaouad sees the case as not being about Bronner, but as part of a larger issue:

This disturbing imbalance in the Times' reporting on the conflict raises some serious ethical questions about Zionism in the US media. Journalist Philip Weiss, on his blog Mondoweiss, lists a few of them: how deep does it go, and will anyone ever look into it? And on from that, Why are so many of the MSM reporters on Israel/Palestine Jews with intimate ties to Israel? When do [Arab-Americans] get to cover this story?

Palestinian writer Ali Abunimah, who is a co-founder of Electronic Intifada, raises an interesting question to that effect on Twitter:

Abunimah expands on that question on Mondoweiss, then takes it a bit further.  Like Jaouad, he sees the problem as going beyond the case of Ethan Bronner and toward the question of equality.  After clarifying his belief that being Jewish does not pose a conflict of interest in reporting on Israel (”So anyone who says that being Jewish automatically leads to pro-Israel bias is wrong”), he brings up the example of Palestinian Times journalist Taghreed El-Khodary, saying:

Yes, recently they have had Taghreed El-Khodary in Gaza […] But here is a crucial point: El-Khodary is allowed to report only on Palestinians. Neither she nor any other Arab reporter is allowed to report on Israeli Jews. While Jews/Americans may report on Palestinians, the converse is not true. Why is this? It must be — I assume — because there is an inherent, perhaps unacknowledged assumption that an Arab/Palestinian is or will be automatically biased against Israelis/Jews. Whereas, we are supposed to accept that in no case is a Jewish reporter who identifies with Israel biased even when his son has joined an occupation army that is raiding Palestinian refugee camps and communities dozens of times per week. Seriously?

To what can we attribute this double-standard? I am afraid it smacks of racism.

Following the censorship of Fatma Arabicca and Sofiene Chourabi's blogs, two other blogs had been censored. One of them is the Free Jailed Tunisian students , seen in the following screen shot:

The second blog blocked is Nocturnal Thoughts . The censorship of the latter created a wave of protests on the Tunisian blogosphere.

Ghodwa Nahrek(Tomorrow I will illegally immigrate) wrote:

Matrka(Hammer) blogged saying:

Samsoum blogged under the title Ammar does not like thoughts and thinkers especially those who blog about their nocturnal thoughts saying:

A few months ago, Ardroid was launched. Touted as the “first Arabic website” focused on reviews, tips, and tweaks related to Google's new Android OS. The website went into the war of words head on with its reviews of Android phones, and its comparisons to the iPhone and more recently the iPad. Most recently commenting on the latest remarks from Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO and mastermind, about Google:

The response from the Apple community came in quick, with the launch of iPhad - a technology website focused on the iPhone and the newly released iPad. And don't let the striking similarity in design fool you, they also mean business, and just like that in their Statement No. 1, they went on the offense:

And so, the battle begins for the hearts and minds and phones of Syrian and Arab techies.

Syrian Air - Photo courtesy of Fadi Halisso

Starting with the Syria Accountability Act (SAA) of 2004, the U.S. has implemented a series of trade and financial sanctions on Syria. The sanctions are affecting the daily lives of Syrian citizens in several areas including: travel restrictions and a ban on software and IT export, as well as business limitations.

Also, the sanctions have hit hard the national carrier, Syrian Air. With a ban on buying new commercial jets or even spare parts for the existing fleet, the number of operational planes shrunk to three airplanes only.

Realizing the paralyzing blow to the Syrian air travel industry,  a group of Syrian youth started a campaign in support of Syrian Air. They have launched a website and a Facebook group, and have gathered over a thousand supporters in less than a month. The campaign's website states:

We are calling all who are in charge to release the sanctions on Syrian Air, Syrian Air have the right to buy spare parts and aircrafts..

And the campaigners point out that the sanctions endanger civilian passengers on board those planes:

Syrian Air transport civilian from different nationalities.. safety is number one in air transportation… Stop the Sanctions NOW!

Syrian blogger Fadi Halisso writes [ar] about the campaign on his blog خربشات (Kharbashat: scribbles):

دعونا نسمع صوتنا، صوت المواطن السوري العادي الذي يغار على بلده وعلى شركات بلده الوطنية. لنسمع صوتنا بالعربية وبكل اللغات الممكنة، دونوا بكل اللغات لنوصل صوتنا إلى حكومتنا، الى الحكومة الأمريكية وإلى كل أصقاع العالم بأننا نرفض هكذا عبثية غير مفهومة لا تؤذي إلا المواطن السوري المشغول بملاحقة لقمة عيشه التي لم تسرقها بعد المافيات التجارية ولم تصادرها العقوبات الغبية.

Mohammad N. Khatib was one of the first Palestinian bloggers to write about the subject, on his blog 3X-W=WWW. In his article “Internet in Palestine - It just keep getting worse!” Khatib says:

“It turned out that the rumors are true! Hadara (Paltel) the Palestinian main Internet Service Provider (ISP) is trying their best to make their internet suck more and more. It's already expensive, slow and now the biggest surprise it is limited!
Yes you now will have a monthly limit on your Downloads! If you have 512KB ADSL connection, you will have 10GB download limitation per month. Once you've exceeded the 10GB, your connection will turn into a 64KB connection till the end of the month! The user then can buy extra up to 6 GB (by a package 2, 4 or 6 GB) for 12NIS (about 3.5$) for each 2GB!“

Ibrahim Jabour in his blog clickontech has published a report about this hot topic in Palestine:

On Facebook, many groups have been created by angry Palestinians users who have started a movement objecting to the new Paltel policy.

All are Facebook groups that represent online campaigns against the Paltel decision; the wall pages of these groups are full of expressions of dissatisfaction written by Palestinian members, and they have lists of signatures against the decision. They also have discussion boards about the subject. In these discussions many people have threatened to launch demonstrations in the streets, and to boycott Paltel services. Some of them even go farther and suggest that Palestinian customers should change their contracts from Paltel to Israeli communication companies.

Our first stop will be at Hanzala's Departure unto God, where he writes about his decision to quit his job:

We leave Hanzala to ponder the derelict state of Syria's public sector and his decision to quit, and we move to a little more joyful topic.

As with every Friday, the blogosphere was blessed with the new installment of Abufares and Mariyah's Sea Side collaborative story. In Part 29, you'll read:

Yasmina sat down on the couch behind me. Obviously she had seen way beyond the sexy smile.”Oh, Houssam. Oh god, Houssam.” She couldn’t hold back her tears and as she cried her heart out again, I knew that I couldn’t let her down. I would just have to hope that Youssef would forgive me…someday.

“We’ll go in the morning, Yasmina. I’ll be here early. Ok?” I said as soothingly as I could.

And on the topic of love and Valentines, Untold Damascene Stories, the blog of FW Magazine, publishes a report about the commercialization of Valentine's Day on the streets of Damascus:

For Syrians, who also aren’t safe from the hands of commercialism, the rituals of valentine start a month before Feb the 14th. Guys start calling their friends to ask for money; No “man” wants to be caught penniless in front of their girl friends on Valentine’s. Restaurants start preparations with decorations and special offers “For Families Only,” “No single men allowed.” 50 liras red roses magically gain an extra zero, turning to 500 liras. And finally, cell phone companies start spamming their customers with bulk messages, such as: “Send a message to #### with your partner’s name to join the ‘Lover’s Day competition’ or to ‘test your compatibility.’”

Politics is also a featured staple in any conversation, and Syria Comment brings us the latest updates and analysis from around Syria and the world, with the provocative headline of “Has Washington Decided to Focus on Syrian-Israeli Peace?“:

In short, the return of an ambassador is good, but playing along with a peace process that is long on process and short on peace will be difficult for Syria, which has none of the media savvy that Israel has. Damascus undoubtedly fears that Mitchell will ask Syrians to meet with Netanyahu without conditions. Syria believes this is tantamount to normalizing relations without any Israeli concession.

And finally, we'll sit down with Syrian Foodie in London, and finish our tour with a delicious Damascene treat, Ful Nabit:

Ful Nabit is boiled fava beans served with salt and cumin. The seller cart will have huge pot with the beans slowly simmering. The beans are served in a proper glass or china bowls rather than paper wrap or a plastic plate, which I find adds a nice touch. to the experience. You usually get a glass of the cooking stock and half a lemon to accompany your ful. The cooking stock flavoured with salt, cumin and a squeeze of lemon makes a delicious (but not at all pretty) side drink.

Zeinobia wrote here about the Egyptian victory saying:

The victory wasn't only celebrated here in Egypt. In Qatar, Qatar Living wrote here about the victory, and the expected sleepless night in Doha:

An Egyptian blogger living in USA, Egyptian Wish, wrote a new post here saying:

Also in Palestine, Hamas didn't miss the opportunity, and congratulated the Egyptians on their seventh Championship. Kelmety wrote about it here:

Zeinobia wrote another post here, about the Egyptian president's sons, who went to Angola to support the Egyptian football team:

Another blogger, My Oblivia, had a different point of view here:

And finally, the Egyptian national team usually adds a new star on their jersey every time they win the African Cup of Nations. But Adel Ghaly was wondering here if we have any place left for an extra star:

It took Morocco decades of struggle and the end of the cold war with an ailing dictator who, having lost his geo-strategic clout and sensing his death approaching, finally decided to relinquish power and open up the system in an effort to guaranty a smooth transfer of authority to his son, to see the emergence of a new breed of irreverent journalism. The French language weekly news magazine Le Journal Hebdomadaire, founded in the mid-90s thanks to an unusual alliance of benevolent capital and highly skilled western trained journalists, initiated a long line of privately owned independent newspapers critical of the government and the Moroccan establishment at large. Targeting the Moroccan cosmopolitan elite, “Le Journal Hebdo” rapidly became iconic, embarking on a decade long confrontational quest for factual truths, challenging the most powerful tenants of the local regime, revisiting official history, flirting with the red lines imposed by the government and exploring many taboos.

There was a time when Arab dictatorships used to extra-judicially clampdown on dissenting voices in a gross demonstration of authority. The popular rumor would have it that in every house and every street, in every newsroom of every publication government had its eyes and ears ready to report on anyone who wasn't in line with the prescribed official discourse. Today, repression of independent voices goes through a protracted but sophisticated process of harassment by a judiciary system under orders from the executive and boycott from advertisers keen to please the authorities. That's what happened to Le Journal Hebdo, which now faces closure after a commercial court in Casablanca declared the publishing group behind the magazine bankrupt, crippled by a series of libel fines, by taxes and an insurmountable debt - a development which many interpreted as the final and deadly blow to the publication.

The New York-based media watchdog Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the development and recaps the most recent judicial episode in a chain of condemnations and fines that eventually led to the administrative termination of the publication:

Le Journal Hebdomadaire was dealt a devastating financial blow in 2006 when a Moroccan court ordered that it pay 3 million dirhams (US$354,000) damages in a defamation case […] Jamaï (director and co-founder of the publication) left the country after the 2006 court decision and a series of government-inspired cases of harassment against the newsmagazine. Harassment of Le Journal Hebdomadaire appeared to ease for a time. But when Jamaï returned to Morocco in 2009 and resumed his critical journalism, he said, the government intensified its efforts to have advertisers boycott Le Journal Hebdomadaire. In September 2009, the Supreme Court upheld the damage award in the [defamation] case.

Issandr El Amrani writing on The Arabist blog says he received a message from Aboubakr Jamaï (Bou Bakr) announcing the official death of Le Journal Hebdomadaire. He writes:

I just received very sad news from Abou Bakr Jamai [Fr], the editor behind one of Morocco's most courageous publications and one that had been a symbol of the opening that began in the mid-1990s under King Hassan II and petered out under the rather aimless reign of his son, Muhammad VI. Bou Bakr wrote:

After all your prediction about the end of Le Journal has been proven on the money. Le Journal Hebdo has been shut down. Yesterday, 5, yes 5, bailiffs showed up armed with a court decision to take over Le Journal Hebdomadaire and the company behind it, Trimedia.. What is still unclear to us is the legal argument that led the judge from the receivership procedure of Mediatrust to act against trimedia. The only link is the title:”Le Journal Hebdomadaire” but the title is owned by the publisher himself not the company. Although we are waiting to get a clearer legal picture, we can already officially announce the death of Le Journal Hebdomaire.

El Amrani also wrote an op-ed about the issue on The Guardian/Observer British newspapers' online blogging platform, Comment Is Free. He mourns Le Journal and warns about a worrying pattern of repression and authoritarianism:

Most of all, Le Journal tried to keep officials honest about the democratisation that they promised in speeches. It relentlessly campaigned for constitutional reform that would shift political power from the palace to parliament. For many of my generation of Moroccans, it provided a political education and an inspiring example of outspokenness.
[…]The most worrying thing is that its closure comes amid other signs of a renewed authoritarianism. The methods originally used against Le Journal have become a commonplace method of disciplining the press. Other critics of the monarchy, for instance in Morocco's vibrant blogosphere, are now dealt with severely. Political reform has hit a standstill, and the regime's human rights record has regressed.
Le Journal's sad demise is now only one of many signals that something is rotten in the kingdom of Morocco.

Blogger Jillian C. York adds to Al Amrani's comment saying:

[T]he closure of Le Journal does not alone indicate Morocco’s slide backwards. The arrests of bloggers Bashir Hazzem, Mohammed Erraji, and Boubaker Al-Yadib, of Facebooker Fouad Mourtada, of countless journalists, should speak for themselves. Yet, Morocco continues to maintain an appearance of moving forward, especially to the United States, which proudly touts Morocco’s Mudawana (or family code) and subsequent other new rights to women as evidence.

This is an issue that cannot, must not be ignored. Morocco, in case I don’t say it enough, is a beautiful place. I spent more than two wonderful years there, and would still happily go back, despite its faults. But in order for Morocco, for any country, to continue down the road of progress, free expression is non-negotiable.

Moroccan online news magazine Hesspress [Ar] deplores the deafening silence and lack of solidarity in face of mounting repression:

Many bloggers have been commenting on the development like Anas Alaoui [Fr] who bemoans the loss of a unique news outlet:

J’aimerais tout simplement remercier Le Journal et les personnes y ayant travaillé. Je les remercie pour l’effort engagé dans cette première marocaine quand on a cru à une ouverture, une certaine ouverture tout du moins. Je les remercie pour le courage et le dévouement dans leur tâche d’informer le public. Ils ont été les premiers à briser des tabous. Ils ont été les premiers à dire des choses vraies. Nous pouvons être d’accord ou pas avec les éditos écrits dans ce magazine. Nous pouvons être d’accord ou pas avec les analyses qui y ont été publiées, mais nous ne pouvons nier le fait que le Journal Hebdo a changé la pratique journalistique marocaine. Désormais, il y a un avant Journal Hebdo et un après Journal Hebdo.

The end of Le Journal Hebdomadaire signals a dangerous setback for the state of freedoms in Morocco. It pulls a thorn out of the regime's side but it also sends a strong message to the remaining independent media still struggling to survive in an increasingly repressive environment. This leaves the question about whether the online media and citizen journalism will constitute a breathing space for voices of dissent in countries like Morocco to vent their grievances, convey the truth and hold their governments accountable.

Two bloggers and members of the “Committee of Human Rights” (Chrr), Mehrdad Rahimi and Kouhyar Goudarzi (photographed above: Goudarzi, left, and Rahimi, right) have been accused of wanting to wage “a war against God,” and charged as being “Mohareb” (enemies of God). Their charges are similar to those against the two men who were executed this week in Tehran. Reporters without Borders writes other bloggers who are members of the committee have also been arrested in recent weeks. They are Parisa Kakei, who was arrested on January 2; Shiva Nazar Ahari on December 24; and Said Kanaki and Said Jalali on December 1. They are all still being held in Section 209 of Tehran’s notorious Evin prison and are being subjected to considerable pressure to name other members of the committee and to call for it to be disbanded.

Chrr writes [fa] that Mehrdad Rahimi is under pressure to do a “television confession.”

This organization adds:

Koohyar Goodarzi, journalist and human rights activist, has reportedly been transferred from solitary confinement to a three-person cell in Ward 209 of Evin prison. Goodarzi has been detained since December 20, 2009.

It is not clear that how much their blogging activities played in their arrest but both of them used to blog on human rights issues.

Mehrdad Rahimi in his blog talked about diverse social, political and economic issues such as labour rights. He once wrote:

Many got arrested for months without any right to have access to any lawyer.

Koohyar Goodarzi in a long post asked for freedom for other members of the Committee of Human Rights.

Iranian authorities have jailed several bloggers such as Hossien Derakhshan in recent years. Omid Reza Mir Sayafi, a 29-year old Iranian blogger and journalist died in Evin Prison in Tehran on March 18, 2009.