Global Voices » Middle East & North Africa

Yemen: Millions Go Hungry in Ongoing Food Crisis

Noon Arabia — Mon, 21 May 2012 15:44:18 +0000

In Yemen, one of the poorest countries in the Arab world, millions of people are facing a severe humanitarian crisis, widespread hunger and chronic malnutrition.

In March the charity Oxfam International gave a dire warning in a press release:

Yemen is at the crossroads of humanitarian catastrophe international aid agency Oxfam said today in reaction to new figures from the World Food Programme, which showed a radical increase in the number of people facing severe hunger in the country. The new figures indicate that 45 percent of the population in Yemen do not have enough to eat - more than 10 million people, with half of these people severely food insecure and in need of urgent emergency aid.

However, mainstream media is more interested in the existence of Al Qaeda in the country, supposedly justifying the US drone war.

Yemeni Mohammed Adel Alamer tweeted in dismay:

@M7mmdAdel: 10 million Yemenis facing #famine in Yemen! The world only cares about #Qaeda and #DroneStrikes them and to hell with the 10 million

Oxfam offered more figures:

@Oxfam:.@WFP [World Food Programme] reports #Yemen food insecurity levels have doubled since 2009. Today 5 million people go hungry so often that it affects their long-term health

Yemen has had massive food security problems for years, and Al Jazeera English recently produced two videos highlighting how the ongoing political turmoil has aggravated the situation and is putting the lives of many children at risk.

British-Yemeni blogger Omar tweeted Al Jazeera's photo of a severely malnourished child:

@OmarMash: ‘The tiny bodies are still breathing' - Babies starve in Yemen's hospitals, he's a lucky one, he made to the hospital.

Severely malnourished Yemeni child, Sana'a, Yemen, April 2012. Image by Al Jazeera (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

Yemeni blogger Afrah Nasser wrote a post entitled “Hunger in Yemen”:

Food crisis is increasingly becoming epidemic in Yemen. Reports of starvation and malnutrition among children in Yemen have been gripping headlines for a while. Last night [April 27], UNICEF spokesman Mr. Mohammed al-Asaadi spoke to al-Jazeera about this issue and said, “Around 1 million children are food insecure and malnourished. At least 120 thousand under-5 children may die between now and the end of 2012 if no action is taken.” […] I wonder what the government is doing exactly to tackle this issue. It's really sad that politicians in Yemen could ignore the children's plight.

Omar tweeted:

@OmarMash: The #YemenFoodCrisis is only going to increase in severity if not immediately dealt with by international donors, the Yemen government and the GCC [Gulf Cooperation Council].

He added:

@OmarMash: I have a horrible feeling that in 6 months time the #YemenFoodCrisis will at its peak, only then will the world's attention be focused.

London-based Yemeni Loubna Maktary urged immediate action to be taken to save Yemen's dying children:

@LoubbyM: Children in Yemen are dying of HUNGER!!! Stop ignoring them. Yemen is not a political problem, it is a human catastrophe #YemenFoodCrisis (:

It is hoped that the food crisis will be discussed at the Friends of Yemen Conference in Riyadh on May 23. UNICEF has called for children to be kept at the centre of the conference's security and political dialogues.

To learn more about Yemen's food crisis read this Storify.

Turkey: Poetic Commemoration of Uludere Airstrike Victims

Stratos Moraitis — Mon, 21 May 2012 12:59:33 +0000

On December 29, 2011 in southeastern Turkey several Turkish Airforce F-16s bombed a convoy of Turkish Kurds on mules who were engaged in border trade, apparently mistaking them for Kurdish rebels. Thirty-four were killed; the average age of the victims was twenty.

While the Uludere (Roboski) bombing is still in the news headlines today, interest has been focused on the government's silence and the ongoing investigation, and the human side of the tragedy has been neglected.

However, last week poet and author Bejan Matur visited the region and posted her impressions on her Twitter account [tr], in both her poetic prose and photos.

A mother at her son's grave.

@bejanmatur: bugün geldim roboskiye ve gidemedim. yaslı kızkardeşlerin sesleri bırakmadı beni…

I arrived at Roboski today and couldn't leave. The voices of mourning sisters didn't let me.

@bejanmatur: roboskide gece;sınıra düşen top sesleri, F-16 ucusşları ve bütün gün mezarlıkta ağıt yakan kadınların anlattığı ölü oğullar. ahh yeter mi?

Night in Roboski: shelling on the border, the sounds of F-16 flights, and fallen sons about whom mothers ululate all day long at the cemetery. Ah, is that enough?

At her brother's grave.

@bejanmatur: o kadar uzaktık birbirimizden. o kadar yalnız kendimizle…

We were so far away from each other… However in solitude with ourselves…

@bejanmatur: Tum bunlar olurken butun gece ve gun roboskide top sesleri dinmedi. helikopterler, karsi tepelerden yukselen dumanlar arasinda yasanan hayat

As these events were happening, all day and all night shelling sounds never ceased at Roboski. A life between ever-flying helicopters and smoke from the shells on the mountain across.

His look…

@bejanmatur: 'Aile ici siddet nasil korkuncsa bizim cocuklarimiz da bu seslerle buyuyor' diyor biri roboskideki top seslerini kastederek.

Someone said, “These sounds have the same effect on children as an abusive family.” He meant the sound of heavy artillery.

@bejanmatur: Olumden duyduklari aciyi azaltacak tek sey sorumlularin cezalandirilmasi cunku!

The only thing that would ease their pain would be the conviction of those responsible!

To live and to die at Roboski.

As one of Bejan's poems says:

Beklemeyi bilen kan,
Taş olmayı da bilir.
Dünyada olmak acıdır. Öğrendim.

Blood that knows how to wait
Knows how to be a stone.
Being on earth is pain itself. I've learned.

Bejan Matur was born in 1968 in an Alevi Kurdish family in the city of Marash in southeast Turkey. As well as being a poet she is a newspaper columnist and runs a cultural foundation in Diyarbakır.

All photos courtesy of Bejan Matur.

Israel: Increase in Racism Against African Asylum Seekers

Elizabeth Tsurkov — Mon, 21 May 2012 09:07:28 +0000

In the past few weeks two cases of rape of Jewish women by Eritrean and Sudanese asylum seekers have been reported in the Israeli media, prompting a new wave of racism against asylum seekers in Israel.

Israel is currently home to about 45,000 asylum seekers; over 80% of them are from Eritrea and Sudan, who are barred from gaining refugee status in Israel. Instead, the refugees receive a conditional temporary release, until their deportation is possible. Currently, since such deportation would endanger the lives of the asylum seekers, it is illegal according to both international law and Israeli law.

The Israeli government insists that the asylum seekers are in fact illegal economic migrants and refuses to grant them any rights. Top Israeli officials, including the Minister of Interior Eli Yishai and Prime Minister Netanyahu have consistently claimed that the refugees pose a demographic threat as well as a threat to Israel's national security.

Following the two incidents of rape, Yishai said in an interview that “most African infiltrators are are involved in crime” and stated that the solution would be to lock up all refugees and deport them. However, police statistics show that the general crime rate in Israel is more than double that of Africans in Israel.

Racist graffiti in Hativa neighborhood, southern Tel Aviv. The graffiti reads "Sudanese go home" and "Price tag". Photo courtesy of Alon Sherf.

Blogger Shooky Galili has written [he] about the government's policy of sending the refugees to the poorest neighborhoods of Tel Aviv the moment they get out of detention (which they enter after crossing the border with Egypt):

מבחינת המדינה הם היו שקופים מאז ומתמיד. לא ספרו אותם. אז זה לא מפתיע שדווקא במקום הזה מכל המקומות בחרה המדינה להשליך, כמו כלבים, מאות אפריקאים בכל שבוע. אלפי פליטים שאיש לא דאג להם ללבוש, מקלט, עבודה או שירותים רפואיים. ביניהם עריקים מצבאות אכזריים, אסירים נמלטים, מתנגדי ממשל, אנשים שיקיריהם נרצחו, עונו ו/או נאנסו לנגד עיניהם וסתם אנשים שברחו מרעב, אלימות ופחד, למקום שחשבו שהוא אנושי יותר.

As far as the state is concerned, it has always ignored them [residents of the poor neighborhoods in Tel Aviv]. It's not surprising that in this place of all other places the state chose to dump, like dogs, hundreds of Africans every week. Thousands of refugees who no one provided with clothing, shelter, food or medical services. Among them are defectors from cruel armies [Eritrean refugees], escaped [political] prisoners, dissidents, people whose dear ones were murdered, tortured and/or raped before their eyes, or just people who escaped hunger, violence and fear, to a place they thought would be more humane.

Sigal Rozen, a prominent refugee rights activist from the Hotline for Migrant Workers (whose employees last week received death threats for assisting refugees), described the consequences of this incitement:

For the residents of southern Tel Aviv, where most of the refugees are concentrated, official crime rates undoubtedly do not matter. Their subjective feelings of fear are understandable. The irresponsible statements of senior police chiefs, together with the media coverage of actual incidents and the speeches of ministers and MKs, lead the residents to believe that almost all Africans walking the streets are criminals. This belief, and the fact that the streets of their neighborhoods are indeed filled with African newcomers, leads residents of the neighborhoods to the painful conclusion that the authorities are abandoning them. But this discourse has dangerous implications. In the last month, the number of hate crimes carried out by Israelis against Africans has risen tremendously. Multiple Molotov cocktails were thrown into houses of Africans in southern Tel Aviv on two separate occasions, a week apart.

Professor Moshe Negbi wrote on the 7th Eye blog about the role of the Israeli media [he]:

חיוני להזכיר למנסחי הכותרות ולכתבי הפלילים כי סעיף 14 לתקנון האתיקה של מועצת העיתונות – שכותרתו “אפליה וגזענות” – אוסר לאזכר את שיוכו של עבריין או חשוד למגזר כלשהו, אלא אם יש לשיוך האמור קשר מובהק וברור לעבריינותו. […] ברור שהכותרות “אריתריאים חשודים בתקיפה בדרום תל-אביב” ו”אפריקאי חשוד בשוד” אף הן עבירות קשות על הסעיף האמור, משום שבאזכור מוצאו האתני של העבריין יש כדי להטביע אות קין במצחם של כל בני עמו או גזעו.

כאשר הדבר נעשה בהקשר לתקיפות מיניות, העבירה חמורה ומסוכנת שבעתיים, משום שהפחד מ”הזר האפל”, המאיים כביכול על תומתן של בנותינו, הוא חומר הבעירה הגזעני הקטלני ביותר. מקומם שעורכים וכתבים מזינים בניסוחיהם את חומר הבעירה הזה. לא למותר לציין כי 85% מהתקיפות המיניות לא רק שאינן מבוצעות על-ידי “זר אפל”, אלא אחראים להן מכרים, קרובים או מעסיקים של הנאנסות.

It is crucial to remind editors in charge of phrasing headlines and crime reporters that Article 14 of the Ethics Regulations of the Israeli Press Council - entitled “Discrimination and Racism” - forbids mentioning the association of a criminal or a suspect with any sector of society, unless the affiliation to this group has a direct and clear connection to his crime. […] It is clear that the headlines “Eritreans suspected of an assault in southern Tel Aviv” and “African suspected of robbery” are grave violations of the aforementioned article, because the mentioning of the criminal's ethnicity implicates the criminal's entire people or race.

When it comes to sexual assaults, the violation [of the Ethics Regulations] is much more severe, since the fear of the “dark stranger”, who supposedly threatens the innocence of our daughters, is the most deadly racist combustive material. It is outrageous that editors and reporters feed the fire of this combustive material with their reports. Needless to say, 85% of sexual assaults [in Israel] not only do not involve a “dark stranger”, but happen at the hands of acquaintances, relatives or employers of the rape victims.

Injury of Eritrean man attacked by two Israelis holding broken bottles and a knife. Photo by Sigal Rozen on Facebook.

Yossi Gurvitz, leading Israeli leftist blogger, commented:

When the Israeli media reports a rape by “foreigners,” it engages in dog-whistling. It informs its readership that something much worse than rape took place: the defilement of the blood and honor of the Jewish people, the defiling of the honor of a daughter of Israel.

On his blog Room 404, Ido Kenan reported on the racist comments [he] posted by some Israelis in response to police requests for help in locating a five-year-old Eritrean girl who went missing (and was later found) in southern Tel Aviv:

הסטטוס זכה ל-300 שיתופים ולתגובות אמפתיות, אבל גם לכאלו של שנאה, גזענות וחוסר רגישות.
Avishay Vas: “תבדקו בחניונים…אולי סודני תקף אותה…”

The status [by the police, notifying that the girl went missing] received 300 shares and sympathetic reactions, but also comments filled with hatred, racism and insensitivity.
[For example] Avishay Vas: Check in the parking lots…Maybe a Sudanese man assaulted her…

Quick to joke about anything, Israelis on Twitter also commented on the growing wave of racism toward Africans:

Ayelet quipped:

זה בדיוק מה שישראל היתה צריכה עכשיו, גזענות נגד שחורים.

@a_Daydreamer: This is exactly what Israel needs right now, racism against black people.

Erez Raviv joked:

למה פאניקה ? קצת גזענות, קסנופוביה, פערים וריקבון חברתי לא הרגו אף אחד. בייחוד יהודים

@Erez_Raviv: Why all the panic? A little racism, xenophobia, inequality and social decay never killed anyone. Especially Jews

Palestine: Agreement Made to End Prisoners' Hunger Strike

Jummana Kahlout — Mon, 21 May 2012 06:43:10 +0000

On May 14 over 2000 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails ended their hunger strike after periods varying from 28 to 77 days. This decision to end their strike came after an agreement was reached between the Israel Prison Service (IPS) and the Palestinian committee in charge of prisoner affairs to ensure the basic rights of prisoners would be met.

The agreement came a day before the 64th Nakba Day on May 15, an annual day of commemoration of the ethnic cleansing of hundreds of Palestinian villages and cities following the Israeli Declaration of Independence in 1948.

The agreement consisted of five main provisions:

The prisoners would end their hunger strike following the signing of the agreement; there will be an end to the use of long-term isolation of prisoners for “security” reasons, and the 19 prisoners [currently in isolation] will be moved out of isolation within 72 hours; family visits for first degree relatives to prisoners from the Gaza Strip and for families from the West Bank who have been denied visits based on vague “security reasons” will be reinstated within one month; the Israeli intelligence agency guarantees that there will be a committee formed to facilitate meetings between the IPS and prisoners in order to improve their daily conditions; there will be no new administrative detention orders or renewals of administrative detention orders for the 308 Palestinians currently in administrative detention, unless the secret files, upon which administrative detention is based, contain “very serious” information.

Awareness about the hunger strike reached a peak in the days before the agreement was announced. On Facebook there was a huge public display of support as thousands of users changed their profile picture in solidarity with the 2500 Palestinian prisoners. The pictures showed blindfolded Palestinians in prison uniform.

Solidarity on Facebook. Image posted by ‏@tounsiwaftakhir.

Additionally, almost instantaneous updates on the strike were provided on Twitter under the hashtag #PalHunger. Palestinian blogger and activist Linah Al Saafin confirmed that Thaer Halahleh, a prisoner on hunger strike for 77 days, ended his strike following the agreement:

@LinahAlsaafin: BREAKING: #ThaerHalahleh's father just called me; told me Thaer has agreed to end his hunger strike on the morning of 15/5 Tears #PalHunger

Nevertheless, only two days after the agreement there was a general call to continue supporting the hunger strike, because administrative detention had not ended. The director of Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association, Sahar Francis, explained in an interview conducted by Electronic Intifada:

The success in this hunger strike doesn’t mean that the problem of the Palestinian political prisoners has reached an end, and they would be now living in perfect conditions, no. As well, the changes with administrative detention — until we get to monitor it on the practical level, we have to wait and see how it would work.

It is now apparent that a number of prisoners have resumed their hunger strike protesting Israel’s continued mistreatment of Palestinian prisoners, such as holding them in isolation.

Learning from the Palestinian hunger strikers: dignity first. Cartoon by Carlos Latuff.

Addameer provides constant updates on Twitter about prisoners. On May 17 it tweeted:

‏@Addameer_ps: Ahmad Sa'adat was taken out of isolation today after over 3 years and moved to Shatta prison

@Addameer_ps: As far as we know, there are at least 4 hunger strikers now: #MohammadTaj, #MahmoudSarsak, #AkramRikhawi & #MohammadAbdelAziz

@Addameer_ps: Because he's still on hunger strike, #MahmoudSarsak is not even guaranteed release date of 22 Aug (next date of judicial review)

An agreement may have been reached, but the Palestinian prisoners will not rest until their demands are met. They are ready to strike again if the agreement's terms are not implemented.

Iran: Protesting against Google

Fred Petrossian — Sun, 20 May 2012 10:44:32 +0000

Iranians have been complaining that Google Maps now has no name on the body of water called the Persian Gulf.IranFarda says [fa] Mr.Google do you like we call you, Yahoo?

Iran: Buying book can become dangerous

Fred Petrossian — Sun, 20 May 2012 10:30:30 +0000

Several bloggers published a photo where a woman pushed to the ground by the security forces in a book fair. Gargagarga writes it happens in book fair and everybody is watching. It seems people get used to seeing such scenes.

Jordan: Jordanians Say “Thank You!” to Monarchy

Ali Alhasani — Fri, 18 May 2012 15:40:33 +0000

Jordanian Twitter users have been using the hashtag #شكرا, or “thank you”, to tweet sarcastically about what the Jordanian monarchy has done for the country.

The tweets are a reaction to the slowness of the ongoing reform process in Jordan.

While King Abdullah has acknowledged the need for reform in Jordan, he has been criticised for not establishing a timetable for the introduction of governments based on a parliamentary majority. He recently appointed a new government, but it is seen as too conservative and MPs have complained of “elusiveness” in introducing real reforms.

Jordan's King Abdullah II arrives to attend the swearing in ceremony of the new 30-member Cabinet, at the Royal Palace in Amman, Jordan. Photo by Nader Daoud, copyright @ Demotix (2/5/2012).

Mahmoud Homsi started the hashtag by tweeting:

@Mahmoudhomsi: #شكرا‬‏ على الاستقلال الاقتصادي

Thank you for economic independence

Monther Hassouneh added:

‫@mhassouneh:#شكرا‬‏ على محاربة الفقر

Thank you for fighting poverty

Nabil Barqawi wrote:

@Bani_2adam:#شكرا‬‏ على بيع كل ما يمكن بيعه

Thank you for selling whatever can be sold

Hadeel Maaitah tweeted:

@girl_brainy:‫#شكرا‬‏ على إختصار وجودنا بلقمة العيش

Thank you for reducing our existence to [chasing after] bread to eat

Saif Abuhazeem said:

@Saif_Abuhazeem:#شكرا‬‏ لالي حكا ماضون بالاصلاح وبعدنا ما شفنا اشي

Thank you to those who said, “We're going ahead with reforms”, while we still haven't seen anything

Mohammad Ziad wrote:

@mohaziad:#شكرا‬‏ لجهاز الدرك العام على جهوده في قمع المطالبين بالإصلاح

Thank you for the existence of the police who suppress those who ask for reform

Anas Elayyan said:

‏@AnasElayyan ‫#شكرا‬‏ لمجلس النواب انهم بدهم رواتب مدى الحياة و الناس ما معها تآكل

Thank you for the parliament whose members want salaries for life while people don't have food to eat

Lebanon: UK Ambassador to Chat on Twitter with Haifa Wehbe

Ayesha Saldanha — Fri, 18 May 2012 08:46:32 +0000

The British Embassy in Lebanon has announced an online discussion between the UK ambassador (@HMATomFletcher) and Lebanese singer Haifa Wehbe (@HaifaWehbe), to take place on May 18 at 6pm (Lebanese time), tweeting under the hashtag #HaifaHMA.

Palestine: PalFest Literature Festival in Gaza for First Time

Ola Anan — Fri, 18 May 2012 06:19:29 +0000

This year for the first time the Palestinian Festival of Literature, or PalFest, was held in Gaza. Since it was founded in 2008, the festival's aim has been to bring together Palestinian and international authors, and it organises public events in the evenings and creative writing workshops for Palestinian students during the day.

According to the festival's founder, Egyptian novelist Ahdaf Soueif, having the festival in Gaza has been the ultimate goal of the event since it began, but it has always faced tremendous difficulties in getting permits for the participating authors to come through the Rafah Crossing. This year they were successful at last, and a group of about forty Egyptian, Tunisian, Sudanese and Palestinian authors, artists and activists were granted permission to visit Gaza and participate in PalFest 2012 from May 5 to 10.

Books donated to PalFest Gaza. Image by PalFest on Flickr (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0).

Workshops

The first day of the event, May 6, was dedicated to workshops at three universities: Al Aqsa University, Al Azhar University and the Islamic Univeristy. As blogger Nader ElKhuzundar described:

The events kicked off by holding two workshops at both Al Azhar and the Islamic University of Gaza on writing and blogging in both Arabic and English. PalFest 2012 authors were astonished by the fact that many students attended the workshops. They were more astonished by the fact that most of the attendees were females.

Palestinian bloggers and tweeps attending PalFest. Image by @tamer_ps and posted by @olanan.

Music and poetry

The next day, May 7, was for a lot of the Palestinians the highlight of the PalFest activities. A four-hour concert took place at Rashad Al Shawa Cultural Theatre, with three Palestinian groups and the Egyptian group Eskenderella.

Palestinian Roba Salibi wrote:

@RobaSalibi: فرقة اسكندريلا اشي خيالي وفوق الوصف. كتير انبسطت باغانيهم وكل اشي فيهم في غزة اليوم . نفسي اروح احضنهم كلهم

Eskenderella is amazing and beyond description. I've enjoyed all of their songs and everything they've done in Gaza today. I just want to hug them all.

In the following video uploaded by PalFest, Egyptian poet Amin Haddad recites a poem, and Eskenderella performs “Ya Falisteeniya” (O Palestinian):

Egypt and Palestine together

Throughout PalFest there was a strong sense of solidarity between the Palestinians and Egyptians. Palestinian Tamer Hamam commented:

@tamer_ps: نفس الأشخاص .. نفس الحناجر .. نفس الأصوات .. نفس القوة .. نفس الإيمان .. هتفت غزة مبارح .. يسقط حكم العسكر .. يسقط الإحتلال

The same people, the same throats, the same voices, the same power, the same conviction. Gaza chanted yesterday, “Down with military rule, down with the occupation”

Nour Abed wrote:

@NourGaza: الحماس مش راضي يهدى! ومع الهتاف لمصر وفلسطين الواحد وكأنو احنا بميدان التحرير!

The enthusiasm is not calming down! And with us chanting for Egypt and Palestine, you feel as if you're in Tahrir Square!

#PalHunger

A mass hunger strike by Palestinian prisoners was not forgotten by the participants. Egyptian Samia Jaheen tweeted:

@samjaheen: رحنا اعتصام أهالي الأسرى المضربين عن الطعام. واحدة منهم حكيتلنا انها متبنية أسير مصري في سجون الصهاينة. غزة رمز العزة فعلا

We visited the prisoners families' sit-in. One of them told us that she is sponsoring an Egyptian prisoner in a Zionist [Israeli] jail. Gaza is truly the symbol of dignity.

Palestinian blogger Matar wrote:

“زار غزة قبل أيام وفد بالفست تحت عنوان “احتفالية فلسطين للأدب”، كنتُ مشغولاً ومنهمكاً بقضية الأسرى، وعندما قالت ليّ صديقتي أنهم آتون، قلتُ لها: ربما الوقت ليس مناسباً، قضية الأسرى هي أولويتنا. اليوم حين ودّعناهم أدركتُ كم كنتُ مخطئاً ، كيف كنتُ أفكر بهذه الطريقة؟”

A few days ago, the PalFest delegation visited Gaza for the Palestinian Festival of Literature. I was busy with the prisoners' cause, and when a friend of mine told me about their visit, I said, “Maybe this is not an appropriate time; our priority now is the prisoners' cause. Today, as we were exchanging goodbyes, I realized how mistaken I was. What was I thinking?

Palestinian Mahmoud Omar echoed the sentiment:

@_Mahmoud: NOTE: #PalfestGaza is totally consistent with #PalHunger , don't think otherwise.

Egyptian novelist Ahdaf Soueif at the #PalHunger sit-in. Image by PalFest on Flickr (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0).

Shutdown

Despite having permission for its events, PalFest attracted the attention of members of the Hamas government. Nader ElKhuzundar described what happened:

In the last day of PalFest, a session was held in Qasr Al-Basha in the old part of Gaza City. The session included a goodbye performance by Eskenderella as well as speeches, presentations and readings by PalFest authors. The event drifted into [a discussion of] politics and suddenly, the electricity was cut. Everybody thought it was the electricity schedule under which Gaza has been living for years now so they continued the event. Five minutes later, a suspicious movement was noticed by the hall’s entrance then suddenly, the police stormed the hall, confiscated a woman’s camera as she was filming the event and called the event off claiming that there’s no official permit. […] Three hours later, the Chief of Police, his deputy and a colonel in the Interior Ministry visited the hotel. They officially apologized, stating it was an “individual error” and that they have opened an investigation into what happened. They stated that PalFest would always be welcome in Gaza.

However, a member of Hamas security admitted that the authorities had been reading the PalFest delegation's tweets and press statements, and were angered by the accusations that Hamas suppresses freedom of speech in Gaza.

Palestinian Saif Al Yazori wrote:

@SaifYazori: رغم اسفي من الي حصل في دار الباشا ولكني سعيد لان الوفد المصري ﻻمس الامر على حقيقته ولربما تكون بذرة تغيير ‎‪

Although I am sorry for what happened in Dar El Basha, I'm glad that the Egyptian delegation has experienced things as they really are. Maybe this will be a seed for change.

Blogger Nalan Sarraj wrote:

I want to apologize to the Palfest crew, but it's not my fault my government authority [Hamas] forgot how to love Palestine.

Dr Haidar Eid introducing the closing night of PalFest. Image by PalFest on Flickr (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0).

Goodbyes

Palestinian Ebaa Rezeq was sad to see PalFest end:

@Gazanism: مش مستوعبة إني ودّعت الوفد من شوي!!! يا ريت في كلمة أحسن وأبلغ من كلمة شكراً تنحكى إلهم..شكراً من القلب.

I can't believe that I've just said goodbye to the delegation! I wish there were a better word than “thank you”… Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Egyptian Nariman wrote:

@nariology: بعد شهور من الاحساس بالعجز، يوم واحد في غزة أعاد لي ضرورة الإيمان بالمستحيل..

After months of feeling helpless, one day in Gaza has given me back the sense of needing to believe in the impossible.

Proposals for Union of Arab Gulf States Prompt Concern

Salah Almhamdi — Thu, 17 May 2012 06:48:53 +0000

The governments of the Gulf are discussing transforming the current Gulf Cooperation Council into an EU-style union. The move comes in an atmosphere of uncertainty and tension caused by the Arab uprisings and Iran's growing influence. As a first step, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain might seek closer union.

Full discussions of the issue have been delayed until December.

GCC civil society groups have requested that their governments postpone the move and engage their people through a referendum. Iran has called for rallies against the proposed union of Saudi Arabia and Bahrain which it describes as an annexation of Bahrain (and its comments were in turn protested by Bahrain).

Across the Gulf concern has been expressed regarding the plans for a union.

GCC states. Image from Wikimedia Commons.

Aiyah Saihati, a Saudi blogger and entrepreneur, slammed the plan:

Saudi’s attempt to create a union for the purpose of countering Iran, which is not a threat, is only to enhance the sectarian narrative. Shifting the narrative from democratization to a sectarian frame changes how potential protests in the country are handled. The smaller countries with denser resources are ahead of Saudi in some of aspects of development and already have partially and soon fully elected parliaments. Uniting with Saudi just means inheriting its dogmas and problems. It means diluting dense resources over a larger more problematic constituency as well as diluting power per square area if one considers the total area governed by Al-Saud. If I were Qatar, why would I dive in?

Kuwaiti Ghassan El-Wagayan tweeted:

@Ghassanw: Thank you but NOOOOOO thank you

In Bahrain, Ali Al Saeed asked:

@alialsaeed: Oh no, women drive in #Bahrain? How can there be a union with #saudi? Ban female drivers?! #GCCunion

Kuwaiti Mishal Al Mutire expressed his concerns:

@MishalALmutire: اكثر ما اخشاه من هذا الاتحاد كل صاحب راي بالمنامه .. يُحاكم بالرياض ! ‎‫#اتحاد_خليجي‬‏

What I fear most from this Union is [the possibility that] someone with an opinion in Manama could be tried in Riyadh!

Bahraini journalist Wafa Alamm wrote:

@wafaalamm: من يعتقد أنني ضد قيام اتحاد خليجي فهو مخطأ/ الاتحاد الخليجي مهم ولكن ولادته بدولتين فقط لظرف معين يفقده قيمته لانه يصبح معاق ‎‪#bahrain‬‏ ‎‪#GCC‬‏

Whoever thinks I'm against a Gulf union is wrong; the Gulf Union is important but its birth with just two states [responding to] a specific circumstance deprives it of value because it becomes handicapped

Journalist Mohammad Albaghli questioned the feasibility of the move:

@albaghli74: دول الخليج صار لهم 9 سنوات مو عارفين يتفقون على مشروع بسيط مثل الاتحاد الجمركي ،، اليوم يبون اتحاد خليجي شامل بين دول الخليج !! تتغشمرون ؟!

For nine years the Gulf states haven't been able to agree on a simple plan like the customs union… Today they want a complete Gulf union!! Are they kidding?

Madawi Al Rasheed, a Saudi professor of social anthropology, tweeted:

@MadawiDr: الوحدة الخليجية ليست عملية مصاهرة بين البنين و البنات بل مستقبل شعوب تطمح لوحدة من نوع اخر ‎‫#اتحاد_خليجي‬

Gulf unity is not like arranging an alliance between boys and girls, but the future of peoples aspiring for unity of another kind.

Egypt: The Questions Missing from the Presidential Debates

Mohamed Adel — Wed, 16 May 2012 03:43:07 +0000

Following Egypt's first ever presidential debate, and with interviews being held every day with presidential candidates, political analyst Mohamed Seif Eldawla has written on his blog Zakerat Aloma about the questions missing from the presidential debates [ar].

Iran: A blogger was arrested

Fred Petrossian — Tue, 15 May 2012 08:03:20 +0000

Iranian cyber police (Fata) announced [fa] a blogger in the northern city of Rasht was arrested. The blogger was accused of writing in his blog against Rasht's authorities and trying to “disturb public opinion”.
Iranian police did not mention the blogger's name.

Iran: Successful campaign against lashes for cartoonist

Hadi Nili — Tue, 15 May 2012 07:53:22 +0000

An online campaign against lashes for Iranian cartoonist turned to be successful. Mahmoud Shokrayeh was sentenced to 25 lashes for a caricature of a local MP, Ahmad Lotfi. Iranian cartoonists launched a campaign on Facebook and cyberspace to draw Mr. Lotfi's cartoons in condemning this verdict. You can see some of this cartoons here. Eventually the MP announced that he is withdrawing his complaint.

Yemen: The #NoDrones Campaign

Noon Arabia — Mon, 14 May 2012 18:55:19 +0000

Yemenis have launched a campaign on Twitter to express their condemnation of the United States' drone war in Yemen. They are tweeting under the hashtag #NoDrones, and have asked non-Yemenis to speak out and join them in their campaign.

Mai Saleh in Yemen tweeted:

@A4Mai: Take a moment and shout with us: No to the jungle law, No to the extrajudicial killings, No to the killing of innocent civilians #NoDrones

Stop drone attacks, protest sign. Image by meeshypants on Flickr (CC BY 2.0).

Talal, a British-Yemeni activist in London, urged:

@25FebFreedom: #US killing innocent civilians in #Yemen in the name of “war on terror ” #StopDrones #NoDrones for God sake in #Yemen

The campaign started on May 13, the same day that President Obama's counterterrorism adviser, John O. Brennan, met with Yemen's president, Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi, and a day after a stepped-up campaign of American airstrikes reportedly killed 11 militants.

British journalist Tom Finn, who is based in Yemen, tweeted:

@tomfinn2: Yemenis launch a #NoDrones campaign on twitter as US counterterrorism czar John Brennan arrives in Sana'a… #Yemen

Mai Saleh addressed some tweets to Brennan:

@A4Mai: Urgent message to the visiting Mr. #Brennan: Take your hands off #Yemen & take your drones off our skies for good. Yemeni Citizen #NoDrones

‏@A4Mai: Dear Mr. Brennan, Your policy has proved a failure in #Pakistan, why try it in #Yemen? It is obviously doomed to fail, sincerely #NoDrones

Yemenis condemn terrorism, and they believe the use of US drones only fuels it, as blogger Atiaf Alwazir pointed out:

‏@WomanfromYemen:B/c I'm against #terrorism & #extremism, i'm also against #drones. It's counter-productive & fuels more extremism. #NoDrones #yemen #US

@womanfromYemen: We are saying #NoDrones, b/c we don't want militants in #Yemen. Drones do not eradicate militants they intensify their presence.

French journalist Benjamin Wiacek, who is based in Yemen, tweeted

@Nefermaat: #US drones and air strikes create more extremism and resentment than improving the situation: SAY NO to DRONES !! #NoDrones

He also tweeted a link about drone strikes and the civilan casualties in Yemen which are seldom reported.

Atiaf Alwazir added:

@WomanfromYemen: For every headline you read regarding “militants” killed by drones in #Yemen, think of the civilians killed that are not reported. #NoDrones

A Yemeni journalist and poet who goes by the name Sana2 Al-Yemen tweeted her contempt:

@Sanasiino: It is a disgusting thought to know US officials across the globe are playing a video game with our people in #Yemen. #NoDrones

@Sanasiino: Decreasing #AQAP support and power would need to start with a #NoDrones policy in #Yemen

And finally, Shams in Yemen tweeted a hope many Yemenis share, that the new governemnt will put an end to US drone attacks:

@shamsalshomos: I hope #Hadi does what #Saleh never did speak and act on behalf of the welfare of his people #NoDrones in #yemen

To learn more about the campaign follow the hashtag #NoDrones and read this Storify.

Iran: Cartoonist Eludes Sentence of 25 Lashes for Drawing Politician

Fred Petrossian — Mon, 14 May 2012 18:05:45 +0000

Cartoon of Ahmad Lotfi Ashtyani that landed Mahmoud Shokraye in trouble with authorities.

An Iranian cartoonist, Mahmoud Shokraye, was sentenced [fa] to 25 whiplashes for drawing a cartoon of former conservative member of parliament, Ahmad Lotfi Ashtyani in Amir Nameh magazine in Arak.

A campaign to support the cartoonist was launched online, and several cartoonists drew cartoons in support of Mahmoud Shokraye.

It seems the campaign was successful, since finally the former politician withdrew his complaint [fa] on Monday, May 14, 2012.

Mana Neyestani, a leading Iranian cartoonist who has also been jailed for his cartoons, made a cartoon to support the cause.

Cartoon by Mana Neyestani from Mardomak.org

Vahid Nikgoo drew a cartoon where Ahmad Lotfi Ashtyani looks himself in a mirror and says, “When I take you to court and sentence you to lashes, you will learn not to show me like that.”

An image can be worth more than 1000 words, but in Iran a cartoon can cost you jail and lashes.