Global Voices » Iraq

Video: Adobe Youth Voices Aspire Awards Voting Open

Juliana Rincón Parra — Wed, 09 May 2012 04:15:40 +0000

The Adobe Youth Voices Aspire Awards is a competition to showcase the work the Adobe Foundation is doing with underprivileged communities around the world. Empowering youth in school or out of school programs where they can learn how to use multimedia tools to express themselves, show their potential, share their ideas and lead change in their communities.

The Adobe Youth Voices global network currently includes more than 750 sites and a large, expanding number of grantees and organizations in 50 countries. Since its inception, Adobe Youth Voices has engaged over 150,000 youth and 8,200 educators in schools and out-of-school programs.

The 160 finalist products including video can be viewed and voted on by sharing them through online social networks such as facebook and twitter. Every category, such as documentary, music video, poetry, audio, graphic design, narrative, animation and photography has an audience award, for which each share, tweet, retweet and like count as one vote. Voting closes on 8 June, 2012.

For example, this documentary by 18 year old Stella in Uruguay, sharing her experience with her sister with Down Syndrome, raising awareness about what it means to have this syndrome for their lives.

Finding Home is a narrative by Iraqi Mair Maher tells the story of his family's immigration due to violence and war, with many stops around the world before finding a new home in Canada.

Jeanvier Janga from Bonaire shares an animation on how change starts by one person changing themselves.

The Adobe Youth Aspire Awards

UK: #TwitterKurds Organize First Social Media Gathering in London

Nigar Hacizade — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 16:15:46 +0000

A group of Kurdish Internet activists that have been organizing around the #TwitterKurds hashtag on Twitter have come together for the first Kurdish Social Media Gathering earlier this month in London.

The event, which was followed through the #KSMG (Kurdish Social Media Gathering) tag, was live streamed and joined in via Skype and YouTube by those who could not be there physically, although there were participants who had traveled from as far as Australia to participate. It was held on January 21, 2012.

@xoshink: @TaraFatehi speaking at the #KSMG in London! She travelled all the way from Australia! #Bijî!#TwitterKurds

One of the organizers, @kurdishblogger, tweeted a photo of @TaraFatehi speaking to the participants:

@TaraFatehi is here from Australia to talk about Kurdish issues&Kurds in Australia #Twitterkurds#KSMG12 #Kurdistan pic.twitter.com/wVTqS0k3

A Kurdish Twitter user @TaraFatehi flew in from Australia to attend the KSMG in London. Photo shared by @kurdishblogger on Twitter

Others who were not physically there joined in the conversation with how they use the #TwitterKurds tag to communicate.

@xoshink: Social media connected me to amazing people around the globe; helped me find Kurds locally with ambitions to make a change.

@Vexhevxwaz: I totally agree with @apogeeculture1.#TwitterKurds inspired me to organize actions in my local Kurdish community.

Participants focused on social media strategies, Twitter in particular, to attract attention to a given news story, as well as carry out a campaign.

@Shakawan: Q: where do we go from here ? should trending kurdish issues be the top priority?

@B9AcE: Tactics should be chosen from a strategic goal. TT reaches mainly new mainstream. Directed campaigns a #TwitterKurds

@B9AcE: Need new, high impact topic. Send it to large noise makers, asking for it to be spread starting at same time.

@WRyaM: social media tools are also podcasts, Events, collective bookmarking wikis… so let us use them all

Organizers then showed a video sent from Diyarbakır, “sent to them for this gathering by Abdullah Demirbaş, who is the mayor of Sur Municipality in Diyarbakır.” The presenter also noted it was

“worth making a mention at this moment of a very important agency in Amed (Diyarbakır) called @AjansAmed - it's a new social media organization website, a group of social media activists who have put together these videos that you are seeing tonight. Abdullah Demirbaş was part of a campaign to get people tweeting. Every Thursday we were tweeting #abdullahdemirbas, because he has a medical condition he needs to leave America for but he can't travel, because he was taken to court and now he has a travel ban.”

Xende Biradostî tweets:

@Wekhevxwaz Thank you, #KSMG for raising awareness of the plight of #AbdullahDemirbas. #TwitterKurds

Image shared by Halkevi Media on Twitter of the event

One of the speakers was Mehmet, from Halkevi Media, in London. His presentation also included strategies to use social media towards what he saw was beneficial to the Kurdish communities:

This gathering to me is one of the most important events of 2012. I work for Halkevi, the social media part at @halkevimedia, so social media is very important to me. I think we have been lacking in the social media area for quite a while and our numbers are not maximized, there are more Kurds on the internet but they are using it more for their personal stuff, but (social media can also be used) to create awareness and consciousness of Kurdish issues and democratic struggle of Kurdish people and people in the region. I want to talk about the importance of social media in diplomacy - we need to increase the social media effect in diplomatic spheres. We need to determine the agenda rather than having our agenda formed by outside events, such as arrests, operations, etc. We need to have our agenda and initiate to lead rather than be led by political developments that constantly change. Also, we constantly tweet the same thing, it's not getting outside. We need to target certain individuals, for example Middle East correspondents of every single international media organization and MPs. Social media needs to be not separate from grassroots, there are 200,000 Kurds in this country, we needed to have more people here. We need to use different strategies to engage them.

Reactions to his presentation were quite positive:

@JowanM: ”We have to determine the news” rather than waiting for them. Well said by current speaker #KSMG #TwitterKurds

@apogeeculture1: Kurds from all over are coming together for the first time in history through social media.@halkevimedia #twitterkurds #ksmg #KurdishRights

Next, @quzzulqurt from Turkey joined in via Skype. He noted that “this (social media) is a big chance for us around the world to come together. Before there was only Roj TV but now we have this chance and must use it to create awareness, for non-Kurds and Kurds in the region.”

@Zurdosh: @Kurdishblogger has just asked @quzzulqurtabout reporting in English more in North Kurdistan (turkey) #TwitterKurds #KSMG

@PerwinBerdizi: #KSMG #TwitterKurds it is our job, we kurds who can speak ceveral language to translate to the diasporan people

Participants elaborated more on reaching out to professional journalists during breaking news events.

@kurdishblogger: in order to attract the attention of international media, it is extremely important to have a photo, video or witness who can testify. Say, a BBC journalist needs at least 2 witnesses. They don't have that much time, you have to help them. You need to have a photo and you need to give context. People post photos on facebook without any explanation, I am Kurdish and I might know but you can't expect an international journalist to know (what the context is).

@PerwinBerdizi: #KSMG #TwitterKurds unfortunately today's journalism is about copy+paste therefore, do half of their job and contribute with throughout news!

@B9AcE: @AbsoIuteBanana Nowadays activists must basically write journos articles with pictures & quotes for them. Complete work. #KSMG #TwitterKurds

Tweeps deemed the gathering an overall success, with many people asking if there will be similar events in the future.

@apogeeculture1: We have now had participants from all parts of Kurdistan and Australia, Japan, Turkey, Israel! Kurds go International! #ksmg #twitterkurds

@kurdishblogger: “Tweets are more powerful than bullets” Quote of the day at first Kurdish Social Media gathering#Twitterkurds who said this? #Kurdistan

Further reading:

More reactions are available on this Storify compilation by Nigar Hacizade.

Iraq: 162,000 People Killed

Amira Al Hussaini — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 12:30:15 +0000

Iraqi Mojo says about 162,000 people were killed in Iraq up to the end of last year (2011). They include 114,212 civilians, according to Iraq Body Count, an anti-war group. Click here for the details.

Video: Middle East Responds to Media via Webcam

Juliana Rincón Parra — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 00:23:13 +0000

Talk Back TV Middle East provides a way for people from in the Middle East and North Africa can talk back and give their take on state controlled television and mass media using only a webcam and computer.

The concept is explained on the talk back website:

You see something on TV and want to TalkBack – Pick your clip from our rich source media database, record your comments via webcam, use our simple editor to put it together, and then watch your video remix on TalkBackTV’s dual-screen player. When you’re done, hit publish and share you finished ‘Rant’ everywhere you go online. Your webcam is now a weapon of mass communication.

Currently highlighted on their blog is a rant by Khaled Eibid on Essam Atta, a 24 year old Egyptian activist tortured and murdered by guards in the the Egyptian military prison where he was retained. The event has failed to make headlines internationally, and that his death should go unnoticed has spurred Khaled Eibid into action:

Khaleds Eibid rant honoring Essam Atta and other activists killed by the regime is in Arabic. Here is the rough translation. I can't tell what the music is. But it is perfect.

“We did not get justice for Khaled Said”
” We did not get justice for Said bilal”
” Are going to let justice flee again for Essam Atta?”

” Why the Egyptian blood so cheap ” ?

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Other collaborators have added their videos on a diversity of topics. For example, Raafatology brings to the discussion the need Egyptians had to be able to vote from abroad for the recent elections like counterparts in other countries like Sudan and Iraq are able to do. At the end and after a fight, their right to vote was respected.

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Khaled Eibid provides another rant on the impunity for crimes of violence the military commits against civilians. The Egyptian army assaulted civilian demonstrators after Jan25 and the judiciary system failed to be effective in getting justice for those cases. The army represses the revolution but fails to take the chance to do something positive for the country, instead taking it out against protesters, sometimes in a ratio of 15 military personnel for each civilian.

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And as a short comment on the same video, Akhnaton wonders why the police don't fall back into the headquarters now, just like they did on January 28th.

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Tunisia: Execution of a Tunisian in Iraq Divides Netizens

Afef Abrougui — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 08:23:31 +0000

In the early hours of November 16, 2011, Tunisian prisoner Yosri Trigui, aged 27, who was convicted of terrorism by the Iraqi authorities, was executed in Iraq. Trigui had entered the Iraqi territories when he was only 19 years old.

On May 20, 2006, he was arrested by United States (US) forces, and later on in that same year he was sentenced to death by a court in Baghdad for his alleged involvement in the bombing of one of Shi'a's holiest sites al-Askari shrine, in the city of Samarra, and the killing of a journalist from Al-Arabiya channel, Atwar Bahjat. The bombing lit the flame for sectarian violence between the Sunnis and Shi'ites in Iraq.

In 2009, and due to lack of evidence, the death penalty was overturned, and Trigui was sentenced to 15 years in prison for entering ”the Iraqi territories illegally.” His family claims that, in February 2011, and in a phone call he told them that he had been sentenced - in absentia - to death, again.

His father wrote [ar], before the execution of his son on the Facebook page, ‘Tous pour que Yosri Trigui rentre chez lui, en tunisie' (All united so that Yosri Trigui returns home to Tunisia) [fr]:

يوم الأحد 06/02/2011 حيث أعلمنا انه وصلته رسالة م وزارة العدل العراقية تعلمه انه حكم عليه غيابيا و بدون حضور أي محامي بالإعدام مجددا لكل التهم المنسوبة إليه سابقا

On Sunday, February 6, 2011, he [Yosri Trigui] told us that he received a message from the Iraqi Ministry of Justice, informing him that he had been sentenced in absentia and without the presence of any lawyer, to death again, for the previous charges directed at him

In July, 2011, Amnesty International appealed to the Iraqi authorities to commute the death penalty against Trigui, who ”was sentenced to death following a trial which appeared not to meet international standards for fair trials”, said the organization in a statement.

According to Amnesty, Trigui, was among 11 people convicted of terrorist acts, to be hanged on November 16.

The execution of Trigui divided Tunisian netizens. There are those who believe, that for his involvement in the killing of dozens of innocent people, he deserved the punishment he got.

@djerbafr tweets [fr]:

avant de pleurer l’exécution de #yossritriki ayez une petite pensée pour la famille des centaines de ses victimes!

Instead of crying over the execution of Yosri Trigui, thoughts go to the families of hundreds of his victims

Le supplice du Pal adds [fr]:

ce n'etait q'un terroriste… pourquoi s'indigner

He was only a terrorist…why the outrage?

Those who sympathized with Trigui's plight claim that his trial did not meet international standards, and that he might have been brainwashed to commit such atrocities.

Blogger Tarek Kahlaoui blamed the current interim government for not doing enough to save him [ar]:

اعدام يسري الطريقي خبر مؤلم لعائلته ولكثير من التونسيين خاصة انه لم يحظ بمحاكمة عادلة[.. .] كان على الباجي قائد السبسي او المبزع القيام بمسعى “رسمي” حتى ربما يقع نزع الذرائع لدى السلطات العراقية لاعدام الطريقي.

The news of the execution of Yosri Trigui is painful for his family and for many Tunisians, especially that he did not have a fair trial (…) Beji Caid Sebsi [current Prime Minister], or Mbezaa (current President] should have made an ”official” attempt (to stop the execution) so at that least the Iraqi authorities will run out of excuses to execute Trigui

Tarek Kahloui urged the Tunisian authorities to intervene in order to save the lives of other Tunisians sentenced to death in Iraq:

لايزال هناك سجناء تونسيون في العراق بدون محاكمات عادلة. من واجب السلطات التونسية الجديدة الدفاع عن حقهم في ذلك وهو حق كل تونسي خارج بلاده.

There are still Tunisian prisoners, who have not been subjected to fair trials, in Iraq. It is the duty of the new Tunisian authorities, to defend their right to a fair trial, which is the right of every Tunisian citizen outside the country.

Tarek Cheniti notes [fr]:

Dégouté par l’annonce de l’exécution de Yosri Trigui en Irak. Stop à toute cette violence y’en a marre.

Disgusted by the announcement of the execution of Yosri Trigui in Iraq. Stop the violence, we've had enough

Page of the Iraqi Oil Ministry after being hacked. Photo of Yosri Trigui with a message from the hacker.

In protest against the execution, a Tunisian hacker known as GlaDiaT0R hacked a page of the website of the Iraqi Ministry of Oil. ”We do not forget, we do not forgive, we are not anonymous, we are Tunisians. Expect us” was the message published by the hacker, in an imitation to the style of the international hacking group Anonymous.

Meanwhile, the writer of the blog Boukornine puts the blame [fr] on Yosri, his father, the Islamist leader Rached Ghannouchi, and the Tunisian elite:

J'accuse Yosri Triqui de naïveté, de bêtise, d'avoir été embobiné, endoctriné, manipulé (…)Je l'accuse… d'avoir faussement rassuré l'opinion publique(…)J'accuse l'élite tunisienne de ne pas guider cette jeunesse (…)J'accuse le père de Yosri Triqui de glorifier la mort bête et inutile de son enfant, de ne pas s'avouer qu'il a échoué dans son éducation, qu'il n'a pas été là pour le guider quand il a commencé à avoir ces idées macabres (…)Ton départ me torture, Yosri. Ton exécution me hante, je te regarde mais ne vois pas de terroriste.

I accuse Yosri Trigui of naivety, and stupidity, for being tricked, indoctrinated, and manipulated (…) I accuse him [Rached Ghannouchi] of wrongly reassuring the public opinion [days before the execution, he claimed that the Iraqi President promised him in a phone call not to execute Yosri] (…) I accuse the Tunisian elite of not guiding this youth (…) I accuse the father of Yosri Trigui of glorifying the stupid, and useless death of his child, of not admitting that he failed in raising his son, and of not being there to guide him, when he started to have these macabre ideas (…) Your departure tortures me Yosri. Your execution makes me feel ashamed. I look at you, and I don't see a terrorist

The writer finishes the post with a message to all parents:

Expliquez à vos enfants que le plus intense et le plus glorieux des djihad est de réussir à l'école, de devenir un bon citoyen, de trouver un boulot, de fonder une famille et de vivre heureux

Explain to your children that the greatest, and most glorious Jihad (Holy War) is succeeding at school, becoming a good citizen, finding a job, establishing a family, and living happily

Global Voices Podcast: 3rd Arab Bloggers Meeting - Part 2

Jamillah Knowles — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 00:44:38 +0000

Hello world!

In an addition to our usual monthly podcast, we have some special audio for you from the newly concluded 3rd Arab Bloggers Meeting in Tunisia.

Nearly 100 bloggers from Arab countries gathered in Tunis from October 3-6, 2011 in a meeting hosted by Global Voices, Nawaat and the Heinrich Böll Foundation to discuss citizen media, safety online, post-revolutionary ideas, and of course to meet each other face to face - some for the first time. In the 12 interviews in these two podcasts (check out Part 1) you will hear about online anonymity using Tor, revolution in a historical context, forthcoming elections in Arab countries, filmmaking, blogging and hope. And much, much more.

Global Voices Podcast: 3rd Arab Bloggers Summit (Part 2) by globalvoices

Arab Bloggers Meeting, 2011: Part 2

Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, Syria, Yemen, Bahrain and many other countries have citizens living through a time of change and upheaval. Our online information these days is fast and furious when it comes to the minute by minute events, but how should we find context in a time of revolution?

Zeynep Tufekci is an assistant professor at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill and a fellow at the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard. She presented a wonderful talk at the conference about the importance of putting revolutions into a historical context.

Part of telling the story of revolutionary times in a digital age requires video. Clips on YouTube offer powerful snapshots, but it is also important to follow a narrative to gain a greater understanding. Alexandra Sandels is a Swedish journalist and co-director and producer of a documentary called Zero Silence about young people using the Internet for change. It was screened on the first day of the Arab Bloggers Meeting.

Bloggers from nearly all Arab countries attended the meeting to learn from one another about citizen media and activism. Hayder Hamzoz is a blogger from Baghdad, Iraq. We chatted about his activities online and how the website Iraqi Streets shows an alternative Iraq to the one shown in mainstream news headlines.

The dangers of being identified and apprehended for protest and online activity are numerous and in some cases horrifying. There are methods for staying safer that people can enact, and there is also software that can help. Roger Dingledine works on an anonymity or privacy or circumvention tool called Tor. We talked about how it works.

That's all we have for the special edition of the Global Voices podcast at the 3rd Arab Bloggers Meeting!

Group photo, Arab Bloggers Meeting, Tunis 2011 by Ibtihel Zaatouri (CC-BY)

Thanks to everyone who took time to talk to me, to the organisers for creating such a fantastic forum, and to Mark Cotton who adapted our Global Voices theme tunes for this particular episode.

Egypt: Turkey's Response to Kurds Questioned as Erdogan Speaks in Cairo

Ruwayda Mustafah — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 16:30:11 +0000

Billboards in Cairo to welcome Erdogan by AymanM from yfrog on Twitter

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's speech about the Palestinian bid for a statehood at the Arab League was translated online live by members of social networking sites, namely Twitter, for those who did not speak Arabic or Turkish. The response to his speech which was filled with more cliches than substance was diverse, from those who believed Turkey's stance was justifiable, to those who were dismayed at the level of hypocrisy shown by Turkey towards Kurds struggling for autonomy.

Here are some of the sound bytes from Erdogan's speech:

@RawyaRageh #Erdogan: #Israel must respect human rights, act like any other state to end its isolation #Turkey #ArabLeague

@MahirZeynalov Turkish PM Erdogan: Let the flag of Palestinian state to be the symbol of peace in the Middle East.

@MahirZeynalov Turkish PM Erdogan: Recognition of Palestinian state is the only right path, it is not a choice but an obligation.

@MahirZeynalov Turkish PM Erdogan: Every state must pay for their terror acts, referring to Israel.

Tweeps were quick to point out the treatment of Kurds in Turkey, and recent events while Erdogan was giving a speech. Here is a selection of reactions:

@Hevallo #Erdogan: If Palestine with a population of 4 million deserve a state, how about Kurds with a population of 40 million? #ArabLeague #Egypt

@khaledfahmy Turkey killings trigger Kurdish protest….Let Erdogan watch this video:

@fatmaemam that what will happen if you are Kurdish & decided to celebrate your culture in #Turkey http://bit.ly/nKaMVF #kurdishrights

@fatmaemam Turkey is a ultra nationalist state where cultural minorities like the Kurds are harshly suppressed #turkey #erdogan

@MiranHosny For the life of me I cannot fathom why someone w/ such strong ideas on Israel could order his own Human Rights violations on #Kurds #Erdogan

@norashalaby #ArabLeague is one of the most useless organizations that still exist for some reason

@M_Magdeldin #Arableague is malfunctioned, It reminds me of the dictatorships in the arab world with no hope to fix from within, It should be dissolved.

@AbirKopty Maybe #Erdogan & others didn't get yet that the new generation of Arabs is not naive. We know that behind nice words there are interests.

@Remziya While #Erdogan tramps thru the Arab World denouncing #Israel #Kurds continue 2 b slaughtered n #Turkey! Hypocrisy at it's finest.

Arab World: Questions and Closure Follow Bin Laden's Death

Amira Al Hussaini — Tue, 03 May 2011 16:36:20 +0000

This post is part of our special coverage The Death of Osama Bin Laden.

Saudi terror mastermind Osama bin Laden was killed in a United States' CIA operation in Abbottabad, Pakistan, yesterday. Netizens from around the Arab world have reacted to the news.

On Twitter, reactions flowed all day, with some cheering his death and others mourning the demise of the Al Qaeda's 54-year-old head, whom they called a martyr.

Questions

Many questions were also raised following the announcement and here are some of them:

From the United Arab Emirates, Sultan Al Qassemi asks:

I wonder if Arab & world leaders will send Obama cables congratulating the US on killing OBL…

Egyptian Rania Hafez adds:

So are they going to prove to us that they killed him or should we take their word for it?!!

NPR's social media specialist Andy Carvin, who has been actively tweeting Arab revolutions and news, too has a similar question:

Surprised to hear the actual op was today. Wonder how they're absolutely sure. Fingerprints? Fast DNA kit of some sort?

And Lebanese Antoun Issa wonders:

Are we to assume Al-Qaida never came up with a contingency should Osama Bin Laden die? Plenty of radicals to take his spot. #notoveryet

Hopes

Back in Egypt, Mahmood Salem, aka Sandmonkey, tweets:

If only they had taken out Ghaddafi yesterday and then OBL today, then it would've been a twofer!

and taunts Saudi Arabia saying:

Dear Saudi, we feel bad about taking control of the Region & AlQaeda both at the same year. You can have AlQaeda back! #WeAreSoGenerous

Libyan Ibn Omar hopes that the death of Bin Laden will bring closure to the families of all his victims. He writes:

hopefully the death of binladin will bring closure to all of the victims all over the world of his terrorist attacks

And Brian Conley, who tweets at @BaghdadBrian, notes:

Does this mean we withdraw troops and forget #afghanistan existed again? Is it 2011 or 1991? Still a lot of reconciliation etc needed

Obama

United States President Barack Obama got both praise and ridicule from tweeps for the statement he made in which he announced the operation, which killed Bin Laden.

Sarah Raslan praised the speech saying:

Nice speech, #Obama . Major respect for pointing out that #OBL was not a #Muslim leader and killed Muslims as well as non-Muslims

While Eman Hashim, from Egypt, notes:

Obama: America never chose to go to war! Are you kidding me? Let me remind of something called.. hmmm ….IRAQ!!! #Obama #OBL #Iraq

British Prime Minister David Cameron too was not spared some ridicule, when Arab-American group blog KABOBfest's Twitter account took a stab:

Actually, no one's problems are gone. (MT @AJELive) British PM Cameron: Osama death “will bring great relief” to world http://aje.me/jlqOzi

Correcting mistakes

Meanwhile, Egyptian columnist Mona El Tahawi sees the killing of Bin Laden as a mistake which took 31 years to rectify. She tweets:

It was a huge mistake for the US to side w #OBL and his money to defeat Soviets in Afghanistan. It's taken 31 yrs to correct that mistake.

Stay tuned for more reactions on the death of Bin Laden from across the Arab world.

This post is part of our special coverage The Death of Osama Bin Laden.

Iraq: Is Saddam Still Alive?

Amira Al Hussaini — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 14:41:51 +0000

Saddam Hussein is making the rounds on social media, with a new recording claiming that the Iraqi dictator is alive and well and that his double Mikhail was the one executed on December 30, 2006. Many netizens are quick to describe the video as phoney and assure readers that Saddam is dead and gone. Had he been alive, the former Iraqi dictator would have turned 74 today.

The video (Ar) allegedly shows the voice of Saddam Hussein in a phone call with Iraqi comrade Hassan Allawi, telling his friend that he is alive and that his double was executed. The Saddam imposter also threatens to turn the Green Zone into a “Red Zone, overflowing with the blood of traitors” and to “liberate Iraq from its invaders.”

Here is the video, which has been uploaded on YouTube by sulalmalki and viewed about a quarter of a million times:

There are also more than 500 comments on the video, many by people who think the video is a hoax and that Saddam is indeed dead. Other commentators pay tribute to Saddam and his leadership, and acknowledge that the tape could be real and that that Saddam could still be alive.

The ad on Facebook for the Saddam video

Other accounts have also uploaded the video, which is being spread on social media platforms across the Arab world and there are Facebook advertisements to market the video as well.

From Egypt, Zeinobia, who blogs at Egyptian Chronicles, agrees that Saddam is dead:

I believe that this is just fake phone call , I do not believe it for one second. I do not care for the conspiracy theories those Baath loyalists are living on that Saddam is alive somewhere just like Elvis !!!!
Saddam Hussein was executed in 2006 , why to wait all those years to announce to the whole world that he is alive !!!? Why now !!? Why now when Iraqi youth began to be influenced by the Arab revolution spring and we all saw their attempts to have a sit in at their own Tahrir square. The Iraqi youth are fed up with the occupation ,are fed up by the division whether sectarian or ethnic and want to restore back the united independent Iraq.

From Saudi Arabia, Sultan Al Sulami smells something fishy:

غريب يطلع مقطع صوت صدام حسين مع حلول الذكرى 74 لميلاده

Isn't it strange that the clip with the recording of Saddam's voice goes viral in coincidence with his 74th birthday?

And speaking of Saddam's birthday, some Twitter users seem to be celebrating.

Hamad A.M.A., who tweets @alhajaj13, from Bahrain, notes:

اليوم ذكري ميلاد رئيس الجمهوريه العراقية. الشهيد صدام. حسين

Today is the birthday of the President of the Republic of Iraq, the martyr Saddam Hussein

Meanwhile, Tariq Khonji, also from Bahrain, jokes:

@tkhonji is wondering why so many people in Bahrain are celebrating Saddam Hussain's birthday today? ;P

and adds:

So I Googled this Saddam guy who's' birthday Bahrain appears to be celebrating today turns out he attacked Kuwait one time and Iran another.

Iran:Iranian exiles killed in Iraq

Fred Petrossian — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 07:49:07 +0000

Iraqi forces attacked Iranian opposition group, Mujahedin of People, in Iraq's Camp Ashraf killing at least 25 people. Here is a film shows Camp Ashraf under attack.

Arab World: The Arab Tyrant Manual

Amira Al Hussaini — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 22:35:31 +0000

The Arab Tyrant Manual is out, and is being tweeted as I type. On Twitter, Iyad Elbaghdadi is joined by other Twitter users to compile all the excuses we have heard from the governments of Arab countries which have had protests calling for regime change and reforms since the Tunisian uprising at the end of 2010.

Although they sound like one liners from a comic strip, the tragedy is that we have heard them all, and they have been recorded and covered by the Press. Heads of State and top government officials continue to repeat them - and they still have an audience and support in their countries. Haven't we all seen Gaddafi's supporters cheering on and clapping to his rants as he promised to annihilate Libyans rising against his 42-year-old rule. A similar story is repeating itself across the region.

Here's a snapshot of some of the lines that will go in the Arab Tyrant Manual:

@iyad_elbaghdadi: Say that the protests started as a pure youth movement but were “hijacked” by a foreign agenda. #ArabTyrantManual

@iyad_elbaghdadi: Use religion. Call your state mufti and promise him a pay raise for the proper fatwa. #ArabTyrantManual

@iyad_elbaghdadi: Say that the kids were tricked into protesting through X (KFC, Nescafe, drugs, sex, etc.) #ArabTyrantManual

@iyad_elbaghdadi: Call your favorite brown-nose celebrity (singer, dancer, soccer player, etc.). Ask to talk on TV in your support. #ArabTyrantManual

@L_Auvergnate: When things get tough, make a first one hour speech around midnight to say how much you're dedicated to your country #ArabTyrantManual

@iyad_elbaghdadi: Say shooting on protesters with helicopters/jets/tanks is accidental #ArabTyrantManual

@iyad_elbaghdadi: Have a military parade. Say it's for the nation. It's actually to show them what'll come at them if they revolt. #ArabTyrantManual

@L_Auvergnate: Pretend you're open for dialogue and will do the necessary while killing protesters #ArabTyrantManual

@iyad_elbaghdadi: Say that you ruled the country out of love and service and you have no desire for power and have no money. #ArabTyrantManual

@iyad_elbaghdadi: Bring in the boogie man of your grandfather's generation: Colonialism & imperialism. #ArabTyrantManual

@iyad_elbaghdadi: Hold a press conference to suck up to journalists. Then, send thugs after them to punch them and smash their cameras. #ArabTyrantManual

@iyad_elbaghdadi: Stage demonstrations in support of your rule. But don't give them flags & banners. Give them 50 bucks & an AK47. #ArabTyrantManual

@iyad_elbaghdadi: If foreign nations criticize, blast them for not understanding your culture. “In our culture, I rule. They obey.” #ArabTyrantManual

@iyad_elbaghdadi: Kill a thousand. And then say that you have no idea how they died because you haven't used force “yet”. #ArabTyrantManual

@iyad_elbaghdadi: Have a charming interview with a famous journalist. Amanpour would do. #ArabTyrantManual

@kissmyroti: Speak about supporting #humanrights in “insert preferred european language here”, then torture those asking 4them #ArabTyrantManual

@iyad_elbaghdadi: Foreign agenda X (where X can be: Islamism, Zionism, Israel, Iran, USA, colonialism, imperialism…) #ArabTyrantManual

@QuimFont: Blame Israel and United States. Deposit checks from Israel and United States into Swiss account. #ArabTyrantManual

@defendfreespeak: Scare people with talk about the Brother Muslimhood #ArabTyrantManual

@iyad_elbaghdadi: Say that your people are not ready for democracy. You have to pave the way to it, by acting like a complete asshole. #ArabTyrantManual

@iyad_elbaghdadi: Say that you finally understand the people. “I understand you now.” #ArabTyrantManual

@studentIslam: People don't revolt against you in their right state of mind. Al-Qaeda must be feeding them hallucinogenics. #ArabTyrantManual

@minimaliteter: @iyad_elbaghdadi make unexpected, frequent TV appearances, saying nothing at all #ArabTyrantManual

@studentIslam: Inform the uninformed that your country has no leader and that you are only a protector and brother to the people. #ArabTyrantManual

@iyad_elbaghdadi: Say that you “got the message” and “will act on it soon”. Don't mention what “soon” means. #ArabTyrantManual

@iyad_elbaghdadi: Tell them that if they don't go back home, the bad men will come and take away all their oil. #ArabTyrantManual

@AmbroseandDogII: @iyad_elbaghdadi [A] THEN tell them that if they don't go back home, the bad men will come and take away their families. #ArabTyrantManual

@L_Auvergnate: Invade the streets with the army to protect civilians #ArabTyrantManual

@iyad_elbaghdadi: Send your army into the streets. Say they are there to “protect the kids”. Have them kidnap and rape the kids instead. #ArabTyrantManual

@iyad_elbaghdadi: Pull a Bundy (”four touchdowns in one game”). Brag about your wartime achievements for your country. #ArabTyrantManual

@L_Auvergnate: Pretend your country is not like #Tunisia/#egypt/#libya/#yemen/#Syria ..#ArabTyrantManual

@EG_Freedom: Launch a gratuitous propaganda campaign against a fast food chain like KFC cos you never know, it might help somehow. #ArabTyrantManual

@EG_Freedom: Shut down communications and kill businesses even tho protesters will publish videos anyway when the inet comes back up. #ArabTyrantManual

@imstrawman: if all else fails, get in front of the camera and play the ‘victim' #ArabTyrantManual

@chanadbh: #ArabTyrantManual Fly fighter jets over them to show them you mean business

@L_Auvergnate: Scare everyone with AlQaeda #ArabTyrantManual

@L_Auvergnate: Stage fake demos supporting you #ArabTyrantManual

@studentIslam: You never wanted to be a dictator. Your service to the people proves that. #ArabTyrantManual

@studentIslam: Declare you're an international leader, king of the kings of Africa, and your int'l status doesn't allow you to descend #ArabTyrantManual

Video: Time Lapse Mapping the Global Protests and Uprisings

Juliana Rincón Parra — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 19:55:23 +0000

John Caelan from the website The Swamp Post has created a couple of time-lapse videos that map protests from December 18 to March 7, 2011, where the protests and uprisings can be seen spreading out into different countries.

This next one focuses on the Middle East region:

On a comment on his website in response to a reader's question he explains how he got the data by searching results of protest and uprising reports from mainstream media.

Generally, the methodology was to sift through the first 1000 results of a news search on any given day and mine the unique events. All of that was copied into Excel by day–the locations were mined from the articles manually, and the icons were the chosen by the best average of reporting, as reporting the actual count of people at any gathering is both intrinsically difficult, regardless of skew involved parties tend to apply. Each day’s sheet was turned into a .csv, and imported into the mapper, which is a free thing from Zee Maps, ’cause I’m poor. The day would be copied, new events added, events older than 5 days deleted, events older than 2 days turned to gray. Each event remains in color for two days, mostly to account for the crossover of timezones.

Mr Caelan, however, is aware of the unreliability of these results in showing worldwide trends, as he explains in a comment on this page. Because protests have caught the attention of mainstream media, he says, this map shows how reporting on uprisings or protests has increased, although not necessarily the quantity of protests themselves.

To find out more about the uprisings shown on the videos, there's also an interactive map where you can click on the different icons and read information on the protest that was recorded at that point.

Hollaback! Mobile Technology Against Street Harassment

Ernesto Priego — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 19:48:03 +0000

This post is part of our special coverage Global Development 2011.

Hollaback! is a crowdsourced platform seeking to harness the power of mobile technologies to denounce street harassment. More than a tool or series of tools, Hollaback! is self-described as a “movement”:

Hollaback! is a movement dedicated to ending street harassment using mobile technology. Street harassment is one of the most pervasive forms of gender-based violence and one of the least legislated against. Comments from “You’d look good on me” to groping, flashing and assault are a daily, global reality for women and LGBTQ individuals. But it is rarely reported, and it’s culturally accepted as ‘the price you pay’ for being a woman or for being gay. At Hollaback!, we don’t buy it.

Based on the premise that “the explosion of mobile technology has given us an unprecedented opportunity to end street harassment,” the project is encouraging women around the world to use the tools available to them to share their stories and geo-locate incidents and reports.

Incorporating a smartphone “app”, YouTube videos, Google maps, a Facebook group, a Twitter account and a multi-blogging platform, Hollaback! is a call to arms that requires an active involvement from the participants, based on the clever and articulate use of web and mobile tools, but above all it is a campaign to change the cultural attitudes towards street harassment.

Hollaback! suggests several ways of getting involved. The project originated in the United States, with presence in several American cities, but local Hollaback! web sites have already been created by women in cities like London, Mumbai and Buenos Aires, and countries like the Czech Republic and France.

Hollaback! is a positive model of citizen journalism, where women with access to mobile technologies can end the silence and have their voices heard. Are you listening?

This post is part of our special coverage Global Development 2011.

Arab World: Bloggers Compete for Arabisk Competition

Haifa Alrasheed — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 10:31:13 +0000

Like every year, Arab bloggers are competing for “The Best 2011 Arabic Blog” title. The competition is named Arabisk.

The blogs nominated are categorized into four categories: the best personal blog, the best news blog, the best specialized blog and the best entertainment blog. The winner of each category will get two prizes: the Audience Award and the Jury Award.

Nominations for the competition were open from January 15 to February 15; readers were allowed to vote for their best blogs from February 16 to 28; On March 1, the top 20 blogs in each category were announced; and from March 1 to 31, the jury will work on evaluating the entries.

The results are expected to be announced at the beginning of next month.

The aim:

According to the competition site (ar):

أرابيسك هي مسابقة سنوية لاختيار أفضل المدونات العربية المكتوبة بالعربية، تهدف إلى تنمية روح الابداع لدى المدونين العرب، تشجيع الشباب على التدوين وإثراء المحتوى العربي على الانترنت.

Arabisk is an annual competition to select the best Arabic blogs written in the Arabic language. The aim is to promote innovation among Arab bloggers and encourage young people to take up blogging and contribute to Arabic content online.

The Rules:

The competition rules are as follows:

المسابقة بسيطة ومتاحة لأكبر عدد ممكن من المدونين العرب، لذلك ليست هناك أي شروط تعجيزية، سوى شرطين يساهمان في تحقيق أهداف المسابقة:

1. على المدونات المشاركة أن تتميز بالأصالة في المحتوى. إذ لن تقبل ترشيحات المدونات التي تنشر مواد محفوظة الحقوق دون إذن من صاحب الحق. أو المدونات التي يغلب عليها طابع النقل وإعادة النشر لمحتويات أخرى، حتى إن كانت موادا مأذون بإعادة نشرها.

2. على المدونات المشاركة أن تكون متوافقة مع الأخلاق العامة للمجتمعات الإسلامية. ولن تقبل ترشيحات المدونات التي تنشر موادا بورنوغرافية.

The competition is simple and open to the maximum possible number of Arab bloggers. This is why there are no impossible rules, just two simple one which enable us to fulfill the goals of the competition:

1. Blogs participating in the contest should have original content. We will not accept the nomination of blogs which publish copyrighted material without the consent of the original publisher. Also blogs which predominantly depend on cutting and pasting material online, even with permission, will not be entered into the contest.

2. The participating blogs should adhere to the general moral code of Islamic societies. Blogs with pornographic content will be eliminated from the contest.

The Jury:
The jury includes bloggers from different Arab countries. They are: Wael Ghonim, Basem Shaheen, Muhammed Bashir, Fouad Alfarhan, and Moammar Aamer.

Readers will also be allowed to vote for as many blogs as they wish, for the Audience Award part of the contest.

على عكس جميع المسابقات الأخرى المشابهة، تنفرد مسابقة أرابيسك بنظام فريد لتصويت الجمهور على المدونات. فعلى عكس ما جرت عليه العادة، لن يكون للجمهور فرصة وحيدة للتصويت لصالح مدونة واحدة لا غير في كل تصنيف، بل سيمكنه التصويت على أي عدد من المدونات يشاء.

هكذا لن يجد الشخص نفسه في مأزق التصويت على مدونة واحدة لا غير، وتجاهل المدونات الأخرى حتى وإن كانت متقاربة في المستوى. هذا النظام سيوفر مرونة أكبر للراغبين في التصويت، وسيعطي لكل مدونة فرصا متساوية للفوز، ما دامت تستحق ذلك

Contrary to all the other similar blogging competitions, Arabisk has a unique voting system for readers, who will be able to vote for as many blogs as they choose in each category.
This way the reader will not be at loss for what blog to vote for in each category and will not be forced to vote for one blog and ignore the rest, when they are close to their favourite in quality. This system gives readers more flexibility in voting and gives all the blogs an equal chance to win, as long as they deserve to do so

Iraq: To the entire WORLD, #IRAQIS are coming…

Salam Adil — Sat, 26 Feb 2011 12:12:25 +0000

… so says @ArabPeople

Iraqi people were inspired the revolutions around the Arab world and announced their own day of rage on 25th February. The main demonstration centred on Tahrir Square in Baghdad but there were similar protests all over the country. @ArabPeople wrote:

#Iraq just started and it will surprise the entire #Arab world. No other revolt that started in 17+ locations. It's just the beginning.

The Iraqi Revolution Facebook page published a list of demands translated in full here which concludes with:

WE WILL NOT ACCEPT PROMISES AFTER TODAY

- We are fed up with political bids, we are fed up with honeyed promises, we are fed up with prosthetic decisions that some officials use to throw dust in the eyes of the people.

- Empty promises will not satisfy the hungry, and the cheap bids will not put clothes on the naked, and the shinny slogans will not quench the thirst of liver behooves.

- Silence is no longer a choice for any of us, so we will no be silenced after today…

-So how long will the Iraqis be divided into two classes, one that eats the beef, and the other eats the leaf!!

- And how long will a group of people receive multiple salaries, each salary covers a whole tribe, and the other people can’t get a single penny from the wealth of their homeland!!

- And how long will a group will receive warmth from the fire caused by the process of burning the public funds while others are dying because of the cold at the night of winter!!

- And how long will some enjoy the iced water in the heat of summer time while the others quench their thirst with the sewage water!!

AS GOD IS OUR WITNESS.. WE WILL NEVER BE SILENCED

IQ4C published the plan of the Baghdad demonstration with a picture:

and tweeted after:

Tired with beating ate today,it was good training to express my freedom in peace, I am a peaceful man, then a civilian # iraq # iq4c # feb25

Sunshine reports from Mosul where her cousins took part in the demonstrations. She repeated some amazing pictures of the protests and named the event:

today is called “the Friday of anger” and this revolution is named al nakheel's revolution “the palms revolutions “.

She writes:

The greatest thing is , people's intension is not to make coias or destroy…

Another pleasing thing is, people prayed “Friday's prayer” together in Al Tahreer in Baghdad , Sunnis and Shiites together and they shouted ” we're brothers Sunnis and Shiites and we're not going to sell this country”, the same thing happened in Sulaymania when Kurds and Arabs prayed together .. the citizens are united, it is the government that try to separate us and extend cultic , but it's not going to happen, no matter how tricky and pity plans they make..

I pray for a new hopeful future, and today I am proud of Iraqis, I know how great people we have here, and how much the Iraqis endured not only through the last 7 years, but since Saddam took control ..

Warnings from the powers that be

The Iraqi Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki, blamed Saddamists and al-Qaida for organizing the protests and Iraqi Shi'a religious leaders told people not to demonstrate. Healing Iraq commented ( here and here):

Maliki's scare tactics won't work with Iraqis anymore and only serve to undermine his credibility. Iraqis are fed up with cronyism, corruption …

Typical reaction from the clerical establishment which wants to see Iraq's Shia remain under its thumb in order to keep their coffers full. These anti-corruption protests sweeping the country from Sulaimaniya to Basrah are a huge threat to those who are impeding progress in the ‘democratic' Iraq.

Abbas Hawazin added:

The course of conduct [the Iraqi government] has employed in approaching these demonstrations was EXACTLY like the one all the surrounding tyrannies employed: anxiety borne out of a deep-seated uncertainty in its own legitimacy, the too-late scramble to make promises, the questioning of the protests' background and intentions using old bogey-men … I am SOLIDLY against this government now.

Kassakhoon believes that these demonstration are only the beginning:

The demos also showed how the government is weak and terrified from the people when pushed thousands of security forces to seal off the roads, mainly the bridge that leads to the already heavily fortified Green Zone when erected tall concrete blast walls.

None of the government officials dared to show up before the demonstrators, but instead they only talked to State-run TV …

It is right that today's protests ended on the ground, but they are still live inside the protesters. What we witnessed today was only a small ice ball that just started to roll and it will get bigger day after day.

In contrast to Maliki accusing the protestors of being supporters of Saddam, Layla Anwar the nearest thing among Iraqi bloggers to a Saddamist took a somewhat different view of the protests:

Protest my ass. Where were you when the tanks rolled in ? where were you when the sectarian Shiites and their turbaned mullahs swayed you with a couple of hundred dollars for a finger dipped in purple ink for a “democratic” vote…

Where were you when we escaped in droves, living the lives of dogs in exile…where were you when the militias you praised and danced for decimated us all? Where the fuck were you?

Where were you when you let another sectarian whore from Iran take power again, for a second tenure and you sat and talked of national reconciliation and ballot boxes ?!

Where were you when the Iraqi Resistance was struggling against the invader ALONE ?

…

Demanding better living conditions from puppets is IDIOCY. Hundreds of foreign companies are making a living off your backs, bringing in their own staff and leaving you, so called educated class working as blue collars in your own country…

So where were you ? …

Give me a break you hypocrites.

Iraq is my biggest love and you are my biggest disappointment.

Go protest as much as you like, I will not lend you my voice. I've been a lone voice for the past 5 years and suffered the worst abuse in your name. Go protest all you like.