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Africa: Highs and Lows of the 2012 African Cup of Nations

Chellsy Alis Manning — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 17:43:56 +0000

Beyond their ethnic, political and regional divides, people unite together around their national football team. We saw the First Lady of Gabon dancing like an excited schoolgirl every time one of the eleven players of the ‘Azingo Nationale' scored a goal and became “the Panthers” for their country.

The people of Equatorial Guinea were ecstatic with the qualification of their national team, languishing in the midst of one of the most ferocious dictatorships. According to Human Rights Watch, journalists who have visited the country to report on the human rights situation have been detained, interrogated, censored and deported.

In the fervour surrounding the 2012 African Cup of Nations, there are two key points that attract attention. The first is the absence of some of the higher achieving teams in African football.

Michael Dodje's blog explains [fr] the unusual goings-on in this year's Cup of Nations:

Imagine a Euro competition without Germany, Spain, Holland and England. Impossible you say, even though Ukraine or Poland would not have to participate in the qualifying rounds as host nations. And yet, this is what happened in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea. Indeed, for the first time in ages we will not see Egypt, Cameroon, Algeria, Nigeria or even South Africa in this championship. How did this happen?

Remembering that the five teams mentioned above have won 15 out of 27 previous Cup of Nations tournaments. Nicholas Mc Anally on le229.com responded [fr]:

…If these teams do not qualify then there will be others to replace them. It's a breath of fresh air seeing teams like Botswana, Niger and Equatorial Guinea making their debuts in the Cup of Nations.

Another novelty in this year's Cup is the way that the thorny issue of bonuses has been resolved. A post on the blog plat du pied explained [fr] what happened on the 15 November, 2011:

After the cancellations of the matches against China, Gabon, Salvador and Mexico, Cameroon has again cancelled a friendly match at the last minute for the fifth time since the start of the season. The players went on strike, once again, in protest against the federation over their bonuses for the match.

On the same blog, a statement issued by the Cameroon players, known as the ‘Indomitable Lions', said:

Due to the absence of attendance bonuses, the players have decided not to travel to Algiers and to not play any part in the match against Algeria scheduled for the 15 November.

Different solutions to the problem have been found by building on past negative experiences. A post [fr] on the blog marocfootball.info, concerning the Moroccan national team, the ‘Atlas Lions' stated that:

The President of the highest court in Moroccan football announced that a deal has been made with the Atlas Lions in that they accept that they will not receive any form of attendance bonus if they fail to reach the quarter finals of the 2012 African Cup of Nations.

Côte d'Ivoire, not long out of a prolonged and disastrous civil war, will pay their national team the ‘Elephants' a bonus of 5 billion CFA francs (1 million US dollars) if they win the final. The blog afrik11.com states [fr]:

The 23 players in the side receive 5 million CFA francs (10,000 USD) in attendance bonuses. This amount will be paid if the team is eliminated in the first round. In the quarterfinals, the bonus of each player will rise to 8 million, rising further to 10 million in the semifinals and then to 20 million in the final (40,000 USD). The coach, Zahoui François will also enjoy his share of the pie, receiving double the bonuses of his players.

afrik11.com also comments [fr] on the bonuses paid to the Mali national team, the ‘Eagles of Mali' at the beginning of January:

Earlier this week the Malian football team received their bonuses for qualifying for the 2012 African Cup of Nations. Two hundred million CFA francs (40,000 USD) were given in cash to the players and coaching staff before the national team left Lomé (Togo) for the final stage in their preparations for the competition.

The Equatorial Guinea team in training by @FlorianK_Sport

Equatorial Guinea, co-hosts of the event, is a country unable to build a stadium capable of hosting a match due to the frequent rains. Yet abidjan.net posted a blog surrounding their first victory [fr] in the competition:

Teodorin Obiang, the Minister for Agriculture presented a cheque for 500 million CFA francs (760,000 euros) to Francisco Pascual Eyegue Obama Asué, the Minister for Sport, in the absence of the national team in Mbini (mainland Mali). He added a cheque for 20 million CFA francs (30,400 euros), 10 million that had been promised for each goal scored ; the team only won the match 1-0 but he explained that the goal disallowed by the referee deserved to be credited with a bonus.

This blog points out that the actions of Teodorin, tipped to succeed his father as president, are under scrutiny by the Americans.

The generosity of petrodollars being used for the bonuses for the Equatorial Guinea football team makes the Republic of Guinea look like a poor relation. In Conakry, the first problem was in trying to find the money to pay for the bonuses. As reported by lejourguinee.com, the country set up a National Committee for Support, led by General Mathurin Bangoura, Minister for Housing and Urban Development with the aim of raising funds for the bonuses. Notably, the first contributions came from the Indian community settled in the country.

The least well-spent money during the tournament, without doubt, has to be the bonuses awarded to the ‘Teranga Lions', the Senegalese national team, who had entered the competition as strong favourites and fell at the first hurdle. Yet, at the beginning of the competition the blog can.starafrica.com stated [fr] that:

There are some concerns surrounding the bonuses given to the Senegalese side. On Wednesday the Sports Ministry gave the squad bonuses amounting to 140, 650,000 francs in full for their qualification for the 2012 African Cup of Nations.

Africa: 2012 Cup of Nations Kicks Off!

Dan Horlor — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 15:47:12 +0000

[All links to external content are in French]

The Africa Cup of Nations began in Bata, Equatorial Guinea this Saturday January 21, 2012, kicking off three weeks of fierce competition. The Cup of Nations, the most important international football competition in Africa, is taking place in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea between January 21 and 12 February.

Supporters in Africa and around the world have been enjoying the build-up to the two opening matches; dancing, light and sound were all part of the spectacle:

GaGuie the Mascot! With GAGUIE : GA as in Gabon, GUI as in Guinea and E as in Equatorial! Image from fr.cafonline.com with permission

Here is a round up of the first three days of the tournament.

Matchday One

Libya took on Equatorial Guinea in the curtain raiser on 21 January, and it was co-hosts Equatorial Guinea, making their tournament debut, who took a surprise 1-0 win.

With just six minutes remaining, Balboa, the Equatorial Guinea number 11 finally opened the scoring after a one-on-one with the Libyan goalkeeper. The score stayed 1-0 until the final whistle, to the delight of the Equatorial Guinea fans who had packed the stadium.

The Senegalese fluffed their entry to the competition with a 2-1 defeat inflicted by Zambia on the same day. Senegal fans took to the web to place the blame on coach of the national team.

Touy wrote on Seneweb News [fr]:

le souci avec un entraîneur local c'est que même s'il se rend compte que le capitaine par exemple Niang n'est pas au niveau il aura la crainte la peur ou la pudeur de le faire sortir au détriment de la victoire bien sur!!

The problem with having a local coach is that even if he realises that the captain, let's say Niang, is not good enough he'll either be afraid or too modest to take him off, to the detriment of getting the win of course!

Amara Traoré [fr] on RFI sheds some light on the subject for us:

Tout le monde savait avant même le début de la CAN que les zambiens sont très vifs et utiliseraient cette vivacité pour gérer les sénégalais beaucoup plus costauds. Alors lui l’entraîneur et son staff devraient trouver un bon système pour les contenir avant de les attaquer.Donc je trouve kil n'a pas fais son boulot qui était de voir les choses venir et de jouer avec des joueurs rapides mais surtout de ne pas trop bourrer cette attaque ou personne ne se retrouve .

Everyone knew, even before the Cup of Nations began, that the Zambians are very energetic and would use that energy to combat the much bigger and stronger Sengalese. So the coach and his staff should find a system to contain thembefore going on the attack. He hasn't done his job which is to anticipate and play fast players but above all not to throw men forward who then can't find each other.

Matchday Two

The second matchday saw the entry of one of the competition favourites: the ‘Elephants' of Côte d'Ivoire. A magnificent strike by Didier Drogba in the 39th minute secured the victory for Côte d'Ivoire over Sudan. The win for the Elephants wasn't enough for every Ivorian fan on the net however. Many felt that they could have done better.

Phox Hermann [fr] said:

la vérité est bonne à dire heinnn. ELEPHANT ke moi jai vu là c N'IMPORTE KOI

Good to tell the truth, riiight. That was no ELEPHANT that I saw

Bi Tia Vincent Toh [fr] added:

la conservation d'un unique but nous a donné des sueurs froides.
Que Mr Gervino soit un peu plus réaliste devant les buts,
Que Mr Yaya Touré regagne sa place au milieu et joue effectivement comme à city
Que la defense cesse d etre trop permeable,

keeping hold of a one goal lead brought us out in a cold sweat.
If only Mr Gervino [sic] was more realistic in front of goal,
If only Mr Yaya Touré could get his place back in the middle and play as well as he does at city
If only the defence stopped leaking,

Angola also played their first game and overpowered Burkina Faso with a 2-1 victory.

Matchday Three

Gabon, the second co-host team of the 2012 Cup of Nations showed their strength with a 2-0 win over Niger, the opening Group C match of the tournament played in a fantastic atmosphere in the Stade de l'Amitié in Libreville.

Rodrigue Magaya [fr] commented on Aubameyang's goal on Facebook:

que dire?!!!merci aux gars, il fallait ça pour la beauté du spetacle et naturelement monter a tt nos adversaires que nous sommes la!!bien en place et on a pas peur!!!vive la can, et vive encore plus nos pantheres;que Dieu benisse le gabon!!!!!!

what can I say?!!!thanks to the lads, we needed that for the beauty of the contest and naturally to show all our opponents that we're here!!right on the spot and with no fear!!long live the cup of nations, and may our panthers live even longer;God bless Gabon!!!!!!

The 2012 Cup of Nations can be followed on TV5 Monde, Canal+ Afrique and on Twitter and Google+ via the hashtags #CAN2012 (in French) et #ACN2012 (in English).

MENA: Amnesty International's Forecast for 2012

Asteris Masouras — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 13:09:14 +0000

“Repression and state violence is likely to continue to plague the Middle East and North Africa in 2012,” forecasts Amnesty International in an 80-page report. It documents the extreme violence deployed by MENA regimes when resisting the unprecedented calls for fundamental reform heard in the region in 2011, as well as the amazing resilience of the protest movements. The report adds, “The refusal of ordinary people across the region to be deterred from their struggle for dignity and justice is what gives us hope for 2012.”

Libya: Draft Electoral Law Criticized

Mohamed Mesrati — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 17:06:14 +0000

This post is part of our special coverage Libya Uprising 2011.

A few days ago, the Libyan government released a draft of the election law for public debate. The aim was for citizens to discuss it and find out the opinion of the majority of Libyans about it. This draft, the first in Libya's post-Gaddafi era, is the first of its kind in a country that had no elections in four decades.

The elections are slated for June this year and the new parliament will be charged with writing the country's new constitution.

Soon after its release, activists began criticizing some of the draft's key clauses through the Internet and civic organizations. Most of their criticism focused on an article which does not permit Libyans with dual citizenship to run for elections. The other point debated is about the availability of only 10 per cent of the congress seats for women.

Libyan activists have also translated the Electoral Law draft into English for wider deployment in the Western media and have published the translation of the draft on the Internet.

Libyan blogger Ghazi Gheblawi shares a link on Twitter:

@Gheblawi: English Translation of #Libya Electoral Law http://twitdoc.com/PJG via @libyanproud @WaterproofAhmed @ChangeInLibya et.al.

In addition to the translated English version, the ruling Libyan Transitional Council published the original version in Arabic, adding an e-mail address in case Libyan citizens would want to comment on any of the articles of the electoral law.

Gheblawi shares the link for the Arabic version of the draft law:

@Gheblawi: Draft electoral law for the election of the national Libyan congress PDF ARABIC #Libya #election read and spread http://www.mediafire.com/download_repair.php?dkey=elctnns7n3h&qkey=gncwu8dm1q8y1g9

After reviewing the draft, many activists rejected the article which prohibits Libyans with dual nationality to run for election. One of activists on Twitter has written a letter under the signature of ‘The Libyan Dual Nationality Community'. He has published a copy of the letter that he sent to the Election Law Drafting Committee.

Armchair Arab tweets:

@ArmchairArab: @Tripolitan @LibyaLiberty @@AzizBelhaj @Abukersh @ceoDanya here’s my English Draft letter - http://www.twitlonger.com/show/f4nijn

He explains in the letter the conditions experienced by Libyans under Gaddafi's repressive regime, the reason that pushed them to migrate out of the country, seeking other nationalities:

However I put it to you dear distinguished members, that thousands of Libyans were forced to flee their homeland and start new lives overseas by the brutal practices of the former Libyan government of Gaddafi and his cronies. Amongst these Libyans the flame of revolution and opposition to Gaddafi was kept alight, so that it might one day help spark the changes that all Libyans longed for. In the patriotic and honorable revolution of February 17th, 2011. This spark grew to a burning flame that played a critical role in ousting the Gaddafi regime. Dual nationality Libyans residing abroad helped take the news of Gaddafi's crimes to a global audience, pressuring international media outlets and foreign politicians to take action. Dual nationality Libyans also served the revolution by providing medical, material and financial assistance to Libyans in Libya and refugees in neighboring countries. Many quit their jobs and gave up their livelihoods and life savings to play their part in the revolution. Of course, we can never forget the dual nationality Libyans that made the ultimate sacrifice by fighting and giving up their lives for the sake of a free Libya.

The activist asked in his letter to delete this article that marginalizing a large number of Libyans who had fought against the Gaddafi regime for long time:

More practically speaking, it is our strong recommendation that Article 16, item 1 should be amended to remove the requirement for dual nationalities citizens to relinquish their dual nationality before registering themselves as an electoral candidate. As long as Libyan has a valid Libyan citizenship and has not committed any crimes, then he or she should be eligible to both vote AND run for elections. The two key tenets of a true democratic process.
Libyan dual citizens proved their loyalty to Libya during their long years of exile and more recently during the blessed Feb17th revolution. They provide Libya with a powerful asset of education and experience that the country desperately needs to achieve the goals set out by the Feb17th revolution. The solution that serves Libya best is enabling these patriotic Libyan citizens to serve their country without any discrimination or limitation.

On the other hand, a number of other activists as well as some of the civil organizations protested January 4 in front of the prime minister office in the Libyan capital Tripoli, against the election rule that gives women 10pc of the seats in Congress, or 20 out of 200 seats. This protest was organized by “The Free Generation Movement” as well as some other Women Rights organisations.

Details of the protest were posted on Facebook here:

The Free Generation Movement: All Women, men, Human Rights Activists, are invited to join in a demonstration opposing the 10% quota, outside the Prime Ministers Office, Treg Sikka, Tripoli, on Wednesday January 4th 2012 at 10:00 a.m.

Libyan political activist Hafed AlGhwell notes:

@HafedAlGhwell: Libyan #women are planning demonstrations in Tripoli & BenGhazi to protest the new election law in #libya

And social activist, Noor Toshana, expresses her displeasure for the article on women in the elections:

@NoorToshani: Don't tell me #LibyanWomen are politically ignorant. Relatively speaking, EVERYONE is. Gaddafi left no room for political practice/engagement

Activist, Joanne Leo, put a link of the Libyan Elections website, asking Libyans who have comments or complaints to send feedback:

@FromJoanne: #Libya #ATTENTION Send your Comments on Draft #ELECTION #LAW NOW Click “Send feedback” on elections2012.ly website

Meanwhile, activists still hope that the government will take their views into consideration regarding these two articles. In the coming days the Electoral Law Committee, Council of Ministers and the National Transitional Council will be meeting to discuss the electoral law draft and decide in the light of citizens' comments. The elections are slated to be held in June.

This post is part of our special coverage Libya Uprising 2011.

Libya: A Letter from a Woman in Benghazi

Mohamed ElGohary — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 15:53:24 +0000

This post is part of our special coverage Libya Uprising 2011.

A Libyan woman from Benghazi has criticized her countrymen for marrying non-Libyans after the revolution. She states that Libyan women are not getting rights equal to those granted to men. She writes the following open letter, entitled “A long letter from one of the sisters in Benghazi” on Facebook [ar]:

رسالة طويلة من احدى الأخوات من بنغازي

بصراحة الموضوع لازم نحكي فيه لانه يالي سمعته تبليه وضع النقاط علي الحروف

1- زواج رجالة بنغازي من السوريات يعني فضت في ليبيا وملقيتوش الا السوريات _مع احترامي لسوريات بس عيالنا علي قولت زيف الاسلام خط حمر وعريض _ في المرة الاولة لما شبابنا دبت فيهم النخوة وخذو من اليبيات يالي اهاليهن جو لبنغازي وهنا نحكي علي بنات اجدابيا وقلنا عادي برغم من وجود غصة لكن في الاخير بنت بلادي ومشينا الموضوع وتوا توصل بيكم تاخذو من النازحين من سورريا لليبيا ولا 40 شخص يعني العدد مش طشه الناس مليهمش اقل من شهر عندنا شوفو البنت ادرسوها كويس هل تنسبكم والا لا لكن طب لزق وتزوجو دغري هذه فأل شين ويستر ربي من الايام والعداد الجايا .

2-لا شكرا للمجلس الانتقالي علي فتح الابواب لكل ووحدة شقراء سمحة علي قولت عزايزنا نبيها ثلاجة توا المجلس كل ماله يدير في مشكلة في جرت مشكلة المرة الاولة تعدد الزوجات وتوا نزوح العرب الي ليبيا — نبي نوقف طشة علي موضوع هذا طبعا الدولة لما تكون فيها حرب فطبيعي انه الناس تهرب من هذه الدولة لانه الاوضاع فيها غير مستقرة نبي نفهم توا النزحين من سوريا واكرر مع احترامي لنازحين هل من الحكمة استقبالهم رغم اننا دولة غير مستقرة هل نفسية الموطنين اليبين تتحمل ضغط جديد عليهم هل المجلس مأخذش الابعاد من جلبهم يعني توا المجلس سبب في عنوسة 40 بنت ليبية متقولش ربي محلل بربعة ربي قال فعدلو انت وحدة ويادوبك تبي تأخذ اربعة ..

3- ياسيدي مش عاجبتك بنت بنغازي امشي لطرابلس الزاوية طبعا مصراته وجبل نفوسة تحلمو بيهن بناتهم ..ياسيدي بنات الجنوب باهي اذا يأست بنات بني وليد سرت تورغاء طبعا كلامي هذا مش لرجالة بنغازي بل رجالة المنطقة الشرقية خففو شويا علي ما وصوكم راكم كثرتو.

4- قضية زواج اليبيات من غير اليبين قضية كبيرة ولها ابعاد واجدة اليوم كانت في مسيرة لامهات ليبيات متزوجات بغير ابن جلدتها يعني باليبي مش ولد بلادها يطالبن بحقوقهن كموطنات ليبيات وهو تسجيل ابنائهن بجنسيتهن …. هذا تبيلها وقفة ياخواتي اي نعم انا معاكي في بعض المتطلبات لكن اني نزوج غير ليبي ونعطي جنسيتي لابني هذا انا مش معاها ياختي الجنسية لابد من ان تكون من صلب الرجل ..اي نعم انا معاك في انه ابنك يدرس مجانا ويعامل معاملة اليبي ويعمل ويعين في ليبيا وان تأخذي جميع حقوقك كموطن ليبي حيث ان ليبيا لا تورث ليبيا لكل اليبين فلا يجوز ان يعطي الشباب امتيزات عن الفتاة زيي زي الشاب وهذا لازم ينحط في دستور .

5- طبعا بحكم عددنا كاليبيات اكثر من عدد الرجال فالمفروض اي قرار يتخذ يكون فيه بعد لقدام وبحكم اننا سندنا الثورة وسندنا ثورانا وسندنا بلادنا ودرنا يالي قدرنا عليه بعزم من ربي فكلام هنا ينراد لنقطة رقم واحد يعني هذا كله وماملش عينكم طيح الله سعدكم مصيركم بعد سنتين بعد مايطفشن منكم وياخذن العيال معاهن مرردكم لبنات بلادكم لانه اطبعاكم مايقدر عليهن الابنات بلادكم بس هذا اذا لقيتونا مش لكم فترة تعيطو تبو تطبيق الشريعة الاسلامية في نقطة هذه انا معاكم …ربي قال من ترضون دينه مقالش ياليبيه خوذي ليبي راهو تحسبو رواحكم بس يالي مركزين عليهم .

6- رسال جدية …. الي الاستاذ حزب … اذا كنت تريد ان تضمن صوت المرأة وانضمامها الي حزبك فأهتم بحقوقها التي نصها الله اولا وحقوقها كموطنة ليبية …
واخير انشالله يوفقنا الله في نشر ديننا الوسطي وخدمة وطننا وإنسانيتنا

A long letter from one of the sisters in Benghazi

Frankly, we should discuss this subject so we that we make things clear.

The issue of Benghazi men marrying Syrians: so you men didn't find any suitable Libyan to marry a Syrian? With all my respect to Syrian women, but our children are a thick red line like Saif el Islam said. Firstly, when our youth believed in chivalry and went to Benghazi women, we are talking here about Ajdabiya girls. This was considered OK because they married girls from within our country in spite of the bitter feelings. But when you consider marrying Syrian emigrants to Libya, 40 of them, who have been here for less than a month, this is not normal. You guys should take your time to see if the girl is suitable or not, and not marry after at first sight. This is a bad luck and may God save our coming days.

No thanks for the National Transition Council (NTC) for opening the doors to every blond, like our loved ones say: do we want the NTC buried in a fridge of problems? Firstly was polygamy and now Arabs emigrating to Libya? We want to stop this. Of course, we are in a state of war so it is natural for people to run away from this unstable country. But we need to understand Syrians coming here with all my respect, is it wise to receive them although we are an unstable country? Can we, as Libyan citizens, stand more psychological pressure? Did the NTC take into consideration such consequences? The NTC is directly responsible for 40 Libyan girls being a spinsters. Please don't say Allah permits marrying four, but please say that my God ordered if you want to be just then only one. You still want to have four wives?

3- So sir, if you didn't like Benghazi women, you can go to Tripoli, Az Zawiyah, and of course Misrata and Nafusa Mountains have women you can only dream of. Sir, you can also check out the southerners. If you are really desperate you can go to Bani Walid, Sirte and Tawergha. I'm not talking here to Benghazi's men, but to those living in the eastern side of Libya, you are becoming more and more by the day, you should take care.

Libyan men marrying non-Libyan women is a big issue with important consequences. Today there was a march for Libyan mothers who are married to non-Libyans demanding Libyan citizenship for their children. Ok, I support some of the Libyan women demands in marrying non-Libyans but I don't understand giving their children citizenship. Citizenship should be from the Libyan man. Ok I support free education for your son and same treatment that a Libyan gets for work, living and all other rights. But when Libya is not for all Libyans then we should give Libyan men what the women don't have, and this should be mentioned in the constitution.

Based on the fact that Libyan women number more than men, it is supposed that any decision with long range consequences should be considered. And also based on the fact that we, Libyan women, supported the revolution and the country with all our efforts, and all of that wasn't enough? After two years those you married will run away with your children because no woman can stand your manners, and then we won't accept you, if you found us in the first place. You are desperate for applying Islamic ruling, OK I'm with you in this. Islam said you marry a religious man, not necessarily a Libyan man. God said you should marry good religious men not just the men you desire.

6- A serious message, to Mr Party, if you want to secure women's votes and women joining your party, you must recognize and give much care to her rights, which are dictated by God Himself, and her rights as a Libyan citizen.

And finally may God help us spread our religion and help us service our nation and our humanity.

The letter has attracted so many comments so far, more than 350 and counting, opening the debate on women's rights, Islamic law and what is acceptable for Libyan women and what is not.

This post is part of our special coverage Libya Uprising 2011.

Libya 2011: A Seminal Year Through Citizen Media

Fozia Mohamed — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 11:02:48 +0000

This post is part of our special coverage Libya Uprising 2011.

In January 2011, while Egypt was going through the throes of the Arab Spring, Highlander was one of the rare netizens on the Libyan blogosphere to subtly speculate if the ‘West’ would allow former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to be toppled by what was increasingly looking like a no going back popular revolution.

She blogged:

Leave Mubarak alone as he is keeping us safe we don't really care about anybody or anything else :P

It was as far as one could get into, in a Libya under Muammar Gaddafi's strong rule.

By February, Libya was engulfed in it’s own uprising. The feeling before Tripoli was crushed was that anything was possible; so some bloggers ventured into bolder territory either reporting directly about what was happening, for example the battle for survival going on in Benghazi and how all cities had begun to rise with the sense of urgency so well expressed by PH:

• Libyanna ( mobile company ) sent a message to all the citizens of Benghazi telling them to go home; as it is their job to defend Benghazi.
• Weapons and soldiers arrived from Bieda and its surrounding area.
• The 64th battalion and Abdulfath Younis's ( عبدالفتاح يونس) special forces battalion attacking the main revolutionary guard garrison in Benghazi ( الفضيل بوعمر). Fighting is ongoing.
• General Population of Benghazi arming up with everything in their grasp.
• People chanting Muammer here we come for you, death is coming.
• Crowds are larger than ever seen ( they were nearly 100,000 ) three days ago.
• Helicopter shot down by the people of Benghazi.

And the more ‘Morse' code like missive by Khaijateri about Gaddafi’s infamous and terrifying Zenga Zenga speech, where we were all called rats - and addicts:

We watched, we snacked. We had mixed feelings: disbelief, horror, amazement, among other feelings, but mostly just disgust.

March was immortalised by the burning the Green Book, which contains Gaddafi's governing philosophy, as Anglo-Libyan said:

For the first time in my life I agree with the burning of a book, the idiotic green book of Gaddafi the murderer, the brave people of the city of Misrata stand as one and send a message to gaddafi, until when this mad dictator is going to claim that these brave people are drunks and drug addicts![sic]

The Internet was cut in March and our voices were silenced except for those who had Thuraya phones or VSAT connections. This meant that we relied on smuggled videos broadcast on Arab satellite TVs. City after city was muzzled and Libyans outside the country or those in the liberated East took it upon themselves to amplify our voices while the rest of Libya was waiting for the no fly zone.

Whiteafrican, in Manchester, UK, said:

i am so proud of the Libyan men, they have proven to the world that they are indeed lions of the dessert, the men of benghazi, bayda, derna, tobrok, breyga, ras lanuf, ajdabeeya, the men of zawia, zintan and misrata.

standing in only their sandals and in many cases, there fists in front of tanks, missiles, RPG's and the latest in weapons, so that Libya will be free is courageous and this courage has not been seen in a long time.[sic]

Meanwhile Ruwida Ashour pleaded in Benghazi:

i cant write more words & what has happened & happening now in Libya is unbelievable ………………please support Libyans with any thing you could do even with just a smile , profile picture or any thing ………we still have money but we need moral support .[sic]

This is also the month when Eman Al Obaidi escaped her rapists and a worldwide petition was started to bring attention to her plight. It was the month of the late Hannu’s last post too.

The Libyan blogosphere will miss Hannu very much as her humour and honesty were a role model.

In April, while the NATO bombing campaign was continuing, Libyans were being traumatised by the alleged mass rape stories which were coming out and many like Soad were trying to share their desperation with the world:

Young girls and women, who were virgins, were subjected to brutal gang rape and torture; many of the incidents were filmed on mobile phones and were circulated to increase the humiliation of these victims and their families. Many victims were infected with HIV and some got pregnant; it is a huge problem and needs to be tackled head-on, no beating around the bush.

As spring turned to summer, we had the siege of Misrata and the ongoing fighting in the Western Mountains. We had the back and front battles for the coastal oil towns of Brega, Ajdabia and Ras Lanuf; and we had the fear that Libya will be partitioned and the increasing numbers of internally and externally displaced Libyan families. This is so hauntingly evoked by Noureddin [ar] when he is packing to leave in May:

وبدأت أعدّ للرحيل.
أفرز أوراقي: وثائق قانونية وتاريخية، وأسرية تعود لثلاثة أجيال وأكثر.. ومقتنيات لبعضها قيمته المادية ولبعضها الأخر قيمته المعنوية.. بعضٌ من الذاكرة.. بعضٌ مني سأودعه عند عزيز وسأصطحب من البعض الأخر ما أمكن… وسأترك ورائي ما أتركه وديعةً عند ربي… وزرت الأهل والأصحاب مودعا.

I’m packing and preparing to leave. Sorting out my papers, legal, historical and family documents that go back three generations and more. I’m scrutinising my worldly belongings, some of material value but others of sentimental value as they hold dear memories. I leave some with friends and try to take with me whatever I can. The rest I will leave in the care of God just as I will leave family and friends and say goodbye.

Lebeeya’s post in June aptly entitled Freedom, embodied our dreams in a war that had been dragging on for months.

Meanwhile, in July, pro–Gaddafi electronic teams are also not silent and since this is a war all is fair and their bloggers on SOS Libya were telling a story that made me feel on another planet. Here is a sample post:

NATO is not bombing the rebels in the East. NATO is working for the rebels.People don’t dare complain about the rebels. They are scared for their lives and their family lives. We have met many people who have escaped these place with their lives, but most don’t want their names out because they have family left there and if they show their face or publicly speak about the rebel atrocities then the members of their families that are left will be killed. We know this from first hand, one of our group had this exact problem and could not be filmed, his father called him and said the rebels saw him on TV and if he spoke out one more time against them they would kill his brother one by one and then begin with his other family members.[…]
we have never heard of oppression by Ghadafi, the people have great respect and love for him. They all wear green and wear photos of him around their necks, believe me the Western news is so far from the truth they are on another planet.
We have never seen anybody beaten, harassed, in prison, in fact we have been days and never even seen a policeman.[sic]

With the fighting continuing, Brega changed hands every 24 hrs and the death of the rebel General Abdulfattah Younis, the hope for an end to the war was fading and this is what blogger Hana S tried to explain:

Last Saturday I dreamt that Libya was finally liberated. In the dream, it was a Friday and a Friday that preceded the beginning of Ramadan. Get it? Ramadan this year is either this coming weekend or the beginning of next week. And this Friday is the last one before the holy month!

I woke up excited and full of hope. It felt great in the dream. How would it be like in real life!?

As the days of July dragged on, Tripoli was getting more and more restless and people were all thinking that the final showdown was going to be brutal. Fears were running high about what will exactly happen thoughts of genocide such like the ones expressed by Displaced Libyan were not too far:

It was going to be literally the ‘wild west’ with everyone with a grudge and their brother participating in a mess that would take years and hundreds of thousands of lives, refugees and billions of losses. Basically the image in my head was a bloodbath from which I could not see any exit.

All the patience and suffering in Tripoli culminated in August during the long awaited second uprising and operation Mermaid Dawn. After all the agonizing moments, the lighting liberation of Tripoli was short of miraculous and with Internet restored Violet sighed with relief :

it is beautiful to see how much change there has been in the Libyan psyche, the wall of fear has been broken. Freedom is priceless.

Libyans were euphoric at the liberation of their capital Tripoli even though Gaddafi had fled. The celebration continued for weeks despite the war still raging on other fronts. Meanwhile, for the first time in months, media was covering the majority of Libyan territories, help associations were coming in and the rest of the country was catching up with their Eastern brothers and by September, blogs were shifting to reporting more on life returning to normal. On the Edge was just pleased to find pizza again:

Fast food is making it's appearance again around town in Tripoli. Moe and I went to a little mall on Friday. We hadn't gone there since before Ramadan. We found a coffee cafe open that had been closed. They had cheese cake, pastries, the best Italian coffee , and best of all for me , PIZZA'S! OMG !!! Fully loaded with all sorts of yummy stuff.

In October, many of the resisting cities started falling and the highlight of that month for Libya and the world was the death of Gaddafi. The most evocative post illustrating this was NassimLibya [ar] who said:

صباحك بلا حصون بلا خطوط حمراء
.بلا جنون بلا نبى الصحراء
الله أكبر الله أكبر الله أكبر

A morning without walls, without red lines
without craziness and without desert prophets,
God is great, God is great, God is great.

With Gaddafi and his son Mutassim dead, Sirte fell and the liberation of all the Libyan territory was declared three days later on 23 October.

In November, the Libyans had another stroke of luck with the capture of Saif Al Islam Gaddafi alive.

Again Lebeeya's post about this event summarized what most of the people felt:

Saif's capture is equivalent to removing the last disease in the country. I hope the handful of Gaddafi loyalists in the country snap out of their bubble and join hands with everyone else for a better Libya. Inshallah (By the will of God) the fitna stops after this.
My thoughts on Saif's cut fingers: although Reuters confirms that he lost his fingers from a previous injury a month ago. I hope that's just a cover story for what really happened! The thuwar (rebels) found him and chopped his fingers off slowly and painfully!

By now all Libya was one country once again, the phone lines between East and West were restored, the banking system and other systems were reunited, the interim government had moved mostly to Tripoli. Thus Libyans ended what had been a tumultuous year by celebrating on 24 December the historical Independence Day. Happymoi could not help reminding the readers that

It is a day that has been suppressed by the former regime for so long. It just feels good to say happy independence day Libya!

It is a suitable conclusion to an unusual year: 2011 …. awaiting Libyans was a long arduous road to rebuild the country and to build democracy at the same time. Mistakes are expected but 2012 was sure to prove interesting with all these challenges.

This post is part of our special coverage Libya Uprising 2011.

Global Voices Most Read Posts in 2011

Solana Larsen — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 23:46:50 +0000

This post is part of our special coverage Global Voices in 2011.

Our top 20 list of most read posts on Global Voices for 2011 includes four from Japan, three from Egypt, and two from the Philippines. But only one story is about a giant crocodile!

It's been an incredible year for the reach and recognition of citizen media around the world, and that means Global Voices is no longer as lonely a media voice when it comes to reporting tweets and blog posts. Still, where mainstream media interest wanes, we're the ones who strive to continue documenting what local bloggers everywhere need the world to know.

Self Defence Forces arrive at the scene of the tsunami in Japan. Image by cosmobot, copyright Demotix (13/03/11).

Some of our proudest moments of 2011 will never be reflected on a top 20 list like the one below. This year we exceeded 500 active volunteer authors and translators of countless languages and countries, and we've published more than 2,600 long posts and 6,300 short ones in English alone.

Inevitably, many of the stories that don't get as wide a readership as they deserve are from countries that tend to be overlooked in international media. Unique coverage from across Africa, the Caucasus, Macedonia, the Russian language Internet, Latin America and indigenous rights are among some of the highlights. See the 2011 regional reviews by our editors and authors for a glance of what you may have missed.

Our Middle East and North Africa team deserves special mention this year. Throughout protests, blackouts, threats, they have managed to pull though and keep writing. The bloody images still proliferate, but our authors seek out constructive voices and angles for dialogue. So often, they've shared local humor and context that is difficult to appreciate from abroad without a guide.

Perhaps for the first time ever, China doesn't figure on our top 20 list of the year. These are particularly chilling times to blog about controversial subjects - something Global Voices authors in many other countries unfortunately also experience. This makes the stories that do come from anywhere free speech is frowned on even more precious.

Most read posts on Global Voices in 2011

Our most visited special coverage pages were:

In 2011 the world has learned more about the transformative power of online citizen media. We believe the best way to support these emerging voices on a global scale is to listen. Thanks for reading Global Voices! And please consider supporting our work with a donation.

This post is part of our special coverage Global Voices in 2011.

New Qatar Envoy Appointed in Libya

Amira Al Hussaini — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 09:31:49 +0000

Qatar has appointed a new envoy to Libya. Sultan Al Qassemi, a commentator from the UAE, sheds more light on Qatari-Libyan relations since the beginning of the Libyan uprising in February under the subtitles: The Marriage, The Honeymoon and The Divorce.

Arab World: A Year In Pictures - Our Authors' Selection

Hisham Almiraat — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 07:59:36 +0000

This post is part of our special coverage:

Bahrain Protests 2011

Egypt Revolution 2011

Morocco Protests 2011

Syria Protests 2011

Tunisia Revolution 2011

Yemen Protests 2011

Since Mohamed Bouazizi, a young Tunisian fruit vendor set himself on fire in the small city of Sidi Bouzid on December 2010, a wave of unprecedented popular protests is sweeping the Arab world. The region has seen unprecedented events that no one could ever imagine witnessing in a lifetime.

Three Arab dictators have been toppled, some others forced to engage in reforms, while in other places the confrontation is proving to be painful and bloody.

In any case, 2011 is likely to remain engraved in the history of the Arab world as the year when people started raising against their oppressive regimes.

As we bid farewell to 2011 and look ahead to 2012, we asked our authors to share with you pictures that in their eyes have marked the past year in their respective countries. The following selection represents their choices.

Tunisia

Photo by Talel Nacer, used with permission

On January, 14, 2011 thousands of protesters gathered near the Interior Ministry building in Tunis calling for the fall of the regime of dictator Zeine El Abidine Ben Ali. Later on the same day, Ben Ali fled to Saudi Arabia.

Afef Abroughi

Syria

Author unkown

A powerful message from “the occupied city of Kafar Nabel”, Syria.

Leila Nachawati

Lebanon

Photo by Krikorian. Used with permission

Even though Lebanon has not witnessed a revolution in 2011, the Land of the Cedars was highly affected by the developpements and turmoil in the area. But for Lebanese it's the high cost of living that is haunting them the most. Following each wage increase by the government and even before the plan is approved by parliament, prices soar tremendously.

Thalia Rahme

Palestine

Photo by Jillian C. York, used under a CC license (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

Palestine: “Marching United Towards Freedom”

Jillian C. York

Yemen

The peaceful massive marches of Yemen which never stopped throughout the year are a testimony of Yemenis' steadfast and resilience and prove ultimately, like the billboard reads, that “victory is to the people”.

Noon Arabia

Bahrain

Picture posted on Twitter by @almakna

The above photograph, shared by @almakna on Twitter, shows the number of areas reportedly tear gassed by the Bahrain authorities in one night. On that particular day, I myself choked on the tear gas, spending the night and the following day sick and closely followed tweets and complaints by Twitter users from across the country.

Amira Al Hussaini

Picture posted on Twitter by @SanabisVoice

This photograph, from the Sanabis Voice, shows empty teargas canisters, collected from a small area, in one day. Such photographs are found in abundance online, shared by netizens on social networking sites, and tell a story that has been recurring for 11 months - a story not much of the world cares about.

Amira Al Hussaini

Egypt

Picture by rouelshimi, used under CC license (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

January 25, the first wave of protesters go to Tahrir square. It's the dawn of the revolution.

Tarek Amr

Morocco

The little girl looking up at this Moroccan Superman pausing in front of the parliament seems to be wondering if he can fly. Maybe he's an ultra-nationalist trying to make a point? Or maybe he's a supporter of the pro-reforms group February 20? It doesn't really matter. Because behind this amazing photo by Amine Hachimoto lies a new reality in Morocco: 2011 is the year when the street has become the theater of nonviolent political expression. Something that is likely to continue in the years to come.

Hisham Almiraat

This post is part of our special coverage:

Bahrain Protests 2011

Egypt Revolution 2011

Morocco Protests 2011

Syria Protests 2011

Tunisia Revolution 2011

Yemen Protests 2011

The World is Talking… We Translate

Gabriela García Calderón — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 20:49:11 +0000

This post is part of our special coverage Global Voices in 2011.

Every time a year comes to an end, evaluations of it are made. Sometimes we tend to be very objective and other times, subjectivities float to the surface. Most of the time, these assessments, recollections and lists of the ‘best of the year' do not satisfy everybody.

Some members of the team of translators at Global Voices in Spanish [es], who during the past twelve months have worked behind the scenes to translate the best of what Global Voices Online publishes in English on a daily basis, decided to briefly express what we liked the most or what impacted us the most of what we have translated or seen posted. And as we say colloquially, let's put the ‘floro‘ (palaver) aside and get to the point:

Elisa López tells us about the post she enjoyed translating the most, and adds a note of personal information:

I really enjoyed translating Estados Unidos: ¿La NASA ha descubierto un planeta habitable? [es] (Has NASA Discovered a Life-Friendly Planet? [en])

I found the topic appealing. My husband and I are always discussing science-related events, and we had been discussing that particular topic a couple of days ago. And when I started working on the translation, I found the article well-written: clear, concise, and showing different points of view. Interesting information and good writing, a great combination!

Natán Calzolari shares his feelings and sentiments about Global Voices' involvement with world events:

This is one of the posts that I most enjoyed translating: Egipto: Los internautas se levantaron en apoyo a los egipcios en su Día de la Rabia [es] (Egypt: Netizens Rise for the Support of Egyptians on their Day of Rage [en])

While I was translating it I found myself really moved by how the whole world was helping the Egyptians to put their word out there. Needless to say, Global Voices did an incredible job amplifying their voices, and it was really exciting to be a part of it.

Isabel Guerra shows her amazement about a fact she wasn't aware of:

I enjoyed translating this one Filipinas: Debate sobre proyecto de Ley de Divorcio [es] (Phillipines: Debate on Divorce Bill [en]) because I wasn't aware that there was still a country that does not allow divorce!

Meanwhile, Elizabeth Rivera tells about her sadness while translating a post from Libya:

For me, Libia: De duelo por la muerte de Mohammed Nabbous [es] (Libya: Mourning Mohammed Nabbous [es]) was a very special and sad post to translate. Since Libya's revolution started, I followed ‘Mo's' reports and even watched his live feed. I just couldn't believe it when the news broke on Twitter that he had died. I knew, right away, I wanted to translate the post related to his death as soon as it was published as a tribute to a man I consider a hero and an inspiring citizen journalist. The post did him justice. It was sensitive, complete and very well phrased. Needless to say, I shed some tears while writing it and felt very connected - by heart - to the Libyan people and their struggle.

Although she didn't translated the post, Catalina Restrepo comments she was impressed with the situation women face in many countries:

It's no translated for me but was wonderful when I saw this article in Spanish: Arabia Saudita: Condenada a 10 latigazos por conducir un automóvil [es] (Saudi Arabia: Outrage Over 10 Lashes for Female Driver [en])

Generally Women here [Colombia] are not worried about their role in the society but about the fashion or beauty. When I read this story, I discover again that it's necessary for women [around the world] reflect on the importance of being a woman in honor of others who do not have the same “freedoms”.

Gabriela García Calderón shares her sentiment about the first news of what later would be known as the Arab Spring:

Even though it is actually a post published on late 2010, I think the most important post I've translated is Túnez: El intento de suicidio de un desempleado provoca disturbios [es] (Tunisia: Unemployed Man's Suicide Attempt Sparks Riots [en]).

This post tells us the plight of 26-year old Mohamed Bouazizi, who set himself on fire out of desperation for not being able to earn a living for himself and his family.

This at first isolated and individual action was the spark of was later known as the Arab Spring, a series of events that set the standard for the whole year. As usual, Global Voices was there to inform its reader about important events, almost while they are still happening.

Adriana Gutierrez tells us about her chosen post, also related to the Arab Spring:

It's kind of hard to pick just one memorable post for me (every single entry is special, one way or another), but I enjoyed translating this one: Egipto: Graffiti - Por una revolución colorida y un recuerdo inmortal [es] (Egypt: Graffiti - For a Colorful Revolution and an Undying Memory [en]).

I found very moving and creative the way egyptians took a very “simple” and ordinary thing as a street wall and converted it in a canvas to express their thoughts about revolution and to pay tribute to the martyrs, claming the street as theirs.

Indira Cornelio was also impressed by the circumstances some women have to live with:

I enjoyed translating this one Global: Bloggers debaten opiniones contra el nicab [es] (Global: Bloggers Take Issue With Anti-Niqab Punditry [en]) because it really got me thinking about the importance of tolerance as sometimes I find hard to understand how women in other countries live, and the laws or practices they have.

And said:

As a fan of hyperlinks, I like texts that starting off with just two or three lines can take you to new and various texts that may, sometimes, represent a lot of reading. It's just like opening a little wormhole on the generated mental image and taking to another dimension, just to come back to take off once again. That's why, I love posts just as CEE: More on Václav Havel and His Legacy, due to their concentrated richness.

With this small and humble sample we, the Global Voices Spanish team, wish to encourage authors all over the world to write their articles and to go on doing so. We want them to know that their texts not only inform, but also generate sentiments, discoveries and awareness in all the readers.

Thank you, and a happy 2012.

This post is part of our special coverage Global Voices in 2011.

Libya: Celebrating Xmas now that Gaddafi is Gone

Amira Al Hussaini — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 11:48:02 +0000

Libyan blogger Highlander, at From the Rock, shares some observations on Christmas in Libya, now that Gaddafi is gone.

Libya: #OccupyTripoli Protests Against Carrying Weapons

Amira Al Hussaini — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 19:01:59 +0000

Libyans took to the streets of the capital Tripoli today, to demonstrate against carrying weapons. They gathered at the famous Martyr's Square, formerly known as Green Square. Many Twitter users were on hand to provide live coverage of the event dubbed #OccupyTripoli.

A banner from the event's Facebook page which reads: Tripoli welcomes you - without your weapons

And like many “events” held this year across the Arab world, today's rally, which continues until 11.30pm Tripoli time, is being organised as a Facebook event [ar]. The page says that the gathering, being held under the patronage of the Tripoli Local Council, is to express people's anger at the presence of arms and armed men from outside the city of Tripoli.

On Twitter, Adam shares this picture from the demonstration:

@4Adam: Demonstration in Martyrs' Square in #Tripoli against carrying weapons. December 7, 2011 #Libya

A protester carrying a sign which reads: Dear Revolutionary, Thank your for leaving your weapon behind and carrying a book. Photo Credit: @4Adam on Twitter

Assia Bashir Amry, a Libyan who lives in the US, quips:

@Libyan4life: #OccupyTripoli is historical in itself. NEVER under #Gaddafi could that many people congregate to voice their opinion. #Libya #Feb17

Ismael Zmirli adds:

@ChaingeInLibya: My mother never went to martyr's square b4, today she called me from #OccupyTripoli - it's time for reconciliation, disarmament & natl army

And the Tripolitanian expresses his surprise at the size of the gathering:

@Tripolitanian: The size of the #OccupyTripoli protest is bigger than I thought; http://pic.twitter.com/vD1IRIkb #Libya

A huge crowd turned out to protest against carrying weapons. Photo credit: Aziz Belhaj from Twitter

Many Libyan Twitter users also found the following placard carried to the protests to be funny.

A funny poster held at today's rally which instructs revolutionaries to drop their weapons and resume their everyday lives. Photo credit: @Alaref from Twitter

Alaref Hassan writes [ar]:

من اللوحات الظريفة فعلاً ههههههه

@Alaref: This is one of the funniest posters I have ever seen Hahaha

According to @Libyan4Life, the poster reads:

Your mom misses you and your father wants you GO HOME!!!! lol

And this is a call for armed men to give up their weapons and resume their daily lives.

Egypt/Libya: Questions on Minorities Freedom After the Revolution

Tarek Amr — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 19:51:18 +0000

This post is part of our special coverage Egypt Revolution 2011.

Adherents of the Shiaa sect in Egypt have been prevented from commemorating the martyrdom of Imam Hussein bin Ali, the grandson of Prophet Mohammed, in Cairo's Al Hussein mosque. Many of them were also arrested. In neighbouring Libya, Soufi mosques and shrines have been destroyed by Salafis. Those attacks on freedom of religion in countries which ousted their dictators, have raised questions among netizens.

As a Muslim minority, Egyptian Shiaa, as well as Shiite expatiates living in Egypt were not allowed to to celebrate their events in Egypt during the Mubarak regime. This year, and after the fall of Mubarak, they decided to commemorate the event of Ashura freely for the first time in Egypt [ar].

One of the participants said [ar]:

إن الاحتفالات هذا العام تأتي في إطار الحرية الفكرية الذى تعيش فيها البلاد بعد ثورة الشعب المصرى العظيم، وحرصًا من شيعة مصر على تغيير النظرة السلبية التى صنعتها أجهزة إعلام النظام السابق للشيعة

The commemorations this year come in the light of the freedom of speech the country lives in after the revolution of the great Egyptians, and it comes as part of the Egyptian Shiaa to change the negative image created about them by the media of the old regime.

Not really optimistic about the level of freedom in Egypt now, Tarek Galal commented on the news:

يا خوفى لتكون آخر أحتفالية لهم فى مصر

@ALTAREKQ: @eahram I'm afraid this might be their last time to commemorate it as well

Later on, the same newspaper published [ar] that the mosque and shrine of Al-Hussain, where about 1,000 people gathered to commemorate the event was closed, and some of those commemorating the occasion were arrested. Netizens commented on the news and it's relationship to the level of freedom they are looking forward to have in the country now [ar].

@Psypherize: Egyptian Shiites arrested while celebrating #Ashura in front of Al-Hussein Mosque. And you think you're free? #Egypt #Tahrir

@SalmaIhab: Ok seriously! People didn't allow the Shiite in #egypt to celebrate ashoura. Come on! Thought this was a new era and all..oh boy!

@SarahZaaimi: Feels outraged! They arrested many Shia in #Egypt today trying to commemorate #Ashura in Al Hussein!

ياللا الأقلية اللي بعديها

@Sherpiny: The turn is now against the next minority!

Some others were astonished to know there are Egyptians practicing the Shiaa sect of Islam in Egypt.

ايه حكاية الشيعة دول كمان . هى مصر فعلاً فيها شيعة؟

@little_skipper: What's the story of those Shiaa now? Are there Shiaa in Egypt!?

While others have a different opinion, like @ahlalsunna2, who warned [ar] about what he called a “Shiite cancer in Egypt”, and that of a commenter on the news in Al-Ahram Gate [ar], who said:

فين ايامك يا مبارك .. كنت قاطع ذنب هؤلاء الروافض ولا يستجري اي واحد فيهم ان يجهر بنفسه.. تلك من حسناتك الحقيقية

We miss your days Mubarak … you were oppressing those Shiaa and none of them ever dared to speak out freely … this was one of your real positives.

The detainees were release after five hours of investigations [ar].

In Libya, a neighbouring country where another revolution took place this year, there have been news of attacks on Sufi Mosques and Shrines in the county [ar]. The National Transitional Council and Libyan officials condemned these acts [ar], which drew mixed reactions on Twitter.

Salah Fadhly notes:

السلفيون يبدأون بهدم أضرحة الصوفية في ليبيا التشدد السلفي يغزو ليبيا

@salahfadly Salafis started attacking Sufi shrines in Libya, Salafi extremism is spreading in Libya

And iAmaal adds:

صورة مشرقة في مصراتا عسى أن تعم ليبيا ، وتكون سنة حسنة في مصر وتونس وسوريا واليمن ، وهي هدم أضرحة الشرك ، والزوايا الصوفية

@iAmaal_: It's a great scene in Misrata and I wish to see this across the whole of Libya soon. Wish to see the same in Egypt, Tunisia, Syria and Yemen. Destroying the infidel shrines and Soufi mosques.

Is freedom of beliefs going flourish after the revolutions in the Arab World, or will some extremists impose intolerance and sectarianism?

This post is part of our special coverage Egypt Revolution 2011.

North Korea: Did Gaddafi's Execution Scare Kim Jong-il?

Lee Hyun Min — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 16:27:34 +0000

Joo Sung-ha is a North Korean defector-turned-journalist who runs a blog named North Korea RT (Real Talk) [ko]. Mr. Joo was born in North Korea and graduated from Kim Il-sung University, one of top prestigious universities in North Korea. He defected from the country in 1998 and four years later obtained South Korean citizenship. He regularly publishes long detailed posts about his North Korean experience to give a true insight into the hermit kingdom.

This post [ko] is his critique of numerous news reports suggesting that Kim Jong-il, North Korea's dictator, was scared to hear of former Libyan leader, Colonel Gaddafi's, fall. Beside both being amongst the world's most notoriously brutal dictators, they shared lots of similar traits and it is widely believed that they were friends.

Image of Gaddafi and Kim Jong-il, two of the world's most notorious dictators, Posted in Mr. Joo's blog, used with permission.

카다피가 망한 뒤 각 언론사 사설 칼럼을 통해 김정일이 떨 것이라는 분석이 많은데, 저는 ‘No’라고 말하고 싶습니다.김정일이 과연 떨까요? 천만의 말씀입니다. 김정일은 오히려 카다피를 비웃고 있을 가능성이 크죠. 바지 벗어주고 뺨 맞은 바보 같은 놈이라고요. 카다피는 솔직히 나토가 개입해서 죽은 것입니다. 내부 시민혁명으로는 절대 망할 리가 없었죠. 김정일은 북한에서 내부 시민혁명이 일어나기는 리비아보다 백 배 더 힘들고, 일어나면 외국에 알려지기 전에 다 진압해버릴 수 있고(아무리 큰 봉기도 불과 반나절이면 끝)…

무엇보다 가장 중요한 점은 외세가 절대 개입 못한다는 점을 알고 있습니다. 북한엔 핵도 있겠다, 200만의 대군이 있겠다, 중국이 버티고 서주겠다, 석유도 없겠다…누가 북한을 공습할 수 있을까요. 그러니 리비아를 보면서 떨 일이 뭐 있겠습니까. 콧방귀를 뀌고 있겠죠. 다만 김정일도 리비아를 보면서 대비는 하고 있겠죠. 기동타격대를 조직했다던가, 국경 통제를 아주 강하게 한다던가, 중동 소식을 절대 알리지 않는 다던가, 쿠데타 못 일어나게 정치위원 더 강화시킨다던가 하는 것이 대표 사례입니다.

김정일의 가장 큰 불안은 자기가 죽고 김정은이 버틸 수 있을지 여부겠죠. 하지만 설명이 길어져서 더 쓰진 않겠지만요. 저는 지금처럼 노는 한 절대 2년 이상 못 버틴다고 봅니다.

북한 체제가 인위적으로 망할 수 있는 가장 가능성이 큰 방식은 두 가지 정도가 아닐까 봅니다.

하나는 위에서 쓴 것처럼 주민들과 말단 간부들까지 태업하면서 점점 곪아 문드러져 쓰러지는 것이죠. 하지만 시간은 꽤 걸리겠죠. 허울뿐인 정권도 누가 직접 무너뜨리지 않는 한 존속하기 때문입니다. 하지만 허울만 남겨지면 쓰러뜨리기가 훨씬 쉽죠.

둘째는 백성들의 원성이 하늘을 찌른다던가 권력 암투가 심해지면 제2의 안중근, 김재규가 나오면 되겠지요. 박정희 정권이 그리 끝날 줄 불과 하루 전까지 누가 알았겠습니까.

하지만 이 둘 보다 훨씬 더 확실한 것은 김정일은 늙었다. 그러니 죽는다. 언제? 곧….이것이 아니겠습니까.

북한도 이미 카운트다운에 들어간 겁니다.

After the fall of Gaddafi, each media outlet published opinion columns suggesting that Kim Jong-il would be shocked by the news. But that is NOT what I think. Would he be terrified by the news? Not a chance. Actually, Kim would rather mock Gaddafi for ‘putting out and get slapped anyway' [slang].

To be frank, it is NATO's intervention which drove Gaddafi to his death, not the civilian revolution from inside.

In Kim's case, it is much harder, about a hundred times harder for an internal civil revolution to rise up inside North Korea by its people. Even if they ever did, his loyal army could quell the uprising easily, even before the news spread to the world.

Plus, Kim fully understands that it is not easy for foreign powers to intervene in North Korean internal matters: he’s got nuclear weapons, two million soldiers. And also he is backed by China, and North Korea doesn't have oil… Who would be willing to take a risk attacking North Korea when doing so would likely lead to nothing but trouble? So there is no single reason he would be terrified to hear the updated news on Libya.

Without a doubt, however, Mr. Kim must be busy preparing for the future: He would have started organizing security forces, tightening boarder control, blocking any news from the Middle East and empowering his political camp to lessen any chance of coup d'état, etc.

Kim Jong-il's biggest concern is whether or not his son and soon-to-be-successor, Kim Jung-un, will maintain a grip on power after he dies. I think the chances are bleak. If he [the successor] keeps acting this way, the regime will not last two years.

As far as I foresee, there are two scenarios as to how the North Korean regime might collapse.

First scenario: Ordinary citizen and government officials are so corrupt and have been so negligent in their duties that [if they continue their usual behaviour] the regime becomes rotten to the core and finally collapses. But of course, it will take some time. A rotten government, even if it is in name only, can still exist unless it is physically overthrown by some power.

Second scenario: Nationwide anger from ordinary people may erupt or there may be internal power struggles. Who knows? We may see a North Korean version of Ahn Jung-geun or Kim Jaw-kyu. [Ahn Joong-gun is a Korean activist who assassinated the Prime Minister of Japan, who was about to annex South Korea; Kim Jaw-kyu was a South Korean Army General who killed former South Korean President, Park Chung-hee, who is remembered both as a competent leader and a dictator.]

But the most obvious fact other than these two scenarios is this: Kim Jong-il is old and he will die eventually. The remaining question is ‘when' and I guess it will be ‘pretty soon'.

The countdown has already begun in North Korea.

Italy/Tunisia: Migrants' Opinions of the Arab Spring

Ciara Nugent — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 14:18:21 +0000

Since January 2011, events in North Africa have resulted in a series of dramatic changes to the form (and effects) of global protest and citizen participation. There has been an extensive convergence of traditional protest and web activism, confirming the crucial role played by the ‘Web 2.0′ in confrontations between governments and opposition movements.

The Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) region has been (and remains) a fascinating testing ground for the media and politics and has inspired, among numerous other independent productions, a documentary film that features the voices of North African and African immigrants living in Italy. Called #Revolution, this short video was filmed in Padua and Bologna by citizen-reporters belonging to the Voci Globali association [it].

What did the revolutions mean for migrants? What part do they think the Internet played with respect to the results achieved? Differing opinions emerge from the interviews. There are those who think that the Internet acted as a springboard to the revolutions' successes, and those who maintain that social networks cannot replace public protest in the street.

Here is the #Revolution video (11+ min) [in Italian, with English subtitles]:

#Revolution will be shown in Padua on the 14 November as part of the roundtable “Tunisia, le stagioni dei gelsomini” (Tunisia, the Seasons of Jasmine) [it]. The event is included in Immaginafrica, an International festival dedicated to African filmaking launched by the History Department of the University of Padua. The festival, established in 2005, aims to promote an awareness of the complexity of the African continent in order to:

tarnish an image of Africa which is too often superficial, narrow, stereotypical and essentially negative, and which, owing to a relief-driven logic, finds too many obstacles to improving the interlocator's position. This image determines, to a great extent, the relationship with immigration, whereas recognition of different cultures' heritage, through careful and informed knowledge of their cultural expressions- to which immigrants can contribute - can be of valuable help in constructing a mutually enriching relationship,

Since it began, the festival's organisers have promoted a range of activities including the establishment of an university course in African film-making, especially francophone productions, with a particular focus on productions from Burkino Faso. The course is the first of its kind in Italy. Alongside the lectures the course aims to establish exchanges between Italian and Burkinabé researchers (like Justin Ouoro [fr], the film critc) as part of a collaboration between the Universities of Padua and of Ouagadougou. “Pégase” [fr], by Moroccan Mohamed Mouftakir, winner of Burkinabé film festival Fespaco 2011 [fr], will be also shown at Immaginafrica.

Immaginafrica 2011. Photo taken from the Kenyan short 'Pumzi'

Two other documentaries will be shown in Padua, “Laïcité, inch'Allah!” [fr], filmed in Tunisia during the revolution and “I nostri anni migliori“, filmed in Italian refugee centres in Mineo, Manduria and Palazzo San Gervasio. Participants in the round table discussion which will follow include the young historian and web activist Mehdi Tekaya, the film critic Tahar Chickaoui [fr] and Fethi Ouesleti, a Tunisian immigrant worker and the protagonist of the second documentary mentioned. The discussion will be chaired by journalist and blogger Gabriele Del Grande.

Given the results of the elections [en] held in Tunisia on the 23 October this year, should the young Jasmine revolutionaries be disheartened? The joy created by events at the beginning of this year is clearly audible in this radio interview with Tahar Chikaoui, published on Immaginafrica's website in January [the emotion in his voice conveys the historic nature of events, even to listeners who don't understand Italian].

The results of the elections have shown the Internet's limitations in terms of its ability to innovate and the complexity of social strata. The 27th of October this year, the Algerian writer Tahar Lamri [en] posted the translation of a video [ar] made by the Facebook group 10 Millions de Politiciens [ar, fr] on his Facebook page. The translation reads:

Elections are not won on the Internet/ They are not won by playing the tourist among people's problems/They're not won if, as soon as you take the microphone, you say: populism, elite, ignorant population, secularism is the be all and end all./ They're lost because the intellectual knows Brecht but doesn't know anything about the people/ elections are not won by songs. Aliens thought that Tunisia was Mars, that's the reason why they lost…

The e-book “70 chilometri dall'Italia” (70 km from Italy), edited by Voci Globali (with an introduction by Mehdi Tekaya) will also be launched at the conference. Following the success of the first edition, published this spring by quintadicopertina.com, the book has been extensively revised and updated to reflect the elections on the 23rd of October, including reactions and perspectives following the results. The e-book integrates a broad historical and political account with a selection of the most significant posts on the topic already published on Global Voices in Italiano.

We wish to thank the following people for their interviews in the documentary: Fabrice Dapnet, Mariange Sibi, Bacem Bjaoui, Tchouadeu Pouatcha Ulrich, Cheikh Ba, Hakim Jabrani, Zineb Naini, Souad Maddahi, Yassine Baradai, Diop Alioune Badara.

Camilla Corradin contributed to this translation.