One of many billboards in Syria featuring President Bashar al-Assad (photo by jilliancyork)

Syrian bloggers frequently decry travel writing about their country - often it's too stereotypical, sometimes downright false. And for a country considered long “isolated” at least from the United States, it can be particularly frustrating to see such writing promoted as accurate. Therefore, when popular Syrian blogger Sasa, who pens the blog Syria News Wire spotted a recent piece in National Geographic that he deemed “the best article on Syria in a decade,” he just had to say something:

This article is the real Syria. It is a checklist of points which Syrians know about their country, but which foreign journalists skip over, in the rush to confirm their own stereotypes.

Unsurprisingly, in a country often divided, not everyone agreed with Sasa's interpretation of the article. Syrian Ambassador to the United States Imad Moustapha (himself a blogger) penned a letter to the editor of National Geographic that was republished on the blog Syria Comment, calling the National Geographic article a “misrepresentation of the Syria that I belong to.” Though Syria Comment's Joshua Landis didn't comment on the article himself, his posting sparked over eighty comments and a lively discussion.

Commenter Alex of Creative Syria was critical of the National Geographic article, stating:

I have no problem with most of what was written .. by I have an issue with the obvious impression the article leaves through its 90% emphasis on negativity … I don’t think an American reading it will hesitate to cancel his planned first vacation in Syria. Who wants to enjoy lunch in Bab Touma if poor brave Syrian people fighting for democracy are being tortured next door in Bab Touma?

Another commenter, Ghassan, liked the article:

the articale is rational, reasonable, and accurate . my support to NG, and to the free press and speach which do not exist in syria.

Norman, also commenting on Landis's post, aptly remarked:

It is interesting how Syria loving Syrians can disagree on the same article.

Other bloggers outside of Syria had strong feelings about the National Geographic article as well. Evan Hill, who writes for group blog The Majlis, felt that the article displayed Syria as behind the times, stating:

We're left with a Syria that seems stuck, economically and politically, in a mindset that's at least 40 decades old. The manager of a government-owned cotton plant, oblivious to or concealing any knowledge of the workplace dangers there, stares at Belt in seeming confusion when asked if he's ever made a profit. Academics and activists still fear the intelligence services created many years ago by Assad's father to destroy the opposition when his famed political wiliness wouldn't work.

After reading all of the criticism, Syria News Wire urged readers to read both the original article and Imad Moustapha's criticisms before making up their minds.

A low rumble in my stomach broke into my daydream as a waft of spices and seafood drifted enticingly by me. I felt as though I hadn’t eaten in days. I looked back through the window and spotted the waitress, resting casually near what appeared to be the kitchen door. She had been immersed in a book but as though she had a sixth sense, she caught my gaze within seconds of it falling on her. She smiled knowingly and approached my table.
“Hungry?”
“Oh, yes! Do you have a menu?”
“Not here. But I’ll tell you what’s being made fresh today.”
“Oh heaven.” I thought to myself and smiled back at her, enthusiastically awaiting her description of dinner.

The story starts out as simple as that. The two writers, who are switching places every week, went from there. We learn about Yasmina, Prof. Youssef's former student and the waitress at Sea Breeze, and Yazan, the nonchalant chef, all to the backdrop of Tartous' marvelous sea side, and Abu Fares‘ and Mariyah's exquisite writing.

When Yasmina was introducing herself my eyes were distracted by the other woman. With delicate fingers, she picked a small hot fish by the tail, dipped it slightly in a bowl of sauce, brought it close to her lips, blew on it to cool it down then swallowed it all, head, bones and tail like a true gourmet. She closed her eyes and swam in her own pool of ecstasy. Then… then with her other hand, she pulled at a lock of hair which went astray in front of her face and shepherded it to join the others behind her ear. It was precisely the way she pulled at her hair that made me utterly defenseless.

We are at Part 16 at the moment, but be sure to catch it from the beginning.

Hyperlink Podcast [ar] is being received with enthusiasm among Syrian bloggers as one of the best technology podcasts available in Arabic. Hyperlink is created weekly by two Syrian blogging brothers: Mohammad and Beshr Kayyali, who garnered the respect of many due to the meticulous attention to detail in executing the recording and the wide variety of technology topics covered and interviews with influential IT professionals.

Global Voices' own Alloush expressed his admiration[ar] of the quality of the work saying:

صراحة لم أتوقع هذه الاحترافية من مدونة عربية صوتية، فما بالك أن تكون سورية!! احترافية للوهلة الأولى تعتقد أنك تستمع إلى اذاعة بي بي سي بالعربية، كلّ ذلك بجهد شخصين فقط!.

3bdulsalam also wrote a positive review[ar] of Hyperlink, but he had a suggestion to improve it:

العمل على تنظيم المداخلات بين بشر ومحمد أثناء الحوار بطريقة تقلل المقاطعة والتقطيش بالأفكار من جهة والمحافظة على العفوية والتفاعل بين الإثنين من جهة أخرى.

Beshr Kayali, one of the creators of Hyperlink, explained some of the aspects of preparing the podcast:

We face many difficulties, most importantly is the internet connection. Uploading a 50MB file is a major crisis. As for our interviews, we have been lucky to have great treatment from the people we interviewed, like Wael Ghonim from Google for example. Juanne Kubba the Public Affairs manager in Google MENA helped us so much.

And speaking about the project's development Kayali added:

We have a lot of ideas to convert Hyperlink into a Netcasting or Podcasting Network that does not solely revolve around technology, but also caters to other areas of interest like movies and music. We're waiting for some kind of a sponsorship deal we can give the whole project the time it deserves.

If you're an Arabic speaker, you can download Hyperlink podcasts from iTunes or stream it directly from the blog, or click play on the embedded player to listen to the latest episode now.

Courtesy of © Maya Zankoul, mayazankoul.wordpress.com

As many as 300 Lebanese chefs gathered yesterday in Beirut to make the largest ever plate of hummus in an attempt to claim the reigns in ownership of the popular chick pea dip.

The new world record is part of an ongoing campaign in Lebanon to reaffirm the country's claim to a number of dishes being produced in Israel - with the ownership of hummus being one of the main quarrels.

Israeli and Lebanese producers of hummus have been logged in a stiff competition for the growing global appetite for the delicious Middle Eastern dip.

Lebanese producers claim Israel is ripping off ‘Lebanese' dishes and promoting them worldwide as their own.

The Israelis, for their part, were the previous world record holder for the largest hummus plate, prompting the Lebanese to react.

Officially in a state of war, the two countries appear to be widening the battle front to incorporate the fight for hummus.

The question now remains will other producers of the same dish, including the Syrians, Jordanians and Palestinians, enter the food fight?

Lebanese bloggers have offered their viewpoints on the battle for hummus.

Maya Zankoul ridiculed the battle with a humourous caricature of the event:

Yesterday, Lebanon broke the world record by making the largest hommos plate. I passed by the event location after the plate was made, and did not find it THAT big… So I imagined that after a while someone else would take the challenge of breaking our record and so on and so forth. W ba3den (and next)? Come on someone has to stop this nonsense!

Similar sentiments were echoed on The Cedar Tree blog:

At first, I heard about the largest kibbeh plate and I thought those Lebanese women were so cute. Then came the fight for the largest hummus plate and I thought this is starting to become ridiculous. But despite my personal opinion, apparently the Lebanese feel very passionate about their hummus and so we’re officially in the Guinness Book of World Records for the largest hummus serving. I hope everyone’s happy about it. Can we move on now? No. There’s only one more fight left (let’s hope it’s the last) and that’s for the largest tabbouleh plate, scheduled to take place tomorrow on the 25th of October. Okay, now I’m thinking are these people out of their minds? What’s the point? So we make it into the book and then what? Don’t get me wrong; I LOVE Lebanese hummus, but I really think there’s way more important issues that are WORTH fighting for besides food and world records.

There are two questions I would like to find the answer for. One, how much money was spent to make this event today and two, what happened to all the hummus?

A blog post on A Diamond's Eye View of the World revealed equal bemusement (or amusement) to the event:

I agree that having Israelis and pseudo-Israelis try to correct my pronunciation of “hummus” as “KHumus” - say it with extra phlegm for full effect - is beyond irritating. But claiming a dish by cooking an obscene amount of it? And being PROUD of this? And creating an embarrassingly lame slogan - in English, no less? Good God.

In adding another dimension to the battle, Asad Abu Khalil at the Angry Arab blog highlighted that the origins of  hummus may not even be Lebanese, but Palestinian:

“”No one has the right to call hummus and falafel his national dish,” said Siham Baghdadi Zurub, a Ramallah-based chef and author of the Arabic-language cookbook The Palestinian Cuisine. She argued that in fact Palestinians were the first to make hummus of chickpeas, since the crop was plentiful, rather than from fava beans as done in Egypt and Syria. “Putting copyright on certain dishes is a selfish trend that reflects insecurity and lack of common sense.”"

The hummus tug of war between Lebanon and Israel also captured the attention of Twitter users:

Whether it is to be considered a matter of national pride or source for comedy, the latest battle for hummus undoubtedly adds another twist to the firey relations between Lebanon and Israel.

As bloggers around the world geared up for October 15 to write about climate change and the environment, the Israeli blogosphere focused on a different date. This year, environmental organizations, activists, and perhaps bloggers as well, will mark October 24 as a day of climate change protest across the Middle East.

Events are being organized under the auspices of Friends of the Earth Middle East and 350.org. Activists in Israel, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, and Syria are all expected to participate. 350.org provides lists of regional protests, including one for Israel, while the Green Prophet blog supplies an additional list for all known Middle Eastern activity.

The name “350″ sources from the idea that:

350 parts per million is what many scientists, climate experts, and progressive national governments are now saying is the safe upper limit for CO2 in our atmosphere.

Our current count is 387.

Blog Action Day

A number of Israeli blogs have chosen to use Blog Action Day to bring the issue of climate change to the forefront, advocating for continued attention to the issue beyond the designated day.

JGooders promotes the Jewish Climate Change Campaign, urging readers to get involved with Jewish Social Action Month (JSAM), which begins on the Hebrew month of Cheshvan, starting October 19. JSAM, JGooders explains, will be commemorated by social action events in Jewish communities throughout the world.

While communities and environmental activists seek to raise awareness in the global community, what better way to get their ideas across than through images, videos in particular?

Alison Avigayil Ramer of Your Virtual Community Organizer posts “Top 10 Climate Change Videos for Change.org's Blog Action Day.” Among these is a video called “Flat,” by Israeli filmmaker Nitsana Bellehesen, which portrays the world in 2050. The video shows boys and their fathers visiting an exhibit dedicated to the female breast– which no longer exists due to the cancer induced by environmental and atmospheric toxins.

At one point, a boy points to a photograph in the gallery and says, “Look at that one. That baby is eating her breast.” The father responds, “Well, that's actually how babies used to be fed.”

While viewing of this powerful film is highly recommended, you should be warned that there is explicit nudity.

Ramer encountered the film, which was shown at the Breast Fest 2009: A Film Festival that Targets Breast Cancer, at the hub for social entrepreneurs where she works in Tel Aviv. She writes:

Web video can be an extremely effective way to raise consciousness about a sustainable business or cause. Video is a great interlude to all the text online and is relatively inexpensive to make, share and watch. The moving images and music can captivate an audience and convey thousands of words in just a few minutes. Especially today, now that we have numerous ways to share video on social networks and blogs, video has great potential to become viral and carry your business, non-profit organization or cause to thousands or even millions of viewers.

Note that while thinking about climate change can be disturbing, that feeling of discontent should lead to action, not apathy. At Judaism and the Environment in the Talmud, Carmi Wisemon, executive director of Sviva Israel, a prominent environmental organization, writes about the role of reflection in Jewish practice.

Israel and the Jewish world have just celebrated the holiday of Sukkot, in which they build huts where they eat meals with their families, spend quiet meditative time, and sometimes even sleep under the stars. Like Shabbat (the Sabbath), as well as many other Jewish holidays, Sukkot provides the opportunity to cease all action and think about our place in the universe.

Wisemon writes:

So this Sukkot [holiday], as we relax in our sukkot [huts], and admire the natural splendor of our lulavs and etrogs, think about the deeper meaning of the holiday. We can all do our bit to prevent climate change, and that includes a 2,000 year-old tradition of praying for rain to fall– neither too little nor too much– in Israel, but also in the Philippines, Indonesia and even Atlanta.

On my own blog, The New Jew, which focuses on philanthropy and social innovation, I published a post on “Caring About the Environment, Jewishly.” There I share a speech by environmental activists who urge us to think about how the practices of traditional Judaism connect us to the natural world.

Shabbat– is an ecological treasure! A day to rest from shopping, manufacturing, driving!

Kashrut (keeping Kosher)– the idea that what we eat matters, that it’s upon us to minimize suffering of animals! We need to update this to take responsibility for the full impacts of what we eat, the stuff we buy, and what we put into landfills. We vote with our dollars and with our forks for the full story of our food and our stuff.

Brachot (the blessings over our food)- invite mindfulness of where our food comes from. To bless food we have to figure out whether it grew from the ground or a tree; from there it’s a short step to thinking of how it was raised, whether the people involved in getting it to us were paid a fair wage, whether its story helped or hurt our environment.

In keeping with the natural theme, Elisha at O'Sprinkles profers beauty through photography and reminds us what our fight is really about: growth and renewal in the natural world.

As you finish up October 15th, urge yourself to use Blog Action Day as part of a continuum. How can you reduce your carbon footprint, improve the way you use natural resources, and reassess your consumption patterns?

The Jewish Climate Campaign leaves you with some suggestions.

Following are the winning blogs:

• Ideal Blog: A'ouad Thiqab [ar] (Match Sticks)
• Best Content: Amwaj Espanyia fi Furat el-Sham [ar] (Spanish Waves in the Levantine Euphrates)
• Best Design: Mr Blond's Blog [ar]
• Best Interactivity: Logos Guide [en]

Many bloggers commended the initiative and hoped it becomes an annual event. However, a few of them expressed some criticism and frustrations, and offered suggestions to further develop the contest. 3abdulsalam, the winner of the Ideal Blog category said [ar]:

ضعف مشاركة المدونات مع ضعف الإقبال على التصويت جعل النسخة الأولى من المسابقة نسخة تجريبية لا يعتد بنتائجها كثيرا.
[…]
سادسا: كنت أتمنى من أعضاء لجنة التحكيم تقديم رأيهم وملاحظاتهم بشكل إفرادي حول المدونات المشتركة وتبيان نقاط ضعفها وقوتها وتوصياتهم لتعم الفائدة خصوصا مع وجود شخصين أكاديميين في اللجنة.

Omar Mushaweh, an administrator and a judge of the competition who also blogs at Al Marfaa [ar], commented about the difficulty of finding sponsors for the competition, the absence of participation on the side of English language blogs, and the complaints about the complication of the voting method used. He also criticized the absence of media coverage from outlets that usually cover similar social media initiatives hinting at Global Voices and Al Jazeera Talk[ar]:

كنت أتوقع أن تشهد المسابقة تغطية إعلامية من بعض الجهات التي (تدعي) أنها تنبض شبابا ! أو الجهات التي لها (صوت عالمي) لكن ليس لنا للأسف الشديد !
عندما تتم كتابة تقرير إعلامي عن المسابقة فهو ليس لمدح فلان أو علان أو مدح مدونة أو غير ذلك .. وإنما هو دعم لنشاط شبابي حر وفعال وجهود يقودها أفراد من لا شيء ! توقعت أن تقوم مثل هذه الجهات بكتابة بعض الأخبار عن هذه المسابقة ولو خبر عام .. لكن للأسف فلا أصحاب النبض الشبابي كانوا أحياءا ! ولا الأصوات العالمية كان صوتها عالي ! اللهم إلا عندما يحدث خلاف أو مشكلة بين المدونين ! وشكرا لهم على متابعة الخلافات والمشاكل !

He concluded with a call for cooperation saying:

لذلك نقول للجميع .. يدنا ممدودة لهم من أجل مجتمع افتراضي إعلامي مميز .. من أجل حرية إعلامية .. من أجل إعلام جديد ينقل مجتمعاتنا من حفرة الجهل والتخلف والقيود إلى فضاء الحرية !

*related posts: Syria: Snag Hits Blogging Contest