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India: Blocking access to Blogs on Blogspot and Typepad in India

lingua → zht · zhs

I have been exercising considerable restraint before posting on the issue of blocking of Blogspot.com, Typepad.com and Geocities.com in India. It all started around the 13th of July, when some people complained that they weren't able to access their blogspot blogs. Since the service is known to have been down on previous occassions, it was only on the 15th that the issue picked up some momentum. Mridula, unable to access a particular blog called up the service centre

I contacted the Spectranet callcenter and this is big, they confirmed that they have blocked the site because they have a letter from Ministry of communication! I wish I had heard it worng. Call your ISP providers that are blocking it and check it out for yourself.

Initially, a lot of bloggers dismissed these claims, but over the weekend more such reports began streaming in. DesiPundit has been tracking the blogs with posts on the issue. Saket writes about the Indian Government doing a Big Brother.

To be honest, blogs don’t really matter that much in India. The blogosphere hasn’t matured enough to have any real impact on Indian society. I’d like to imagine that most bloggers and blogsurfers are young urban folks. The sorts which make noises at times, but can never be a significant threat to the government. The government can do what it pretty much wants to do. If they don’t like it, bloggers can babble as much as they want to. Nobody cares.

A very comprehensive guide to seeking information from the government on the issue on basis of the Right to Information Act. Dina Mehta shares the letter she wrote to her ISP and CERT-IN (Indian Computer Emergency Response Team). Amit has a post on circumventing the block - for publishing as well as reading. He also does a quick FAQ for bloggers and blog-readers on the block. Sepia Mutiny tells us why (more…)

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Lebanon: Collective Punishment & Death or Total Submission

Moussa Bashir · 16:19 · Middle East & North Africa

The Israeli widespread and indiscriminate attack on Lebanon was the focus of all blogs about Lebanon the past few days. Regular updates, personal accounts, analysis, photos (not for the faint hearted) and ways to help were posted on most blogs. It is very difficult to mention all of them and all the important posts they have. Following are the few English blogs that I could review, considering that where I and my parents live was under direct attack and considering the difficulty of connecting to the internet most of the time.

Anarchistian at Blogging the Middle East responding to Sec Rice invites her to come to Beirut :

“A’athir man anzar”
“Excuse the one who warned”
Oh! Isn’t that supposed to be HezbAllah’s line?
And Condie has said, immediate ceasefire will not solve anything. Maybe she should come and sit in southern Beirut, that might solve her idiocy perhaps.
Update @ 4:34 pm: Schools in Bint Jbeil completely leveled. A drone flying over southern Beirut. 13 bodies […]

In one of a series of posts by the Lebanese Blogger Forum we read:

The impunity of Israeli attacks against Lebanese civilian infrastructure says something about Israeli objectives.
These objectives go beyond merely pressuring the Lebanese government into “reining in” Hizbollah. They are calculated to demoralize the Lebanese people and debilitate their economy. The attacks amount to collective punishment, in violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention.

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Israel condemnation and the Cause of War and Conflicts

A. Fatih Syuhud · 15:27 · East Asia

Many Indonesian bloggers respond to the current brutal and terror act against civilians in Palestine and Lebanon with disgust and condemnation.

Indra Pramanawho is very concerned about the current escalation of tension in the middle-east, especially the use of excessive force by Israelis against civilians in Palestinian territory and Lebanon, questioning the actions of the Jewish state and the silent voice of the world on the events:

I still don't understand, why Israel has to kill a lot of innocent civilians, including children, only because they want to save two of their soldiers which are being captured by Hezbollah militants. Why they have to bomb the Beirut international airport? Why they have to sacrifice the life of a lot of Lebanese civilians, including children?

Why all countries around the world did not immediately condemn the attack? When North Korea did a “show-off” with its missiles, most of all countries around the world immediately condemned the move. When terrorists strike Mumbai's rapid transportation with several blasts to its trains, all countries immediately condemned the attack. Why up to the moment, it's quite difficult for most countries around the world to condemn the Israel's attack? Why so far, only Indonesia condemned the attack, while the Philippines only issued Lebanon travel ban for its citizens? And why the UN Security Council finds it difficult to come out with a resolution to condemn the attack?

I really hope that the international community can immediately look into this matter. This matter is obviously more serious than the North Korea issue. North Korea only performed a show-off, while in this case, a lot of civilians, including children, has been killed by the brutal attacks. I also really hope that the international community can do the necessary to stop Israel's attacks, so there's no further innocent people become victims.

While many Indonesian bloggers condem the acts of the Israelis against Lebanon and Palesine, Romi Satro Wahono highlights more on the root cause of conflicts happens in any parts of the world including in the Middle East where he elaborates three major factors of conflicts and war that happen throughout the history of the world adding a note that it's the US who has waged the most wars:

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This Week In Palestinian Blogs: The Vocabulary of War

Naseem Tarawnah · 03:37 · Middle East & North Africa

The word ‘peace' has never seemed further from the recent realities that have gripped the region. Instead, the word ‘conflict' seems to dominate the undertones of every blogger who’s been keeping track of the developments in Palestine; and even ‘conflict' feels like a euphemism these days.

Fayyad at Kabobfest looks at “today’s word…root cause”, a term promoted by world leaders such as George W. Bush, but always seeming to stop short of a comprehensive search of the actual ‘root causes'.

Speaking of being less than comprehensive, the media has been showing two sides of the war according to Christian Sunni of Palestinian Pundit, while Fadi at Kabobfest fills us in on the words you won't hear on CNN.

Um Kahlil has some more talking points for the media, while Shaden is changing the channel.

An alarming message left by the webmaster of Rafah Today on July 14th reads “Mohammad was struck with shrapnel as he was taking those photographs. Thank God he was wearing a bullet proof vest.” Hopefully Mohammad is safe and sound although his latest photos are quite telling of the situation in Gaza.

Photo courtesy of Mohammed of Rafah Today

“Cowards” and “Puppets” is how Ola describes the reaction of some Arab governments. While the Arab League has admitted to being “Impotent”, Shaden has a better word for it (in all three regional languages).

And slowly the words begin to form questions…

Questions such as: ‘Why is Israel always right?', asks Haitham Sabbah. And Does Gaza = Iraq? ‘War' and ‘Hatred': which one breeds which, wonders Lulu. ‘The Right to Defend Itself' has been another popular talking point for world leaders this week. Naseem Tarawnah of The Black Iris wonders what it means to defend one's self, while Ola offers a promising (re)definition.

“Safe”, does it have an address? A question Laila El-Haddad poses when she reassures her son Yousuf that the loud thunder outside their residence in the U.S. is not the gunfire and shelling he’s accustomed to hearing outside their home in Gaza.

And while the borders of Gaza has been closed off by Israel since June, supplies are running short and people are stranded; thousands are left waiting to go home. Often in such conflicts casualties become numbers and we tend to think in abstractions but in a post alternatively titled “Love, Borders and Desperation” one of those waiting is Laila’s friend Yasmin: a bride trying to go home just to get married.

It must be a troubling time for the mothers of Gaza, as the Palestinian Ministry of Health reports that of the 82 reported deaths during the first 12 days of July, 22 are children. Mona and her daughter Sondos in Gaza cannot get a full night’s sleep without being awakened to explosions and sonic booms; blogging during those few hours when the electricity returns before disappearing into the darkness that has descended upon Gaza lately. She also visits the Attar family north of Gaza to hand out presents to 50 children. Their home was partly destroyed and then occupied as a base for Israeli snipers during a 3 day operation in the area.

The attention of so many has been turned to Gaza and more recently Lebanon. But turmoil lives on in the West bank as well. In the village of Bil’in, Iman tells us of a bride and groom who decided to hold a patriotic wedding ceremony by joining a peaceful protest against the Israeli wall. They were both part of the 26 demonstrators injured by batons, rubber bullets and tear gas of Israeli soldiers. The village was eventually invaded.

Elsewhere, in Jericho an ISRAA kindergarten that hosts 150 children was raided by the Israeli army who took off with four computers and a scanner. Some local youths tried to stop the soldiers by hurling stones at their jeeps but the response they received came in the form of rubber bullets and live ammunition, injuring five.

Katie describes her trip to Jerusalem in the midst of the chaos in Gaza. Wanting to visit the Al-Aqsa mosque she finds it inaccessible. Instead she goes home with quite a story after being trampled on by an Israeli policeman on horseback for asking the wrong question. West Jerusalem however is another story: “The surreality of the contrast between Arab East Jerusalem and Jewish West Jerusalem was even more astonishing than it usually is.”