Comments on: Saudi Arabia: Why Should Arabs Have Access to the Internet?

By: A challenge to our dictators | Antony Loewenstein

A challenge to our dictators | Antony Loewenstein — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 02:40:49 +0000

[...] Famed Saudi Arabian blogger Fouad Al Farhan – who features in my book, The Blogging Revolution, and with whom I spent time in 2007 before his brief stint in prison – offers a challenge to authoritarian states: [...]

By: Robert Fisk Should Join The Conversation | Matthew Bennett

Robert Fisk Should Join The Conversation | Matthew Bennett — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 20:11:10 +0000

[...] for example, parts of the blogosphere have been buzzing with news, opinions and support for Moroccan blogger Mohammed Erraji who explained his own reasons for blogging before being [...]

By: tenderheart

tenderheart — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 22:58:03 +0000

Of course they should! God has blessed them with intelligence. I recently shared on this topic with a young American. He called me crazy. In my heart, I quickly forgave him, because Love commands me to. I don’t mind being persecuted because I am praying for Arabia, everyday. Out of obedience to Jesus, my prayers will flow. Many people around the world criticize Arab nations for their decision to limit perversion on television, and elsewhere. Maybe it’s time access to the Internet be encouraged by all citizens, to break that perception many have: the one about Arabians fighting change, and refusing to show tolerance. The Internet is a fantastic way of bonding with citizens of all nations. If friendships start online, maybe there will be more hope for world peace. Dialogue is crucial. If it has to be a chat, then so be it. Are you not all worthy of this trust? I am sure that dividing walls will fall when this priviledge is given to citizens, women included. Have you ever looked at children at play? They don’t look at skin color. They accept their respective cultures, and enjoy each other’s company – until adults teach them to hate, to mistrust, and to stay away! Then, they suffer in silence “because daddy said so” and they carry that pain a long time. We must spend time with each other, share meals, play together, and learn from each other. The more time we invest into such efforts, the greater our chance for reconciliation. All my best.

By: Manus

Manus — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 13:01:10 +0000

Sue, being a British Citizen from a Moroccan descent I am appalled from the attitudes of the Moroccan Diaspora vis-à-vis what is happening in Morocco and their misplaced loyalty for the regime.

Let’s not beat around the bush; Morocco is a totalitarian regime where one man has ultimate power over every aspect of Moroccans lives and if you do not know Morocco , I am going to give a quick introduction to what really happens in this feudal system

This is quick description from an earlier article I posted:

“Firstly, I would like to thank Cindy for the accurate and honest description of the state of affairs in Morocco. Morocco is a place of many contrasts where corruption, prostitution, drugs, abuse of power, injustice, is very common.
However, many countries have these problems, so what makes Morocco different from any country in the world?
To answer this question one needs to understand the nature of the Moroccan regime and the Moroccan Monarchy in particular.
Morocco remains one of the most unequal, if not feudal, societies in the world. Mohammed VI alone owns a reported quarter of the country’s agricultural land and under Moroccan law, discussion of the royal purse is illegal, but the country’s phosphate mines – the largest exporter in the world – remain a royal or Cherifian company. Also, through the biggest Economical Group in Morocco ONA he totally controls every aspect of the economy. Literally the Moroccan Monarchy owns the country.
But the economy is not enough; the Sultan in Morocco took his legitimacy from God. He is the country’s religious mentor – the Commander of the Faithful and head of the Maliki school of Islam. He is technically the most sacred living entity in the universe. Of course, after God himself.
The truth of the matter as described by many international institutions:
“Eighty percent of villages are still without electricity or running water, and the UN ranks Morocco 126th on its league of developed states. A third of the country’s 30 million population live below the poverty line – many in squalid shanty towns which hug the major cities. Fifty-two years after the French withdrew, Morocco_s people remain for the most part illiterate.”
I think to talk about freedom of speech/development in Morocco is not only misleading; it is a gross distortion of the truth, and any human been with an iota of decency and integrity should not support this last relic of human degradation.”
For more details see: http://globalvoicesonline.org/2008/09/08/morocco-the-post-that-led-mohammah-erraji-to-jail/#comment-1514915

By: Dania

Dania — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 07:19:02 +0000

one man, who is the kinng can.
what I think is, when a state imprison a blogger for expressing his ideas, that is not an act of encouraging extremely rapid development. how ever, punishing the judge for violating the human rights or the law, that would be a good reaction toward those devlepoments.

By: Sue Hutton

Sue Hutton — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 16:02:40 +0000

I forwarded the original post on GV about Erraji being jailed for blogging to a Moroccan friend living in UK. His response was that Erraji has not realised that things are changing fast in Morocco. The new king is encouraging extremely rapid development. People are being re-accommodated and being counted (both for tax reasons and to estimate the education, health and welfare facilities that the state needs to provide). Civil servants had a big salary increase not so long ago, but that might have been as much an emergency measure to meet rocketing rises in prices. King Mohammed wants Morocco to join the EU by 2012. Crucially, my friend maintains that it is the officials lower down in the hierarchy (eg the original judge) who have not cottoned on to the changes that the king wants to take place.

One man cannot effect instant social change.

I pass this on as a point of information. I don’t know enough personally about what is happening in Morocco.