April, 2009
Stories from April, 2009
19 April 2009
China: Our right to be spared from fear
Blogger Lan Xiaohuan (兰小欢), in his post ‘Bitter Smile', reflects on how a nation permeated with fear has muzzled people's voice. Lamenting that the cost to claim the rights of...
Kuwait: Election rhetoric, arrests and the whole shebang
Greetings fellow global bloggers and readers! My name is Amer Al-Hilal and I am the new 'Global Voices' co-author covering Kuwait; a vibrant, highly passionate and astute blogging community, one that has throughout the years encompassed all sorts of interests and events, from consumer-oriented services and products to politically charged calls for protecting freedom of speech, culminating with and leading the 'Orange' 5 for Kuwait movement, which has led to the government redistricting five political constituencies instead of 25.
Bolivia: Piecing Together the Life of an Accused Terrorist
Bolivian police killed three foreign nationals in a Santa Cruz hotel. What is not entirely clear is the connection between the men, who national authorities say were a part of a terrorist cell that had been planning to assassinate President Evo Morales, as well as others from the opposition. One man has emerged as the ringleader of the group, Eduardo Rózsa-Flores, a Bolivian-Hungarian citizen with a long history. The media, as well as bloggers, have been trying to piece together his background to draw conclusions.
Morocco: On “Jewish Morocco”
Morocco has a long relationship with Judaism; during the spread of the Roman empire, a number of Jews settled in what is modern-day Morocco. Over time, relations between Morocco's majority Muslim population and its small Jewish population have ranged from very good to heavily strained. Following the creation of the state of Israel, the vast majority of Morocco's Jews emigrated (approximately 15% of Israeli Jews are in fact of Moroccan descent), however, approximately 7,000 Jews reside in Morocco today. Moroccans are often quick to point out that the king's top adviser, André Azoulay, is Jewish.
18 April 2009
Israel: What Happens when IDF Soldiers Testimonials are Taken Out of Context
On March 19th, Israeli daily Ha'aretz published a report describing the alleged incidents in a closed-door meeting of Israeli soldiers at a military prep program, where they described multiple accounts of immoral orders and actions taken by the Israeli military during the recent Gaza operation ‘Cast Lead'. Their testimony runs counter to the IDF claim that Israeli troops observed a high level of moral behavior during the operation, but falls in line with stories coming from Palestinians, describing multiple Israeli war crimes in Gaza.
Egypt: Filmmaker's struggle finally pays off
Egyptian cinema-goers will finally be able to watch Ibrahim El Batout’s film Ein Shams [Ar] (Eye of the Sun) as an Egyptian movie at the end of this month - after a long drama with censorship. Nermeen Edrees brings us the story.































Hi Christa, Thank you for sharing the good news. I am glad that at least one battle has been won by...
Help us bring international visibility to this issue. Please read and share the following link regarding Vila Autódromo's recent win...