Global Voices Online » Anas Qtiesh

Syria: Internet Woes Continue

Anas Qtiesh — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 06:53:25 +0000

Syrian blogger Rami wrote [ar] a post comparing internet speeds and costs in Syria with those in Romania. He was frustrated with having to struggle to obtain a 256Kbps connection in Syria in contrast with 100Mbps in Romania for roughly the same cost.

Syria: Magazine Suspends Work in Protest of Censorship

Anas Qtiesh — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:31:16 +0000

Man of Paper reports [ar] on his blog that Shabablek, a Syrian magazine, has suspended all work indefinitely in protest of the pervasive censorship from the side of the Syrian Ministry of Information.

Syria: Hyperlink Podcast Caters to the Arabic Tech Crave

Anas Qtiesh — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 20:09:30 +0000

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!.

Honestly I didn't expect such professionalism from an Arabic audio blog, let alone Syrian! It's so well done that initially you think you're listening to BBC Arabic - and all of that is with the effort of two people only.

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.

The dialogue should be more organized between Beshr and Mohammad in a way that minimizes interruptions and incomplete thoughts and preserves the spontaneous interaction between the two.

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.

Syria: 80 Year-Old Human Rights Activist Arrested

Anas Qtiesh — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 18:45:03 +0000

Omar Mushawah reported [ar] the arrest of Haytham al-Maleh, a Syrian lawyer and human rights advocate who also spent 6 years in prison in the period between 1980 and 1986 for demanding constitutional reforms. Al-Maleh is also a co-founder of the Syrian Human Rights Society.

Syria: First Bloggers' Contest Winners Announced

Anas Qtiesh — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 06:02:45 +0000

The first Syrian bloggers' contest has come to an end. The contest was organized by the Syrian blog aggregator Al Mudawen [ar/en], where voters were asked to rate blogs competing in four categories: Ideal Blog, Best Content, Best Design, and Best Interactivity. The winning blogs first had to go through a rigorous process of public voting, then a panel evaluation.

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.

Third: The lack of participating blogs and voters turned the first iteration of the contest into an experimental run with little credibility to the results.
[…]
Sixth: I wish that the panel of judges had given their opinions and remarks on individual participating blogs pointing out their strengths and weaknesses and offered beneficial suggestions to the bloggers, especially that the panel included two academics.

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 !

I expected that the contest would have coverage from some parties that claim that youth throbs in their veins! Or parties that have a global voice but alas!
When a media report is written about the contest it is not to praise a person or a blog and whatnot.. It's about providing support to a youth activity that's free and effective. It's about supporting efforts that are driven by individuals from the bottom up! I expected that such outlets would write about this competition, a generic news to say the least.. But unfortunately, those who brandish youthfulness had no pulse, nor the Global Voices had an audible voice! Except of course for when there's an argument or a quarrel amongst bloggers! And thanks is due to them for keeping up with arguments and quarrels!

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 !

That's why we say to everyone.. We offer our hand to build an extraordinary virtual media society.. for media freedom.. for new media that lifts our societies from the pit of ignorance and backwardness to the space of freedom!

*related posts: Syria: Snag Hits Blogging Contest

Syrian Students Banned From Using Supercomputer at KAUST

Anas Qtiesh — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 21:04:02 +0000

Wael Alwani said on his blog [ar] that Syrian Students at King Abdullah University for Science and Technology (KAUST) are forbidden from using Shaheen, a US made supercomputer, due to technology export sanctions imposed by the US against Syria.

Syria: Blogger Calls for a Campaign Against Masturbation

Anas Qtiesh — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 18:18:00 +0000

Fadl, a Syrian blogger, takes advantage of the Muslim holy month Ramadan to call for a campaign against masturbation[ar].

Syria: Campaign to boycott telecom companies and demand lower rates begins

Anas Qtiesh — Sun, 31 May 2009 23:41:21 +0000

Image by donknuth

In a extremely connected world, Syria is still lagging behind; The Internet was introduced to the public close to the year 2000 and currently the penetration rate stands at about 17%. The vast majority of users, however, still endure the screeches of a dial-up modem due to the country's weak broadband infrastructure. Cellular networks were licensed to operate in Syria in 2001 and ever since day one, the media echoed the customers' discontent with service rates. The state of the struggling Syrian telecoms sector is largely attributed to the US embargo on the country and corruption within the Syrian telecom bodies.

Syrian bloggers decided they have had enough with the current prices Syrian mobile carriers - Syriatel and MTN Syria) - and the services they offer. The reaction came in the form of a campaign to boycott of mobile carriers on June 1st which was picked up [ar] by the local media.

The campaigners sent out the following message:

قاطعوا الموبايل في واحد حزيران 2009
ساهموا معنا في الحملة الوطنية للضغط على شركات الاتصالات لتخفيض الفواتير أسوةً بالبلدان المجاورة […] ساهم معنا وانشر الخبر ليصل إلى أكبر عدد ممكن

Boycott Mobile Phones on 1 June 2009
Contribute with us in the national campaign to lobby the telecom companies to lower the bills to become similar to neighboring countries […] Contribute with us and spread the news to reach as many people as possible

Anarchist Queer weighed in saying [ar]:

بالنسبة لي فأنا أقاطع الشركات ليس فقط لأجورها العالية وإنّما أيضاً
لأساليب النصب والاحتيال التي يتبعونها مع زبائنهم, وكنت شاهدة على ذلك
خلال فترة تدريبي في شركة إم تي إن قبل أن أقدم استقالتي.

As for me, I boycott the companies not only for their high tariffs, but also for the fraudulent tactics they use on their costumers, I was witness to it during my training period at MTN company before I resigned.

And on Twitter Salamm said[ar]:

"I Like this Mobile Boycott campaign, and I'm spreading it around (offline) it would've been better if it were for more than one day."

Finally, Somar from Syria Talk said in a reply to a comment:

الموضوع الأهم أنو يحس الشباب أنو نحنا كلنا ايد وحدة..بغض النظر عن الدين والطوائف…لازم نجتمع لنغيير الوضع نحو الأفضل…طالما الأفضل هوي لنا جميعاً

The most important thing is that the youth feel that we're all one hand, regardless of religion or sects, we must unite to improve our situations.. since the improvement is for us all.

Syria: Reactions to the Hariri Tribunal

Anas Qtiesh — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 21:53:26 +0000

The UN's Special Tribunal for Lebanon today ordered the release of all four suspects in the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri on February 14th, 2005, in Beirut. Syria was largely blamed for the attack, and that caused the deterioration of its relations with the West, including the Bush Administration's recall of the American Ambassador to Damascus.

The four Lebanese nationals were all are generals who headed the Syrian-backed Lebanese security and intelligence departments at the time of Hariri’s murder, according to Press reports.

Sasa from The Syrian News Wire is thrilled to see the verdict as he was reporting it on his blog and Twitter feed as the events unfolded. He writes:

Although they could still be indicted at a later date, this essentially clears Syria and renders the UN Special Tribunal meaningless.

The four men have been held without trial for three years. Lebanon thought they could fish for some evidence - the UN says there are no grounds for them to face trial.

And 3abdulsalam is critical of the entire tribunal and the March 14 team that was demanding it. He says [ar]:

بعد حبس استمر ثلاث سنوات الضباط الأربع أحرار بناء على قرار من المحكمة الدولية التي كلفت لبنان مبالغ فلكية نرجوا ألا تذهب سدى خصوصا أن بوادرها لاحت بما لا يشتهي فريق 14 الشهر.
وهل سيكون عداد انتظار الحقيقة وشعار الحرية والسيادة والإستقلال ومجموع الإتهامات التي لم تعرف سوى مسار واحد والمطالبة المحمومة بقيام المحكمة الدولية حصير الشوك الذي غزلوه بيديهم؟

After being incarcerated for 3 years, the four officers are free based on an order from the International Tribunal that cost Lebanon astronomical figure that we wish did not go to waste, especially now that the Tribunal is taking a turn not to the liking of the March 14 Alliance.

Will the waiting-for-truth ticker and the slogan of “freedom, independence and sovereignty” and all the accusations going in a single track and all the feverish demands for the International Tribunal be their own wrong doing.

After the announcement, Lebanese blogger Qifa Nabki tweeted hearing “celebratory gunfire” in Beirut:

The issue is far from over, but indicates a move toward normalized relations between Syria and Lebanon.

Syria: Damascus Real-Estate is the World's 8th Most Expensive

Anas Qtiesh — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 22:57:01 +0000

Syriangavroche writes [Ar] that commercial real-estate in Damascus is the 8th most expensive in the world, topping international hubs such as New York.

In Love With Syria

Anas Qtiesh — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 15:10:53 +0000

Global Voices Online Morocco author Jillian York describes [en] her short visit to Syria in this post, where she explains why she had the time of her life.

Syria: Fruit Juice Envy

Anas Qtiesh — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 14:21:07 +0000

Sasa from Syria News Wire says Syria has the best fruit juice in the world.

Syrian Ambassador in Washington Lectures on Syrian-American Relations

Anas Qtiesh — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 14:27:04 +0000

Syrian Ambassador in Washington lectures university students on Syrian-American relations and asks them not to be overly optimistic in regards to the future of the relations since the Obama Adminstration hasn't set its course of action with Syria yet, reports [ar] Maurice Aaek.

Arab Bloggers Rally Against the Judaization of Jerusalem

Anas Qtiesh — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 14:26:10 +0000

: Image via Wikipedia

Jerusalem, Al Quds in Arabic, is a core issue in the Israeli Palestinian conflict. Israeli annexation of East Jerusalem under the ” Jerusalem Law” was vastly condemned by the UN and its related bodies. UN Security Council resolution 478 (passed in 1980) resulted in the moving of most foreign embassies out of Jerusalem.

Israeli Authorities are criticized for the ongoing policy to promote a Jewish majority and Judaize Jerusalem through evicting Arabs and demolishing their homes in East Jerusalem, claiming they don't have building permits and making it extremely difficult for an Arab residents to get a building permit. According to a World Bank report, the number of recorded building violations between 1996 and 2000 was four and half times higher in Jewish neighborhoods but four times fewer demolition orders were issued in West Jerusalem than in East Jerusalem.

The latest eviction act was met by an outrage from Arab bloggers. Khaled Alsoud from Jordan speaks out [ar] on the situation of Arabs in the city:

20000 ألف مقدسي فقدوا حقهم بالإقامة عبر سحب البطاقات الزرقاء من 6000 رب عائلة و12000منزل مهدد بالهدم من قبل الدولة الصهيونية و جدار الفصل العنصري الذي أخرج 151423 مقدسي خارج إطار مدينة القدس ومنع التواصل بكافة أشكاله مع المقدسيين الذين احتجزوا داخل المدينة، كما في القدس 23 حاجز صهيوني يقطع أوصال المدينة ويعيق \أو يمنع\ أهلها من التواصل فيما بينهم أو مع الآخرين خارج الجدار.

والآن وجهت دولة الاحتلال الصهيوني إنذارات لـ 88 عائلة”1500 مقدسي” بالإخلاء وذلك لهدم بيوتهم بحجة التراخيص، وإنشاء حديقة عامة مكان تلك البيوت وفي أخطر وأوسع عملية تهجير منذ حي المغاربة.

20,000 residents of Jerusalem have lost their right to residency through withdrawing blue cards from 6,000 families; 12,000 houses are under the threat of demolition by the Zionist State and the apartheid wall which has locked out 151,423 residents out of the city and prohibited all kinds of communications with residents who were locked in the city. Al Quds has 23 Zionist crossings dividing it and obstructing, or prohibiting, it's people from communicating with one another or with the others outside of the wall.
Now, the Zionist occupation state have issued eviction notices to 88 families (1,500 people) to demolish their homes under the premise that they don't have permits in order to establish a park in their place, in what constitutes the broadest and most dangerous eviction since the demolition of the Moroccan Quarter.

syriangavroche gives his analysis of the situation [ar]:

من الواضح أن كل هذه الأمور تجري بغية فرض أمر واقع قبيل أي جلسة مفاوضات مع الجانب الفلسطيني بخصوص القدس, فإفراغ القدس من سكانها العرب شكلاً و مضموناً هو إعادة بناء واقع جديد يمكن فرضه على الجانب الآخر و خصوصاً إن كان جانباً ضعيفاً مثل السلطة الوطنية الفلسطينية.

It's obvious that the proceedings are in order to force a matter-of-fact before any session of negotiations regarding Jerusalem with the Palestinian side, emptying Jerusalem of its Arab residents is to rebuild an entirely new reality that can be forced on the other side especially if it was a weak side like the National Palestinian Authority.

Jafra brings back to memory [ar] the influential Arab literary figures that were assassinated by the Mossad such as Ghassan Kanafani, Wael Zuaiter and Naji Al Ali, emphasizing the importance of knowledge and culture in fighting occupation:

الفكرة و القلم و العلم اهم من الاسوار العالية واهم و بنادق مصوبة و قناص ينتظر و طائرة تبحث عن هدف

The idea, the pen, and knowledge are more important than high walls and more important than aimed rifles, a lurching sniper, and a plane looking for a target.

She goes on to plead support for the Al Quds Capital of Arab Culture 2009 festivities:

انا الان و هم ايضا في القدس لا يدعونكم لمجزرة و لا لحرب او اعلان ثورة
هو مجرد دعوة لدعم هذا الحدث لجعله يليق بالقدس

They in Al Quds, and I, are not calling for a massacre, a war, nor a declaration of a revolution.
This is just an invitation to support this event and make it worthy of Al Quds.

Alghait from Syria asks [ar] Syrian bloggers to create a “Blog for Al Quds Week”:

من بين الضجيج العذب للمدونات السورية أدعو نفسي وإياكم أن نخصص أسبوع للتدوين من أجل القدس كما كان الأول للجولان
أدعو نفسي وإياكم أن نعمل لإخواننا كما عملنا لأنفسنا
ولتكن من المدونات السورية أولاً ..

Out of the sweet noise of Syrian blogs I call upon you to designate a week to blog for Al Quds, just as we have done during the Blogging for Golan week.
I ask for all of us to work for our brothers as we did for ourselves.
Let the Syrian blogs lead the way.

Google's April Fools' Hoax Gets the Best of a Syrian Newspaper

Anas Qtiesh — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 15:49:19 +0000

Google is in the habit of launching spoof services on April Fools' Day. Diya' from Syria reports [ar] that a prominent Syrian newspaper, Al Watan, has taken the bait and reported on Google's TSIP service, WiFi through toilets, as an actual service.