The Capital of Arab Culture is an initiative of the Arab League under UNESCO's Cultural Capitals Programme. Many have criticised the awarding of the title to Manama this year, and have called for a boycott, because of the government's “repressive practices” against pro-democracy demonstrators, with writers and artists amongst them (some of whom have been forced into exile). Other Bahrainis have welcomed the beginning of the year of cultural events, and see it as a way to present a more positive image of Bahrain to the world.

As she watched the televised opening of Manama, Capital of Arab Culture 2012, Twitter user Rasha Yousif (@RshRsho) announced:

@RshRsho: Proud to be Bahraini ! #ManamaCapitalofArabCulture2012

Twitter user Fawaz Al Muhandis (@Fawazu) was impressed by the work of the Ministry of Culture:

@Fawazu: I think @MOC_BH is working towards the right direction into representing a good image of Bahrain #ManamaCapitalofArabCulture2012 thank you!

In a reference to the one-year anniversary of the start of the February 14 uprising, and the tension expected to accompany it, Twitter user @JulesALK said:

@JulesALK: #ManamaCapitalofArabCulture2012 Happy to see the beautiful celebrations today. We must enjoy feb. Good start #Bahrain

Khalid Al-Rowaie (@kalrowaie), a writer and theatre director who works for Bahrain's Ministry Of Culture, was at the opening ceremony, which included a musical performance called “The Path of Pearls” about Bahrain's traditional pearling industry. He posted this photo:

Musical performance during opening ceremony of Manama, Capital of Arab Culture 2012, called "The Path of Pearls". Image posted by Twitter user @kalrowaie.

A criticism often made of cultural events in Bahrain is that many of the artists involved are not Bahraini. Not all of those who watched the Capital of Arab Culture ceremony were impressed, feeling it wasn't representative of Bahraini culture. Twitter user @_MKAlKhalifa wrote:

@_MKAlKhalifa: Egyptian Bahraini Dance? :/ #Fail #ManamaCapitalofArabCulture2012 #Bahrain

@_MKAlKhalifa: #Bahrain has a very unique and a beautiful culture, yet the opening of #ManamaCapitalofArabCulture2012 doesn't represent it!

Bahrain's Foreign Minister Shaikh Khalid Alkhalifa (@khalidalkhalifa) also attended the opening ceremony, and posted an image of the performance, writing [ar]:

Musical performance during opening ceremony of Manama, Capital of Arab Culture 2012, called "The Path of Pearls". Image posted by Twitter user @khalidalkhalifa.

Journalist Hussain Mansoor (@Hu4mansoor) responded to the Foreign Minister's tweet with a reference to the destroyed Pearl Roundabout, focal point of pro-democracy protests, saying [ar]:

Journalist Reem Khalifa (@Reem_Khalifa) commented [ar]:

As the opening ceremony took place at the National Museum, protestors gathered in central Manama for a weekly rally known as the Manama March, which was broken up by riot police using tear gas (the heavy use of which in Bahrain has been condemned by human rights organisations).

Clouds of tear gas in central Manama as opposition march broken up. Image posted by Twitter user @sorr0w.

Twitter user @Intelligensia1 wrote [ar]:

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Rasha Hilwi, who is a Palestinian citizen of Israel, has been reflecting on how these restrictions on movement will affect her – after she dies.

In a post on her blog, Zaghroda (which means “ululations”), Rasha writes [ar]:

Akka sunset. Image by Flickr user yanivba (CC BY-SA 2.0).

She continues:

Rasha wonders:

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The Baha’is of Egypt number perhaps only 2,000 people, but over the years the community has faced discrimination and sometimes hostility.

The Baha’i faith was recognised as an independent religion in Egypt in 1925, but in 1960 it was banned by President Gamal Abdel Nasser, and all Baha'i properties and assets confiscated, although individuals remained free to practise their religion. Egyptian Baha’is have had to fight for their civil status, such as the right to have ID cards on which they are not forced to choose their religion as either Muslim, Christian or Jewish. They also campaigned unsuccessfully for the recognition of Baha’i marriages.

Baha’i symbol known as The Greatest Name. (Wikimedia Commons)

Baha’i homes have been set on fire on more than one occasion, and in 2001 some Baha’is were arrested for “insulting religion”. Recently a Salafist leader stated that if Salafists took power they would not allow Egypt’s Baha’is to hold religious festivals or mark their religion on national ID cards.

Baha’i teachings emphasise unity and the healing of divisions, and prohibit Baha’is from engaging in partisan politics. Therefore, Baha’is may not join political parties or campaign for candidates in elections.

Global Voices Online has spoken to Wael, who blogs at Living in Egypt without ID, about the current situation of the Baha’is in Egypt and the changes that the current elections (stage two of which starts on December 14) might bring.

Global Voices (GV): What is the current situation for the Baha’is in Egypt? What are the main problems the community faces?

Wael (W): As you know, identification documents, especially identity cards and birth certificates, are mandatory for all Egyptians and necessary to obtain access to education, employment, family life, registration and immunization of children, as well as most basic daily activities such as opening a bank account, obtaining a driver’s license, receiving pension or inheritance, or engaging in business transactions.

Most of the Egyptian Baha’is do not have official IDs to allow them to attain any of the above. In addition, they have been barred from holding government jobs, and that situation has not changed as yet. Baha’i marriages are still not recognized in Egypt, and that results in difficulties in obtaining birth certificates for Baha’i children.

While the Supreme Administrative Court ruled that Baha’is should be able to obtain official Egyptian identification cards, the implementation of this ruling has moved very slowly. A few Baha’is were successful in obtaining their IDs with a dash “—“ in the space designated for religion instead of adding the word Baha’i. However, the majority of Baha’is, including myself, have not been successful in obtaining official IDs. The major issue is providing required evidence that their parents were listed as Baha’is or have dashes in the space designated for religion in their IDs, same thing for their birth certificates. On the other hand, married couples can’t obtain official IDs since the Egyptian government does not recognize Baha’i marriage. Therefore so many Baha’is find themselves in a Catch-22 situation. Married or divorced Baha’is are unable to obtain their IDs. The Baha’is in Egypt are determined to obtain their citizenship rights and overcome the bureaucratic hurdles in implementing the Supreme Administrative Court’s decision.

Baha’i centers, properties, libraries, land for a House of Worship, and cemeteries that were confiscated by the Egyptian government in 1960 have not been returned to the Baha’is in Egypt. Baha’is are still banned from forming spiritual assemblies in Egypt. Naturally, the Baha’is in Egypt will continue to practice their religion inside their own homes.

ID card issued to Baha’i Emad Raouf Hindi with a dash in the field for religious affiliation. (Baha’i World News Service)

GV: What do you think the result of the current elections will be? Do you feel there will be any changes for the Baha’i community?

W: Baha’is are quite optimistic about the future of their country in the long-term. However, Egypt is currently facing problems of corruption and divisions that have been perpetuated and exacerbated by the “divide and rule” mentality. Baha’is call their fellow citizens to unite in their pursuit of freedom, democracy, and development. All Egyptians need to live in dignity. They need a decent education for their children and youth; all expect to be treated equal regardless of their religion or beliefs. Egyptians uphold the rights of women to participate fully in all aspects of human endeavor. Finally, Egyptians have the responsibility to make these goals happen.

Baha’is believe that all people should be treated with respect, dignity and equality, regardless of their social and economic status and of their gender or religion. They will continue to demand their human and civil rights. Baha’is will contribute their part of promoting unity, dignity, and freedom. To quote Baha’u’llah, the prophet founder of the Baha’i faith, “So Powerful is the light of unity that it can illuminate the whole earth.” Egyptians are in a unique position to determine their country’s own unique model of democracy and not blindly follow existing models founded on consumerism and rampant greed. Such a system can reflect the ideals of our youth: good moral character, respect, responsibility, and humility to uphold this generation’s ideals of justice, fairness, freedom, and compassion for all. Egyptian society possesses the potential to evolve a new unique system that is based on personal responsibility, compassion, and serving the common good, and not on greed, fear, and division.

GV: Baha’i teachings prohibit Baha’is from getting involved in partisan politics; does this mean they can't vote in the elections?

W: While Baha’is refrain from getting involved in partisan politics, they nonetheless participate in the political process by casting their votes for candidates who in their opinion combine the qualities of unquestioned loyalty, of selfless devotion, of a well-trained mind, of recognized ability and mature experience. Baha’is prefer to focus on the politics of unity rather than division. They do not vote in blocs nor do they endorse a specific candidate or party. Baha’is who are in possession of their IDs can participate in the elections. However, most Baha’is are unable to vote in the elections, as they do not have the official IDs.

GV: Are there other ways Baha’is can get involved in movements for progress in society?

W: Baha’is are involved through their jobs, schools, universities, homes, and neighborhoods of promoting unity, as they believe in the oneness of God, the oneness of His Religion, and the oneness of humanity. In their work and day-to-day living, they are committed to serve their neighborhoods and society, as in the Baha’i teachings work performed with the intent to serve humanity is equated with worship.

This post is part of our special coverage Egypt Elections 2011.

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In this post we look at different Ashura rituals around the world, and bloggers describe what Ashura means to them.

Last year during Muharram, Pakistani blogger Fahad Desmukh mapped commemorations in different countries:

View The Globalization of Muharram in a larger map

Fahad wrote a post to accompany the map:

The map is far from exhaustive, as there are literally thousands of Muharram videos on Youtube from all over the over the world. I've just selected a few that show the wide diversity of the rituals as they have spread around the world.

The map and videos quite neatly reflect the migration and displacement patterns of people from the time of the events of Karbala in 680AD to all corners of the globe today. It also shows something about how rituals and tradition are defined, and then continuously moulded by time and migration.

So, for example, here is one path taken. The rites travelled east from Iraq, across Persia, to North India sometime between 1300 and 1700 AD. Although Shi'ite Muslims claimed ownership of the rites, in India Sunnis and even Hindus were active participants.

In Mauritius, Ashura is known as Ghoon. This video, uploaded by YouTube user MrKheiz, shows Ghoon back in December 2010:

Fahad wrote:

During the days of the British Raj, thousands of Indian indentured labourers travelled to far flung regions of the British Empire, such as Fiji, Mauritius and the Caribbean Islands, taking these rituals with them. In Trinidad, the rites became known as the festival of Hosay, in which not only Sunnis and Hindus participated, but also Afro-Trinidadians. In Trinidad, the Dhol-Tasha drums (referred to as ‘Tassa') and Tazias ('Tadja') can still clearly be seen.

Video by RajkumariCC on YouTube, December 31, 2009.

In Qatif in eastern Saudi Arabia, blogger Mujtaba Alsaif has written about his experience of Ashura:

The days of Ashura are always filled with a lot of activities in Qatif. Stepping into Qatif during this season, the visitor can't help but realize that there is something happening. This activity can consume the individual's time positively as he can visit the many lectures that may hold a significant value, or attend a session of a Latmiya [recitations commemorating the days of Ashura] to understand this region's struggles during a specific period, or just to walk around and discuss with the people to gather their understanding of these blessed days and what Imam Hussain's sacrifice means to them. Muharram in Qatif has always been special to me because it is truly a season that brings people of the region together and abolishes the negativity they have for one another.

An Ashura commemoration in Ghana uploaded to YouTube by Asad1969 on July 30, 2010:

In Atlanta in the United States, blogger Taahira Abdul-Halim has put down her thoughts:

Without Imam Hussain's sacrifice, I would be just like all of the others in the world who wander like drones on this Earth, passing time, questioning their existence, seeking to find temporary satisfaction in trivial things. I wouldn't have Islam. The single most imprtant aspect of my life. The single most important part of being me. I'm starting to get a little bit emotional now because I just know how awful it would be to not have Allah swt [Subhanahu wa ta'ala - may He be glorified and exalted] in my life.

An Ashura commemoration in Moscow, Russia, uploaded to YouTube by djeyxun on January 19, 2008:

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Egyptians are voting in parliamentary elections on November 28 and 29, 2011, and despite calls for a boycott, it seems that most people have chosen to participate.

Not all of Egypt votes on these dates; the elections are staggered across three stages, each covering nine governorates. The first stage includes the cities of Cairo and Alexandria.

Some people are not voting on principle, such as blogger and journalist Sarah Carr, who writes:

In case you’re asking I won’t be voting. Neither will several of my acquaintances. While there is a strong argument against a boycott (it might help keep out religiously conservative forces) it doesn’t sway my conviction that taking part in the election gives legitimacy to a regime that doesn’t deserve it, that has treated Egyptians like foolish children and whose only display of creativity during this never-ending transitional process has been in methods of killing people and building walls.

Ismail Naguib has also chosen not to vote:

For me, not voting has little to do with apathy. I believe that people should demand that an untainted civilian (perhaps in the form of a strong PM) or civilian council (perhaps in the form of Presidential Council) should be the authority to oversee the ministries who will manage parliamentary elections. Until that is the case I cannot, with a clear conscience, participate in parliamentary elections that grant legitimacy to a dictatorial force whose self interests are above those of the country.

Towards the end of the first day's voting, Mostafa Hussein was not convinced:

@moftasa: The voting was mostly free for a parliament that isn't.

And Sherief Gaber says:

@cairocitylimits: No matter who you vote for, the regime gets elected. #Egypt

Nevertheless, a great number of Egyptians have been voting, and there were long queues all over the country.

Waiting for voting papers to be delivered. Image by Twitter user @Selnadeem

Pakinam Amer was not put off by the queues:

@pakinamamer: Two hours on, still standing in line. You know, democracy is hard (!) #lol #egyelections

Nor was Twitter user @CokiCoussa discouraged:

@CokiCoussa: When u see the queue, u think it has no end, but it's not that boring neither is it that bad, it's actually motivating :)

Nada Heggy had a question:

@NadaHeggy: Why we can't vote online instead of standing in long queue that consumes hours and hours #Egyelections. #Egypt

Queuing to vote in Alexandria. Image by Twitter user @mfatta7

Mohamed El Dahshan remembered how this moment had been reached:

@TravellerW: Alright. Off to vote now, with our martyrs, protesters, and innocent prisoners in mind. #EgyElections #Tahrir

In the Cairo suburb of Zamalek, Fatenn Mostafa met other voters remembering those who were killed:

@FatennMostafa: A lot of women are wearing black in the zamalek queue! They answered: In memory of our #egymartyrs. #egyelections #Egypt

Despite the long waits, the complicated voting process, and accusations of violations, there has been a sense of excitement.

Voters in Assiut. Image by Twitter user @LaurenBohn

Canadian journalist Firas Al-Atraqchi spoke to voters in Cairo:

@Firas_Atraqchi: From talking to some of those in the queue I get an impression they are invested in the election process. They want to be heard #Egypt

Mosa'ab Elshamy was upbeat:

@mosaaberizing: Went to 5 different polling stations today. People are enjoying the queues and voting with a smile. Despite the violations, glorious day.

Mohamed Soliman was also optimistic:

@msoliman7: Proud of every Egyptian who stood or continues to stand in line to vote, the future is in your ink stained hands. #EgyElections

This post is part of our special coverage of Egypt Elections 2011.

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Karim writes:

Cairo Map. Image by Flickr user rien @ ISTANBUL & ABROAD (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0).

He continues:

Cairo Traffic. Image by Flickr user vagabondblogger (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0).

Karim concludes:

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Their aim was to demonstrate that the Israeli occupation of the West Bank has led to segregation. Because settler buses go to areas that most Palestinians cannot enter, Palestinians are effectively prevented from using them.

However, the activists made clear that their goal was not equal rights with Israeli settlers:

In undertaking this action Palestinians do not seek the desegregation of settler buses, as the presence of these colonizers and the infrastructure that serves them is illegal and must be dismantled. As part of their struggle for freedom, justice and dignity, Palestinians demand the ability to be able to travel freely on their own roads, on their own land, including the right to travel to Jerusalem.

"Rosa Parks is ALIVE! Palestinians boarding settler-only bus to Jerusalem." Image by @CarlosLatuff

Holly is a British volunteer with the International Solidarity Movement, and was there to see what happened:

Yesterday I witnessed six Palestinian activists demand freedom, justice and dignity as they defied Israel’s apartheid policies when the group successfully boarded settler-only buses and attempted to enter East Jerusalem, where they were eventually brutally dragged off and arrested by the Israeli Occupying Forces (IOF). At the press conference and in the lead up to the event, the activists described how they had taken inspiration from the U.S. Civil Rights Movement and the heroic actions of Rosa Parks. Drawing on the struggles of African Americans who fought against segregation and inequality in the United States, and South Africans who battled against apartheid, the Palestinian Freedom Riders aimed to draw the world’s attention to the similarity of the struggle faced by the Palestinian people on a daily basis.

She explained:

Unlike in the American South of the 60s, you will not see signs around the settlements or at the checkpoints stating “No Palestinians here” – Israel manages its PR machine far too well for such overtly racist statements to be witnessed by the other “democratic” countries which fund its existence. Similarly, Palestinians are technically allowed to ride “settler-only” buses and drive on “settler-only” roads, something repeated by the Israeli media and the settlers who came off the buses yesterday. But the segregation, inequality and the denial of Palestinian’s rights to enter their own land is implemented in a far more covert way by Israel. Whilst Palestinians may be able to travel on the buses and roads, these buses lead either into the internationally recognised illegal settlements, or into East Jerusalem where Palestinians are forbidden to enter. East Jerusalem is the intended capital of a future Palestinian state, yet Israel has denied the majority of Palestinians access to the city without a permit, which are almost impossible to obtain. As a result, Israel has been able to continually expand the settlements in East Jerusalem, particularly in the highly contentious area of Sheikh Jarrah, and this has lead to the annexing of Palestinian populated areas in the city so that it is surrounded by Israeli settlements, systematically destroying the possibility of having a Palestinian controlled capital. As I hope is becoming evident, the Palestinian Freedom Riders movement is not simply about the segregation of buses, the problem here is much larger. Palestinians face an apparatus of military control over Palestinians that needs to be dismantled, along with the settlements themselves.

Haitham Al Katib posted the following video on YouTube:

Professor Mazin Qumsiyeh, one of the Freedom Riders, wrote on his blog about his experience:

I was honored to be a freedom rider and it was team effort at its best (those who rode and the many who worked behind the scenes). Two other Palestinians were also arrested with us who were there as a reporters/observers not participants. […] While released, we are still charged with “illegal entry to Jerusalem” and with “obstructing police business” pending potential trial.

He described his treatment by one Israeli soldier after being arrested:

One young Ashkenazi soldier was very arrogant and even called me “Professor Teez” (Teez is arabic for “ass”). We all (freedom riders) laughed it off and I told him that I did not insult him and that when someone insults me they demean themselves first.

Back to Holly, who concluded her post by saying:

The Freedom Riders are demanding that their very basic human rights are upheld in accordance with international law, and to demonstrate that they will continue to engage non-violently to win the freedom, justice and dignity for which the Palestinian people have struggled for so long.

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Today Tunisians have been voting for a Constituent Assembly, the body charged with writing a new constitution and appointing a new transitional government. Tunisians everywhere proudly cast their ballots in a democratic test for the country, watched closely by Arabs elsewhere. In the run-up to the elections, bloggers voiced their feelings about the historic moment.

Tunisian vote (Image by European Parliament, reproduced under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

Kiffe Grave declared:

Demain 23 Octobre 2011, je vais posé la dernière pierre sur ta tombe!
Demain tu n’aurais droit ni au fleurs, ni au pleure!
Demain, mort et enterré tu seras!
Demain, la dictature on décapitera!
Demain avec des millions de tunisiens nous allons donner de la voix,
Demain avec des millions de tunisiens nous allons donner naissance à la Tunisie Libre.
Demain avec des millions de tunisiens nous allons vivre en citoyens libres.
Demain est un rendez-vous avec l’Histoire,
Demain nous allons écrire l’Histoire,
Demain nous allons faire l’Histoire.
Demain rien ne sera plus jamais pareil,
Demain rien ne devra jamais plus être pareil,
Demain rien ne saura être pareil.
Demain, hommes et femmes seront égaux,
Demain, tous les tunisiens seront égaux,
Demain, nous seront tous égaux.

Man Gusta wrote:

Je ne voterai pas pour un parti libéral.
Je ne voterai pas pour un parti communiste.
Je ne voterai pas pour un parti islamiste.
Je ne voterai pas pour un parti héritier du RCD.
Je voterai pour une Tunisie libre, arabe et musulmane, juste, égalitaire, progressiste et humaniste.

In a post called “My Declaration”, Zyed said:

Le sommeil boude mes paupieres
Je leve les yeux et j espere
Non.. Je crois, en un avenir meilleur

Mes larmes coulent de joie
Et je ne les retiens pas
pour la premiere fois

J'y trompe ma plume et j ecris
Le reve de toute une vie
Le reve de tout un pays

He went on:

Demain je vais voter
Demain je vais exister
Citoyen je serai

Je choisirai en mon ame est conscience
Le chemin vers la delivrance
Loin des sales maniguances

Mon pays sera libre et fier
Son peuple unis et solidaire
Cherissant cette dignité qui nous est chere

Une nation s'erigera
Des tenebres elle emergera
Son destin elle accomplira

Mon pays, mes frere et amis, a defaut de vous donner mon sang.. Je vous offre ma voix

This post is part of our special coverage Tunisian Revolution 2011.

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Global Voices (GV): How long have you been blogging?

Palestinian blogger Rasha Hilwi (Photo credit: Ehab Shukha)

GV: You are a journalist who writes for various newspapers and websites, so what kind of subject makes you choose to write a blog post instead of an article?

GV: Is blogging popular among Palestinians in Israel?

GV: How about social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter - are they having an impact on how Palestinians in Israel communicate, and perhaps organise politically?

GV: Are you involved in any other online projects?

GV: You and eleven other Palestinian bloggers were invited to attend the 3rd Arab Bloggers Meeting currently taking place in Tunis, but were not granted Tunisian visas. Can you tell us what happened? Was there a reason given?

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“Trydar y Cymry” means “the twittering of the Welsh” or “the Welsh twitterers” (the verb “trydar” now being used in connection with Twitter) and is an example of the Welsh language adapting and developing as it is used online.

Global Voices has spoken to blogger and researcher Rhodri ap Dyfrig (@Nwdls) about Welsh-language blogging and tweeting, how Welsh compares in this regard to other minority languages, and the challenges Welsh speakers face online.

Global Voices (GV): First of all, can you give us an idea of how many people speak Welsh? And what is the official status of the language?

Rhodri ap Dyfrig (RD): According to the 2001 UK census 582,400 (20.8%) people over 3 years of age are able to speak Welsh, with 661,526 (23.6%) people able to understand spoken Welsh. (Percentages refer to the population of Wales.) Although the UK has no official language written in law, the Welsh Government passed a measure in 2010 to give Welsh official status in Wales. However, although it receives a degree of official and state support it remains a language which the UNESCO Atlas of World Languages has designated as “unsafe”. Most Welsh speakers are bilingual in that they are able to speak English too, but many feel more comfortable communicating in their first language.

Rhodri ap Dyfrig (photo reproduced with permission)

GV: How large is the Welsh-language blogosphere? Are all Welsh bloggers in Wales?

RD: Numbers range from 200-300 blogs, although some of those may not be active. The Welsh tech wiki Hedyn has started compiling a list of blogs which has reached 260 so far, noting that 37 new blogs have appeared in 2011 already. Most bloggers live in Wales but there are many from the Welsh diaspora or who are Welsh learners elsewhere. There are or have been Welsh-language blogs from the USA, Australia, Spain, Argentina, Japan and China. There is a very small Welsh-language colony in Patagonia, Argentina (7,000 speakers) but at present only one blogger writes from there and she is from Wales, working there as a Welsh teacher in a primary school.

Y Blogiadur is the only Welsh-language blog aggregator, which pulls through new posts from nearly all Welsh-language blogs as they are published. There was a time when all Welsh-language blogs would link to each other but as the blogosphere has grown it has become more difficult to keep track of all blogs being written. The amount of new Welsh blogs a year has grown consistently although there is a general feeling that more people could and should be blogging if compared with the amount of activity in say Iceland (over 11k tweeters according to this) who have just under half the amount of speakers as us. I guess it shows what having the backing of a state does for a language in terms of normalising its use online (or offline for that matter!).

GV: What kind of topics do Welsh-language blogs look at? Is there a sense of them filling a gap, doing what mainstream media is not doing?

RD: Welsh-language blogs cover a range of topics that you would expect any other blogs in other languages to cover, from technology and personal blogs through to baking and music. However there is a definite slant towards political blogs. The reason for this I would hazard is that the Welsh press (in both languages) is relatively weak, leading to a gap in discussion of political events. The irony in Wales is that as we have become more responsible for our own governance, with a devolved government established in 1999 with many powers to change the lives of the people of Wales, the media has seemed to wither on the vine. Plurality in television news has diminished, and the printed press is suffering from dwindling circulation. Into this gap have stepped many excellent and committed bloggers who, although often commenting upon stories generated by the traditional press, can give a wide variety of political standpoints, enriching the public sphere.

GV: How much Welsh content is there online? What are both the challenges and the opportunities that you can see for Welsh developing on the internet?

RD: It’s difficult to know exactly how much Welsh-language material is out there. Search for material in a specific language is not yet at the stage where we can say, “I want to find everything about Barack Obama that’s in Welsh” and see a list of pages in Welsh about Barack Obama. Finding the right material in the mass of online content is not a question limited to minority languages, but it is more difficult. The sheer scale of the English-language web is such that there are innumerable filters, aggregators etc. that can help to direct you to what you want to find. In Welsh that is not the case yet. There are a few aggregators but still there is much that remains undiscovered by most Welsh speakers who probably surf the web according to the patterns (and languages, which create patterns) laid out by search and content platforms.

In the analogue age, being a Welsh-language media supplier in a limited spectrum made you a big fish in a small pond with a captive audience. Now that the paradigm of scarcity is gone, Welsh-language content is having to fend for itself, and that is a tough place when competing for audience.

I carried out some research with Dr. Daniel Cunliffe of the University of Glamorgan into the Welsh language on YouTube (to be published in a forthcoming book by Multilingual Matters) and one of the immediate conclusions was that YouTube does not make it easy to find material in languages other than those supported by the platform. Mutations in the Welsh language mean that searches are often blunt tools, and internal searches rely on association between tags and titles rather than any linguistic analysis. Often videos are badly tagged or described, which means they are more difficult to find. It is for that reason that I created fideobobdydd.com, which filters the best of Welsh-language video online. There really is some great stuff out there.

Rhodri introduces (in Welsh) the website fideobobdydd.com which gathers the best of Welsh-language video.

GV: Welsh is one of the languages featured on Indigenous Tweets. What connections have Welsh speakers made with speakers of other minority languages? Do you see similarities with other language communities?

Welsh 'Twitter dragon', based on the dragon that appears on the national flag. Image by Flickr user Foomandoonian (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0).

RD: I would say that if looking to make comparisons then the most similar in sociolinguistic and demographic nature is Euskara, the Basque language. They have roughly the same size population and percentages of speakers meaning that they are often the place to which we compare ourselves. It is of course important to see what the other Celtic languages are doing but their languages are all in very different positions to Welsh and make valid comparison difficult. This is not to say that lessons aren’t shared and learned, and festivals such as the Celtic Media Festival play an important role in learning from each other, though I have argued that the festival is yet to fully embrace internet media in its widest context. It is still mainly a festival for broadcasters to network, and I wish it would broaden out to include creators of amateur online media too. There has been some collaboration between minority language online media, especially for language-learning tools developed by the BBC, who cover Welsh, Gaelic and Irish for instance, but on a non-professional level it tends to be seen as too difficult to coordinate. I have however, through connections made in my previous job, been able to cooperate with a Basque company on some exciting software.

GV: Speaking of tweets, how many people are tweeting in Welsh? Can you tell us something about your involvement with Umap (the project you just mentioned)? How is this connected to your current research?

RD: Use of Welsh on Twitter has really taken off in the last year and a half. I am responsible for Umap Cymraeg, which is a Welsh-language tweet aggregator. The site, which was developed for the Basque language initially but was subsequently implemented in Catalan and Welsh, aims to provide a Welsh-language Twittersphere. I felt that Welsh discussions and tweets can get lost in the sea of English tweets, but through language-recognition algorithms and some clever software, this was a chance to see what the true nature of the Welsh discussion was, and maybe see if any interesting patterns emerged. The site filters tweets and calculates trending topics and a “top news” feed created by counting the outgoing links with most mentions. I guess one of the main uses initially is as a place to find Welsh speakers on Twitter. The site now follows over 2,000 Welsh language tweeters and gives a leaderboard of those who are most active in the language. I’ve heard that Welsh-language TV producers are also using the site to monitor buzz around their shows and that is great to hear.

My PhD looks at online participatory media and collaborative content production, specifically in minority languages such as Welsh. I’m going to be looking at Umap and developing other platforms to see what the dynamics are when dealing with internet phenomena such as collective intelligence that thrive on a large scale, but in reality can only achieve small scale due to the potential number of speakers/users. I hope that the results will enable me and others to better understand how to improve the level and quality of online participation and collaboration in smaller languages.

Whatever the results though, Umap Cymraeg has already shown me that the language is alive online, and in a completely natural way. Although much of the trending topics relate back to Wales, Welsh politics or the language, it is obvious that the language is used to discuss nearly everything that goes on in people’s lives, and in a variety of registers and dialects. I hope Umap goes some way to showing that Welsh is a living language, with no sign of retreating into obscurity any time soon.

Rhodri will now be covering Welsh-language blogs for Global Voices - watch this space!

This post is part of our special coverage Languages and the Internet.

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Wikipedia is the fourth most popular website in India, and there are over 20 Wikipedia sites in Indian languages, with more on the way. The Wikimedia Foundation's India Chapter was recently established in Bangalore, to help coordinate the Indian language Wikipedia sites. This year the Foundation will open its first office outside the United States, in an Indian city as yet to be announced.

Global Voices has spoken to Tinu Cherian, blogger, active Wikipedian and an administrator for the site, about Wikipedia in India.

Tinu Cherian (photo reproduced with permission)

Global Voices (GV): Can you tell us a little about the Wikipedia community in India?

Tinu Cherian (TC): The Wikipedian community in India is a nascent but one of the fastest growing user groups. Wikipedia and other sister projects enjoy top five website readership in India but the scale of editors and contributors to Wikimedia is relatively low compared to other countries. Thanks to being a favorite of popular search engines, and the lack of other such free knowledge sources, readership has never been a problem.

Wikimeetups are real life gatherings or meetups of Wikipedians, which are now very popular in India. In Sep 2006, Jimmy Wales came to Bangalore and saw the first Wikimeetup in India. A Wikiconference at Chennai in 2007 generated lots of interest and enthusiasm but essentially couldn't keep the momentum. Since July 2009, we have started regular Wikimeetups in Bangalore, meeting at least once per month. Wikipedians in India now meet regularly in other cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Pune and Hyderabad.

The Wikimedia India Chapter was officially approved by the Foundation in 2010 and became a registered body in 2011. Over 95 cities and towns in India registered to host the 10th anniversary celebrations of Wikipedia in 2011, the largest among all countries. The Bangalore celebrations witnessed over 250 attendees for the one day programme.

In 2010, the Wikimedia Foundation identified India as one of the strategic locations for development of Wikimedia and is close to setting up its first ever office outside the United States.

GV: Do you have a sense of how popular the Indian language sites are in comparison with the English site? Which are the largest Indian language sites?

TC: English Wikipedia was always the favorite and best-known Wikipedia in India but recently the awareness of Indic language Wikipedias has been on the rise. There are 20 Indic language Wikipedias already and another 20 are in an incubation state. Assamese, Punjabi, Nepali, Oriya (Odia) and Malayalam were the first Indian language Wikipedias to be started in 2002. Hindi, Tamil, Bengali and other languages were created in the next two years. There is a varied level of activity among the different language Wikipedias. Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu and Bengali have very active Wikipedia communities. Hindi has the largest number of articles which is set to cross the 1 lakh [100 000] articles milestone any time soon. We are now working on building the communities for the dormant Wikipedias by spreading awareness among the native speakers of those languages.

Malayalam Wikipedia

GV: What about Internet access – isn’t Wikipedia dependent on people having Internet connections?

TC: Wikipedia is all about the sum total of human knowledge available to all mankind. Unfortunately, it was all web-based. Wikipedians are now making efforts to bring them to those who don't have access to the internet, by publishing offline versions of Wikipedia. Malayalam Wikipedia published the first offline CD of Wikipedia among the non-Latin script languages. Malayalam is also in the process of releasing the first Wikisource in any Indian language.

GV: You live in Bangalore, so we can probably guess the answer to the question: Mumbai, New Delhi or Bangalore? Which is the best location for the Wikimedia Foundation in India?

TC: As a true Bangalorean, personally, I would love to see the Wikimedia office in Bangalore. Bangalore has a vibrant Wiki community contributing to different language Wikipedias. Wikipedians in Bangalore meet regularly, at least once per month. Bangalore is also the seat of the Wikimedia India chapter. But for the growth of the pan-India Wikimedia movement, it is advisable to be Mumbai or Delhi. But it is entirely up to the Wikimedia Foundation to decide where they find it feasible and suitable. The foundation is now actively considering it in Delhi or the National Capital Region (NCR).

GV: You are very active on Twitter, with more than 56,000 followers. Is there a connection between your enthusiasm for social media and your involvement with Wikipedia?

TC: I have always loved to interact with people both in the real and virtual worlds. I share knowledge on Wikipedia and share news and other information with others on Twitter. Twitter is my own way of connecting with a global audience. Of course, I also promote Wikipedia and Wikimedia events on Twitter too.

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On May 28, 2011, Egypt opened the Rafah Crossing between it and the Gaza Strip, supposedly on a permanent basis. However, Palestinians soon discovered that Egypt was limiting the number of people who could pass through the crossing, and thousands were left waiting in frustration. A week later the crossing was closed again by the Egyptians, “due to renovations“.

Still living under an Israeli blockade, bloggers in Gaza are angry that the promised freedom of movement to Egypt has not materialized. Sameeha Elwan's mother has been waiting to go to Egypt for urgent medical treatment:

Everyone was very enthusiastic about the news of opening the only official border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt, I was not less enthusiastic. It was such a relief. Even with the restriction on the movement that took place only two days after the glorious news. It sounded a relief. But, it never does when you are one of the 400 other travelers who’d get turned back or who are denied access or those who have to wait. I understood how difficult it is to wait. How painful! How tortuous! But, we Palestinians seem to be destined for waiting.

Palestinians take part in a rally at the gate of Rafah border crossing. Image by ASHRAF AMRA copyright Demotix (28/05/11).

At Sleepless in Gaza, Nader writes about visiting the crossing to see for himself:

June 2nd 2011 was the first time for me to ever see the border. On the gates, I was literally jumping out of excitement that I have finally seen what is the border like with my own eyes. There was security by the gate and this huge gate, and many people were outside waiting either for friends or relatives to arrive or waiting for some traveller who wants to get the bags carried to a taxi, as a way of breadwinning.

As I waited for over 20 minutes in the hot sun waiting for the guards to let me in, I witnessed how it is like to arrive for the first time in so many years. Hugging each other so hard, kissing each other’s cheeks. And what were heart-touching the most is the happy tears. I could feel a lot whenever I witness such scenes.

As we entered the gates, we took a taxi to take us to the departure hall, where I entered with total excitement. I look around and all I see is tired people with pale looks and hopelessness. It was 4 PM by then and the borders close at 6 PM. Kids, old men and women.

The people there were of almost all ranges of ages. I talked to a few of them asking them about what is happening and why are they still in the departure hall. Finally, I came up to the conclusion that the Egyptians don’t let more than 350-400 passengers pass a day.

Ola Anan writes:

Laila El Haddad posts this video:

A fantastic video shot by a group of Palestinian activists exposing the realities of the much heralded opening of Rafah Crossing, which has been closed for the third day in a row.

Back to Sameeha Elwan, who concludes:

Last year, I was asked by a journalist whether I remember a time when there were no restriction over movement or when we were able to travel freely. It didn’t take me much time to answer with a “No”. I still remember how we used to celebrate my uncles by making them big banquets every time anyone of them would make it to Gaza in a day or two. While celebrating their victorious effortless 3-day journey of return, we would be chatting of the way the Egyptians, the Israelis and the Palestinians would each treat Palestinian travelers.

If I’d be asked the same question today, looking at the packed bags leaning along the room, I would still answer: No.

This post is part of our special coverage Egypt Revolution 2011.

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Vittorio Arrigoni by Carlos Latuff (@CarlosLatuff)

Arrigoni, an activist with the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) in Gaza, was planning on visiting Italy soon because of his father's health [it].

Jared Malsin, who had met Arrigoni, writes:

I met Vittorio several times when I was in Gaza last year. I first met him when I accompanied him and several other activists to visit Palestinian families who had been injured in a series of Israeli airstrikes in the mid-Gaza area. He was a burley, bearded man, dressed in black and smiling wide. Talking politics the whole way, we shared the front seat of a van on the ride from Gaza City down to Deir Al-Balah. He had a tattoo of the word “resistance” (“muqawama”) in Arabic on the inside of his right arm.

He was a man who lived and died to express his solidarity with Palestinians. He was big-hearted and he was brave, twice participating in blockade-defying sea voyages to Gaza, three times jailed by Israel for his activism.

He embodied a certain spirit of the European anti-fascists of the 1930s and ’40s, who went to fight and die as partisans in Italy and Spain. “I come from a partisan family,” he once told an interviewer. “My grandfathers fought and died struggling against an occupation, another occupation. It was the Nazi-Fascist one. For this reason, probably, in my DNA, there are particles that push me to struggle.”

His murder is an outrage and an enormous tragedy.

Vittorio Arrigoni. Image by Peter Philips, used with permission.

Mohammed Rabah Suliman was friends with Arrigoni:

“Ween?” (the Arabic for “where”) was the first thing Vittorio ever asked me. He was looking for my phone number and sent me a FB message titled, “ween”. Today I ask him the same question: “ween?”

I can’t think of one reason that would make a “Palestinian” kill someone like Vittorio. A man who dedicated his life to fight injustice. A man who abandoned the luxury of Rome and came to one of the most turbulent regions in the world in order to expose Israeli atrocities committed against Palestinians. A man on whose right arm was big brilliant tattoo: resistance. A hero in whose eyes there was a whole lot of unmistakable meanings of profound love, loyalty, hope, sacrifice, truth and courage. Vittorio has done for Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank more than those who killed him.

[…] Vittorio is a man who loved Gaza, he loved Gaza’s land, its sea, and its sky. Two things Vittorio obviously loved to do: to wave the Palestinian flag, and to sing “Onadikum” (I call upon you!). Wholeheartedly, Vittorio sang, “Onadikum” time and again. He poured his heart out as he sang it. It’s probably the only thing he could say so fluently in Arabic.

Now that you moved to live in our hearts, we’ll become stronger and fiercer in the battle against occupation, humiliation and injustice. Vittorio. Such an inspiration to all of us. You taught us that life isn’t worth living if one isn’t ready to fight against its injustice, and that’s what gives it a meaning, that’s what makes it all beautiful. Now, empowered by your “memory”, we’ll carry on the fight together.

Nazek Aburahma also remembers him, and she writes [ar]:

Lina at Live From Gaza writes:

Vittorio Arrigoni was a very recognizable face in Gaza. I didn’t personally know him, but I came to know about his bravery from the documentary “To shoot an elephant”. Vittorio was one of the activists who stayed during operation “Cast Lead”. He was one of the voices which told the world about the brutality of the Israeli invasion.

Sadness and anger prevail over the murder of the Italian activist. Those who claimed responsibility for the abduction and murder of Vittorio call themselves Palestinians and Muslims. But Islam washes its hands from such brutal act. Moreover, International activists who visit Gaza have always felt the warmth of the Palestinian hospitality. This will never change, the only threat the Palestinians and these activists share is the threat of the Israeli occupation.

Vittorio Arrigoni holding a Palestinian flag (profile picture from Facebook)

Also in Gaza, Omar Ghraieb gives an account of how the news of the kidnapping and murder unfolded, and ends:

Vittorio was Italian by birth but his dedication to Palestine and Gaza made him no less Palestinian than any other Palestinian, he came to Gaza many times and live here for a while. He endangered his life numerous times while working as a volunteer with the ISM (International Solidarity Movement) in Gaza when he was trying to protect farmers and fisherman, in addition to his participation in all buffer-zone protests.
Vittorio meant a lot for Palestinians, Gazans and his friends everywhere. He is a huge loss for us all, may he rest in peace.

Eva Bartlett worked with Arrigoni in Gaza:

I first heard of Vik before arriving in Gaza. Vik had just been injured by the IOF [Israel Occupation Forces/Israel Defense Forces] water canon attack which shattered the windows of the fishing boat he was accompanying. Vik had some injuries from the shattered glass. […] He was taken from Gaza, briefly, by the IOF navy, when they kidnapped 15 Palestinian fishermen and 3 accompanying activists, including Vik, in November 2008, from Palestinian waters. At the time of his abduction, he was electrically shocked while peacefully avoiding abduction by diving into Gaza’s cold waters.

He returned to Gaza, via Free Gaza again, before Israel began its war on Gaza. He continued to write and report from the enclosed, bombed Strip.

Stay human, he always said. And so was the title of his book on the Israeli massacre of Gaza in 2008-2009. Stay human. […] During the Israeli war on Gaza, we all worked together, riding in ambulances, documenting the martyred and the wounded, the vast majority (over 83%) civilian. Vik was always on the phone, Italian media taking his words and printing them for the public to see. […] He was there to joke with us, to counsel us, to smoke shisha by the sea…He wrote the truth, spoke the truth, stayed human.

Another fellow activist, Ken O’Keefe, has made this video, with footage from the press conference announcing Arrigoni’s death.

Jeff Halper from the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions knew Arrigoni well:

Vik was truly a person greater than life. He was so filled with energy, a mixture of joy, camaraderie and impatience with the confines of boats and prisons like Gaza, that he would suddenly lift you into the air, or wrestle with you – he was a big, strong, handsome guy, ebullient and smiling even in the most oppressive and dangerous situations – as if to tell you: Yalla! These Israel naval ships shooting at us and the Palestinian fisherman cannot prevail over our solidarity, outrage and the justice of our cause! (Vik was wounded in one of those confrontations). He would come up behind you and say: The Occupation will fall just like this! (and he would wrestle you to the ground, laughing and playing with you as he did).
Vik, who like me received Palestinian citizenship and a passport when we broke the siege of Gaza and sailed into Gaza port in August, 2008, was a peace-maker exemplar. […] Vik worked in the West Bank as well as Gaza, and was jailed three times before being expelled by Israel. But his peace work did not take the form of activism alone. Vik was a master of communication – physical, verbal, written (his blog, Guerrilla Radio, was one of the most popular in Italy) – and he mixed personal experiences, reportage and analysis effortlessly.

Vik was what we call a “witness”: someone who put himself physically with the oppressed and shared with them their triumphs, tragedies, sufferings and hopes. Yet he was one who through his actions tried to affect genuine change. […] I’ll miss you, man. But every time I feel tired or discouraged, I’ll feel you lifting me up over your head and, with your huge smile and laughter, threatening to throw me overboard if I even hesitate in throwing myself into the fight. You were and are the earth-force of the struggle against injustice.

Global Voices contributor Asteris Masouras has aggregated tweets about this news on Storify which you can find here.

During the Gaza war of 2008/9 Global Voices translated and quoted extensively from Vittorio Arrigoni's blog posts. To read them click here.

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* * *

Italian activist Vittorio Arrigoni was kidnapped today in Gaza by a Salafi-Jihadi group, who say they will kill him if Sheikh Abu Al Waleed Al Maqdisi, recently arrested by the Hamas government, is not released.

Vittorio Arrigoni (profile picture from Facebook)

Arrigoni - known as Vik - has been in Gaza for over two years with the International Solidarity Movement (ISM). (See this Global Voices post about him.) Gaza blogger Omar Ghraieb writes that Arrigoni's kidnappers are threatening to kill him:

Vittorio Arrigoni, 36, ISM volunteer in Gaza, was kidnapped earlier today in Gaza city. Later, a youtube video surfaced showing Vittorio blindfolded and beaten up.

Salafi Jehadis claimed the responsibility of kidnapping and abducting him asking Hamas government in Gaza to release Abu Al Waleed Al Maqdisi in 30 hours starting from 11 am today 14\4\2011 or else they would kill him.

All journos in Gaza, Vittorio's friends here and his friends everywhere ask Hamas to immediately intervene and release Vittorio who worked hard to help Gaza for a long time.

Please let's all pray for his safe release.

The video Arrigoni's kidnappers released has since been disabled. It showed Arrigoni blindfolded, having been beaten, with text rolling over the screen detailing the demands of his captors.

Some reactions to the kidnapping on Twitter:

@SanaKassem: To all Gazans. A great supporter of the Palestinian struggle, #Vittorio Arrigoni, has been kidnapped in #Gaza. He needs your support.

@Omar_Gaza: Hamas we ask you to immediately intervene and release Vittorio Arrigoni now, Italian ISM worker! #Gaza #FreeVittorioNow

@jmalsin: Stunned, sickened, after seeing the video of what salafists claim is a captive Vittorio Arrigoni, who I met several times in Gaza.

@forumeditor: Why kidnap Vittorio Arrigoni who's trying to help the their own cause? His abductors r disgusting: anyone's fair game so they get publicity.

Vittorio Arrigoni's Facebook page is here.

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The taxi driver, Abdel Hameed Tawfiq, asked the passenger who found the camera to post some of the photos on it online. The passenger, a young student called Asmaa Mostafa, tells the story:

Marcus Abdullah Bregenzer, from the Facebook page All Egypt is looking for this person

Just an hour and three minutes after the page was created a message was posted by Mohamed Abu Seda, who said that he knew the person in the photo, a Swiss man called Marcus. Mohamed got in touch with Monzer Mohamed Rashad, a friend of Marcus in Switzerland, and soon Monzer posted a message and sent a picture of him and Marcus together. They later made a video telling the story in full (Monzer starts in Arabic and Marcus – also known as Abdullah – continues in English):

The Facebook page is still attracting followers, and is being used as a way of promoting Egypt as a safe tourist destination. As Monzer said in a post:

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