Latest posts by Haitham Sabbah from November, 2006
Egypt: English-language news
Commenting on the new attempt at local English-language news reporting in Palestine (Palestine Times), Matthew Carrington says: “If, as the editor claims, the Palestine Times isn't going to be beholden to any particular political or commercial interest, then this could a good thing. Palestine, as much as Egypt, needs a...
Morocco: Tourist stabbings
The famous Nejjarine Square visited by thousands of visitors every year today was the scene of a brutal stabbing attack at against three tourists. Samir and El Glaoui post some updates.
Jordan: Cultural events
If you happen to be in Amman these days; have a look at Lina's calender for some interesting cultural events that you might like to attend.
Lebanon: Open-ended sit-in by Opposition
Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, terming Premier Fouad Saniora's government “failure,” called for an open-ended sit-in Friday in downtown Beirut to achieve what he described as “political partnership” in running Lebanon. Abu Kais describe this by saying: “On Friday, Syria and Iran will launch an attack on Lebanon. They have...
Syria: Direct Idiom Translation
“One of the funniest things for any bilingual person to do is to directly translate idioms from one language into another,” Omar said. Check out some of these from Arabic to English.
United Arab Emirates: British Trash
What would the reaction be if British-owned newspaper reviewed an Arabic restaurant, and used the term “Arab trash” to describe local diners? Find out from Secret Dubai.
Egypt: The Right to Love
“What causes sons to hate their mothers, fathers to target their daughters and husbands to persecute their wives? Have Adam and Eve not co-existed long enough for love and mutual respect to take hold? In this respect, we cannot say that such an attitude is particular to the Middle East,...
Israel: Municipal employees strike
A strike is in place in many Israeli municipalities by municipal employees who did not receive their salaries for many months now. Yudit says: “Perhaps join us in the demonstration this coming Saturday, of the “Veidat Ha'Ashukim” (the Council of the Robbed), at 19.00 o'clock, opposite the David Intercontinental Hotel...
Oman: Freedom of press in Oman
“You can't stop people from writing online. It's easy to regulate the press because 1) the press needs big expensive machines to print newspapers. 2) they need trucks to distribute. 3) they need shops to sell their papers. 4) they need advertisers to pay for all the above. 5) they...
Palestine: Humanity lost
Waiting, as ever, for the border to open, Laila says: “One hour turned into two, then three, then five, as we stood shielding our eyes from the piercing midday sun on Wednesday, when we were told the Crossing would be opening for a few hours. We stood and we waited...
Syria: 8 Syrian Students Face Trial for Starting Discussion Group
On Novermber 28th, 2006 the Supreme State Security Court (SSSC) of Syria held the first trial for eight youth arrested for founding a public discussion group on cultural issues, including current cultural and political issues in Syria. No one has heard any news from them for over nine months as...
Jordan: toot, tan and ikbis!
Blogging is growing rapidly in the Arab world, and some smart projects are capitalizing on this growth by providing tools that were until a while ago a de facto Western made only! After the hand picked posts in the famous ‘toot’ aggregator, the same company has recently launched the first...
Lebanon: Hizbullah and communal coexistence
“With Hizbullah reportedly planning “surprise” protests this week to topple the Siniora government, many, including Shias, are not surprised by how far the foreign-funded militia is prepared to take the country, and the Shia community, in what seems to be a political jihad against the state,” Abu Kais said.
Syria: Study in Japanese
How to explain Newton's law in Japanese when your mother tongue is Arabic and you are fluent in English, but not that comfortable in Japanese? Yazan, seems to be struggling in his studies in Japanese!
Libya: A Dutch letter to Gheddaffi, “We burn migrants.”
On the 26th of October 2005 a fire raged in the Dutch Schiphol Airport Detention Centre. Eleven migrants died. In an Open Letter to Gheddaffi a Dutch media-activist informs the Libyan president about the fate of three Libyan citizens. One died in the fire; another survived but “was treated in...
Iraq: Uncle Saddam
All what you wanted to know about Saddam Hussein can be seen in ‘Uncle-Saddam’ documentary. “Uncle Saddam gives a feel for what it was like to be around the man and what sort of a man Saddam Hussein was, what he did inside the unfair system of dictatorship with checks...
Egypt: Bad Class!
What happens when your students are rude, uncouth, and highly uncivilized to their teacher and each other? “The world may be full of bad people, but it's good to know that there will always be good people walking in their midst that have the potential to make it all better,”...
Jordan: M.E. three potential civil wars
“We could possibly imagine going into 2007 and having three civil wars on our hands,” King Abdullah said in an interview with the ABC network; citing conflicts in Iraq, Lebanon and the decades-long strife between the Palestinians and Israelis.” Natasha is not optimistic either. “The situation in the Middle East...
Palestine: Border still closed!
Since then, Laila and her family are still waiting to cross the border from Egypt to Gaza. There is now some rumors that the border is opening tomorrow for three days only, in both directions. She can't be certain until she hears the same from the Egyptian border officials.
Egypt: Books Collection Application – Open Source
After looking for a simple clean application to hold his books collection and coming up empty, Ahmed El Zein decided to write his won application. It is written in Ruby on Rails (ROR) and is Open Source. Find some snapshots here!
United Arab Emirates: Road Toll
Moryarti explains why Road Toll is the solution for horrible roads traffic between Dubai and Sharjah. “If you live in Sharjah, you pay less rent, but in return you get stuck in traffic for at least 3 hours more every day. But with Road Tolls, main roads will clear out...
