Global Voices » Rayna St.

Turkey: “A Tree Dies, A Nation Rises”

Rayna St. — Sat, 01 Jun 2013 20:30:31 +0000

The situation in Istanbul turned violent when police cracked down on peaceful protesters on Friday, May 31. The peaceful sit-in started five days ago where several tens of people gathered to oppose planned by the government urban reorganization of Istanbul's only green spot: the Gezi Park. The brutality used by police forces — teargas, water cannons, fists and batons — to expel protesters from the park generated a broad outcry, as images of people including children and elderly sheltering themselves from teargas started flooding social networks.

On Saturday morning, thousands started converging to the nearby Taksim Square in support. Reports of large gatherings in support in other Turkish cities such as the capital city of Ankara, and in Izmir followed. What started as a peaceful sit-in to protect a park from being turned into a mall evolved into a broad protest demanding Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to step down, as Zeynep Dagli wrote earlier:

What started out as civilians opposing the building of a shopping centre in one of our few remaining green corners, has turned into a strong voice against a government who is unable to listen to its citizens. Erdogan said “I have decided and that's that” which is what escalated the pressure that has been hiding in everyone all along. Police has been spraying tear gas for hours non-stop against its own citizens who are offering food to the sleepless police in return. What is even more interesting is that a young generation who deemed to be apoliticial are one voice one strength, sunnis, shias, armenians, leftists, nationalists, jews are all one voice against a government who turned deaf. The youth is one voice since they never really felt that they were different.

While more and more people were gathering in Gezi Park and nearby Taksim Square, countless calls for attention from international mainstream media were sent through social media as local coverage was suppressed. Zeynep Dagli continues:

We get ZERO coverage locally. Facebook and twitter are our only source. Even that is being blocked by jammers around the square. Local media is suppressed by the government.
They have stopped broadcasting CNN, AlJazeera, BBC on the local digital cable.

This massive state-supported suppression has already been discussed just a few days ago by Human Rights Watch (HRW) Emma Sinclair-Webb:

One of Turkey’s most fundamental human rights problems is in fact intolerance of free speech. Politicians regularly sue journalists for defamation. Editors and publishers are mostly unwilling to permit much criticism of the government for fear of harming their bosses’ other business interests.

Juan Cole continues along the same line:

Turkey’s political tradition has never been particularly tolerant of dissent, and unfortunately the AKP [Turkey's ruling majority] is continuing in a tradition of crackdowns on political speech it doesn’t like. Reporters without Borders ranks the country 154 for press freedom, and it has 76 journalists in jail, and “at least 61 of those were imprisoned as a direct result of their work.” Observers are astonished to find that Saturday morning’s newspapers in Turkey are virtually silent about the protests. Editors have clearly been intimidated into keeping quiet about these events.

Is it “just” for the trees?

Although Erdogan's government enjoys quite popular support, its plans for urban reorganization have become a major stumbling block. A very recent example is the inauguration on May 29, 2013, by PM Erdogan himself of a third bridge across the Bosphorus Strait. The bridge will require between 350,000 and 2,000,000 trees (different sources give different numbers) to be uprooted. During the inauguration, Erdogan referred to the occupation of Gezi Park: “It does not matter what you [the protesters] do. We made a decision… We will follow through with that decision.” This was perceived by many as a sign of despotism and nepotism as the privatization — for “renewal” — of Gezi Park is orchestrated by Erdogan's son-in-law.

A widely circulated image on social networks thus sums up the general feeling among protesters:

Image circulated on social network starts with “This is not about a park” and ends with “This is about democracy”.

“Everywhere is Taksim, Resistance Everywhere.”

The situation has been extremely hectic since the early morning of Saturday, June 1. Brutal repression did not prevent people from all political and social backgrounds to continue gathering in Taksim Square and elsewhere in Istanbul and Turkey:

@myriamonde: protestors are ridiculously diverse right now. ranging from ultra nationalist turks to kurds, extremely apolitical ppl, football fans…fun!

@stevenacook: This isnt just IST [Istanbul]. Calls for protests in Adana, Izmir, Ankara, Eskisehir, Anatalya, Izmit, Bursa, Fethiye, Samsun, Yozgat, etc #Turkey

@TCilterkaan28: The solidarity of the Turkish Nation Turkey News Taksim Doctors also for the public squares? #occupyturkey pic.twitter.com/8AEAeb078o

@sciencewitch: People are writing blood types on their arms in case if emergency #occupygezi #direngeziparkı pic.twitter.com/5CEocyrhUI (via @beyinbilir )

A widely circulated image shows the actor playing Suleyman the Magnificent taking to the streets on June 1, 2013.

Shortly before noon, PM Erdogan addressed the nation saying that “Turkey is well-functioning parliamentary democracy”, naming ongoing turmoil “serious provocations” and firmly condemning protests as “anti-democratic”:

@MahirZeynalov: Turkish PM Erdogan: All attempts besides elections are anti-democratic, illegitimate. #occupyturkey

@MahirZeynalov: Turkish PM Erdogan: Those who have problems with the government, they can deal with us in the ballot box. #occupyturkey

The speech was met with anger and irony online:

@YesimKitchen: @MahirZeynalov no LOL for this???

@ianbrealey: @MahirZeynalov Oh dear. He doesnt get it does he. For a peceful transition in a democracy he should incorporate opposition into policy.

@fhenriques: @MahirZeynalov So, he believes in a dictatorship of the majority instead of a democracy that represents everyone

@MaliciaRogue: Turkish Prime Minister's understanding of democracy is like Olympics: a 1-day election event organized every 4 years #occupygezi #Taksim

Unconfirmed reports of the use of agent orange, a chemical weapon used during the Vietnam War, emerged during the day, and were later denied. In addition, there were unconfirmed reports about the government blocking or being about to block internet and GSM communications within the country. Various sources reported 3G connection within Taksim Square seems to be misfunctional, which was later attributed to congestion rather than state-supported targeted blackout. Activists from Telecomix also denied internet blocking. Solidarity organizes despite communication breakdown:

@Bcdmir: #occupygezi I saw doctors, medical students, pharmacists sharing their mobile to help wounded people

@sciencewitch: Taxis carry people to Taksim without charge. Pharmacies hand out free masks. This is government against its own people. #occupygezi

To follow the ongoing events, check out hashtags #occupygezi, #Taksim, #OccupyTaksim, #OccupyTurkey, #Turkey on Twitter. The #OccupyGezi Tumblr is regularly updated with images, and Turkish Indymedia has set up a collaborative multilingual update of events. Meanwhile, a petition was launched on Avaaz calling for PM Erdogan to order the end of police brutality.

Egypt: Prime Minister Prescribes Smurf Diet

Rayna St. — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 10:16:58 +0000

Hesham Qandil, Egypt's Prime Minister, is an illustruous expert in healthcare issues as attested by, e.g. his insightful comments about ‘dirty boobs breastfeeding’. The Prime Minister delivered another priceless advice to Twitter users, this time about a healthy diet:

“Doctor Smurf prescribes cakes, pies and smurfberries as part of a healthy diet.” Screenshot from Qandil's tweet

Opening the Black Box of Governance: Alleviating Poverty With Data

Rayna St. — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 09:19:23 +0000

Global Voices bloggers have been commissioned to liveblog the OECD Global Forum on Development in Paris on April 4-5, 2013. Leading up to the meeting, our team is submitting posts about development issues that help serve as weekly online discussion topics on their website (#OECDgfd)

The constant rise of Internet and mobile phone use is an opportunity to enable more citizens to engage with governance. Technology can help improve citizen participation in decision-making and can re-energise participation in public life. Transparency and accountability is becoming a diverse and dynamic field for exploration worldwide.

Opening the data produced by public administrations is part of an effective approach to poverty alleviation. Incredible amounts of data are produced every day, by a wide range of stakeholders: governments, media, mobile operators, citizens themselves. Despite the huge potential for using data about a society or government for the public good, it is rarely released and shared for public use. Additionally, reliable statistics can be hard to come by or are still the exclusive property of government or corporate officials.

The benefits of citizen engagement are numerous, wide-ranging and significant for all stakeholders, as Striking Poverty, a World Bank initiative, illustrates:

For the marginalized poor, participation mechanisms can provide channels for shaping solutions and holding governments accountable for policies and services delivered. For organizations, governments, and funders, engagement with communities is beneficial in that citizens will support, adopt, champion, and eventually share in the ownership and success of programs.

Does Open Data work in developing countries?

Open Data endeavours in both rich and poor countries often come up against a shortage of technical and political skills that prevent citizens from actively engaging with them. There can easily be a gap between the goals of data advocates and citizens’ understanding of the data. Still, a huge number of creative approaches to collect and make sense of data related to public life show promise that this is the most straightforward way into civic engagement.

The Kenya Open Data Initiative (KODI), the first national Open Data project in Sub-Saharan Africa, was launched in 2011. The released data sets (over 400) provide data for socially-relevant domains from education to sanitation. Kenya is in fact the first developing country to have an Open Data portal. In greater Africa, Morocco was first to launch an Open Data platform. Tunisia followed in 2011 with Open Data Tunisia.

Open Government Data by Justin Grimes on flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Seizing the potential of Open Data for developing countries and the growing number of national ventures, the African Development Bank (AfDB) has launched the Open Data for Africa portal, as a part of the Africa Information Highway initiative. It encompasses Open Data platforms for the following 20 African countries:

Algeria, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Malawi, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Ghana, Rwanda, Republic of Congo, Senegal, South Africa, South Sudan, Tanzania, Tunisia, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Although the challenges are numerous, multiple success stories show that the key to using technology for transparency and accountability efforts is to employ a collaborative approach and ensure that tools are user-friendly and quick to offer results.

A report by the Global Voices ‘Technology for Transparency’ initiative looking at citizen initiatives for transparency and accountability across the globe found that:

Data visualization and navigation tools are a key feature in more than half of the projects we documented, as are diverse forms of data collection from citizens. Approximately one third of the projects use mobile phones in some way, most commonly by allowing citizens to submit or receive information via text messages.

These observations illustrate that citizen initiatives are not only directed towards gathering data but also towards making sense of it for the wider community. The projects show great opportunity for well-managed data and related statistics released through open government data programs. The next milestone for governments in developing countries is to solve the problems of data quality and availability, as well as the technical and statistical capacity of staff and institutions.

Opening the governance

The Open Government Partnership (OGP) was launched back in September 2011 when the governments of Brazil, Indonesia, Mexico, Norway, Philippines, South Africa, United Kingdom, United States took stance in favour of more transparent governance by signing the Open Government Declaration:

The Open Government Partnership is a global effort to make governments better. We all want more transparent, effective and accountable governments — with institutions that empower citizens and are responsive to their aspirations. But this work is never easy.

It takes political leadership. It takes technical knowledge. It takes sustained effort and investment. It takes collaboration between governments and civil society.

Shortly after, the World Bank recognized the importance of the foundational principles of the Partnership and declared its support to the initiative “by facilitating knowledge exchanges and helping to build the capacity of OGP member countries to elaborate and implement their plans to become more open and responsive.”

The OGP already has 50 members. Although several African countries have presented their action plans and three of them — South Africa, Tanzania, and Kenya — have already delivered their commitments, Africa is still trailing in involvement.

The most recent OGP Africa meeting indicates that slow progress is being made, with Ghana and Liberia developing their respective ‘Action Plans’ in order to apply for membership at the Open Government Partnership.

New approaches, new challenges ahead

Is technology the panacea for developing countries? Definitely not. But it definitely paves the way for addressing open, socially and politically relevant questions. Even though the KODI has not had much impact on Kenyans, and very few African states rush to join the OGP, these dynamics are irreversible. The very existence of the endeavours described above is a solid step in the right direction.

A Platform for Middle East's Indie Musicians

Rayna St. — Sun, 31 Mar 2013 20:16:28 +0000

Music for a better future. Screenshot from Mideast Tunes’ Indiego campaign video.

(more…)

Egypt: Prime Minister's ‘Bad Boobs’ Speech Transcribed

Rayna St. — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 15:25:43 +0000

YouTube user Masr Madaneya publishes a short video of Prime Minister Hisham Qandil's speech subtitled in English. The declaration sparked outcry and mockery in the last days after the Prime Minister claimed that breastfeeding mothers cause diarrhea to their babies with their unclean breasts.

The Sinai Peninsula: Egypt's “Wild West”?

Rayna St. — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 14:40:23 +0000

This post is part of our International Relations & Security coverage.

In April of this year, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dubbed the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt a “kind of Wild West” after rockets fired from there targeted the resort town of Eilat. According to Netanyahu, the peninsula is exploited by Islamist militants helped by Iran to smuggle weapons and stage attacks on Israel. In August, 16 Egyptian border guards were killed in an attack by Islamist militants who then crossed the border. This is one of a string of violent incidents since Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohamed Morsi was elected president of Egypt in June.

Since the fall of the Mubarak regime, Egypt has had to recalibrate its interactions with Israel and Palestine. The August attack exposed a particular set of vulnerabilities in Egypt’s security policies. The country was already shaken by riots and sectarian violence challenging Morsi’s presidency, and the border incident placed the spotlight on the messy question of who actually controls the country’s national security policy.

Is it the President jointly with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, or the intelligence services, or the military… or all of the above? Before, active involvement of the presidency in the joint activities of the armed forces (SCAF) and intelligence agencies used to be the rule.

From the series “Sinai's most wanted militants”, by Mosa'ab Elshamy. Image used with permission.

In response to the Sinai aggression, Egypt closed the Rafah Crossing indefinitely, a move denounced by Hamas in Gaza as “a collective punishment for all Palestinians…” Mubarak-era Minister of Foreign Affairs Amr Moussa called for the revision of the Camp David Agreements whereas many observers argued in favor of improved interactions with the Bedouin tribes or even the redeployment of forces in the Sinai region. This idea would not be far-fetched, as sending Egyptian forces into Sinai is part of the Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty anyway.

The whole process of Sinai's remilitarization further questions the crucial – and thus far, discrete – role of the USA in this region's dynamics.

In a series of tweets [Ar], Egyptian analyst Ezzedine Fishere explained the need for a transparent policy highlighting that a much clearer stance towards both Israel and Palestine has to be adopted.

Given the complex context and the obscure rationale behind August’s attack in Sinai, “all sorts of conspiracy theories are afloat,” argued Egyptian blogger The Arabist, continuing:

… Egypt needs to act to reimpose itself strongly in the area: through a zero-tolerance for criminal gangs and armed groups, Bedouin or foreign, and through a genuine policy of development, job-creation and integration of Sinai into the national economy. It's not easy, it's long-overdue, and it needs to start sooner than later even if strong-arm tactics that will probably be involved may cause more trouble in the short-term.

Highlighting a recently published photo essay by Mosa’ab Elshamy, the blog ‘This Ongoing War’ points out:

Needless to say, given its physical proximity to Israel, Sinai is not only an Egyptian challenge. That it gets such a small degree of media attention is a puzzle.

Morsi’s beginnings in office were marked by a widely decried crackdown on freedom of expression, and the sacking of until-then almighty military officials making the President what many defined as the ‘new dictator’. Is the media silence politically motivated in the name of “balancing security and civil liberties”? While events in Sinai go underreported and the power structures of Egypt are still unsettled, it’s difficult to make estimations about how ‘wild’ this ‘west’ is.

Egyptian photographer Mosa'ab Elshamy has a few series of photos on Sinai, featuring not only Sinai militants, but also archeological treasures in the region.

This post and its translations to Spanish, Arabic and French were commissioned by the International Security Network (ISN) as part of a partnership to seek out citizen voices on international relations and security issues worldwide. This post was first published on the ISN blog, see similar stories here.

North Korea's Missile Launch Depicted by Cats

Rayna St. — Fri, 14 Dec 2012 14:18:19 +0000

The cheeky Tumblr blog International Relations as Depicted by Cats suggests North Korea's reaction to their own missile launch.

WTF it worked? North Korea's Nuclear Launch. Image from IRCats

Independent French Data Journalism Website OWNI Under Threat of Closure

Rayna St. — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 23:19:44 +0000

[All links point to French sources unless otherwise stated]

News of the imminent demise of OWNI (OWNI.fr), an independent French data journalism media outlet, surfaced last week. Famous for its close collaboration with WikiLeaks, OWNI (a french play on words that could be translated into “Unidentified Web Object”) developed the WarLogs application and conducted a great deal of analyses on the SpyFiles among others, and has been consistently reporting on surveillance, internet governance and freedom online. The debate on how to make independent online news media outlet sustainable has been raging for a few years now in France.

According to reports, muddy internal reorganization efforts threaten a number of OWNI's journalists. There are a total of 17 employees 11 of whom are journalists, and it is unclear how many of them would be pushed out during the current restructuring limbo. Tensions between investors and the director of publication pushed the latter to leave the ‘flying saucer', as OWNI afficionados kindly name the media.

Here is a video presenting the OWNI team by Rage Mag :

Under the hashtag #OWNIoupas (another french play on words that translates into “to OWNI or not”, referring to Hamlet's “to be or not to be”), journalists launched a wiki where the discussion is engaged with netizens under the leitmotif: “OWNI ne ferme pas. OWNI est à vendre” (“OWNI is not closing. OWNI is for sale”).

#OWNIoupas, screenshot of the home page of the website.

The initiative aims at establishing a new economic model for the media and sustaining its unique position in the media scene. In order to give people enough time to contribute with ideas, OWNI journalists set up a 72-hour break:

@OWNI: Vous pouvez nous écrire sur demain@owni.fr On vous répond après la pause de 72h #OWNIoupas Propositions sur le wiki http://bit.ly/TMd86p

You can drop us a mail at demain@owni.fr. We'll answer back after our 72-hour break #OWNIoupas For ideas, use the wiki http://bit.ly/TMd86p

The goal of the conversation is stated by a cryptic tweet:

@OWNI: #OWNIoupas. Donc. http://owni.fr

#OWNIoupas. Therefore. http://owni.fr [A somewhat encrypted way to say that the question is not whether to shut down the website but to come up with sustainable ideas to make it live]

Many netizens spoke out in support of the “pure player” outlet:

@ParisMagik: C'est un mélange de démocratie et de liberté qui se meurt. Pendant que les autres continuent leur spectacle. #OWNIoupas

It is a mixture of democracy and freedom that is about to die. Meanwhile, all the others continue their show.

@JM_De_Marchi: #OWNI met son site en pause, lance un appel à contributions sur owni.fr et Twitter avec #OWNIoupas et cherche des investisseurs

#OWNI gives the site a break, kicks off a call for participations through owni.fr and Twitter with #OWNIoupas, and searches for investors

@RodolpheBaron: A travers @OWNI la question du modèle écode la #Presseweb se pose avec honnêteté mais aussi brutalité. http://owni.fr/ #OWNIoupas

Through @OWNI, the question of [sustainable] economic models for web media outlets is addressed with honesty but also brutality. #OWNIoupas

@micro_ouvert: Cher père Noël, tu veux bien amener un investisseur (pas con) sous le sapin d’@OWNI ? Steuplé. #OWNIoupas

Dear Santa, would you be so kind to bring an investor (not a dull one) under @ONWI's Christmas tree? Please. #OWNIoupas

@MorganeGB: WTF ? Open home — Avis aux amateurs, “Owni ferme donc on l'ouvre” http://owni.fr/ #OWNIoupas

WTF? Open home — Calling all amateurs, “Owni shuts down, thus we open it” http://owni.fr/ #OWNIoupas

OWNI's @manhack curated a Storify with a lot of heartening reactions in support of the endeavour, and interesting suggestions.

Egypt: “Which Article of the Constitution Are You Objecting?”

Rayna St. — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 14:43:39 +0000

Recent events in Egypt have demonstrated the deepening rift between the ruling Muslim Brotherhood (MB) and an increasing proportion of the population. President Mohamed Morsi first issued a decree making him the almighty ruler of the country which granted him the kind name of Morsilini (a portemanteau of “Morsi” and “Musolini”). The decree also shielded the Constitutional Assembly, the 85-member entity with Islamist majority writing the Constitution, from possible dissolution by a court order.

After a few resignations from the Constitutional Assembly, the ruling Brotherhood appointed replacements. A Constitution voting marathon followed, resulting in all of the 243 articles of the constitution being voted nearly unanimously in one night. President Morsi next imposed the Constitution to be voted through a referendum on December 15, 2012, which only amplified the outcry. Opposition groups have been asking for a delay, a demand the MB and the President kindly turned a deaf ear to.

Since then, calls for boycott or — more importantly, — for a ‘NO’ vote have been gaining force. A great number of documents have flourished, outlining the “32 reasons to vote ‘NO’ to the Constitution draft” [ar], a 2-page flyer [ar] and a collaborative Google Doc [ar] explaining why the current Constitution is dangerous and damaging have been widely circulated through social media.

Even more worryingly, Egypt's Supreme Electoral Commission asked for the annulment of a 1956 law allowing people to vote on public referendums regardless of their home constituency. In another decree — definitely, one of Morsi's fortes, — the President has agreed upon the Electoral Commission's demand which bans people from voting outside their electoral district, a move denounced as a way to restrict people from voting. Not respecting this new rule will be punished by a fine of LE500 (~ USD80 ). Egyptian video producer and blogger Mohamed Abdelfattah ironically joked:

@mfatta7: Before agreeing on a constitution, Egypt's political forces should have a binding article calling everything off on weekends.

Fostering the current political uncertainty was defined by some as ‘the point of no return’, and in a disturbing follow-up of the violent clashes having unfolded last week, the army was also granted an exceptional authority to arrest civilians during the referendum.

Meanwhile, a great number of pro-MB Twitter accounts have blossomed, all surveying the Twittersphere for critics [ar], asking them the same question: “So, which article of the Constitution are you objecting?”, then trying to justify the draft denounced as contrary to human rights:

@ibrahimbassion1: الدستور الفرنسي الحالي الذى يعد من افضل دساتير العالم،نتيجة التصويت عليه 63%،المواد المعترض عليها تفوق بكثير المختلف عليها في الدستور المصري

The current French constitution which is considered one of the best constitutions in the world was voted for by 63% despite having far more articles that were disputed.

Egyptian blogger Moftasa shows how much room for discussion is left featuring an image from one of the numerous footages from last week's violence:

“So which article do you oppose?”

While people discuss the participation to the referendum, and do their best to amplify the ‘NO’ vote voice, Wael Abbas from the independent blog Misr Digital published a leak [ar, en] from an upcoming interview of Egypt's Prime Minister Hisham Qandil. On the widely-decried Sharia'a law clause of the Constitution, Qandil is supposed to answer:

The new constitution will incorporate a longstanding section that incorporates some of the “principles” of Sharia law. At the same time it will make Copts and Jews abide by their own religious laws regarding their personal matters, as well as it will be broad enough to satisfy the secular concerns.

The Prime Minister is also seemingly trying to reassure the international community on the fears that Egypt is slowly turning into Iran:

Egyptians have special nature, they are moderately religious, welcoming and accepting other cultures, religions, nationalities. The fact that the President and the majority of the people’s assembly are from the freedom and justice party – the political arm of the Muslim brotherhood — doesn’t necessitates that Egypt will be a theocratic state, on the contrary Egypt is a civil state and is experiencing a democratic transition, which aims at achieving development in various fields.

Qandil also supposedly dismisses the “illogical” stance of the opposition:

Actually, we welcome negotiations with other political and opposition groups however they wanted it to be “conditional negotiations” based on rolling back the constitutional declaration as well dissolving the constituent assembly before starting negotiations. This is illogical.

Blogging for the Foreign Policy hosted ‘Transitions', Egyptian blogger Mohamed ElDahshan timely concludes:

Painting society as a pro-Islam vs. anti-Islam binary choice isn't a political dispute — it's a civil one. Because there isn't a region, a street, a family where people don't disagree about politics; if this kitchen table conversation is transformed into one about faith, then we're lost. And the damage will reach all the way to the deepest threads of the society that we love to compare — mostly thanks to a Christian minority that throws in some diversity — to a complex, tightly woven tapestry.

This is a fabric that the Brotherhood is now working overtime to unravel. Is this deliberate or is it a terrible miscalculation? The latest government fiasco (decreeing new taxes and then rescinding them hours later) suggests that there is remarkably little thought going into critical decisions.

Morsi is probably not the only decision-maker. The hydra's two other heads have a mind of their own — and they are not shy about expressing it, either. (Both Khairat Al Shater and Mohamed Badie held press conferences justifying the government's response to the clashes, even though they have no official government positions whatsoever.) All this makes me feel that pessimism is justified.

The ball is now in the president's six hands. And this does not bode well.

Bulgarian PM Takes a Nap at Nobel Peace Prize Event

Rayna St. — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 20:14:12 +0000

On his Facebook page, Dimitar Vuchev posts a screenshot [bg] from the livestreaming of today's Nobel Peace Prize award ceremony, featuring the Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov in what looks like a peaceful nap:

“Sleeping Beauty at the Nobel Peace Prize Ceremony,” reads the caption on Vuchev's profile.

Rise of Bulgaria's Tomato Revolution

Rayna St. — Sun, 25 Nov 2012 21:24:31 +0000

On November 24, people gathered in front of the Bulgarian Parliament in the capital city of Sofia, thus officializing what has become known as the ‘Tomato Revolution.’

Tomato threat over the Parliament

The logo of the Tomato Revolution Facebook event. Screenshot adapted by the author.

On November 9, the independent media outlet OFFNews published photos [bg] of the Courthouse building smudged with tomato sauce. It is unclear who did it and why.

On November 14, Nikolay Kolev, aka Bossiya (The Barefoot), published an open letter [bg] on his blog, openly threatening to throw tomatoes at the government buildings, because he held the Bulgarian officials responsible for the rampant corruption in the country. The letter was sent to the Parliament, the President, the Prime Minister, the Supreme Judicial Council, the Bulgarian National Television and the Bulgarian National Radio. Bossiya wrote:

Всички вие ръководите институции, които са пряко свързани със състоянието на страната ни за последните години. Затова и смятам, че вие сте основни виновници за ужасното състояние на страната и обществото.В страната цари корупция, престъпност, безотговорност, информационна мъгла, слугинаж, деморализация. Празните приказки и театрални пози и монолози ежедневно замъгляват съзнанието и надеждите на обществото като цяло, както и на всеки един български гражданин отделно.

All of you manage institutions that are directly responsible for the condition our country has been in in the recent years. That's why I think you are the main culprits of the terrible state of the country and the society. Corruption, crime, irresponsibility, information fog, servant behaviour and demoralization reign the country. Fudge as well as theatrical poses and monologues daily cloud the minds and hopes of the society as a whole and of each Bulgarian citizen individually.

In his open letter, Bossiya also exposed the details of his peaceful symbolic protest:

На 20 ноември /вторник/ ще закупя от пазара 6 /шест/ развалени домата и ще ги разпределя по един за шестте институции, към които съм се обърнал. В 10 ч ще бъда пред Народното събрание, където ще хвърля един домат по фасадата, с което ще изразя протеста си срещу липсата на ориентация, професионализъм и патриотизъм при изготвяне на законите. Ще запратя домата протестирайки срещу лошите текстове на законите, носещи само нещастия на обществото и отделния български гражданин. Законът трябва да бъде обществено полезен, а не изработен срещу човека.

След това ще отида пред президентството и ще запратя по фасадата му следващия домат. Той ще бъде срещу нищоправенето от страна на президентската институция, наведената поза при среща с представители на великите сили и назначението на отрепки за дипломати. Срещу безкритичното отношение при подписването на укази за влизането на законите в сила.

Третият домат ще бъде хвърлен срещу сградата на МС заради цялостната му политика и действията му срещу обществото и националните интереси.

Четвъртият домат ще бъде хвърлен от мен срещу съдебната палата. За моите съотечественици не е необходимо да обяснявам защо.

Петият и шестият домат ще хвърля по БНТ и БНР поради това, че с нашите пари те обслужват една малка шайка от политически престъпници и мафиоти.

On November 20 (Tuesday), I will buy from the supermarket 6 (six) rotten tomatoes and distribute them to one of the six institutions which I addressed. At 10 am, I will be in front of the Parliament, and I will throw a tomato at its facade in protest against the lack of orientation, professionalism and patriotism in lawmaking. I will do so to protest low-quality law texts bringing only misfortunes to the society and the Bulgarian citizen. The law should be socially useful, not crafted against the people.

Then I will go to the Presidential palace and hurl the next tomato at its facade. It will be against the consistent inaction by the presidential institution, its stooped posture while meeting with international representatives and the appointment of lowlives as diplomats. [I will throw it] against the uncritical attitude in signing the decrees of laws coming into force.

The third tomato will be thrown in front of the Prime Minister's HQs for overall policies and actions against the society and national interests.

The fourth tomato will be thrown against the Courthouse. I don't need to explain why to my compatriots.

The fifth and the sixth tomatoes will be thrown against the Bulgarian National Television and the Bulgarian National Radio because they serve a small bunch of political criminals and gangsters on our money.

On Tuesday, November 20, Bossiya was arrested [bg] in front of the Parliament, where reportedly 40 policemen were deployed waiting for him to show up. Reactions were contrasted, as some news outlets were dismissing his action as “a salad” [bg], while others were sidelining [bg] with his action. Political stances were equally distinct, and netizens reflected these positions on Twitter as well:

@VeselaAngelova: Добре де, ако са нужни 40 полицаи, за да арестуват човек с домат, за човек с патлангач сигурно ще викаме НАТО или нещо такова.

Oh well, if 40 policemen are needed to arrest a single man with a tomato, for a man with an aubergine, we'll need to call NATO or other suchlike.

@SlaviVIP: Некъв мизерник хвърлил домат по парламента днес и вече е “светец”, ето заради такива боклуци държавата е на този хал. А този е за Белене!

Some bonker threw a tomato at the Parliament today and is now a ‘saint,’ it's because of such morons that our country is in this situation.

Reacting to the disproportianate participation of 40 special forces policemen to arrest a single man, netizens joke:

@benkovski: @tourbg @cipisec Али Домат и 40 разбойници

Ali Tomato and the 40 thieves [An allusion to "Ali Baba and the 40 thieves," a popular classic story]

@gtsmilev: @CapitalBg Стола на парламента ще се казва “Дон Домат”

The Parliament's canteen will be named “Don Tomato”

Later on, the media announced that Bossiya was charged with “hooliganism” and risked up to two years in jail. A Facebook group [bg] “Tomatina — The Tomato Revolution” was created, in support of Bossiya and calling for a demonstration and symbolic tomato throwing at the Parliament on November 24.

“Each tomato — a bomb against the rulers”

The initiative gained momentum and broad support [bg], with more than 1,000 people subscribing to attend. The media reported [bg] that vegetable sellers from Sofia's most popular supermarket refused to make people pay for tomatoes if those were to be used at the protest.

“Wake up, the mafia rules us!” A banner from the demo. Image by Ruslan Trad (CC-by-SA 3.0)

The November 24 protest was live-streamed by Assen Guenov, a contributor to the independent Open Government initiative. Some of the participants tweeted:

@reguligence: Полицейското присъствие около НС е стабилно. #TomatoRevolution

Police presence around the Parliament is robust #TomatoRevolution

@GerganaBoteva: По канал 3 казаха, че има около 300-400 човека #TomatoRevolution

Channel 3 announced that 300-400 people are attending. #TomatoRevolution [Channel 3 is an independent TV channel which was also live-streaming the protest]

Twitter user @ju joked echoing the infamous outcry in some media that called to limit the influence of the social media in the country:

@ju: Банват думата “домат” от Facebook за България

The word “tomato” is banned on Facebook in Bulgaria

Global Voices Author Ruslan Trad has published a few photos from the protest, and I have curated a Storify [bg, en] with more background information.

Ink Duel: Bulgarian Artists vs Egyptian Artist in London

Rayna St. — Sun, 04 Nov 2012 14:28:30 +0000

Studio 75, a London-based “100% independent, not part of any school, trend, fashion or directive” artist space is hosting ‘The Orientophobia Sessions’ this weekend. In the program of the Out Of The Deep East, Bulgarian artists Krum and Desi engage into an ink duel with Egyptian artist Naz:

A screenshot of Studio75′s blog

(more…)

Bulgaria: The Red Army Supports Pussy Riot

Rayna St. — Fri, 17 Aug 2012 11:22:30 +0000

On the day of the verdict in the Pussy Riot trial, Russian embassies worldwide are seeing demonstrations in support of the incriminated punk band members. The Red Army Monument in the capital of Bulgaria, Sofia, has joined in: a picture of it with some of the soldiers wearing Pussy Riot-styled hats has spread on social networks this morning. The Macedonian outlet think.mk publishes a short post [mk] comparing this political art expression with the previous one, when the soldiers were painted as comics characters.

Russia: Egyptian Graffiti Artist on Freedom for Pussy Riot

Rayna St. — Mon, 13 Aug 2012 22:19:33 +0000

Egyptian political activist and graffiti artist Ganzeer writes [en] about the Pussy Riot case: “[...] the consequences of freeing Pussy Riot may be mistaken for a fair and liberal Russian judiciary system, which is clearly not the case. [...] Pussy Riot's actions are all about exposing the reality of Russia's corrupt regime. By demanding the freedom of Pussy Riot, the band's supporters are harming the very integrity of their mission. [...] Asking for Pussy Riot's freedom is easy, but taking Putin out is where it's at.”

Egypt: The President's Son Fails Admission Test

Rayna St. — Sun, 12 Aug 2012 09:20:08 +0000

The GUC Insider is the independent student-led media outlet of the German University in Cairo (GUC). In a short article [ar], it announces that the son of the Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi has failed one of the admission tests and will not be accepted as a regular student in this university.