· November, 2008

Below are posts about citizen media in Arabic. Don't miss Global Voices الأصوات العالمية, where Global Voices posts are translated into Arabic! Read about our Lingua project to learn more about how Global Voices content is being translated into other languages.

Stories about Arabic from November, 2008

Egypt: Locking Al Azhar students in the dark ages!

  28 November 2008

Al Azhar English Training Center is funded through a partnership agreement between Al Azhar University, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Global Opportunities Fund and the British Council. The Center was supposed to provide English Language courses in its first semester to 125 students from various disciplines until Ali Laban, a Muslim Brotherhood deputy, decided otherwise. One enraged instructor speaks up on Facebook.

Egypt: Getting High on Obama

  26 November 2008

Barack Obama's popularity in Egypt reaches a new high - with the introduction of a narcotic to the market bearing the President-elect's name. According to bloggers, dealers in the Mediterranean town of Marsa Matrouh are selling Obama branded hashish.

Syria: What About the Palestinian Human Rights?

  25 November 2008

Majd Syria (Ar) writes: “Western countries show off their support for human rights.. at the time they turn a blind eye to the most basic rights of Palestinians – their right to live in an independent free state, with sovereignty, an army, a currency, language, identity and capital.

Syria: A Blogosphere Divided

  24 November 2008

The Syrian blogsphere has been embroiled in a heated debate over the weekend. It is a debate that is quite reflective of some of our modern disagreements as Syrians, over a wide range of basic issues: identity, religion, state and personal freedom. Yazan Badran gathers the different threads of this controversy here.

Egypt: Shaaban Sings for Obama

  23 November 2008

Shaaban Abdel Rehim, the illiterate Egyptian singer whose songs are mainly about political and social issues, has released a new song about the new American President-Elect Barack Obama. Tarek Amr looks at the blogosphere's reactions to Abdel Rehim's newest hit.

MENA: How to deal with Somali piracy?

  22 November 2008

Last week a Saudi supertanker was hijacked by Somali pirates off the coast of Kenya, making it the largest ship ever to have been seized in this way. The problem of Somali piracy is growing; in this post we hear bloggers' reactions from around the Middle East.

Egyptian Blogger is Missing

  22 November 2008

From Egypt, Zeinobia writes: “The famous Egyptian MB blogger Mohamed Adel aka Meit is reportedly missing. No one seems to know for sure where he is currently. Of course the speculations are saying that the State Security has something with this sudden disappearance especially the S.S came and searched his...

Religious unity: The Charter for Compassion

  21 November 2008

As children we may all have heard the Golden Rule expressed in many different ways, but the basic idea is: Treat others as you would like to be treated. This is Karen Armstrong's TED wish, to create The Charter for Compassion, a platform in which the different Abrahamic faiths could focus on what was common to all, the moral backbone of all their faiths towards a greater unity and better communication among people of different faiths.

Egypt: King Abdullah's Glass of Wine

  20 November 2008

A rumor has been spreading in the blogosphere, accompanied with a photograph of King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia showing him seated beside US President George W Bush while holding a glass of wine in his hand. And as you all know, alcohol is prohibited in Islam, and it is a sin to drink or even stay in a place where it is being served or available. Following are reactions from Egypt.

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