Stories about Arabic from January, 2010
Syria: A Short Story
Medad blog published a sarcastic short story [ar] depicting a Muslim cleric and a Christian cleric passionately discussing virtue and interfaith understanding as each of them tries to claim a spot that allows them to peep through a crack in the wall of a women's bathhouse.
Egypt: The Right to Speak Up
Egyptian bloggers and activists held a conference on January 22 in defense of their right to speak up after more than 20 Egyptian bloggers were arrested when their train arrived in the village of Naga Hammady where the Coptic massacre took place. Marwa Rakha sums up their reactions to their detention in this post.
Palestine: The Commodification Of Gaza
Exiled is a blogger who recently left Gaza - and he is in no hurry to return. In this translation of a recent post of his, we hear his opinions about political propaganda and self-interest, the tunnels to Egypt and the planned steel fence, and the nature of the outside world's concern for the Gaza Strip.
Egypt: Engulfed by Floods!
Over the past few days, several Egyptian governorates and cities have been engulfed by a severe wave of flash floods and heavy rains. Bloggers react to the calamity.
Tunisia: And They Censored Arabicca!
Tunisian blogger Fatma Arabicca, who was arrested two months ago, decided to resume blogging last week. With only one post on her new blog, authorities swooped in to block it. Tunisian bloggers react to the ban and to the censorship of other blogs as well.
Morocco: Bloggers Mourn Freedom of Expression
Nebrash Eshabab [Ar] is a Moroccan collective blogging platform. It published a call for Moroccan bloggers to “mourn freedom of expression in Morocco during a week, from 25 to 31 January,” in order to raise awareness about the deteriorating situation of free speech in the country.
Egypt: Severe criticism for the human rights situation
Alaa Kamal discusses [Ar] the upcoming Human Rights Watch (HRW) annual report, that will be published over the next days. He says that the Arab countries received the biggest share of criticism. Also, the report clearly focused on the deteriorating human rights situation in Egypt.
Egypt: Detained Bloggers Tell their Tales
More than 20 Egyptian bloggers, who were on their way to pay their respects to the families of the victims of the Coptic massacre, were arrested when their train arrived in the village of Naga Hammady in Upper Egypt. They were released shortly afterwards and they are now telling us their side of the story.
Syria: Journalist Maen Akel Still Detained
Maen Akel, a Syrian journalist, was arrested on November 11, 2009, by the Syrian Intelligence Department (State Security) in Damascus. Within 48 hours of his arrest he was also dismissed from his work at Al-Thawra, a state owned newspaper. The reason for his arrest remains unknown.
MENA: Does Rain Bring Happiness or Misery?
Many bloggers and Twitter users from Egypt and different parts in MENA region reported rain and some dusty storms today. Depending on their circumstances, some welcomed the drops of rain with joy while others braced themselves for the storms, flooding and heartbreak.
Egypt: Muslim Brotherhood Elects New Head
The Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt has elected a new leader - Mr Muhammad Bedei. Egyptian bloggers reaction to the new appointment in this post.
Egypt: New online design magazine
Loksha is a new online magazine, that has been recently launched by Zeinab Samir, who is interested in covering news related to the latest in the field of web design and development, as well as introducing Drupal to Arab readers.
Egypt: Best movies for Oscar
Egyptian director, Amr Salama, discusses [Ar] some foreign movies screened in 2009. In his opinion, the Oscars committee will face difficulties in deciding the best movies, because -as he says- he has not seen one good movie that deserves the award.
Egypt: Bloggers arrested over Naga Hammady Visit
Egypt today arrested 20 bloggers who were visiting Naga Hammady in Upper Egypt to pass their respects to those killed in a sectarian outburst on January 7. Seven people were shot dead and several injured when an assailant gunned down Christian Copts leaving a church after the Christmas mass. The bloggers visit was to show a united front against sectarianism.
Egypt: English Loan Words
"Egyptian" Arabised English is taking the Twittersphere by storm. Tarek Amr collects reactions from #EgyEnglish in this post which explains how bilingual Egyptians have included English words in their dialect.
Arab World: Article on polygamy causes a stir
Nadine al-Bedair's article entitled "Me and My Four Husbands" has caused controversy and outrage amongst the Arab and Muslim blogosphere. However, there are also those that have defended her piece. Katharine Ganly explores these reactions.
Egypt: In our house.. H1N1
Egyptian blogger, Ahmed Shokeir, writes [Ar] his experience with his younger child's infection with H1N1 (swine flu), and how the family worked on combating it.
Algeria: First day for a book on Amazon
Maamar Ameur writes [Ar] his experience with his colouring book for children “A.B.Coloring” ‘s first day on Amazon, and his blogger friends enthusiasm to help him promote the book through different social media websites.
Saudi Arabia: First “sighted” blogger
Saudi blogger, Maged, writes a blog post [Ar] about his friend Ali Al Omary, the first blind Saudi Blogger whom -Maged thinks- is not just a blogger but a real philosopher. Ali is also working on a new book about music in Arabic poetry.
Morocco: Ladies Honored
Moroccan bloggers joined the Kolena Laila (We Are All Laila) campaign, an independent online initiative inviting bloggers across the Arab region to express themselves freely and raise awareness on the concerns of women in their respective societies for the first time. Hisham brings us the story in this post.
Egypt: Naga Hammady Massacre
Egyptian bloggers express shock and rage at the killing of Coptic Christians on the eve of their Christmas celebrations in Naga Hammady, in Upper Egypt. An unknown criminal opened his fire randomly on people there after they finished their prayers and were on their way back to their homes.
