After little less than a month following the April 6 strike, during which a number of prominent Egyptian bloggers and internet activists were arrested, preparations for the next round of a planned general strike to mark the 80th birthday of President Mubarak, on May 4, 2008, are currently spreading all over the blogosphere and the Internet. Blogger and activist Nora Younis shares some of her ideas with us about […]
Egyptians use Facebook to deter censorship
CAIRO — Egyptians are using the online social networking tool Facebook to defy the government’s attempt to muzzle the media […]
Why Shariah?
In fact, for most of its history, Islamic law offered the most liberal and humane legal principles available anywhere in the world. Today, when we invoke the harsh punishments prescribed by Shariah for a handful of offenses, we rarely acknowledge the high standards of proof necessary for their implementation. Before an adultery conviction can typically be obtained, for example, the accused must confess four times or four adult male witnesses […]
Tunisia – A Model Of Middle East Stability Or An Incubator Of Extremism ?
Voici les vidéos de la rencontre du 13 novembre 2007 à l’université de Georgetown. Plus de 7 heures d’enregistrement avec de nombreux intervenants : notamment, M. Marzouki, R. Nasroui, M. Trifi, K. Cherif, N. Rjiba, Henry Clément… Beaucoup de moments forts au sein de ces interventions pour décrire la situation des libertés en Tunisie. A cet égard, l’in […].
Who Pays the Price? [Qui paye le prix de la propagande mensongère]
The Arabic Network documented 25 advertisements published over eight newspapers and magazines, including state-run and national, a number of parties’ newspapers and independent newspapers. These advertisements took place between 2006 and 2007 in: 1. State-run and national newspapers and magazines: Alahram, Akhbar, Aljomhoria, Rosa Alyosef 2. Independen […].
CIA facility in Tunisia ?
From his prison cell in Bizerte (65km north of Tunis), The Tunisian prisoner Ramzi Bettibi managed to smuggle a very alarming letter that found its way on to the Internet (available in French) In his letter, Ramzi describes a secret detention facility near Bizerte city, where he has been interrogated by CIA and French-speaking agents about his alleged ties […].
The Story of Lofti Lagha, Prisoner 660
Overlooked in the reports about Guantánamo detainee Abdullah bin Omar, a Tunisian who, on Sunday, was sent back to the country of his birth, where there are fears that he will be subjected to torture and abuse, is the story of the other Tunisian who, shackled and bound, shared a US plane with him. Unlike bin Omar, who was represented by lawyers who have do […].
Internet and the Public Sphere: Tunisian Cyberactivism
The development of Internet in Tunisia comes to reconfigure the Tunisian political scene. Indeed, for a few years, one has noted in Tunisia new forms of activism, of expression of social criticism on Internet. This reappropriation of the technological developments leads to new militant practices developing independently of the traditional institutions (lef […].
Free Monem campaign
As the world celebrates World Press Freedom Day an Egyptian blogger, Abdel Monem Mahmoud, sits in jail, his only crime his desire for a more open Egyptian society. We cannot let the regime succeed in silencing him. We have to show the Egyptian regime that when you imprison a blogger, you don’t silence his voice, you AMPLIFY it! How? By taking action! Here’ […].
Unblock Dailymotion campaign
Après les sites et blogs tunisiens censurés, le régime de Ben Ali vient de s’attaquer à Dailymotion. Bloqué depuis le 1er avril 2007, ce service d’hébergement et de partage vidéo est devenu, il est vrai, l’un des espaces d’expression favoris des Tunisiens. Par son biais, ils ont pu faire partager leurs trouvailles et mettre en ligne des vidéos impossible […].
March of the censors: France, Turkey and China clamp down on freedom of speech
Yesterday, France’s Constitutional Council passed the Sarkozy law [Fr] ( Loi sur la prévention de la délinquance – Law on the prevention of criminality), which criminalizes the filming or broadcasting of acts of violence by people other than professional journalists. During the parliamentary debate, government representatives said the law is meant to targe […].
Ben Ali’s dictatorship is creating more Islamists
The deadly clashes in the suburbs of the Tunisian capital between security forces and Islamist gunmen at the end of December and in early January took by surprise those who were under the illusion that an Arab autocrat of Ben Ali’s ilk could learn anything from Ibn Khaldoun. According to official sources, the clashes left 12 gunmen dead and 15 under arrest […].
Democracy in Tunisia , that’s entertainment for monkeys !
Encore un pas vers l’infamie de la censure. Cette fois-ci ce ne sont plus des blogs de militants connus pour leur activisme politique qui sont visés, mais des Tunisiens ordinaires. En somme, la bêtise atteint un seuil, tel qu’il ne reste plus au régime tunisien que de couper intégralement l’internet tunisien. Dans notre pays, jamais peut-être des mots ne […].
From Islam as an Identity to Secular Politics
A religious intellectual is more concerned with religious truths than with religion as an identity. The Islam of religious intellectuals is the Islam of truths and the question of an identity is peripheral to this. A religious intellectual must, first and foremost, concern himself with faith, religious experience, differing religious readings and creating […].
Tunisian Prison Map
The map consists of a mashup work (a technique of mixing composite applications and services exposed on the web to form a new service). This map displays: An approximate listing of Tunisian prisons indicated on a Google Maps API + GMapEZ. In order to elaborate the list, I have pulled data from Human Rights NGOs report as well as a temporary list of Tunis […].
Tunisia: Opening prisons to the world
As the technology becomes more and more accessible, the more of these kinds of sites will inevitably spring up, pulling together maps, case histories, background research documents, advocacy tools, and, yes, videos, and the simpler it becomes to try to shine a light… I’d be interested to learn of similar initiatives from around the world, so get in touch i […].
Tunisia : Journalist From Website www.bakchich.info Expelled
Reporters sans Frontières (Paris) PRESS RELEASE Reporters Without Borders has criticised the Tunisian authorities for expelling French journalist Léa Labaye, of the satirical website http://www.Bakchich.info, who was sent back to Paris immediately after arrival in Tunisia on 16 September 2006, without any official explanation. “This expulsion demonstra […].
Islamizing Democracy Or Democratizing Islam ?
As the summer heat rises, it seems, to cause the human folly to follow suit. The guns of August are again at work in many spots in the heart of the so-called Arab world. And the war planners are busy in tweaking its goings and toolings. As it moves from “shock and awe” to more insidious but hopefully -for its planners-moreeffective approach, the so-called […].
