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Updated: 6 days 12 hours ago
Iran: Leader's website blocked in Saudi Arabia
Iranian sources say [fa] that Saudi Arabia has blocked Iran Leader's site Khamenei.ir. This sources says this website is blocked because of Ayatollah Khamanei's remarks on “Islamic Arab Spring”. Iranian user on Friendfeed believes [fa]: This could be a start for a cyber-war between Iran and Arabia.
Categories: Advocacy
Cuba: Protest Against Hunger Striker's Death
Pedazos de la Isla posts a video of dissidents protesting the death of political prisoner Wilman Villar Mendoza in a neighborhood of Guantanamo.
Categories: Advocacy
St. Vincent & the Grenadines: Caring Diaspora
“Sometimes I have scant respect for Vincentians in the diaspora. They appear to be extremely critical of everything Vincentian, know what's best for us but provide little beyond chatter”: Abeni has found a notable exception to the rule.
Categories: Advocacy
Cuba: Nineteenth “No”
“For the 19th time Cuban blogger Yoani Sanchez has been denied an exit visa in order to travel abroad”: Havana Times reports.
Categories: Advocacy
Trinidad & Tobago: Principal Charged with Child Cruelty
Trinidad and Tobago News Blog reports that the school principal accused of “placing the head of two students in a toilet bowl at her school and flushing it” has been charged; Plain Talk comments on “the depravity required” to commit such an act: “Flush it to make a point, to send a message, humble and humiliate at one time, and bring everything and everyone back into the order according to brute force…how can this little country take much more?”
Categories: Advocacy
Barbados, Guyana: “Fearless” Freddie
Barbados Underground has been “following closely what is happening to the man we have dubbed the ‘Fearless Journalist’ Professor Freddie Kissoon,” adding: “The silence of regional media and governments is unacceptable on this matter.”
Categories: Advocacy
Egypt: Storify on Port Said Clashes
Greek blogger Asteris Masouras compiles a Storify round up of reactions and coverage following Wednesday's deadly Port Said clashes, which left more than 70 people dead in Egypt.
Categories: Advocacy
Bahrain: Celebration and Criticism Greet “Manama, Capital of Arab Culture 2012″
On February 2, “Manama, Capital of Arab Culture 2012” (@ManamaCulture12) was officially launched. But as the celebration was taking place, opposition protests were broken up elsewhere in the capital.
The Capital of Arab Culture is an initiative of the Arab League under UNESCO's Cultural Capitals Programme. Many have criticised the awarding of the title to Manama this year, and have called for a boycott, because of the government's “repressive practices” against pro-democracy demonstrators, with writers and artists amongst them (some of whom have been forced into exile). Other Bahrainis have welcomed the beginning of the year of cultural events, and see it as a way to present a more positive image of Bahrain to the world.
As she watched the televised opening of Manama, Capital of Arab Culture 2012, Twitter user Rasha Yousif (@RshRsho) announced:
@RshRsho: Proud to be Bahraini ! #ManamaCapitalofArabCulture2012
Twitter user Fawaz Al Muhandis (@Fawazu) was impressed by the work of the Ministry of Culture:
@Fawazu: I think @MOC_BH is working towards the right direction into representing a good image of Bahrain #ManamaCapitalofArabCulture2012 thank you!
In a reference to the one-year anniversary of the start of the February 14 uprising, and the tension expected to accompany it, Twitter user @JulesALK said:
@JulesALK: #ManamaCapitalofArabCulture2012 Happy to see the beautiful celebrations today. We must enjoy feb. Good start #Bahrain
Khalid Al-Rowaie (@kalrowaie), a writer and theatre director who works for Bahrain's Ministry Of Culture, was at the opening ceremony, which included a musical performance called “The Path of Pearls” about Bahrain's traditional pearling industry. He posted this photo:
Musical performance during opening ceremony of Manama, Capital of Arab Culture 2012, called "The Path of Pearls". Image posted by Twitter user @kalrowaie.
A criticism often made of cultural events in Bahrain is that many of the artists involved are not Bahraini. Not all of those who watched the Capital of Arab Culture ceremony were impressed, feeling it wasn't representative of Bahraini culture. Twitter user @_MKAlKhalifa wrote:
@_MKAlKhalifa: Egyptian Bahraini Dance? :/ #Fail #ManamaCapitalofArabCulture2012 #Bahrain
@_MKAlKhalifa: #Bahrain has a very unique and a beautiful culture, yet the opening of #ManamaCapitalofArabCulture2012 doesn't represent it!
Bahrain's Foreign Minister Shaikh Khalid Alkhalifa (@khalidalkhalifa) also attended the opening ceremony, and posted an image of the performance, writing [ar]:
@khalidalkhalifa: طريق اللؤلؤ ، ينطلق بالدانة .. معشوقة الغواص The Path of Pearls starts with the Dana, the diver's beloved pearlMusical performance during opening ceremony of Manama, Capital of Arab Culture 2012, called "The Path of Pearls". Image posted by Twitter user @khalidalkhalifa.
Journalist Hussain Mansoor (@Hu4mansoor) responded to the Foreign Minister's tweet with a reference to the destroyed Pearl Roundabout, focal point of pro-democracy protests, saying [ar]:
@Hu4mansoor: ليس طريقا للؤلؤ ذاك الذي لا يمر على دوار اللؤلؤة. #bahrain #14feb It is not a Path of Pearls if it doesn't lead to the Pearl Roundabout.Journalist Reem Khalifa (@Reem_Khalifa) commented [ar]:
@Reem_Khalifa:في عاصمة الثقافة العربية لا مكان لحرية الرأي والاستقلالية في القضاء وشفافية المعلومة بل قمع ثقافة الآخر واحتقار الإنسان الحر In the Capital of Arab Culture there is no room for freedom of opinion, independence of the judiciary, and transparency of information, only for the suppression of others' culture and contempt for free humansAs the opening ceremony took place at the National Museum, protestors gathered in central Manama for a weekly rally known as the Manama March, which was broken up by riot police using tear gas (the heavy use of which in Bahrain has been condemned by human rights organisations).
Clouds of tear gas in central Manama as opposition march broken up. Image posted by Twitter user @sorr0w.
Twitter user @Intelligensia1 wrote [ar]:
@Intelligensia1:المنامة الآن تجمع النقيضين تماماً.. مثقفي السلطة في المتحف الوطني.. وشعب مثقف في أزقتها مخنوق بثقافة السلطة #Bahrain #14feb #Alwefaq In Manama right now there are two complete opposites… The regime's intellectuals in the National Museum, and the educated people in the alleys suffocating from the regime's cultureCategories: Advocacy
Israel: The Lie, the Truth and the Meme (of the Soldier and the Girl)
The photograph below, of a soldier stepping on a little girl, has been circulating on the social web for the past few days, claimed to be of an IDF soldier and a Palestinian girl. Wesley Muhammad who posted it claimed to have seen it on someone else's news feed with that caption, and wonders why it went viral from his page. Within two days the photo (now discarded) received over 500 comments, including some claims the photo is fake.
Yossi Gavni reposted the photo highlighting the main claims that the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) doesn't carry that kind of weapon and has no such uniforms, and that photo circulated mainly among Israelis. Apparently, the photo was tweeted last year in French, claiming this is actually from Syria's demonstrations and asking for it to spread. However, Arab blogger Omar Dakhane found the original photo (below), which is neither from Syria nor Israel but a street theater performance in Bahrain.
This story could have ended here with a lesson not to believe everything that circulates out there in the age of media manipulation and virality, but apparently some Israelis have decided the best response to a viral lie is a humorous meme. In the last 24 hours many photos replacing the soldier with different characters have been circulating on Facebook, initiated by 10Gag, the Israeli answer to 9Gag humor and memes generator.
For example, a photo where the soldier was replaced by a dog wearing real IDF uniform, probably also responding humorously to earlier allegations that IDF trains dogs to attack Palestinians. Other entities stepping on that girl included an empire soldier from Star Wars, the Angry Birds, the Android, the Avatar N'aavi, Chuck Norris and more.
By turning the photo into a meme, Israelis are saying in “social media language” that such a situation is ridiculous and fictional, although Wesley Muhammad who started the viral spread concludes: ”I took the photo down (even though that type of thing DOES happen in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict)”.
Categories: Advocacy
Kuwait: Parliamentary Election Marred by Violence
Today, 3 February, 2012, Kuwait will hold its parliamentary elections divided by five electoral districts, a system that was only passed in 2006 in response to blogger-led protests.
At the beginning of December 2011, two year-long protests previous led to the replacement of Prime Minister Nasser Al-Mohammed with his cousin Jaber Al-Mubarak and to the dissolution of the parliament for the fourth time since Al-Mohammed was first appointed. Since then, candidates have been working their ways towards reaching voters.
Tribal rage
Mohammed Al-Juwaihel, a candidate who tried his luck last elections but was removed for bribing voters, has always been a controversial person in Kuwaiti society. He went on television several years ago lunching an attack on those who have dual citizenship, comparing them to a sort of parasitic plant with no loyalty to the country, who should be stripped off their Kuwaiti citizenship.
He has also used the same language with the Kuwaiti stateless Bidun community and attacked certain Kuwaiti tribes, some of whom in response have attacked him in return.
On Monday 30 January, Al-Juwaihel gave another speech insulting one of the tribes, Al Mutair, saying he “will step on them”. After his speech, hundreds of Al Mutair tribes people went to his election tent hub in the Al-idailiya area, chanting, ripping up the posters depicting his slogan “Kuwait is for Kuwaitis.. only”, and at last burning the tent.
In this video uploaded to YouTube by yasoo1985, one can see the attack on Al-Juwaihel's center, with tribesmen setting it on fire, celebrating and chanting with threats:
Pictures uploaded by Flickr user Yasoo85, show the crowd as they burn the center.
A picture uploaded to Twitter by @Abd_Rashed also shows the center on fire, from another angle:
Election tent burning in Kuwait. Image by Twitter user @Abd_Rashed
This picture, posted on Twitter by @hwazn, shows a security guard bleeding during the events:
Injured security guard by Twitter user @hwazn
This picture (uploaded by a Twitter parody account @Murad_ALm9ri) shows the center the following morning:
Election tent the morning after. Image uploaded by @Murad_ALm9ri
The following day, some citizens showed support to Al-Juwaihel by leaving flowers near the burned center (image uploaded by Twitter user @Nasser_Aleidan):
Image by Twitter user @Nasser_Aleidan
Attacks on media
On Tuesday, the tribesmen were not satisfied with their Monday attack and headed to scope TV channel to try to break in; they failed after being blocked by security guards. The crowd of protestors were upset that the television station broadcast Al-Juwaihel's insulting speech against their tribe.
Afterwards, they tried to attack another station, Al-Watan, as it was hosting two election candidates in a debate. One of the candidates, named Nabeel Al-Fadil, uses the same discriminatory approach as Al-Juwaihel.
The station stopped the debate but that did not hold the crowd back and the attack led to 15 injuries among security guards, according to local newspapers, and three injured journalists - Yousif Al-Mutairi from Al-Qabas newspaper, Mohammed Al-Sharhan Al-Jarida (who was previously attacked by security and detained during stateless protests) and a photojournalist from Al-Seyassah newspaper.
Here is a clear picture of crowds standing in front of Al-Watan TV, taken from Al-Qabas:
Image by alqabas.com
This picture shows the car of candidate Nabil Al-Fadil, after being smashed in by the enraged crowd:
Image uploaded to Twitter by @AhmedMAlMutairi
Vote For Kuwait
Since the parliament was dissolved, many Kuwaitis have relied on Twitter to discuss their choices or to promote certain candidates. Last elections, Facebook played a big role in elections campaigns, but in this round, Twitter is playing the essential role as it transports faster and reaches a wider audience.
Last November 2011, a group of civil rights advocates named ‘South Al-Kuwait' (The Voice of Kuwait) started a campaign to promote awareness about the national constitution and what rights it guarantees to protect one from discrimination and injustice. For the current elections, the group made the following video to promote their campaign ‘tafreg' (it differs) to encourage people to vote and help make a difference:
A week ago, a group of actors created short videos entitled ‘Sheno ya3ni TV‘ that make fun of election candidates and their deception or shallowness. Some of the videos are directly made about certain candidates. In this video, for example, they make fun of a particular female candidate who does not have a clue about politics and only cares about her expensive clothes:
While this video shows Nizar Al-Qandi playing the typical candidate who is running for elections to gain more power and money:
Another campaign was launched to call on people to monitor elections and not allow violations:
To get the latest updates on Kuwait's elections, follow the hashtag #ommah2012
Categories: Advocacy
Sri Lanka: Ravaya News Website Blocked
Freedom Of Expression In SriLanka reports that six websites including Ravaya News have recently been blocked within Sri Lanka.
Categories: Advocacy
North Korea : Two Japanese Indicted for Exporting PC to North Korea
North Korea Tech blog wrote about two Japanese people who were indicted for exporting personal computers to North Korea, thereby violating the Japanese government’s trade sanctions.
Categories: Advocacy
Pakistan: Self Regulation For Social Media?
Salman Latif informs that an initiative has been taken by eminent journalists and media personnel to agree to a set of self regulatory guidelines for TV channels in Pakistan. Salman asserts that a similar measure should also be taken for the social media.
Categories: Advocacy
Brazil: Pinheirinho Videos ‘Cover-Up' Leads Activist to Hunger Strike
The violent eviction of thousands of poor residents from their homes on land owned by the bankrupt estate of Naji Nahas, on January 22, 2012, is an event in Brazil that has become popularly known as the ‘Massacre of Pinheirinho‘.
It was photographed and filmed from various perspectives: from the day before the eviction itself, to the moments of panic among the population while becoming victims of police brutality in the city of São José dos Campos in São Paulo state, to the interviews conducted after the completion of the evacuation, with the poor people in precarious shelters being harassed by the police forces meant to protect them.
There was no shortage of reports of abuse of power and extreme violence, and allegations that many people had been injured and even killed, but no information was available from hospitals or the local Institute of Forensic Medicine (IML). Activist Pedro Rios Leão [pt] was in the city of São José dos Campos and interviewed dozens of residents who, on camera, talked about the existence of dead and wounded who were being hidden by the city and state governments.
Leão is now on hunger strike, chained in front of one of the entrances of the TV Globo television station [pt] in Rio de Janeiro, accusing the mainstream media of complicity in the “massacre” for having hidden the events or treated them as normal.
Pedro Leão on hunger strike in Rio de Janeiro. Photo of the Facebook user Rodrigo Ajooz, used with permission. On the sign one can read "For the deceased of Pinheirinho".
In a video, provocatelly titled ‘Eu queria matar a presidenta: depoimentos da guerra civil brasileira‘ (I wanted to kill the president: statements from the Brazilian civil war), Leão declares that it is a legitimate right to desire the death of those who bring death to the people. There is a touching piece of poetry created by Antônio da Silva [pt], an expelled resident of Pinheirinho, in the opening of the video.
Leão points to not only the township of São José dos Campos, nicknamed ‘São José dos Campos de Concentração' (São José of the Concentration Camps) by many, but also the state and federal governments for what he considers to be their guilt in a crime against the people of Pinheirinho. He has declared a state of war against those complicit in the suffering of the homeless population and has begged for the Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff to take action.
His video exposes the fear of the population in the face of the violence with which they are being treated, and collects numerous complaints to be urgently investigated. The church where villagers had taken refuge was the target of bombs and bullets - despite the denials of the local priest who later expelled [pt] the locals - and nearby a man was allegedly murdered by the occupying troops of the Pinheirinho. In the video, there are repeated reports of bodies “gone missing” from the IML:
YouTube user stresser recorded a video that shows the beginning of the hunger strike of Leão and his speech explaining the reasons for the strike:
And here is the second part, with an interview with Leão.
The Coletivo de Comunicadores Populares (Collective of Popular Communicators) [pt], fom the city of Campinas, in São Paulo state, recorded and edited the video ‘O Massacre de Pinheirinho: A verdade não mora ao lado‘ (The Pinheirinho Massacre: The truth does not live next door), so far available with subtitles in English, Spanish and French.
It has been viewed by more than 190,000 people, and features interviews with displaced residents of Pinheirinho denouncing atrocities committed by the Military Police on the first day of eviction. These include the use of pepper spray against pregnant women and children, intimidation, threats, tear gas, and bombs aimed at morale if not targets. There are also testimonies of people who, after being expelled from their homes, were refused the right to go back and get their documents, in the area organized by the city hall for registration of the displaced families.
The video also depicts the humiliated sense of the refugee population in a nearby church and shelters. Finally, the Collective summarizes the legal and political situation behind the whole operation, accusing the government of São Paulo and the local justice to be subject to the sale of the assets of bankrupt speculator Naji Nahas, against the public's interest:
The Collective also interviewed families the day before the eviction, on Saturday, January 21, “soon after the attempted repossession was frustrated by a federal injunction that forced the police to stop the operation.” The video, called ‘Onde estarão os Nobres? Uma família de Pinheirinho 1 dia antes do Massacre‘ (Where are the Noble? A family of Pinheirinho 1 day before the massacre) is the story of ordinary people about their situation and the fear they felt of losing everything:
The group Los solidários [pt], whose name is a tribute to an anarchist group that worked in Barcelona in the 1920s, collected images of the violent eviction punctuated by statements of Military Police Captain Antero, also head of communications of the prime minister, in order to show the discrepancies between the official action and discourse in a video called ‘O Pinheirinho é do povo! — crônicas do terrorismo do Estado‘ (Pinheirinho belongs to the people! - chronics of state terrorism).
The group also interviewed residents driven from their homes who reported the existence of many dead people, whose bodies have been hidden by the authorities. The group also sought information from hospitals about deaths and injuries but gained no access, and conducted interviews during the night after the eviction with residents visibly scared and fearful of their future:
The activist Hiure Anderon recorded two videos posted on his YouTube channel, with testimonials from mothers displaced from Pinheirinho, many with small children or pregnant women:
Rapper Davi Perez has recorded a song [pt] to honor the victims of the “Massacre of Pinheirinho,” reproduced by the blog “Solidarity with Pinheirinho Occupation”. Blogger Hugo Albuquerque meanwhile, has compiled a list in English and Portuguese on the ten most common lies told about Pinheirinho.
Categories: Advocacy
Venezuela: Reflections on Consumption and Advertising
The blog El Ultimatum Hiperboreo [es] shares some thoughts on the western culture of consumption in Venezuela as seen through the advertising that seems to fill the pages of one of the most important Sunday magazines in the country.
Categories: Advocacy
Australia Day: Fury Follows Aboriginal Tent Embassy Protest
Australia Day ceremonies are usually the dullest of events. But not when Australia’s political leaders are together just walking distance from a gathering at the contentious Aboriginal Tent Embassy. When the crowd there heard a report that earlier in the day Opposition leader Tony Abbott had suggested its removal, a spontaneous protest took place at the Lobby restaurant where Prime Minister Julia Gillard was awarding emergency medals.
The fracas quickly turned to farce. Developments have included: that Mr Abbott’s remarks were misreported; the original tip-off came via Tony Hodges, one of the PM's media advisors (who has since resigned); accusations of a media beat-up of violence; a shoe lost by Ms Gillard was returned after suggestions of an ebay auction; a go-between was named followed by strong denials. At least that’s the best guess at the moment.
This photo of Prime Minister Julia Gillard 'escaping' from protesters has gone viral
Preston Institute knew who to blame in Silly Advisers, Silly Media – This is Canberra, Today:
Yesterday’s “outrage” involving the PM and Tony Abbott has been one of the more diverting stories doing the rounds of our media. It appears to tell us more about the media and contemporary politics more than it does about Australia’s protesting spirit.
The story itself, of an escape from a Canberra restaurant besieged by unarmed protestors, provided some great footage for the TV print media to run around the world and back.
…The reality seems to be more prosaic, with Gillard and Abbott under little substantial threat.
In a very detailed analysis at the The Conscience Vote Marian Dalton argued that:
If no one remembers anything else from Australia Day, they’ll remember the footage of Prime Minister Julia Gillard being dragged to safety…
It was an ugly display, and it did nothing good for the cause of the Tent Embassy.
What remains, then, is a shameful display of behaviour that did nothing but harm the cause of indigenous rights, and the Tent Embassy in particular.
Skepticlawyer couldn’t resist the imagery of the abandoned shoe in her post When one’s IQ is less than one’s shoe size, and we’re only talking one shoe…
Tony Abbott gives me the screaming heaves, he really does. He’s the worst sort of godbothering big government conservative. But he did not call for the tent embassy to be ‘torn down’ and he did not ‘incite a riot’. Any rioting – as is usually the case – was the responsibility of the rioters.
There is speculation in the media that Tony Hodges misquoted Abbott, making his comments more aggressive. In a perverse way, I hope that’s true, because to respond to the above with violence suggests that at least some people in Australia have made their way into political cloud-cuckoo-land.
In the post, Australia Day 2012: Evil prevails, when good men say nothing, Gladly the cross-eyed bear defends the need for the tent embassy but not the manner of protest:
Indigenous Australians have every reason to be angry. They have every reason to defend their embassy. But this is Australia and, whatever our history, whatever the mistakes of the past, here, today, we do not fight political battles with physical violence.
…I am sickened and appalled at what appears to have been an attempt by some Aboriginal activists and their cohorts to bully and frighten Opposition Leader Tony Abbott and Prime Minister Julia Gillard yesterday.
In the latest twist, johnboy revealed on RiotAct’s open forum that:
In the Canberra Times the Secretary of Unions ACT, Kim Sattler, is denying she was the one who riled up the Tent Embassy with news from the Prime Minister’s Office that Tony Abbott was in the nearby lobby restaurant.
When contacted by the Sunday Canberra Times this morning, Ms Sattler said she had been at the tent embassy but she was not the go between.
“I heard it from the crowd,’’ she said.
This is a bit tricky as The Age reports that Prime Minister Gillard is saying it was Ms Sattler.
Who knows the truth at this stage.
Mike Stuchbery captured the spirit of things on his self-titled blog:
There’s the soundbite, the outrage, the money shot and what’s left is for the carrion-eaters to blog and crow about.
Nobody comes away from today’s events in Canberra looking good.
Least of all, the protesters
He even has an eyewitness in his “little brother”, if you’re interested in an alleged firsthand account.
Perhaps modern politics is more about image than about reality. And a contest amongst both media and commentariat to be the most outraged. Ironically too many were ready to chastise the tent embassy crowd for reacting hastily to incorrect information, only to do the same thing themselves to media reports.
Categories: Advocacy
Indonesia: Promoting E-Commerce Among Small Businesses
Google partners with Indonesian private and government sectors to bring 100,000 Indonesian small and medium businesses online by the end of 2012. The initiative is called Bisnis Lokal Go Online
Categories: Advocacy
Singapore: Greening Initiative
Singapore Sojourn mentions the programs of the government and initiatives from the private sector to make Singapore a greener city.
Categories: Advocacy
South Sudan: Urgent Steps Needed to Counter Inter-Communal Violence
Urgent steps are needed to counter inter-communal violence in South Sudan: “Inter-communal violence in Jonglei and throughout South Sudan, while traditionally cyclical in nature, is not inevitable. The causes of this violence go beyond the retaliatory nature of cattle raiding and touch upon broader issues of accountability, reconciliation, political inclusion, state effectiveness, development, and the proliferation of arms among the civilian population.”
Categories: Advocacy
Equatorial Guinea: A Story Idea for Journalists Covering the Africa Cup of Nations
Shelby Grossman shares a story idea for journalists covering the Africa Cup of Nations in Equatorial Guinea: ” There is a fear among those who have been in the country for a while that after the tournament the government will conduct raids and crack down on illegal immigration. The harassment of foreign West Africans is already awful.”
Categories: Advocacy