This is reposted from Yazan's blog. I applaud his continued activism and perseverance as many of us (myself included) are lulled into inactivity by a sense that nothing will ever change -for the Better- in the Middle East. In fact despite all the bad news below, when it comes to the free flow of information and ideas, things have changed for the better because of the elusive power of the internet. The continued attempts by the various governments to restrict freedom of expression are eventually bound to fail. In the meantime, we as a blogger community should continue to spread information about abuses of power in the Middle East as widely as possible.
Thank you Yazan.
Freedom of Speech, Massacred and dragged through the streets of the Middle East
What is happening in the Arab World is scary.Reading this, made me go into real melancholy.And the fact that there was absolutely no publicity about it makes it even more painful. Why do we have to be so selective in what we chose to fight for. Why was Kareem on almost every single blog, all through his trial, and sentence. While I struggled to find any mention of Mohamed Rashed al-Shohhi's case. And was it not for Amira slipping me a link to this small roundup from Sami Ben Gharbia on GlobalVoices I would not have even heard about it.While Egyptian bloggerKareem was on trial because of things he chose to write, Mohamed is sentenced to 1 year in prison and $13,600 fine for an anonymous comment on an online forum he happened to run. [You think there might be a connection with the decision to ban comments on Syrian sites earlier this month?! Hmmm...].Mohamed is in prison, and he literaly did not do ANYTHING.It is not a blow at freedom of speech. No, this a serious well-planned decision that can only be described as mental-terrorism. This is not aimed to keep him from practicing his right to express himself (Again, the guy did not do anything), rather this is a warning to anyone who might even think of raising a voice. Whether against totalitarianism, corruption or repression... all of them are a common characteristic of our Arab World.Again, in a very similar case, Kuwaiti blogger Bashar Al-Sayegh was arrested [He was released today] yesterday for an anonymous comment left on his forum.If you read this, please help spread the word. Let's not be selective in what we chose to rally for.The latest chunck of news coming from our Middle East does not look good.Blogspot is still banned in Syria, contrary to earlier reports about the ban being lifted.By decision from the Ministry of Communication, anonymous comments of Syrian sites are now illegal.Wordpress is banned in Turkey.UAE imprisons a webmaster and suspends the website over anonymous comments on his forum.Kuwait detains a blogger over anonymous comments on his forum.And, Egypt, Tunisia... Where to start exactly?!
5 comments:
This is so depressing..
For what it's worth, I am going to re-publish Yazan's post, like you have done, and add a bit of my own comments..
The problem is, we seem to be preaching to the converted, and those whom we really need target.. those who really need to hear our voices.. are blissfully ignorant of our mere existence!..
I despair!..
Thank you Abu Kareem.
SB, I'm looking forward to reading your reflections on these news.
SB, I realize it is not a very original nor that intelligent of an argument, but I have to say, if a group of 250 bloggers, half of whom havent updated their blogs in more than 6 months, brings that kind of a headache to a well established regime that they felt the need to mass block the whole thing, then we must be doing something right.
If this all there is .. so thank Godd! But people don't bush so hard. I agree what Yazan had said about "if 250 blogs may bring headache to this or that regime" and to be honest I believe in my poeple, I believe in you as well as every body who can rise his words and fight with love..!!
أن نمزق ما تبقى من ثيابنا و نعلن عرينا صراحةً ..أجمل بكثير من كل ما يمكن للانظمة الشمولية ان تحيك من حرائر الثياب .. لقد أصبح الانسان العربي مومياءً هشا في الانظمة العربية الحاكمة, مع أن الحاكم لازال هو المصطفى ليلقي علينا ما قد سقط سهواً من كتبنا السماوية .. نعم أبو كريم ونعم يازن ..عرينا يفضحهم وأيضا حبنا ..فقط من يمكنه ان يهزمهم !! عاش الانسان .
Do you really not know what to do?
SO HEAR
How much I love my freedom to
Speak off as so I list,
Free speech is grand--alas, they are but few
Who care to listen. Still, I must insist!
Within the future time perhaps
The possibility
Will have dissolved--men´s words kept under wraps:
So it may come to pass; today is free.
Today is free for speaking, if
Bad consequences come--
Say getting shoved more closely to a cliff--
Yet for the moment I am far from glum.
Why should I live in fear? I think
I´m weary of that vibe,
Ours but a turn around life´s skating rink,
So hear my dirty joke or diatribe.
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