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Egypt: Should Coptic Divorcees Remarry? · Global Voices
Marwa Rakha

The Egyptian Supreme Administrative Court has issued a ruling obliging Coptic Pope Shenouda III to allow Coptic divorcees to remarry. The pope has rejected the ruling. Copts are native Egyptian Christians and, according to Wikipedia,
Copts in Egypt constitute the largest Christian community in the Middle East, as well as the largest religious minority in the region. Christians represent 20% or less of a population of over 80 million Egyptians or not more than 6%, though estimates vary (see Religion in Egypt). Around 95% of them belong to the native Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria. The remaining (around 800,000) are divided between the Coptic Catholic and various Coptic Protestant churches.
Coptic marriage, divorce, and remarriage in Egypt is a sensitive issue
The Muslim marriage ceremony is fully legally binding, since a maazoun, a Muslim marriage registrar, is a public servant, but it is generally then also registered as a civil marriage at the justice ministry. But Christians must always register their religious marriage with civil authorities for it to be legal. This has given churches a lot of power: though Christians can get a civil divorce, the church will not remarry them, so the state cannot recognise a new marriage.
This has affected Coptic Orthodox Christians in particular, as their pope, Shenouda III, has taken his flock on a more conservative path since he became the 116th successor to Saint Mark the Evangelist in 1971. A steady trickle of Orthodox Copts has joined the evangelicals, who are seen as less laden with heavy ritual, more generous with welfare and more flexible over marriage and divorce. In the Orthodox church divorce is rarely granted, and then only through a special petition to the pope.
Supporters of the church and promoters of a secular state blogged their opinions. First, the discussion on Facebook.
A Facebook page has been created to defend the church's sovereignty:
Another Facebook group was created demanding the exact opposite:
- وانطلاقا من وجهه نظر البابا شنوده بطريريك الكنيسه المرقسيه وكما قال في عظاته بوضوح شديد ” اللي عاوز يتجوز او يطلق يتجو ويطلق مدني ويبعد عن الكنيسه “
- اذن فالجروب هو صرخه موجه لدستور ونظام مصر القانوني نريد أن يخضع القبطي ويعتصم لقانون بلده لينصفه في حاله وجود خصومه في الطلاق او الزواج الثاني .
-وفي عظات البابا انه أعلن ذلك بوضوح لا دخل للكنيسه في شؤون الدوله والعكس صحيح يرفض تدخل الدوله في شؤون الكنيسه .
– إذن فنطالب بتغيير النص القانوني الذي يجعل الاقباط يخضعون للقانون في حاله تغيير المله وتغيير الديانه الي الأتي يخضع القبطي للقانون في حاله رفع دعوي خاصه بالطلاق او بالزواج الثاني للمحكمه من دون الحاجه الي تغير مله أو ديانه .
نجتمع كلنا ونطلب طلاق مدني دستوري يقره القانون لا يتطلب تغيير مله ولا يتطلب اثبات زنا نخضع للقانون المصري الموضوع من قبل الدوله
لأنه للأسف لا يسمح القانون الآن للزوجين للمسيحيين المصريين، بتوثيق عقود زواجهما من خلال المحامى، كما هو الحال للمصريين المسلمين، ويشترط أن يكون الموثق القانونى لعقود زواج المسيحيين المصريين كاهن من حاملى دفاتر وزارة العدل، وعليه فإن الحل الوحيد لراغبى الزواج المدنى من المسيحيين، إما أن يحصل أحدهما على جنسية أخرى
وبالتالى يحق له قانونا أن يوثق عقد زواجه بوصفه مواطنا أجنبيا، أو أن يغير أحدهما ملته، وفى هذه الحالة يمكن أن يقوم أى محامى بدور الموثق، حيث يعتمد القانون المصرى قواعد الزواج العامة فى حالة عدم تطابق ملة الطرفين طالبى الزواج».
وللمره الأخيره النداء موجه للحكومه نريد حل قانوني مدني للأقباط وليس حل كنسي نريد طلاق مدني للأقباط , وليس من حق الكنيسه أن تلوم الدوله علي استجابتها لحقوق مواطنيها .
خلاصه الخلاصه :
مطالبنا مدنيه نرفعها الي المشرع المصري والدوله ولا دخل للكنيسه بالأمر فهي أرقي من أن تتدخل في هذه المشاكل ولنترك الأمر للقضاء يفصل فيه لمن يريد فقط
This group is administrated by Copts who hold the utmost respect for Pope Shenouda and his decisions. We DO NOT want to force the Church to approve of divorce or allow second marriages as the Pope believes. As the Pope clearly put it in his sermon: “he who wants to get married or get a divorce can do it away from the church.”
This group is an outcry from those Coptic Egyptian citizens who want to get married and get divorced according to the Egyptian law and constitution.
In his sermons, the Pope clearly stated that the church will not meddle with the state and he does not approve of the state getting in the way of the church. Thus, we demand changing the legal clause that makes Coptic Egyptians legally liable in the cases of converting to another religion or another Christian sect. We want to be able to have a civil constitutional divorce according to the Egyptian law without having to convert to another religion or prove adultery.
We – Egyptian Copts – want to have the same rights as our Muslim fellow citizens. If Muslims can have civil marriages registered by a lawyer, why do we have to get married through a priest? Those who wanted to avoid the church had to acquire another nationality and get a civil marriage as a foreigner, or change his religion!
To sum up our demands: Our demands are civil not religious; the church has nothing to do with them. As Egyptians, we want to be subject to the Egyptian divorce laws. He who wants to get a civil divorce has his way and he who wants to abide by the church rulings gets his way too.
Moving on to blogs, Zeinab, Bent Masreya, wrote:
فإيه بقى موضوع المحكمة اللي تحكم لصالح المسيحي المطلق إنه يتجوز تاني، حتى لو الكنيسة بتاعته بتحرم ده؟
إيه يعني؟ حد يفهمني؟
هو الراجل المسيحي ده مش راح اتجوز في الكنيسة وبمباركتها؟
جاي عايز ياخد أحكام قضائية تجبر الكنيسة تعمل حاجة هي شايفاها غلط أو خطيئة؟
قال وبنستغرب إن الكنيسة زعلت!!
يعني لو أنا صحيت في يوم من الأيام لقيت المحكمة بتحكم عليا بحاجة ضد شريعة الإسلام، أسمع كلام المحكمة دي بتاع ايه؟
ومش عايزين الكنيسة تتغاظ وتهري وتنكت؟ حد يقول كده يا مسلمين؟
Voice of Egypt is pro a secular state only if it is done the right way:
المشكلة هي أن في هذه الدولة عملية الزواج هي عملية مدنية بحتة تقوم بها الدولة أما المراسم الدينية فهي اختيارية يقوم بها أتباع الأديان المختلفة لإطفاء الروحانية علي هذا الزواج. أما في مصر فمبدأ الزواج المدني غير متاح فالموظف المختص بتوثيق زواج المسيحيين هو الكاهن نفسه و مصلحة الشهر العقاري لا توثق إلا زواج الأجانب. و من هنا تأتي المشكلة لأن وفقاً لهذا النظام لا يستطيع المسيحي المطلق من الزواج إلا عن طريق الحصول علي تصريح من الكنيسة.. الشيء الذي أصبح من المستحيلات في ظل تمسك البابا شنودة بعدم اعطاء هذه التصاريح إلا لعلة الزنا. هذا الواقع يضعنا أمام معضلة دستورية فوجود شخص لا يستطيع الزواج متناقص مع المادة التاسعة من الدستور التي تنص علي أن الأسرة أساس المجتمع
الحل اذن ليس في ارغام البابا شنودة علي تنفيذ أحكام القضاء انما في خلق نظام يسمح بالزواج المدني تنظمه الدولة لا يفرق ما بين مسلمين و مسيحيين أو عزاب و مطلقين. رضوخ البابا شنودة لحكم الإدارية العليا ليس حلاً للمشكلة و لا يعد أكثر من “تلصيماً” لها
رسالة أخيرة للعلمانيين و الليبراليين.. ان كنتوا تؤمنون فعلاً بالدولة المدنية فطالبوا بالزواج المدني و كفوا عن هجومكم الساذج علي البابا و الكنيسة


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Egypt: The First Starbucks Protest in Egypt · Global Voices
Marwa Rakha

The Gaza-bound Flotilla Raid has sparked an uprising in Egypt. Zeinobia covered the first Starbucks Protest in Egypt; A video and photographs  were also posted by Sarah Carr and Mostafa Hussein.

source: news-globalvoices

license: Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

author: Marwa Rakha


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Haiti: Grass Roots · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“Mainstream media sources in the United States have rarely mentioned this type of local organizing initiated by activists and every day Haitians”: Tande blogs about a few grassroots organisations doing important work in Haiti.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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India:Taking responsibility for the Bhopal disaster · Global Voices
Aparna Ray

Dilip D'souza at Death Ends Fun is bewildered by some of the reactions to the Bhopal verdict and writes that the blame for the travesty of justice in Bhopal lies squarely at India's feet.

author: Aparna Ray


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Indonesia: Pesta Blogger 2010 logo · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Pesta Blogger 2010 has uploaded its logo and banner. The blog festival is an annual gathering of Indonesian bloggers

author: Mong Palatino


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Indonesia: Who is Ariel “Peterporn”? · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Ariel “Peterporn” became a twitter trend a few days ago. It refers to a famous Indonesian singer whose sex videos were uploaded on the web. Indonesian twitterers gave him the nickname “peterporn.”


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Marry an Indonesian woman for a fee · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

There is a proposal by local conservative politicians in Indonesia to require foreigners to pay a fixed amount of money if they want to marry an Indonesian woman.


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Oman: The Aftermath of Cyclone Phet · Global Voices
Riyadh Al Balushi

Oman was hit a few days ago by cyclone Phet, a tropical cyclone originating from the Indian Ocean. This is the second major cyclone to hit Oman after Cyclone Gonu three years ago. Unlike Gonu, Oman and its people were more prepared for the cyclone this time around, but the city of Sur, which was directly hit by Phet, still suffered serious damages. The cyclone reached the capital city of Muscat, but the damages were nominal in comparison.
Blogger Undercover Dragon reports wrote a detailed report on the impact of Phet on the country, the deaths, the infrastructure, communications, and even the production of oil and gas:
In the end, at least as far as Muscat is concerned, Cyclone Phet was nowhere near as nasty as Gonu, neither in duration, wind speed, rain nor impact. For the town of Sur it was probably worse, as Sur was directly under the eye of the storm as it grazed the eastern most tip of Oman. Sur had a record of over 40cm of water recorded. The town was mostly underwater by Friday pm.
While a lot of accidents took place because of the storm itself, many more accidents happened because of people's carelessness and improper curiosity to explore the dangerous newly formed wadis (valleys). Interesting comments were made on Dhofari Gucci‘s blog on this topic as the Royal Oman Police decided to take action against all those who took unreasonable risks in relation to the aftermath of the crisis:
Evidently the ROP (see above image if you can read Arabic – was published in today's newspapers) will be questioning people who put themselves and others in danger by going into wadis or even going to ‘stare’ (the ultimate Omani hobby). According to my fellow blogger Reality, an ROP officer drowned trying to save a kid who was ‘swimming’ in a wadi. I SALUTE THE ROP FOR DOING THIS.
It is scary to think that cyclones will become a regular thing for Oman as a victim of global warming. We hope it won't.
You can see many pictures of the aftermath of Phet on the blogs of Omanizer, Dhofar Gucci, and Kishor Cariappa.

author: Riyadh Al Balushi


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Pakistan: Playing cricket online · Global Voices
Aparna Ray

Yousuf Rafi offers feedback on Howzat – an online cricket game made by Pakistani students which, according to him, is ‘a complete package of fun, enjoyment and time pass’.


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Russia: Mysterious Death of a Soldier in the Far East · Global Voices
Gregory Asmolov

Alexey Navalny, famous anti-corruption blogger, posted a shocking video [RUS], depicting an observation of Roman Suslov's dead body. According to Russian military officials, Suslov committed a suicide during the transfer to Far East military base, though his family and independent journalists suspect [RUS] he was tortured and later murdered by military officers in order to sell his organs.

author: Gregory Asmolov


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Russia: Networks of Paid Bloggers Exposed · Global Voices
Alexey Sidorenko

Recently, Roman Dobrokhotov, a Russian blogger and political activist (who was interviewed by GV [EN] last year), has conducted an investigation [RUS] on how paid blogger networks function in the Russian blogosphere. He wrote that different representatives of the paid blogger network had contacted him three times, offering from $23 to $50 per post. Every blogger who agrees to provide content for a fee is supposed to choose a unique angle when writing about a certain topic. The latest offer that Dobrokhotov received was quite unusual: to write positive comments about the Russian police:
Менеджер компании Garin-studio предложил мне разместить целую серию постов с «позитивом» про милицию. За первый пост – 2000 р., за остальные – по тыще. Я выяснил под разными предлогами более подробную информацию. Заказчиком выступает не московское ГУВД, а федеральное МВД, причем, по словам моего собеседника, заказ шел из Управления собственной безопасности (так вот чем оно занимается!). Всего в проекте участвует более 50 блогеров, причем с некоторыми, самими популярными (например, с Радуловой) заказчик общается напрямую. Garin-studio, как я понял, далеко не единственный подрядчик МВД.
Other bloggers spotted [RUS] some nearly simultaneous posts with positive comments about the police at Natalia Radulova's blog [RUS] and at another popular blog by Maxim Aleksandrov [RUS].
Dobrokhotov has counted at least 38 bloggers who allegedly have contracts with Garin-studio and are involved in the “police campaign,” some top-ranking bloggers among them. He has analysed how many popular bloggers wrote about the same things at the same time: some 75 bloggers have posted similar posts about mobile applications within one week (including such Top-25 bloggers as ibigdan, katoga, allan999, bydyry and sviridenkov); 17 bloggers or so have posted about weight loss medications.
Generally speaking, paid bloggers are a global phenomenon. In the United States in 2009, approximately 8.5 percent of all the bloggers were paid for what they wrote [EN]. As the line between blogging and journalism becomes blurred, the former stops being just a hobby and turns into a profession. David Armano explains the process of placing paid content in the mainstream and social media [EN]:
The business of buying media has been around as long as marketing and in the digital space, while it may be measured differently, the principles are similar. You determine where you'll get the most bang for your buck and purchase media placements in digital environments that are deemed appropriate. In many cases, agencies are used to broker the deals. The latest wrinkle to this model is to partner with specialized firms who deal in niche media such as communities, networks, forums and blogs. These firms will take payment and make arrangements for your communications to exist in these alternative areas. While as an advertiser you may not have control over the communications (for example, bloggers in this model still say what they want) but the “placement” remains paid for or purchased.
In Russia, too, there are vast networks of paid bloggers, who, until recently, hadn't been exposed. There are blog “markets” (like blogun.ru), where media-planners can order a post or a link concerning a certain topic or product. Usually it works like this: sometimes bloggers produce and are paid for content (e.g., tutorials, thematic materials on a certain subject), and sometimes they are paid to promote selected products (i.e., for subtle advertising). A lighter version of the “paid media” is “compensated media”: a blogger writes about some gadget he/she received as a gift or an event he/she got invited to. Many people would trust certain bloggers more than they would trust newspaper articles or TV commercials – the way they'd trust someone they know in person, a friend. This is part of what makes blogs such an attractive venue for those who are willing to promote a product or an event.
Money at Hand, photocollage by Don Hankins
The idea of a paid blog is that it uses this private channel of communication and gets more efficient in promoting certain things or ideas. Of course, there's always a moral dilemma: if a blog is supposed to provide personal information and is intended to offer “real communication,” hidden advertisement “violates” the unspoken contract between the blogger and his/her readers, which is based on mutual respect and sincerity.
There are certain peculiarities about the Russian blogosphere. First of all, since the majority of most popular Russian blogs are hosted by LiveJournal, hidden advertisement is actually illegal. LJ's Terms of Service clearly restrict unsolicited or unauthorized advertisement (Article 7 of Member Conduct part says: “You agree to NOT use the Service to: … Upload, post or otherwise transmit any unsolicited or unauthorized advertising, promotional materials, ‘junk mail,’ ‘spam,’ ‘chain letters,’ ‘pyramid schemes,’ or any other form of solicitation.”). This rule is widely ignored. Only one popular blogger, LJ user tema, tried to promote [RUS] authorised LiveJournal ads, but his initiatives never really found support among other popular bloggers.
What is even more important – and Dobrokhotov's case described above illustrates it vividly – is that the networks of paid bloggers sometimes turn to advocating certain political views or to promoting the official political agenda. The blogger's investigation brings more transparency to this “grey zone” of RuNet. Exposed paid bloggers are less influential, since readers understand that they advocate certain points of view because they're paid to do that. Another thing is that Dobrokhotov has uncovered one of the practices that the Ministry of the Interior conducts online to influence the Russian public opinion, thus raising an important issue: is it appropriate for a government institution to be using controversial marketing methods?

author: Alexey Sidorenko


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Sao Tome & Principe: More Children Accessing Technology · Global Voices
Sara Moreira

STeP UP OLPC, a digital inclusion project in São Tomé & Príncipe aiming to revolutionize how children learn through the use of technology, is now a step closer to their goal which is to gather 500 XO laptops for São João School. Beth Santos – the mentor of the project – enthusiastically announces in her blog a donation of more 25 computers.

author: Sara Moreira


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Uruguay: Social Media Keeps Fans Updated on La Celeste   · Global Voices
Silvia Vinas

With only a few days left until Uruguay makes its debut against France in the 2010 South Africa World Cup, Uruguayan bloggers and Twitter and Facebook users have been gearing up to write about “La Celeste,” the nickname given to the Uruguay national team which describes the team's color, light blue. Many have been covering the Uruguayan side for a long time, but even the most serious and analytic of bloggers are hopeful and ecstatic to see how La Celeste will perform. Fans of the Uruguayan national team have plenty of sources to keep up to date with the latest news and analysis on their team.
Uruguayans look on at soccer stadium Centenario (where the first World Cup was held) drinking mate, a traditional drink. Image by Flickr user Vince Alongi and used under a Creative Commons license.
Uruguay hosted the first World Cup in 1930, which it also won, and came victorious again in 1950. In Futbol Para Todos [es] (Soccer for Everyone), a blog and website that writes about various teams participating in the World Cup, they write about Uruguay in a post called “Uruguay: en busca de la Gloria de antaño” (Uruguay: Searching for the glory of the past). The post says:
Nadie puede negar que su marca registrada, la garra, sigue tan vigente como hace 80 años y que, como siempre, cuenta con futbolistas de reconocida calidad internacional, como los temibles Diego Forlán y Luis Suárez, una pareja de atacantes que es capaz de poner de rodillas a cualquier defensa rival.
No one can deny its registered brand, la garra [a term which describes the team’s strength and tenaciousness], which is as much in force today as it was 80 years ago and that, like always, has soccer players of recognized international quality, like the fearsome Diego Forlán and Luis Suárez, a couple of strikers capable of bringing any rival defense to their knees.
English speakers can consult a variety of blogs on Uruguay’s participation in the World Cup and on the national team in general. One of these blogs is La Celeste Blog. The bloggers describe the site as:
the only blog in the world where English-speaking fans of the Uruguayan National team can converge and discuss Uruguayan fútbol without pulling back any punches. […] We are a new website whose main goal is to show to everyone around the world the current state of Uruguayan football; which is why the majority of the articles are written in English.
The posts on this blog receive a lot of comments; their latest post analyzing France –Uruguay’s first opponent— has almost 50 comments. The blog also provides Spanish and Portuguese translations of its conent.
Andrew Aispuru from The Old 3 Magic Trick is an English-speaking blogger reporting from South Africa, who has come up with an extensive explanation of why Uruguay could win this year's World Cup. He is also Tweeting (@3cardmagictrick) about his experience in South Africa.
Sienzuf is also Tweeting (@Sienzuf) and blogging in English about La Celeste. When Uruguay qualified to the World Cup in a game against Costa Rica, he wrote:
Uruguay [has] qualified [to] South Africa 2010 and [has] the possibility of continuing their glorious history. Uruguay [is] the 32nd and last team to qualify and [is] now ranked 19th in the world.
For all the non believers, hello there and to all that hung in there, Congratulations and may the Celebrations Continue.
Fans can follow player Diego Forlán (@DiegoForlan7 [es]) on Twitter, where the striker frequently updates his status with pictures and commentary of his day-to-day activities as he prepares to play for La Celeste in South Africa.
Facebook is also a popular gathering point for fans of La Celeste, where they can voice their support for the team, share links, pictures and analysis. There are more than 100 pages dedicated to Uruguay in the World Cup, and about 500 groups with the same theme. Two of those pages are Uruguay al mundial [es] (Uruguay to the World Cup) with more than 50,000 fans and A muerte con Uruguay en el Mundial de Sudáfrica [es] (Till Death with Uruguay in the South Africa World Cup) with almost 30,000 fans.
Finally, the blog for the school Escuela 136 de Salinas-Canelones [es] reports that school-age children who own XO Laptop Computers can download a program that will allow them to watch the World Cup live, access 28 TV channels and listen to the radio.  Without a doubt, even the youngest of Uruguayans will be paying attention to see if La Celeste can take home its third title as soccer world champions.

author: Silvia Vinas


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Watch The World Cup with Global Voices: Live Chat for Uruguay vs. France · Global Voices
Lova Rakotomalala

The World Cup of football, arguably the most global sporting event ever, is hosted for the first time on the African continent. Global Voices has highlighted the many voices of citizens discussing the event and its social impact all over the world.
In an effort to continue this conversation, we thought we would try to have a real time conversation while the games are underway. We will start with the France-Uruguay match up that will take place on the tournament opening day on June 11 at 20:30 in South Africa [New York 14:30| Buenos Aires 15:30 | Beirut 21:30].
You can click to see your local time on FIFA's match index.
France and Uruguay are familiar foes as Uruguay drew 0-0 with France, then the reigning World Cup Champions, at the 2002 World Cup tournament.
Please join us in watching and discussing this event together as we will go live a few minutes before the game begins (20:30 local time).  We will have participants from Uruguay and France, but also many African nations and South Africa. Several bloggers and translators of Global Voices will watch the tournament live. Join us!
The conversation will also be available  on Global Voices en Français.

author: Lova Rakotomalala


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Arab World: Where the Streets are Quiet During Football Games · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Millions of people around the world are glued to their television screens, watching the World Cup's opening ceremony from South Africa – and the scene is not that different in the Arab world.
From Saudi Arabia, Khaled Alabdulrahman sums up the mood across the region:
For the next few hours the streets of Riyadh will be quiet. Thanks South Africa ;)
From Bahrain, Nivos rejoices:
World Cup opening Ceremony….the world under one roof…..WOW!!!
Still in Bahrain, Redbelt adds:
I'm so happy! World Cup is finally starting! Watching the opening ceremony with wifey.
But for some, it was work as usual. Riyadh Abdul Aziz, from Oman, tweets:
Off to MOLA to do some stuff related to our workshop this week. Not watching anything #worldcup
The opening show garnered many comments, particularly when Algerian crooner Cheb Khaled rendered Didi, which brought happy memories to tweeps.
Egyptian Alaa Abd El Fattah was pleased:
cool sheb khaled is rocking #WC2010
Saudi Arabian Rami Taibah was taken back in time:
Didi!!! LOL that song took me 17 years back…. #Worldcup  #WC2010
And Butheina, from the UAE, stood corrected:
Never thought “didi” could be brought back, but cheb Khaled just proved me wrong in #southafrica #worldcup
And there were disappointments.
Taibah wonders:
Wow is it just me or is the stadium isn't at full capacity? #disappointed #WC2010 #Worldcup
Doha-based Abdurahman Warsame was running out of patience:
beautiful music including Algerian singer Khalid, Kwaito (SA rap) singers … wow but let the games begin #wc2010
And Egyptian Ahmed Shokeir was not impressed:
إنتهاء الإحتفال بإفتتاح كأس العالم … إفتتاح متواضع وبدون إبهار ولكنه مقبول
Despite this, Eyad, from Bahrain, was not pleased it ended:
Is that it! Really? I can haz disappointment
Many viewers poured their criticism on Al Jazeera Sports, which is broadcasting the games.
Taibah writes:
Dear Al-Jazeera Sports commentator please shut up, we don't need your input. We understand whats going on #WC2010 #Worldcup  @ajenglish_sport
He continues:
I am just glad that Aljazeera Sport commentator didn't translate the lyrics too!
Butheina adds:
Why do arab commentators insist on maintaining that monotone from when tv was first invented as a one size fits all for every event #sa
For some, politics couldn't not be separated from sports.
Palestinian-Jordanian Mohammed Yousef, who lives in Saudi Arabia, hopes:
One day, Apartheid will end in Palestine and will show to the world how we can welcome them to #worldcup  #pal
And Buthenia adds:
Dear @aljazeera network: pls reinvest th truckloads of money ull make frm ad revenue frm #worldcup  into a motion picture abt #flotilla
Egyptian Mo-ha-med leaves us with a final thought:
Let's be honest. Did we really think we could organize the #WorldCup ? Can we compete with that?

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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Argentina: Twitter in Argentina · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

Hernan from the blog Listao [es]  published a video where well-known Argentinean Twitter users talk about the use of Twitter in their country and the world.

author: Silvia Viñas


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Bermuda: The Flip Side  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“So much of the dialogue about organised gambling in Bermuda is (purposefully) rosy”: Vexed Bermoothes foresees some negative consequences.


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Bhutan: Caught up in the World Cup fever · Global Voices
Aparna Ray

Jurmi Chhowing at “iamDrukpa” looks back with fondness at France'98 which heralded the coming of satellite dishes to Thimpu.


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Brazil/Israel: Open letter to the Israeli government · Global Voices
Raphael Tsavkko Garcia

“Now, after the coward attack in  international waters carried out by Israeli military against the fleet  of humanitarian aid to Gaza” says Maria Frô [pt], “again [the movie-maker Sílvio] Tendler manifests” in an open letter to the Israeli government.

author: Raphael Tsavkko Garcia


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Brazil/Palestine: The Rose of Gaza · Global Voices
Raphael Tsavkko Garcia

Georges Bourdoukan presents [pt] us with a beautiful poem in honor of the victims of the war and continuous violence in Gaza.


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Global Voices: We are listening · Global Voices
Tarek Amr

Since news broke of Israel's raid on the Gaza aid flotilla, Global Voices (GV) authors have written more than 25 posts highlighting international citizen media reactions to the events. One of these posts, Israel: Flotilla Clashes are a “Serious PR Disaster”, by Israeli Author Gilad Lotan, became the subject of a passionate discussion in the Egyptian twittersphere.
The main points of contention were that the post presents several mainstream Israeli media quotes that mostly defend the raid, and also that the it referenced Israeli government sources, plus an image of knives and clubs released by Israel to support the claim that the military acted in self defense.
The debate took place both internally, on the GV Middle East and North Africa e-mail group, and publicly on Twitter. Internally, we all reaffirmed our commitment to presenting a diversity of voices—including those from Israel—from the region, but there was also disagreement and criticism from team members about the framing of this post. We have decided to summarise and share some the public criticism in this post, as we believe it highlights opinions about Global Voices as well as of media coverage of the conflict in general. We also wanted to respond to the specific accusation that Global Voices is not sufficiently critical of itself.
It all began when Egyptian blogger Alaa Abdel Fatah sent a tweet with a link to Gilad's post to fellow blogger Sarah Carr:
@alaa: @Sarahcarr look at this and barf http://is.gd/czjpZ
Sarah Carr responded:
@SarahCarr: @alaa But should we expect anything else from GVO? Doesn't it advocate free speech therefore offensive BS like this?
This exchange kicked off a public discussion on Twitter in a mix of Arabic and English. Most of the people involved in the discussion that followed have either met in person or online, and follow each other's Twitter feeds and blogs.
Egyptian blogger Mona (@monasosh) called the post “dirty”. Mohamed El-Gohary (@IRCPresident), a GV Author from Egypt and co-Editor of GV's Arabic translation team, responded:
@ircpresident: @monasosh And since #GVO is about amplifying all voices you should expect this kind of voices since they exist after all.
To which Mona replied:
@monasosh: @ircpresident if u present their argument wtout obvious critisism then u r supporting them. It's as simple as that.
Both El-Gohary (@IRCPresident) and myself, Tarek Amr (@gr33ndata), replied that we didn't think the presentation necessarily reflected a point of view held either by Global Voices or its authors. I also pointed to the special coverage page for the flotilla raid, which listed articles showing a variety of perspectives on the raid.
Egyptian GV contributor Eman Abdel Rahman (@Lastoadri) also responded to critiques from blogger Wael Khalil:
@Lastoadri: @wael However I need to understand deeper y the post is causing anger, so I would properly address the matter to our internal group #GVO
At which point blogger Amr Gharbeia chimed in:
@gharbeia: @Lastoadri The story. Outside the quotes, the story is just rubbish. #GVO
Representing whose voices?
Alaa Abdel Fattah then sent a tweet mocking Global Voices, using a chant commonly used in demonstrations in Egypt.
Bahraini Amira Al Hussaini (@JustAmira), GV's Middle East and North Africa editor, responded, asking Alaa to be more constructive.
@JustAmira: @alaa excuse me? It's just a bunch of us working – help us by sending links and positive enforcements instead of words like gaban & 3ameel.
Alaa replied that GV's editorial policies should be revised to “censor” Zionist perspectives, as those viewpoints “get enough play in mainstream media.” An exchange then took place between Alaa and Jillian York (@jilliancyork), a member of GV's Middle East and North Africa team based in the United States.
@jilliancyork: @alaa @JustAmira So does that mean ignoring a segment of the blogosphere just because we deem it nasty?
@alaa: @jilliancyork 1 we already ignore large portions of blogosphere so idea is not out of question
@jilliancyork: @alaa Absolutely. But is one bias more wrong than another?
@alaa: @jilliancyork yes totally. Being biased in support of steve biko good biased in support of apartheid bad
@alaa: @jilliancyork IMO GV is not critical enough of it's own, what I read regularly feels strongly biased by authors’ own views & soc network
Alaa's assertion that GV “ignores”—or fails to cover—segments of the blogosphere is fair, but that's also because it's humanly impossible to read or link to every blog post that merits highlighting. Alaa's point here is that, as long as we are going – either intentionally or without intention – to be limited to a part of the of the overall blogosphere, we then should chose to stand with certain causes that we believe are good, or what he likes to call “Good Bias”. We ourselves prefer to rather figure out how to shed the light on the uncovered parts of the blogosphere. Personal bias is also something we work strenuously to avoid, by requesting ideas and feedback from our fellow team members and often on public fora like Twitter, and also by offering the public a mechanism through which to suggest content they believe we should be pointing to. Perhaps we don't do either of these things well enough, but we're certainly trying.
And as to whether GV is sufficiently critical of itself: that's a difficult thing to gauge from the outside, but an organization with a mission like ours would do well to take critiques like the one lodged by Alaa seriously.
Internally, the members of the Middle East and North Africa team certainly don't mince words, especially on matters of editorial policy. A few Global Voices contributors also went public with their critiques of the article in question, voicing on Twitter their discomfort with the higher than usual number of links to mainstream media quotes in the controversial article and with the use of an official photo whose authenticity had been called into question.
Eman Abdel Rahman (@Lastoadri), a GV contributor from Egypt, felt the use of mainstream media links was inappropriate in the context of a Global Voices post:
@Lastoadri: @jilliancyork @alaa @justamira me too. I didn't like quoting [Tzipi] Livini or newspaper articles in the post. Thats not “voices not heard in media”
In spite of her own reservations, Eman (@Lastoadri) tried to reason with Egyptian blogger Amr Gharbeia (@gharbeia), who thought the quality of the post was not acceptable, and was disappointed to see it featured on both the Israel and Palestine pages of Global Voices. Amr also thought the photo displayed at the top of the homepage showed poor judgment.
@Lastoadri: @gharbeia 1) because both Israel & Palestine mentioned in the post. But the title has “Israel” to hint its Israeli voice. #GVO
Eman went into the technicalities of GV's regional categorizations, and  explained that as there was only one picture in the post that was the one that appeared by default on the front page.
@gharbeia: @Lastoadri Yes, the scary-looking knives. Exactly my point :)
@gharbeia: @Lastoadri I am just aware of the role GVO has been playing, and this one is way out of what GVO does. It is clear government propaganda
But Gilad Lotan (@gilgul), the author of the article, stood by his decision to quote from mainstream media and official sources, even as Egyptian bloggers Amr Gharbeia and Wael Khalil warned that GV ran the risk of being seen as a vehicle for corporate and government propaganda. As Wael said:
@wael: @ircpresident should we allow governments and corporations using #GVO as a PR channel, imagine if BP used it in the same way
Here's Gilad's take on the matter:
@gilgul: @gr33ndata I quoted MSM, especially op-eds as a summary of the Israeli stance. The video and images were being heavily passed on by Israelis [online]
@gilgul: @gr33ndata covering content and reactions from blogs/twitter now. Check out later posts.
Gilad went on to argue that the official perspective of the Israeli Defence Forces is not so distinct from the average Israeli citizen's, and therefore necessary to the story:
@gilgul: @gr33ndata the IDF is an inseparable part of Israeli society. Everyone served, their brothers, sisters, parents and friends cc/@alaa @wael
We've tried here to gather some of the criticism and opinions about this coverage. Yet our aim was not only to discuss the post in question and how the flotilla raid was covered. Global Voices, in keeping with our mission of “shining light on places and people other media often ignore,” are as eager to listen as we are to talk. We care deeply about your opinions of our overall coverage and work. Perhaps we've opened a Pandora's Box by writing this post, but please help keep the discussion alive. We look forward to hearing from you!

author: Tarek Amr


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Global: Chances Team by Team at the 2010 World Cup · Global Voices
Raphael Tsavkko Garcia

Hugo Albuquerque from O Descurvo blog writes [pt] about each and every national football team that will play in the 2010 Fifa World Cup describing the pros and cons of every one of them and also a little bit of each one's history on international matches.


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Guyana: Rodney’s Anniversary  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Repeating Islands notes that this Sunday “will mark the 30th anniversary of the 1980 assassination of Water Rodney, who was killed by a bomb in the middle of Georgetown, Guyana.”


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India: Of food tales and recipes · Global Voices
Aparna Ray

Food fiction and chocolate brownies – a delectable combination. Bong Mom at Bong Mom's Cookbook, pens a touching tale of  a birthday entwined with some delectable sweet dish recipes.


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Jamaica: Dancing for the Don?  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“Passa-Passa wasn’t just a big street dance.  It was a full-on performance BY Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke for the rest of the country and the world.   He showed…that he had the power to…[draw] crowds of people like moths to a flame to frolic in his personal fiefdom that is Tivoli. Smart man that one”: Long Bench chooses not to dance for the devil.


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Mexico: Drug Cartel-Led Protest Paralyzes Monterrey Metropolitan Area · Global Voices
Juliana Rincón Parra

Last Wednesday, after the leader of drug trafficking band Los Zetas was captured, members of this drug cartel paralyzed the Monterrey Metropolitan Area with blockades in 20 different locations using their juvenile recruits who threatened bus drivers and civilians to leave their vehicles crossed through the streets.
CC-By bbriceno
As Borderland Beat mentions in their post:
In the avenues Miguel German and Las Americas up to a dozen public  transport buses were taken at gunpoint and used for the blockages. This  area was particularly affected as gang members armed with steel bars and  guns threatened civilians and hijacked their vehicles en masse.
Many vehicles used in the blockages had their tires shot out or were  otherwise damaged to make the task of removal more difficult.
The state and municipal police took very long to respond and the city was practically in a state of siege as people were stuck for hours waiting for the roads to be unblocked and other areas of the city were the grounds for gunfights.
Following is a citizen video where a driver recorded different blockades in the highway Fidel Suárez while the radio informed about the situation. You can see buses and cars blocking traffic in the opposite lane:
Star Wars fan Fermin Tellez had his heart set on seeing a Star Wars concert at the Monterrey Arena when the blockades started:
El nerviosismo se apoderaba de mi ser luego de conocer lo que sucedía en las calles regias, bloqueos por todos lados, la inseguridad era el tema de todos los regios. Tanto así que la palabra “bloqueos” llegó a ser número 4 en los Trend Topic a nivel mundial en twitter.com, es decir la palabra “bloqueos” era de las más utilizadas por los twitteros.
Users such as zulygarza and CarlosLazoG also uploaded images of the blockades.
Blogger Gyp_sy also posted about the blockades as she recorded a video of the TV newscast:
Hoy vivimos otro día de violencia. Más de 20 bloqueos en las avenidas más importantes de la ciudad. Este video es solo un poquito de lo que vivimos en este país, donde según palabras de nuestro presidente, los delincuentes son “minoría”. Aquí se ve como esa MINORIA con armas en las manos y sin problema alguno, les quita los autos a las personas y tapan las calles todo esto… a OJOS de los policías quienes deciden huir del área de conflicto el lugar de enfrentar a “la minoría”.
Hazme el Chingado Favor also criticizes the police's inaction in posting a newspaper clipping with an image showing how the police wittness armed men stealing a car to block the streets but then they just turn around and leave.
Live free or die blog also had their bit to say about the blockages and the decorative police forces:
A mí realmente me parece insólito que en una ciudad como Monterrey y su área metropolitana, donde últimamente hemos visto que patrullas del Estado de Nuevo León y patrullas municipales se la pasan dando rondines todo el día y a toda hora, de buenas a primeras no se dan cuenta que de manera simultanea varios grupos delincuenciales toman control de la ciudad entera.
¡La tarde de ayer, la gran ciudad de Monterrey estuvo secuestrada!
For me it is inconceivable that a city like Monterrey and its metro area, where we have lately seen patrol cars from the Estado de Nuevo Leon and municipal patrol cars as well frequently doing their rounds all day long, suddently don't notice when different delinquent groups simultaneously take control of the whole city.
Yesterday, the great city of Monterrey was kidnapped!
Drug related blockades are not a new phenomenon in Monterrey: throughout the last year several have taken place in a movement that concerns citizens. Apparently those executing the blockades are unemployed teens who are ripe targets for the attentions of these drug rings who “hire” them, give them weapons and set them lose on the streets with their faces covered, popularly known as “los tapados” or the covered ones.
Paco from Urbi et Orbe tells of blockades last February:
Un taxista que estuvo en uno de los primeros bloqueos me contó algunos pormenores: robo o destrucción de teléfonos celulares, consumo de drogas y alcohol, insultos, amenazas y golpes contra conductores…
Lo que no tuvo que contarme el taxista fue la actitud pasiva, insegura, de las fuerzas policiacas. Eso fue evidente durante varios días. Sin embargo, el Secretario de Seguridad estatal se quejaba; pedía que los ciudadanos y los medios de comunicación identificaran a “los malos”, que no eran los policías sino el crimen organizado. El propio Gobernador aseguró que tras los “tapados de Monterrey” están el Cártel del Golfo y su brazo armado, los “Zetas”.
A taxi driver who was in one of the first blockages told me some of the details: robbery or destruction of cellphones, drug and alcohol use, insutls, threats and battery against drivers…
What the taxi driver didn't have to tell me was the passive and insecure attitude of the police forces. That was evident for several days. Nevertheless, the Secretary for State Security complained; he asked for citizens and media to recognize that the evil ones weren't the police forces but the organized crime. The Governor himself declared that behind the “covered ones of Monterrey” are the Gulf Cartel and its Armed Arm, the “Zetas”.
Next is another citizen video showing the Narc-blockades back in March:
In one of the video's comments we can read about a first-hand account of a blockade:
A mi me toco un bloqueo a la miguel aleman,cuando iba para el aeropuerto y vi que de 3 taxis se bajaron como 12 tipos estilo cholos,que se le fueron alos camiones y los atravezaron,y todo lo hicieron en menos de 5 minutos y a la vista de una granadera de apodaca,despues huyeron en los taxis rumbo a la carr. huinala,ojala ya los paren a estos cabrones lacras

author: Juliana Rincón Parra


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Mexico: Two Deaths on the Border in Ten Days · Global Voices
Issa Villarreal

Citizens of Mexico are in shock over the unexpected deaths of two Mexicans as a result of two separate clashes with the United States Border Patrol. These incidents occurred less than a month apart: the brutal attack of Anastacio Hernández [es], a Mexican worker who lived in California for 20 years, in the international crossing of San Ysidro-Tijuana, and the shooting of 15-year-old Sergio Adrián Hernández in the border of El Paso-Ciudad Juárez [es]. The similarity of the two deaths have provided new grounds for citizen media to evaluate the actions of the Mexican government towards the United States in terms of migration and foreign policy.
Newspaper La Jornada reported [es] that Anastacio Hernández was beaten up on May 28 by the Border Patrol in the international crossing of San Ysido-Tijuana, after he was apprehended because he lacked migration documents. He was a Mexican worker who lived in California for 20 years, where he fathered his children. La Jornada also says [es] that about 20 officers from the Border Patrol used both physical force and stun guns against the worker, provoking cerebral death; one day later, Anastacio died.
The brutal attack on Anastacio Hernández was recorded on video with a cellphone by a student from California who was at the border at the time. The video can be viewed on YouTube. The student, a witness that will be declaring on Anastacio's case according to CNN Mexico, told newspapers that Anastacio was handcuffed all the time and never resisted to the patrol officers.
Border US-Mexico. Photo by Flickr user PhillipC. Used under a Creative commons license.
The situation for Sergio Adrián Hernández was similar to Anastacio's in many ways, with the exception that he was in Mexican territory when he was killed. CNN Mexico reported that [es] on June 7, Sergio and other three persons threw rocks at the Border Patrol officers after they were caught sneaking into the border. In the struggle, the police shot Sergio in the head, an act they described as “self-defense”.
A clip from a news program replays a video of Sergio and others trying to cross the border and the response from the Border Patrol.
Both deaths are a reflection of the tension between Mexico and the United States after the controversial immigration law S.B. 1070, approved in late April by the state of Arizona in the United States. The law states that under reasonable suspicion that a person is residing unlawfully in the United States,  “a reasonable attempt” shall be made by law enforcement to determine the immigration status of the person. After much criticism that this law would lead to racial profiling, changes were made to the wording so that law enforcement cannot consider race, color or national origin as a factor in implementing this law.
Reflecting on the two clashes between Mexican citizens and Border Patrol agents, blogger Franz from El Arcangelino considers the relationship between the countries as a very delicate matter:
El hecho de que los americanos estén respondiendo de esta manera nos habla de que se está radicalizando la protección fronteriza de los vecinos hasta las consecuencias más severas.
Although the Mexican government has condemned the actions that caused the death of Anastacio and Sergio [es], and demanded a thorough investigation of the events, citizens recognize that the reaction from Mexican officials towards the issue of immigration is still condescending and weak, as blogger TRC criticized [es] in his blog:
A la luz de estos indignantes acontecimientos no nos queda más que preguntarnos ¿hasta cuándo mantendrá la SRE [Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores] una política exterior condescendiente (por no decir agachona)? ¿Cuándo se tomará una represalia pacífica pero contundente contra los EUA por los actos de racismo y discriminación que viven día a día los mexicanos de los más bajos estratos sociales que radican en la frontera norte? ¿Cuándo entenderá Patricia Espinosa [Secretaria de Relaciones Exteriores] que un “tibio” comunicado no es una reacción suficiente ante la sistemática y reiterada violación de derechos fundamentales contra mexicanos por parte del país vecino?
On the other hand, blogger Daniel Muñoz believes that what happened to Sergio, who was killed in Mexican territory, brings a complete new set of circumstances [es] within the context of Mexico's foreign policy to the United States:
Creo que el gobierno mexicano debe hacer a niveles internacionales, lo que comúnmente conocemos como un “señor pancho”, si la violación a nuestra frontera y peor aún, el asesinato de un civil en suelo mexicano, no es motivo para levantar la voz, entonces resignémonos a ser el eterno patio trasero norteamericano, aquel concepto que Aguilar Zinser inventó acertadamente siendo embajador de la ONU.
For blogger Roberto from La borla del Hombligo, Sergio's death is a reminder [es] of all the young people that are vulnerable to bullets from drug traffickers in their own country and from their neighbors, the Border Patrol:
No, Sergio no murió cruzando la frontera, Sergio murió en su país y ahora su país tendrá que ver por él.
Finally, following the fondness Mexicans have for using parody and humor even in the most difficult of situations, Twitter user Miguel Burgos (@burdolab) joined the protest under the hashtag #MurderPatrol, referring to Sergio's death with a parody version of a biblical phrase [es]:
El que esté libre de #murderpatrol que arroje la primera piedra

author: Issa Villarreal


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Pakistan: The Business of Football · Global Voices
Aparna Ray

S A J Shirazi at Light Within discusses how Pakistan, which once supplied ‘85% of the  total world demand for high-quality hand-stitched inflatable  balls’, is losing business to India and China.


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Peru: Watching the World Cup from Afar · Global Voices
Gabriela García Calderón

It’s been years since Peruvians have seen their national team playing in a FIFA World Cup; 28 years to be exact. That means 7 editions of the Football World Cup. In spite of that, football is still the king of all sports in Peru.
Peruvian children play street soccer in Barrio de Belén. Image by Flickr user Jorge.Delprado and used under a Creative Commons license.
Let’s hear what some Peruvian football fans have to say about watching the games of the World Cup from afar.
The blog Fútbol desde Ayacucho [es] writes a post titled ¡Y que viva el Mundial Sudáfrica 2010! [es] (Long Live The South Africa 2010 World Cup!):
Faltan horas para dar inicio a lo que es el evento deportivo futbolístico más grande del mundo; la Copa del Mundo Sudáfrica 2010, será el evento en el que todo el mundo estará inmiscuido, y pese a que el Perú no vive esta fiesta asistiendo a dicha cita, igual para los que gustamos del buen futbol nos queda seguir apreciando este evento por TV con todo lo que se vivirá en este lejano país, y alentando como debe ser a los países que representaran y sacaran cara por el futbol sudamericano.
From the Southern city of Ilo, Moquegua, PPGOL dedicates [es] a moment to housewives:
Hoy arranca el dolor de cabeza para las amas de casa; si tienen la suerte de contar con otra tv en casa bacán, verán tranquilas sus tele cebolleras de lo contrario serán desplazadas; por los seguidores del deporte más popular del planeta e invasiones; que durante un mes miraremos fútbol y solo fútbol; deporte que genera cualquier cantidad de billete a la FIFA.
Omar Velarde, from the blog Tiempo extra [es], analyses the World Cup songs, the players who wear the number 10, the most expensive teams and the so-called favorites; he ends his post writing about the injured African players:
Sin embargo, las selecciones que más han sufrido las lesiones han sido las africanas. Ghana ha tenido que ver cómo su mejor jugador, Michael Essien, tuvo que dar un paso al costado al igual que el recientemente lesionado Didier Drogba, cuyo cúbito se rompió hoy jugando ante Japón.
The blog Fulbito y fullvaso [es] raises the issue of security, saying:
Pero el gran temor en este Mundial es la seguridad y este jueves se conocieron tres incidentes que han hecho encenderse la luz de alarma.
Cuatro periodistas chinos fueron víctimas de un robo, el martes en Johannesburgo, llevado a cabo por hombres con armas de fuego que atacaron su coche, sustrayéndoles dinero y una cámara de fotos, informó este jueves la prensa del país asiático.
Además, tres personas, entre ellos una agente municipal, resultaron heridos este jueves por un tumulto de gente que quería entrar en la plaza del ayuntamiento, donde la ciudad inauguraba un ‘fan park’ para el Mundial.
But the biggest fear in this World Cup is the security and on Thursday three incidents were reported, which caused alarm.
Four Chinese journalists were mugged on Tuesday in Johannesburg, by men with firearms who attacked their car, and took away cash and a camera, as reported by the press from that Asian country.
Moreover, three people, among them a city agent, were injured on Thursday by a crowd that wanted to enter city hall, where the city was opening a ‘fan park’ for the World Cup.
It will be a month full of football and nothing else but football. And football fans will surely be delighted.
From Peru we say: May the best one win.

author: Gabriela García Calderón


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Puerto Rico: Decisive Moment 50 Days into the Student Strike · Global Voices
Firuzeh Shokooh Valle

Students of the state-run University of Puerto Rico (UPR) have sustained a student strike that enters its 50th day today.  On this decisive day, the students’ National Negotiating Committee has another round of negotiations with the UPR's administration. Students have transmitted their second message to the country via the website UPR es un País [ES] in which they explain their proposals:
Ten of the 11 campuses of the UPR -in which approximately 62,000 students are enrolled- have been paralyzed in protest against massive budget cuts and the elimination of fee waivers that would unfairly affect low-income students with federal grants and talented students (in academics, sports and arts). Students have been living inside the UPR's main campus in Río Piedras -with 22,000 students registered- which has become the focus of demonstrations, artistic performances, urban agriculture, and academic workshops. (Please see Global Voices’ Special Coverage page)
Students in Río Piedras. Photo by Ricardo Alcaraz from Diálogo. Republished under a CC License.
Students raise funds for three non-profit organizations. Photo by Ricardo Alcaraz from Diálogo. Republished under a CC License.
There have been a number of violent confrontations with police special forces at the Hotel Sheraton [En], the Río Piedras and Aguadilla campuses, and outside the UPR's central administration. Students and parents have been beaten and arrested. The pro-statehood Governor Luis Fortuño imposed a “mediator” to intervene in the conflict, the Episcopalian Minister David Alvarez, who was rejected by the students [ES]. The student strike has catalyzed a national civil society movement that has supported them throughout these 50 days. Students have also creatively used online media and Internet-based radio to speak for themselves (please see Global Voices’ compilation of online citizen media resources).
"The UPR wants peace." Photo by Ricardo Alcaraz from Diálogo. Republished under a CC License.
The students’ National Negotiating Committee has been negotiating with the UPR administration. They have made important advances: the UPR's Board of Trustees changed the language of the Certification 98 regarding the fee waivers so that students will not be penalized. Two fundamental issues remain on the table [ES]: the elimination of the recent UPR's proposal of imposing a special fee of $1,100 per semester in addition to the registration costs, and the guarantee that the administration will not incur any disciplinary actions against the students who have participated in the strike.
In the meantime, an interesting and passionate debate is taking place online. Historian and UPR professor Carlos Pabón questions the strategic usefulness of continuing the strike [ES] and of closing the campus:
Lo que viene en término de políticas hacia la Universidad es mucho más que lo está en juego en los reclamos de la huelga. Los estudiantes en huelga deberían consolidar y certificar lo que han logrado hasta ahora (que son algunas de sus demandas principales), proclamar un triunfo y levantar la huelga, dando paso a que se abra la Universidad. De lo contrario, se corren el riesgo de quedar entrampados en la estrategia del gobierno, que es quién apuesta al cierre de la Universidad y en este escenario lo que nos espera será nefasto (ya ayer se anunciaron algunas medidas de recortes presupuestarios y reducciones salariales que tendrán efectos drásticos sobre los distintos componentes de la Universidad). Cada día que pasa este escenario se hace más probable, pues el tiempo y el cierre favorecen al gobierno y a la alta administración universitaria.
In the comment section of Pabón's post in La Acera [ES and EN], graduate History student, activist and blogger Iván Chaar-López [ES] argues that students have unveiled the administration's project and urges professors to make proposals [ES]:
Si bien puede ser cierto que la huelga viabiliza el proyecto destructivo de la administración universitaria y el gobierno, también es cierto que la huelga ha desenmascarado el programa. En ese sentido, la huelga ha viabilizado la articulación de resistencias en cada sector comunitario de la Universidad. Los profesores no se habían expresado ni habían producido documento alguno sobre la anti-democracia y la implosión del proyecto universitario hasta que los estudiantes rompimos con el ritmo monótono del curso lectivo. Desde esta perspectiva, la huelga ha abierto camino para reflexionar y pensar la Universidad desde otras coordenadas.
"The UPR is not on sale," by Brazilian artist Carlos Latuff. Latuff authorizes his drawings to be republished.
Law student, activist and blogger Mariana Iriarte [ES] questions the effectivity of prolonging the strike and proposes the formulation of new strategies to strengthen the student movement:
Las negociaciones finalmente comenzaron, sin embargo, nunca parecen haber estado destinadas a la reapertura de la Universidad. Por un lado, la administración se sienta con el Comité Negociador mientras que por el otro desarrolla campañas publicitarias, anuncia la imposición de una cuota especial ridículamente alta y empiezan a llover en el Capitolio proyectos de ley destinados a enmendar la ley de la Universidad. Ante este escenario, es preciso que empecemos a reflexionar en qué momento comenzamos a permitir que fuera la administración quien dictara cómo y cuándo íbamos a desarrollar nuestra huelga. Que nos preguntemos si la dilación de los procesos no está, maliciosamente, destinada a mantenernos en una huelga que parece no tener fin. Que pensemos si no estamos dando vueltas como el perro que intenta, infructuosamente, de morderse la cola.
UPR Law professor and blogger Erika Fontánez [ES] has also weighed in on the debate:
Lo cierto es que la gesta de más de 50 días de los y las estudiantes del sistema universitario ha visibilizado estos temas, los ha traído al debate público, los ha presentado al país. Cierto que habría que decir que el debate público ha recogido esto en un nivel todavía muy insuficiente en cuanto a los términos estructurales que se requiere, pero ciertamente, como mínimo, es claro que este proceso huelgario ha permitido, al menos, rasgar de las paredes de la indiferencia, poner en escena el tema universitario y el riesgo en que se encuentra la posibilidad de la Universidad pública, de excelencia y accesible. Para comenzar, como mínimo, nos ha hecho ver las caras, incluso, a sectores universitarios que dentro de la ‘normalidad’ universitaria de la UPR (no de otra Universidad posible), difícilmente coincidimos. Ese ‘saldo’ tendremos que seguir analizándolo por mucho tiempo, en la contingencia de su día a día, dentro del proceso y tiempo después de éste.

author: Firuzeh Shokooh Valle


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Russia: Apple at Moscow Schools · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Svetlana Gladkova of Profy.com reports that “at least a quarter of the new Moscow schools to be opened this fall for school children will be equipped with Mac computers, including MacBook laptops and Mac Mini desktops.”

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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Russia: Cyrillic Email Accounts? · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Svetlana Gladkova of Profy.com writes about the Russian government's plans to provide every citizen with a Cyrillic email account, points out “the problem of the @ character” on the Cyrillic keyboard, and concludes: “But the worst part is that I have no idea why my taxes go into crazy things like arranging for every citizen to have a dedicated official email account – especially when many people already have quite a number of such accounts (for free!) and those who don’t will hardly know how to use the official one anyway […].”


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Senegal: The Fiercest Critic of President Wade’s Regime · Global Voices
Anna Gueye

A You Tube  video in Wolof criticizing president Wade's regime  has become an internet sensation in Senegal. «Tassou Abdoulaye Wade» [fr] by a young street vendor who also claims to be a griot.

author: Anna Gueye


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Slovenia: Referendum on the Arbitration Agreement · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Sleeping With Pengovsky writes – here and here – about this past Sunday's referendum on the Arbitration Agreement between Slovenia and Croatia; posts Part 3, Part 4 and Part 5 of The Definitive Guide to the Arbitrage Agreement Between Slovenia and Croatia (links to the earlier installments are here); and notes that “the Arbitration Agreement can (not necessarily will) become a model for solving similar disputes in the region.” More background on the Sunday's referendum – at ESI's Rumeli Observer.


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South Korea:Tablo, A Rapper and the Obsession With Good Degrees · Global Voices
Lee Yoo Eun

Recently, a famous rapper Tablo's (Daniel Seon Woong Lee) has been questioned fiercely online regarding his Stanford degree. This scene of people fussing about pop stars’ education background is rather common in Korean art field, where Shin Jeong Ah who made her way through a chief curator position in Seoul's most prestigious museum by using forged Yale credentials shook the nation in 2007. In response to the scandal, many celebrities hurriedly went through the degree verification process. Kim Young Oak, a star philosopher in South Korea more commonly known by his pen name ‘Do-ol’, made public his Harvard Ph.D graduation certificate and dissertation immediately after the Shin's scandal, to dispel any doubt on his educational background.
Tablo, a Canadian of Korean descent hip hop artist is among top celebrities in Korea. Tablo’s hip hop group, the Epik High's albums have made numerous huge hits in and outside Korea and it's recent album ranked as the number one on the iTunes Hip hop chart in mid March. Tablo has been featured in many mainstream media, including the CNN, and his Stanford background catches the public attention. Below is the CNN interview at Youtube:
The doubt about his education background was firstly put forward by a blogger ‘whatbecomes’ who, rather unreasonably, attacked Tablo's English's ability. In order to clear the doubt, the University and Tablo’s professor from Standford have repeatedly confirmed Tablo’s degree and Table supporters also obtained verifications through the National Student Clearinghouse (NSC), which is one of the most trusted source for degree and enrollment information:
A photo of NSC credential from the Naver blog.
Despite the fact that the verifications of Tablo's degree have been put forward by various sources, a number of netizens continued to question the details, such as the inconsistence of the date of attendance. Tablo finally lost his patience and tweeted  on June 3 that:
흥미를 위해 저를 공격하는 사람들 때문에 저와 저의 학교, 일반 인터넷 사용자들, 다양한 방송 관계자들과 기자들이 모두 저의 학력을 수차례 인증했습니다… 모든 사실을 부정하면서 끝없이 저와 저의 부모님까지 욕하고…저 아빠가 된지 얼마 안됐어요….더 이상 소중한 시간 뺏기기 싫어요.
As people's frenzyness on famous people's college degrees came to light by Tablo's case, many begin to look for a connection between the degree forgery and the preference given by the Korean society to people from prestigious schools. Serious discussions diagnosing the situation are looming over the internet. A blogger from the Jstarclub.com commented that this incident demonstrates how significant an individual's educational background is in Korean society.
국내에서 타블로가 처음에 주목을 받게 된 것은 그의 음악적 재능과 실력 때문이기도 하지만 그를 뒤받침 해준 것은 그의 학위였다…국내의 여론이나 시청자들은 높은 고학력을 가진 이들에게 유독 친근함과 좋은 감정을 드러내는 게 사실이다. 그만큼 한국 사회에서 학벌이란 무시할 수 없는 가치이기 때문이다.
The experience of faking one's degree can start as early as the kids get into the elementary school. The ‘Human Rights Oreum’ (Oreum means a Rise in Korean), a human rights activist weekly magazine in Seoul posted an article titled ‘Degree fabrication is stemmed from a credentials-centered society’ on it's site. The author recalls his shameful childhood memory of him lying about his parents educational backgrounds.
학교에서 조사하는 가정환경조사 중에 ‘부모님 학력'을 적는 칸이 있었어요. 한참을 망설이다가 엄마는 ‘중학교 졸업’, 아빠는 ‘고등학교 중퇴'라고 적었어요. 부모님 몰래 말이지요. 사실은 두 분 모두 초등학교 졸업이 학력의 전부였어요…그때는 ‘초등학교 졸업'이라는 부모님의 학력이 너무 창피했었는데, 지금은 초등학교 졸업의 학력을 창피하게 생각했던 것이 너무 부끄러워요.
A survey done by Saramin, one of the biggest job search agency in Korea, shows people's stress from the society's preferential treatments to people with good educational background. In a survey done to 2,152 people in their twenties and thirties, about 20 percent of the respondents have answered ‘yes’ to a question ‘Have you ever thought of forging your educational background for employment or success?’.
학력을 위조하고 싶은 생각이 들 때로는 33.5%가 ‘입사지원서를 작성할 때’를 1위로 꼽았고, ‘실력보다 학벌만 높은 사람이 취업이나 승진할 때’(33%)가 근소한 차이로 뒤를 이었다. 이밖에 ‘서류전형에서 떨어졌을 때’(17.6%), ‘학력을 위조한 후 성공한 이야기를 들었을 때’(6%)…실제로 구직활동을 하면서 학력이나 학벌 때문에 차별을 받은 경험을 묻는 질문에는 66.5%가 ‘있다’라고 응답해 10명 중 7명이 학벌로 인한 차별 경험이 있는 것으로 조사되었다.
Korea’s education system is notorious for locking students up in a classroom till near mid night and forcing them to private institutes afterwards. It is no wonder people living under this juggernaut came to daydream about faking degrees or see imaginative forgery cases from others, subconsciously seeking to get a slice of compensation for their money, energy and youth spent on intense education.

author: Lee Yoo Eun


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St. Vincent & the Grenadines: Price of “Progress” · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Abeni notices the proliferation of fast food franchises in St. Vincent and the Grenadines: “As our nation gorges itself on fast food and channel surf to our leisure we get fatter and fatter placing more burden on the shaky health system.”

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Taiwan: Indigenous conference brings together Austronesian speakers · Global Voices
David Reid

Life in Taiwan reports on an international conference for indigenous peoples held in Taiwan. The conference brought together people from Austronesian-speaking countries to discuss issues such as health, education and endangered languages. Austronesian languages are spoken in the islands of the Pacific and Indian Oceans and parts of Southeast Asia.

author: David Reid


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Trinidad & Tobago: Griffith & Antoni  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

The Caribbean Review of Books is “delighted that two Trinidadians have made the 2010 list” of Guggenheim Fellows.


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Africa: World Cup search results · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

South African blogger Nicholas Simon discusses Google's integration of World Cup into search results:”Google has integrated  match schedules, FIFA standings, a live match update and an iGoogle gadget all into a neat little box that pops under the search box.”

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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Africa:Latin American drug lords in West Africa · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Sheriff discusses drug trade in West Africa: “But the emergence of Latin American drug kingpins at the West African ports and borders has opened up another challenge for a region already battling with poverty, diseases and violence.”


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Armenia-Azerbaijan: Conflict Voices · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

This post is part of our special coverage Caucasus Conflict Voices.
In the 16 years since a ceasefire agreement put the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the disputed territory of Nagorno Karabakh on hold, successive attempts to broker a final peace have faltered.
In the past year and a half, however, social networking sites and blogs offer new opportunities to those engaged in conflict management, transformation and resolution initiatives although the adoption of these new tools in such work remains low throughout the region.
Moreover, despite the new possibilities, much online discourse relating to the conflict remains negative, propagandist, and sometimes more aimed towards perpetuating hostility between the two sides rather than seeking to end it. Nevertheless, in two guest posts made this week on the personal blog of Global Voices’ Caucasus editor, a young Azerbaijani and Armenian were given the opportunity to offer their own opinion of the conflict as well as recount their own personal experiences.
Such voices are rarely, if ever, heard in the local media, but could blogs and other online tools now offer them the ability to be heard? In the first post, Zamira Abbasova, a 25-year-old ethnic Azerbaijani refugee from Armenia, details her experience [EN/AM/AZ/RU/ES]. The student now studying conflict transformation in the United States first contacted Global Voices in October after reading its Caucasus coverage presented as part of her course.
I was born in Vardenis in 1984 and four years later my entire family as well as all my relatives had to leave Armenia, fleeing to Azerbaijan due to the mass displacements. I was only four when I left Armenia, but in retrospect I don’t know whether that’s fortunate or not as I am unable to remember everything I left behind. But I do remember our house, our garden, the playground, my friends, my apple tree, and the rooster which I loved so much.
After arriving in Azerbaijan I used to dream about our house and walking in the ruins of our village. At some point, however, everything just faded away. Even so, my family have never lost their belief that one day we will go back home. We believe that two neighbors who have lived together for centuries will come together again even if evil has never left them alone and always whispers hatred.
[…]
Meeting Armenians for the first time shook my feelings and emotions up and down. I made lots of friends, talked openly to them, and heard their perspective. Since then, every time I see an Armenian, be it in the street or any other social gathering, I feel some kind of invisible tie to them and to the land in which I was born, ignoring the fact that “they should be my enemies”. That is the power of “good” over “evil” which we have ignored for too long.
This war made me a Peacemaker although I am very new in this area. My struggle is more complicated, however, because on the one hand I have to help those who are in conflict, and on the other help myself.
The post touched many and was shared by some Armenians on their Facebook pages as well as on those of others with experience of the region. Already available in English, Azerbaijani, Russian and Spanish, one reader of many also voluntarily translated it into Armenian while an ethnic Armenian refugee from Azerbaijan, who Global Voices had already connected with Zamira Abbasova, said she felt inspired in a comment left on the post.
Thank you both guys for sharing this touching story. I guess I gotta write about our (Zamira’s and my case) in my blog as well. This post has just inspired me for that. Again thanks a lot.
The following day, a 22-year-old recent graduate in Armenia made her own guest post [EN/AZ/RU] on the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan and tense relations with Turkey. Also posting a video of a recent flashmob calling for peace in the South Caucasus region, Marine Ejuryan recounts how she had once been more negative towards Armenia's estranged neighbors, but is now involved in many cross-border initiatives to encourage dialogue between all sides.
For those of you that know me, but didn’t when I was still a freshman or sophomore, you’ll probably be surprised to hear that just four years ago I was one of those to be found among young Armenians shouting anti-Turkish and anti-Azerbaijani slogans during commemoration events. I was also the same person writing articles for my university newspaper with titles such as “The big hoax, Azerbaijan.”
In retrospect, when I look back at those perhaps ‘dark’ years, I know that it was simply the time when I was at the peak of a process searching for myself, determining my own ideology and finding my own path in life. I can also assume that there are many other young people and teenagers in our countries who have also been through this before finally ending up where they are today.
And now, having just graduated with a MA in International Relations, I have also turned into someone who has dozens of Turkish and Azerbaijani friends. Among them, I have to say, some are very close indeed. I’m also someone who listens to Turkish and Azerbaijani music, reads books by authors from both of those countries, and finally a person who supports every genuine initiative that will lead to peace and a resolution of the conflict which keeps others apart.
Also available in Armenian, Azerbaijani and Russian, the post again proved to be incredibly popular, and not least in Azerbaijan itself. Scores of young Azerbaijanis shared the entry on Facebook while some even added her on the same social networking site. Not surprisingly, Facebook was even mentioned as a valuable tool for cross-border networking and communication in the post.
The Önər Blog reposted the Azerbaijani version of Eurjyan's entry.
Dialoq.
Bizim önümüzdə olan yeganə yoldur. Dialoq mənim vəziyyətimdə Azərbaycanlılar ilə ünsiyyət tapıb bir çox məsələyə dair fikrimi dəyişdirən yeganə yol idi. Danışmaq və irəliləmək. Əməkdaşlıq etmək və irəliləmək. Yalnız bu mövqe ilə bir çox həssas məsələlər həll oluna bilər. İllər əvvəl bir kitabda oxuduğum və həmişə yaddaşımda saxlayacağım aşağıdakı cümləni indi sizinlə paylaşmaq istəyirəm.
“Münaqişədə olan tərəflərin “hər şeyi” əldə edə bilməyəcəkləri fikri həqiqətdir. Lakin bu həqiqət siyasidir. Humanist mövqeyi nəzərindən isə, hər iki tərəf hər şey əldə edə bilər. Əgər bu “hər şey” qəti sülhdürsə”.
Dialogue.
This is the only path before us, just as it was in my case when talking with Azerbaijanis changed my view on many things. Talking and moving on. Cooperating and moving on. Only with this approach can many other sensitive issues find their ultimate solution as well. Instead, I always keep in mind this sentence, which I read in a book some years ago and want to share with you now.
“The opinion that neither side of the conflict can get “everything” is right. But this rightfulness is, so to speak, political. From a humanitarian aspect, both sides can get everything, as this “everything” is the ultimate peace.”
The point was not lost on Italian youth activist and filmmaker Letizia Gambini who is currently working on a documentary film on youth activism in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia as well as blogging on her travels at The Story of a Brilliant Idea. She also tweeted her own reaction to the post.
Commenting on both posts, Micael Bogar, a seasoned veteran of the South Caucasus and formerly a program manager at the American University examing the use of new media in conflict (interviewed by Global Voices here), wondered if they didn't represent the start of something larger in the region.
Nevertheless, despite the huge popularity in relative terms of the posts from both sides of the conflict, that is not to say they are reflective of the majority view held in both societies. Moreover, with increasing concerns about media freedom in both countries, it is also possible that online activity could yet be targeted. Nonetheless, even if the negative currently outweighs the positive, the potential is there as one comment from a reader in Azerbaijan illustrated.
I think this post made my day, even my week. I believe we the youth of both countries can start this hard and long reconciliation process between our nations and finally start worrying about real problems rather than bullying each other.
In a previous post on the newly launched Caucasus Edition, Flying Carpets and Broken Pipelines blogger Arzu Geybullayeva sets the context and comments on the reality which many believe now needs to be changed.
We built high walls around ourselves, feeding ourselves as well as our children on at times unsubstantiated norms and values, turning into robots. We shut down at a time when we should all be turning on and looking for a better, brighter future.
It is time to wake up, it is time to start breaking the stereotypes and leaving our comfort zones.
In two separate comments addressed to the authors of both posts, Ianyan blogger Liana Aghajanian agrees and adds that she thinks such an approach could be successful.
Zamira, I am very touched by your story and appreciate the perspective you provide. I hope there are more stories from your past as well as your future journey you can share – I believe stories like these are the foundations where conflicts can truly be transformed. Thank you
[…]
This was beautiful and even more important, I feel that this is the type of writing, the type of dialogue and experience that can actually contribute to change. It’s so close I can feel it. Thank you Marine for sharing your story.
Of course, such voices are arguably a minority in both societies and especially in terms of online activity, but new tools do at least offer them the possibility to make their views be known. Considering the current level of discussion and debate on the conflict, or even lack of it, such a development is therefore unprecedented. Indeed, this is particularly true on Facebook where the number of of shares and positive comments eclipse by far those made on blogs or other open sites.
This post is part of our special coverage Caucasus Conflict Voices.

author: Onnik Krikorian


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Bangladesh: The Death Traps · Global Voices
Rezwan

Photo journalist Abir Abdullah at ShahidulNews posts a photo essay on the recent tragic fire in a building in old Dhaka. With lack of building codes and absence of fire fighting measures, these buildings are open death traps.

author: Rezwan


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Belarus: 200 Meters of Gay Pride in Minsk · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

“Insider’s view from Belarusian Gay Pride March” – at Belarus Digest: “Two nights in the police department seemed an eternity for us. So now when I’m free I can’t keep it to myself. I don’t appear to have any freedom of speech in my country, but I have the freedom on the internet.”


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Brazil: Graffiti Artists Lighten Up Europe · Global Voices
Manuela Tenreiro

Once persecuted by the authorities, street art has made it to the mainstream. The Brazilian twin brothers known as GÊMEOS are on exhibition in the first event of street art in a Portuguese museum, according to local bloggers [pt]. In collaboration with Italian graffiti artist Blu, they also left their mark on the walls of Lisbon's city center and of Grottaglie, Italy.

author: Manuela Tenreiro


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Bulgaria: Protest Against Neo-Nazi Violence  · Global Voices
Ruslan Trad

On June 6, 2010, a protest was held in Sofia in support of the rights of refugees and immigrants in Bulgaria. It was organized by Svetla Encheva and other activists, supporting immigrant rights. The protest was held in front of the “Busmantzi” refugee camp.
Shortly before the start of the protest, a group of skinheads attacked several people inside a tram on the way to the event. The police are still investigating the event and have over 20 suspects.
My Facebook inbox with message about protest
On June 10, a second gathering was organized, in which activists protested against neo-Nazism and the attacks on peaceful citizens. The event started from Facebook, where users exchanged personal messages with the time and place of the gathering.
(c) Georgi Ivanov
Soon after 6 PM traffic in Sofia was blocked with chants “Nazis in jail”, “Fascism is not an opinion, it's a crime“, “We won't forgive, we won't forget“ and posters “Apathy kills“, „Enough racism“.
Lidia Stoykova wrote the following about the protest on her blog[BG]:
[…] Regardless of the protest, there are young people in this country who define themselves in different ways and assault darker-skinned compatriots and foreigners, as well as other people who look to them like homosexuals. I would easily define these young men as Nazis and fascists. […]
[…] I consider the presence of such individuals a serious problem and I've spent a lot of time talking about the resurgence of fascism in our country, but insofar as this problem is linked to the refugees, whose cause we support, I think we now have to focus mainly on that cause. Because it's not popular enough, and that's because we don't talk about it enough.[…]
Borislav Borissov wrote this[BG] on his blog:
The most important thing that happened 20 years later was the protest on Patriarch Evtimy Square against the ever more frequent activities of Nazi, fascist, ultranationalist, racist, xenophobic and other similar groups, formations, movements and common street gangs. It's good that there were people who grew up during that period of transition which continued a decade after its end. There's a strange belief within the blogosphere that these fascist and Nazi outbursts are something new.
In her article, blogger Selene writes [BG]:
“Nazism is not an opinion, it's a crime.”
[…]
It's hard for one to imagine that in the 21st century Bulgaria could become the scene of violence, inspired by ideas from the beginning of the 20th century. Ideas, which led to a World War, to genocide, concentration camps, cruelty and death in immense proportions.
In the blog of Svetla Encheva, a threat was received[BG]:
The beating you got was not enough!
It's not clear who wrote this anonymous comment.

author: Ruslan Trad


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Bulgaria: Sofia Pride 2010 · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

How to Marry a Bulgarian writes about the upcoming Sofia Pride 2010 (BUL, ENG), the third gay pride parade to be held in Bulgaria's capital.


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Cameroon: Becoming homeless on a short notice · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Phillipe writes about demolition of slums in Cameroon: “Because here in Cameroon, like in some other african countries, there were no relocation plan, and those people at a moment’s notice, became homeless…and most of them are still homeless now.”


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Egypt: Scheherazade must Die · Global Voices
Marwa Rakha

In April 2008, freedom of speech and creativity in Egypt was hit in its core with the confiscation of Magdy El Shafee's adult graphic novel – Metro. The author and his publisher went to court and the lost.  Dr Youssef Zidane is being accused of blasphemy and defaming Christianity because of his novel Azazeel (Beelzebub). Zidane could face up to five years behind bars. Today Scheherazade of 1001 Nights is being accused of immorality and some lawyers want her dead – in their call for banning the book!
The Chronikler wrote:
in recent weeks when a group calling itself (without a hint of irony) Lawyers Without Shackles tried to shackle the reading choices of Egyptians by calling for a ban of a newly released version of the classic One thousand and one nights saga, with its ensemble of popular and ageless characters, including Aladdin, Ali Baba and Sindbad. Their reason? The centuries-old collection is “obscene” and could lead people to “vice and sin”.
Luckily, Egyptian intellectuals have rallied to defend the classic tales, warning against the increasing “Bedouinisation” of Egyptian culture. This is, perhaps, the most ridiculous example of the recent trend towards, what I call, the retroactive condemnation of published works.
Zeinobia thinks that Scheherazade gave life lessons to her husband over 1001 nights especially in Politics and the art of rule , this is why many people wish to see her dead.
Poor Scheherazade , she  made it and her life was spared by her tales in the ancient times where as in  the modern times some are trying to ban the tales that saved her and the  daughters of her nation for 1000 and 1 nights !!
Zeinobia tell us that:
This was not the first time as it  happened before in when 1985  some lawyers wanted to ban that edition from the book.
First of all  you must know that the edition they are speaking about is the oldest edition  printed from the book in modern Egypt during the time of Mohamed Ali pasha at  the famous Imbaba printing house and it was printed after the approval and the  revision of Al Azhar ; yes approved by the Al Azhar in the 19th century with its  bad NSFW words and imagery !!! Already the last edition available from the  Imbaba printing house is the 1935 edition which is not even in Cairo or at the  Bibliotheque Alexandrie but rather in University of Toronto !! “Do not ask me  how or why !!”
Having read the original – supposedly uncensored version – Zeinobia says:
My own judgment  is that this book is amazing with its stories inside stories , a complete  different world and yes there is a lot of sex but there are even more racism  towards other races too that made me uncomfortable. But other than that well it  is fantastic , really fantastic and you would be surprise with the poetry, the  proverbs and even the historical incidents mentioned in the book.
And on the issue of immorality, she notes:
The nights book is  not the only book with explicit imageries yet for some reason it is only  remembered. What we see in TV is much more worse for God sake , just tune in to  Melody TV and you will know what I mean.
Mechanical Crowds is unhappy with how Egypt is handling freedom of expression:
Controlling ideas is  one of the reasons why Egypt is behind. We gotta get out of this shell and break  free. Have you ever compared Egyptian music lyrics to foreign songs? Egyptian  songs are always so predictable and shallow and 90% of them about love. There is  more to life than boy loves girl! Look at songs from other places and you'll  find a lot of creativity & imagination.
On June 9th, the court dismissed the case against the book; Banat Zayed says:
Meanwhile, blogger Ahmed Al Sabbagh posted links to download the book.

author: Marwa Rakha


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France: Illegal Immigrants Strike in Paris · Global Voices
Anna Gueye

Blogger Ménilmuche points to a blog that documents a strike by illegal immigrants  at the Bastille in Paris with lots of pictures [fr].


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Indonesia: When women control their own investments · Global Voices
Juke Carolina

Flickr-photo "Scale" by deepchi1
Indonesia managed to weather the latest economic crisis and is now even a contender for the BRIC nations. What exactly was the secret of the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation? More than half of Indonesia’s 230 million people are women.
The majority of Indonesian women still adhere to their principal societal roles of being a wife and becoming mother. Although the trend is changing, most of the time women are still not included in decision-making nor are they demanded to contribute to the family’s well being; working is an option but not compulsory – thus financial independence is not absolute.
In the villages, parents marry off their daughters in hopes of securing their future. This practice leads many women poorly educated and left with few options in life. Women are often classified as “unskilled laborers” – working in the factories or sent abroad to work as maids – but their contributions to the state’s coffers have been overlooked and their rights haven’t been properly acknowledged.
In the past years, Indonesian women have inspired one another and showed that they too can ace in areas mostly governed by their male counterparts. One of Indonesia’s inspirational women is the former Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati, who is currently the Managing  Director of the World Bank.
A 2008 report published by the Indonesian Bureau of Statistics said that there are 46-49 million Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) in Indonesia, and 60_80% of them are owned by women. Those MSMEs represent 97.1% of the country’s labor force.
Similar to women in Africa or South Asia, Indonesian women also face challenges, like taking a bank loan without male guarantor, or if they fail to demonstrate that they are creditworthy.
Fortunately women do stick together in this country, and a strong presence of camaraderie among women can be felt in rural or urban communities.
On his blog, Son Haji Ujaji [id], an activist based in Tangerang, West Java, highlights how women have the capacities to increase the family’s income:
Perempuan akan mengambil peran-peran penting dalam kapasitasnya sebagai makhluk sosial, terutama dalam rangka peningkatan kualitas pendapatan keluarga. Lembaga-lembaga local yang ada lebih tepat bila diperankan secara langsung oleh kaum perempuan, baik yang bergerak dalam bidang sosial maupun ekonomi. Sesungguhnya kultur perempuan yang ada pada sebagian masyarakat Indoensia adalah bersifat guyub (komunal). Kuatanya daya komunalitas ini tercermin dari masih eksisnya lembaga-lembaga yang bergerak dalam bidang kewanitaan, seperti PKK, Posyandu, bentuk-bentuk arisan warga dan sejenisnya.
[…]
PKK mempunyai prioritas program berupa Usaha Peningkatan Pendapatan Keluarga (UP2K). […] Potensi, daya, dan karakter perempuan yang tidak kalah penting dan bobotnya dengan laki-laki dapat menjadikan program UP2K-PKK sebuah program unggulan dalam tataran program social safety net (jaring pengaman social), sebagai salah satu upaya menolong masyarakat dari keterpurukan ekonomi dengan jalan memberdayakan dan membangun masyarakat menjadi individu atau keluarga yang mandiri.
[…]
PKK currently prioritizes Income Improvement Program (UP2K-PKK). […]  The program, which highlights women’s potentials, their will power and  characters, made itself a primary definition of social safety net, a way  to help the people from poverty and empower them to be a strong and  independent individuals as well as family unit.
Generating income online and offline
Koperasi (cooperatives), a business institution founded by a group of people, governed democratically and aimed for mutual benefits, is regarded as one of the cornerstones of Indonesian economy.
Over the years, the basic principles of Koperasi are pretty much ingrained in the people’s mind. Although Multi Level Marketing (MLM), doesn't have identical values as Koperasi in acknowledging the importance of community and network, it is also considered as a great way to generate alternative incomes. People don’t necessarily go to MLM meetings to buy; they come to network, to find new  opportunities or business partners over gossip, tea and cakes.
After presentations and catalogues for MLM came blogs and Facebook. The  ladies quickly found a new place to market their crafts, imported Korean  sundresses, or even last season’s Jimmy Choo heels and other luxury goods at discounted prices. Generating extra income is becoming as easy as tagging  pictures.
Does microcredit work in Indonesia?
Microcredit, in practice, is not always a silver bullet against poverty in Indonesia, on the other hand new jobs would be.
International micro-credit organizations like Kiva aim to empower impoverished women and their communities through lending; this, however is not a simple task.
A netter nicknamed salman_taufik made a comment on a post appeared on Stanford Social Innovation Review. He has an excellent insight about why micro-finance is not quite a success story in Indonesia:
In a country where many still earn less than US$ 2 a day, foreign financial aid is often misunderstood by poor communities.
Anna  Antoni, a Kiva fellow based in Bali explains:
The fear of the Kiva field partner where I serve was if borrowers  know that their loan comes from abroad, they will think it is charity. They will not feel obliged to pay back their loan and it will cause long term problems even if the loss is not covered by the field partner.  There is a damage industrialized countries have made through aid that goes far beyond support in crises, taking away something from a spirit of “I can do this- I can handle the challenges in my life!” which is so important in microfinance… but back to transparency.
[…]
The whole process showed again how big the influence of Kiva can be. For most developing countries it is a shift of paradigm not to receive  funds that either don’t have to be repaid or be repaid under heavy  conditions. Putting a lot of effort into raising the transparency for  borrowers and thus showing respect to all people participating in the  mission of Kiva  is more than important. Besides fulfilling the value of  microfinance to help people to help themselves, it is the basis for a  new approach to development.
Indonesian female entrepreneurship is an interesting fact. Unfortunately the fact seems to have gone unnoticed by local netters as this author (me!) struggled to find blog posts that include testimonies or opinions about the unsung economic heroines. Have I missed some great stories published on the net? If so, please let me know. Your links, opinions, and insights are highly appreciated.
This post also appears on UNFPA's Conversations for a Better World where Carolina will be updating a live-blog about female entrepreneurship, courage and investments (worldwide) throughout the next week. Please share your projects, links and experiences there.

author: Juke Carolina


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Iran: To Demonstrate or Not, on Anniversary of Election · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Mir Hussein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, two leading figures in Iran's opposition have formally asked authorities for permission to hold a rally on the anniversary of the disputed the  June 12 presidential election. They expressed their concern for the safety of protesters in a joint statement.
Several Iranians disagreed with this cautious behavior online, and many have published posters encouraging tomorrow's demonstration (like one in above) in blogs and on websites.
Webneveshteha encourages  [fa] people to chant Allaho Akbar (God is Great) on their rooftops today as they did during post election crisis as a sign of protest to the Iranain government. The blogger adds:
if you open the window and you hear no voice, go to your rooftop and chant Allaho Akbar. You are the media.
Dulatemeli writes [fa]:
We will be side by side with the mothers of martyrs, Mr. Mousavi and Mr. Karoubi you can join us too. If we do not show up on 12th of June the pressure on the political prisoners will increase. The demonstration on Saturday is not an option but an obligation. We should not worry and stay at home. If we do, we will have a destroyed our homeland.
Afkare Farda writes [fa] that people have two options either live humiliated under this regime or to topple this regime, and that the regime has lost its legitimacy.
Sight says: “I am an ordinary citizen and I am a leader of this movement. Tomorrow I will go from Tehran's university to Azadi Square in Tehran. Will you come with me? Freedom has a cost.”

author: Fred Petrossian


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Japan: An interview with Nobel Prize winner Masatoshi Koshiba · Global Voices
Scilla Alecci

The Tokyo Reporter republishes an interview [en] with professor Masatoshi Koshiba, who was awarded Nobel Prize in Physics in 2002 “for pioneering contributions to astrophysics, in particular for the detection of cosmic neutrinos” [en].

author: Scilla Alecci


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Japan: Hayabusa returns to Earth tomorrow · Global Voices
Tomomi Sasaki

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) expects the return of the spacecraft Hayabusa tomorrow, following a 7 year mission filled with enormous ups and downs. The randokukanso blog eagerly awaits its landing with links [ja] to some sniffle-inducing anime videos that cheer its tumultuous journey.

author: Tomomi Sasaki


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Japan: Two years since Akihabara knife rampage · Global Voices
Tomomi Sasaki

Last week marked the second anniversary of the Akihabara knife rampage. Akibasuki [ja] went to pay his respects and photoblogged his visit. The scars of the rampage are still raw in the area: the ban on the vehicle-free zone (hokoten  or walker's paradise), which Akihabara was famous for, still hasn't been lifted and the area has increased patrol, random baggage checks by the police, and several dozen security cameras.


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Pakistan: The First Feminist Tech Exchange · Global Voices
Rezwan

Jehan Ara at In The Line Of Wire reports on the first Feminist Tech Exchange in Pakistan which is taking place in Islamabad.


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Fiji: Priorities questioned for boarding school · Global Voices
Michael Hartsell

Just a week after Fiji's Ratu Kadavulevu School was closed by the health department because its kitchen wasn't up to code, the country's largest boarding school dedicated a new chapel at the cost of about US $500,000. Wendy, writing in the blog Babasiga, asked why the school kitchen wasn't fixed earlier in the year.

author: Michael Hartsell


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France : Poetry Slam World Cup · Global Voices
Suzanne Lehn

Bobigny, in the Paris suburbs, is hosting  a different kind of  world cup, namely  the 4th  Poetry Slam World Cup (the quarter finals), on June 12th and 13th. Bondy Blog interviews [Fr] two  finalists:  Le Wise, from Gabon, and Philipp Sharri, from Germany.

author: Suzanne Lehn


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India: Canadian Visa For BSF Members · Global Voices
Rezwan

There is a lively discussion going on in Death Ends Fun Blog on the issue of denial of Canadian visa to an ex- Indian Boder security Force (BSF) member because the force has a record of violence.


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Iran: Protesters Clash with Security Forces on Anniversary of Election · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Witnesses in Tehran said  scattered clashes erupted on Saturday between Iran's security forces and demonstrators gathering at key sites to mark the first anniversary of a contested presidential election. It seems that Iranians – despite the request of the leading opposition figures to call off demonstrations – protested in a few places including the universities to defy the Islamic Republic regime one more time.
There was a heavy security presence in Ferdowsi Sqaure in the center of Tehran:
Behdabra  writes on Friendfeed that protesters clashed with security forces in Vali Asr street in Tehran, and lighted trash cans on fire.
Controversy on the number of protesters
While Iran Green Voice posted that 1000 of students from University of Tehran clashed with security forces, a reader left a comment: “Why do we lie, we become like them [Islamic government]. I was there and the number was about 50 people.”
Mean while United4Iran, a non-partisan global network of Iranian and non-Iranian individuals and human rights activists,  organized demonstrations in 70 cities around the world.
Protest in Sharif University in Tehran
Protesters chanted Allaho Akbar (God is Great).


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Iran: WordPress got filtered · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

BlogNews reports [fa] that WordPress got filtered in Iran on Sunday.BlogNews adds that it seems a mistake happened because all blogs using WordPress got filtered.