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Ecuador: Netizens Discuss Referendum on Constitution · Global Voices
Milton Ramirez

Last week, President Rafael Correa presented 10 questions in a consulta popular (“popular consultation” [es]), a referendum which amends several areas of the Constitution. The Latin American Herald Tribune explains:
This consulta will consist of 10 questions, ranging from opinions on the treatment of animals and gambling to constitutional changes such [as] support for changes to the Corte Consticional [Constitutional Court] and the proposed controversial Ley Orgánica de Comunicación, Libertad de Expresión y Aceso a la Información Pública [The Organic Law of Communication, Freedom of Expression and Access to Public Information]
The organism in charge of deciding the  constitutionality of the process is the recently created Constitutional  Court, which still struggles to get recognition as a legally seated body  after its automatic self-appointment to the Court back in October  28, 2008. The Constitutional Court has 45 days to qualify the constitutional validity of the questions.
President Correa handed out referendum questions this past Monday to Patricio Pazmiño, the president of Constitutional Court. Photo by Santiago Armas, used under a Creative Commons License.
Reactions from the blogosphere
Correa declared that the main goal  is to bolster the justice system's ability to fight crime, but José J. Zurita Andrade of Ces’t la Vie [es], who has read the 10 questions, does not see it that way:
1) No es una consulta que resuelve los temas de inseguridad, como se dijo que era el objetivo inicial; 2) votar NO en la consulta, no es votar en contra de Correa es votar a favor de la libertad individual de escoger, de triunfar o fracasar, de hacer el bien o hacer el mal.
Another well know blogger, Pitonizza [es], reflects on several areas of the referendum. She writes about her own experience as an example of why not having social security (IESS [es] by its initials in Spanish) should not be a crime as it is proposed on the referendum:
…Cuando me hice atender en embarazo en el Seguro -por obligación de la empresa en la que laboraba en ese entonces-. No habían ecógrafos, se monitoreaba a mi bebé con una corneta tipo cuernófono picapiedresco. El seguro privado que yo tenía entonces corrió con todos los gastos, venturosamente. Nuevamente, libertad de elección. A quien le parezca bien el IESS que lo elija, y a quien no, no debería ver mermado su sueldo pagando por un seguro que no es de su agrado personal.
In response to a column by Emilio Palacio in the newspaper El Universo [es], blogger Rafael Méndez defends [es] the referendum by clarifying some of Palacio's points. Rafael writes:
- la consulta no es para sacar a correa. Decir o insinuar lo contrario es demostrar mediocridad y mala leche
– efectivamente, se va a modificar la constitución, pero es por temas que tenían cola por culpa de la legislación existente y la constitución anterior”
Ecuadorians don't seem comfortable expressing their thoughts in favor of the referendum, even though 57% of them support it, according to a local pollster. An anonymous reader in the blog Ecuador Ecuatoriano [es] explains why he supports the referendum, in part:
Yo votare SI en la mayoria de las preguntas, no en todas como lo hara la mayoria de los ecuatorianos que NOOOO tienen acceso al internet pero q ya tienen acceso a lo que no tenian antes con Gobiernos en realidad corruptos como los montones de anteriores en la pasada decada
In the same blog another visitor [es] argues that it doesn't matter whether people choose to vote yes or no: Ecuadorians should vote consciously in accordance to their ideals, the readers suggests, because they are all looking to improve individually in order to improve the whole country, and adds:
Creo que el Gobierno ha hecho cosas positivas como ayudar a la educación, a la salud […], el arreglo de carreteras, quitar las tercerizadoras que lo único que hacían es robarle la mitad del sueldo al empleado. Obligar a que los empleadores afilien al IESS a sus empleados (aunque es cierto, el servicio debe mejorar, aún falta pero de poco en poco se lo va logrando con el apoyo de todos los que formarmo este país).
Silvi of Lunas Azules [es] (@silvilunazul) believes that it is unrealistic to completely agree or completely disagree with all the questions. She agrees in part with the referendum, to be precise, with the legislation to protect bulls from suffering in bullfighting:
Para no caer en la contradicción de deberle respeto sólo a quien puede razonar, debemos aceptar que el principio “no hacer sufrir” tiene su base en la capacidad de sentir dolor, no en la de discernir. Siendo así, cualquier especie capaz de sentir dolor tiene intereses, el instinto y el deseo de seguir viviendo y llevar una vida plena, exenta de sufrimiento.
Professor and journalist Ruben Dario Buitron [es] asks a key question on the role of Ecuadorian media in this  process: “Take sides or do journalism?”. He writes that it is  fundamental that journalists either take a stand on the issue or simply  do journalism. Professional media, he argues,  should develop a space where all citizens can express themselves,  debate, question, and propose ideas. Serene, balanced  and fair journalism is what the country needs now, concludes Buitron.
Reactions on Twitter
Ecuadorian Twitter users, through the hashtag #ConsultaEc [es], are also discussing the referendum. Pablo Garzon (@pgarzon), for example, believes,
Al final, RC busca legitimar su popularidad, nuevamente. El pliego de preguntas de la consulta es secundario.
While journalist Belen (@Belenper) thinks that everything is too complicated; she says she doesn't know anything about  law and that the questions are not clear enough as to be a referendum.
Rosa María Torres (@rosamariatorres) says she has already made a decision: she will not go to the polls that day and she would rather pay the fine. In Ecuador, voting is mandatory.
No apoyo la #consultaEC convocada por #Correa para enmendar la Constitución recién aprobada. Creo que no votaré. Pagaré la multa. #Ecuador
Carla Bonilla (@CarliBonilla) Tweets an equation that seems to be a general concern among Correa's opposition:
Consulta popular + reformas constitucionales = manipulación total
Correa has recognized that carrying out the referendum is going to be an uphill battle [es], and said the Constitution drafted in Montecristi in 2008 “is extremely good, ” but “if we see that something does not work, the faster you correct it, the better.”

author: Milton Ramirez


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Egypt: Friday is the Day of Anger  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

This post is part of our special coverage of Egypt Protests 2011.
The Egyptian Twittersphere is full of predictions of renewed demonstrations over the weekend. Dubbed the Million Egyptian March, Friday is expected to witness unprecedented protests across the country, despite government warnings that it would not tolerate any more unrest.
Mohammed Rasheed writes:
3arabawy adds that people of all walks of life are excited about the big day:
shop owners in the neighborhood r excited about tomorrow's protest. Laundry workers will join #jan25
@3arabawy continues:
friend called to say 2 of her friends will protest tomorrow. The couple work as investment bankers! Mubarak managed to alienate all classes.
Sarah Naguib rallies the masses:
We only managed it because we were THOUSANDS.no exaggeration. Small protests are useless. PLEASE, tomorrow, have patience and gather up
and sends a message to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, saying:
President Hosny Mubarak…Should your silence be taken as a sign of consent to the people? #Jan25
And Sandmonkey is all set:
Extra battery…check. New line with BB service not in my name… Check. Bring on tomorrow. #jan25
Demonstrations have rocked Egypt for the third day in a row, with thousands taking to the streets calling for political and economic reforms, as well as an end to Mubarak's 30-year rule.
Friday is a holiday in Egypt and the demonstrations are being planned for after the Friday prayers at noon.
News reports say (Ar) that the concerned government body has instructed preachers to call upon people to “obey the ruler.”
Nourhan responds:
The Muslim Brotherhood's announcement that they will be taking part in Friday's demonstration is also receiving mixed reviews.
Amr Ashraf reports:
The Muslim Brotherhood has called for its followers to demonstrate after Friday prayers — #CNN #Jan25 #25jan #Egypt #Cairo #Egyrevolt
CNN correspondent in Cairo Ben Wedeman tweets:
Muslim Brotherhood's call on supporters to join nationwide Friday protests could be decisive. #Jan25 #Egypt
Mohamed Abdo adds:
Meanwhile, Wael Abbas confirms that the number of protesters killed stands at eight:
number of dead in egypt now is 8
The demonstrations were coordinated following a call on Facebook, by the We are all Khaled Saeed group. The group is named after Khaled Saeed, a young man from Alexandria murdered at the hands of police. His death, last June, cause widespread demonstrations and rage against police torture and the ‘use of Emergency Law to terrorise citizens.” Had Khaled been alive, he would have been celebrating his 29th birthday today.
Many, on Twitter, paid tribute to Khaled, among them Gayed, who writes:
Today would have been Khalid saeed's 29th birthday. Let's not forget him and let the world understand why we are revolting !!! #jan25
Plans are also in place for demonstrations in front of Egyptian Embassies around the world. @3arabawy  pleads:
People around the world, plz picket #Egypt embassies tomorrow Friday in solidarity. #Jan25
This post is part of our special coverage of Egypt Protests 2011.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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Egypt: Reports of Police Brutality, Arrests and Live Ammuntion · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

This post is part of our special coverage of Egypt Protests 2011.
More reports are emerging of arrests and police harassment and brutality, as Egyptians rise for the for the third day in a row. There are also reports of deaths but the details and exact toll remain sketchy.
Dima Al Khatib announces:
DAY 3 of Egyptian Uprising: 1000 people arrested or more so far, according to independent legal sources  #jan25 #egypt
Ahmed Abd El-Fatah tweets:
Shawky Ragab adds:
And @shmpOngO notes:
They r arresting the injured protesters from hospitals #jan25 #egypolice
An Egyptian showing the bullet wounds on his back. Picture by Gigi Ibrahim
Gigi Ibrahim shares those injuries in this photograph and tweets:
I have one of those on my back..it still hurts http://yfrog.com/h290794515j #EgyPolice #Jan25 down with pigs!
And the Guardian‘s reporter in Cairo Jack Shenker, who was beaten and arrested alongside protesters in Cairo, files this harrowing recording while locked up in the back of a security forces truck with scores of protesters.
Meanwhile, Farrah reports on the use of a “yellow chemical spray” on protesters at a protest in Ismailia. She tweets:
Central forces in Ismaley-ya are currently spraying a yellow chemical
spray on protesters which makes them dizzy &lose thier balance #jan25
And Ian Lee, tweeting from a protest in Suez, writes:
Rocks fill the air. Protesters charging. Suez. Reports of live rounds being used. #jan25
This post is part of our special coverage of Egypt Protests 2011.


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Egypt: Twittering from the Rooftops · Global Voices
Ivan Sigal

This post is part of our special coverage of Egypt Protests 2011.
The Egyptian Twittersphere on #jan25 is thick with stories of the ongoing unrest. For observers, the rooftops have become a favored vantage. In Suez, Ian Lee @ianinegypt captures the feeling:
I'm shooting video from rooftops, too dangerous for foreigners on street. Numbers in thousands. #jan25 #suez
A lot of Twitter coverage on #jan25 is in English, suggesting that it is being used for amplification and international news purposes, rather than for organizational purposes on the ground. Metaphorically as well, social media present a rooftop vantage.
Jailan El-Rafie's tweet captures this mood. She translates, and then tweets about her English version of a descriptive essay by a filmmaker, Amr Salama.
Salama's story is itself a media event; both a graphic account the beating he took by police, and a self-observed and reported view of himself as demonstrator. He begins his story by identifying himself as playing a role:
The street was totally vacant of people, and in the horizon I could see a  mass of people. At first I thought they were protesters but then I  noticed that they all were dressed in black, coming in our direction and  holding black sticks. I remembered the scenes from old war movies, like  Braveheart and Gladiator, and I had the exact feeling of old battle  grounds, and I found myself one of the first people to run towards the  approaching lines of police.
Salama's story quickly turns grim. He changes roles, from action hero to war reporter to victim:
I had my dear iPhone in hand, and I was trying to take photos or record  videos, until I got surrounded by a large enough amount of soldiers who  started beating me ferociously with their sticks, delivering painful  blows on my head, face, stomach and legs.
As the beating continues, Salama is dragged off the street and beaten multiple times:
Then we entered a building, the nice soldiers escorting, he locked  the entrance, tripped my legs and got me on the ground, then started the  painful episode of vicious beating.
He reports that he begins to imagine himself as a social media martyr:
Visions about my family, how this was going to affect them, about the  movie that I hadn’t finished directing yet, about the page that would be  created about me on Facebook, and I wondered if it would have the title  “We all are Amr Salama”. I also thought about the statement the  Ministry of Interior would issue, saying that I must have died after  accidently swallowing my iPhone.
Saved by some of the soldiers, he is able to escape. He then pinpoints his motives:
I discovered that the most important thing is that I realized these  things, that I know why I was beaten, why I protested, and that I know  that without signs and complex political demands I understood why I  endured all this. I endured all this because I want a better Egypt, a  better Egypt without absolute ongoing power to anyone of its governors,  and a better Egypt without a large gap in social structure.
Nora Shalaby contributes a Flickr set that shows a different face of protest. Kinetic night images of crowds and celebrations.
"Mubarak hung from a pole," Nora Shalaby, 2010, all rights reserved. Used with permission.
Al Jazeera has pulled together a compilation of intense “Amateur video from the streets.” Included is a dramatic video by  malakndawood that shows protesters tumbling from a water truck.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OoKQLr439Ww&feature=player_embedded
MFMAegy's video, shot from the rooftoops, may be the greatest echo of famous protest imagery. This video from January 25 shows Egypt's Tiananmen moment, with a similar camera angle:
Screenshot of MFMAegy's YouTube video. A protester confronts a water cannon.
Screenshot of Wikipedia article showing Tiananmen Square "tank man."
This post is part of our special coverage of Egypt Protests 2011.

author: Ivan Sigal


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Egypt: What is Happening in Suez?  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

This post is part of our special coverage of Egypt Protests 2011.
The cry from the seaport town of Suez, 129km east of the capital Cairo, is loud and clear, as demonstrations across Egypt enter their third day.
Sketchy details are emerging of clashes with security forces, and the situation is all the more difficult to assess as telephone lines are jammed by the authorities, and scores of journalists and activists who are keeping the world informed of developments in Egypt have been arrested.
Abdelrahman Hassan tweets:
International media, #Suez is THE Egyptian #SidiBouzid! The people are being massacred by police RIGHT NOW, we need coverage! #Jan25
Mohamed Selim adds:
And Ammar Abdulhamid updates:
The question on the minds of those following the developments in Egypt is: What is happening in Suez?
Sarah Naguib tweets:
Anyone who knows anyone in Suez please try to get us information about the situation over there :S #jan25 #suez
Abdulhamid adds:

#Suez: mobile networks down, but not regular phone lines, so city not completely isolated. If u know ppl there, pls call, share info #jan25
And journalist Ian Lee is off to Suez to find out for himself what is happening there:
On my way to report on the events in Suez. Hopefully I won't be turned around at a police checkpoint. #jan25 #Egypt
Meanwhile, Hadeel Al-Shalchi, the correspondent for the Associated Press Middle East bureau, in Cairo, was in Suez yesterday, where she tweeted her experience.
In a series of tweets, she describes the situation there:
Suez is on fire #egypt #jan25
I'm in a house of screaming women #egypt #jan25 suez tear gas molotov cocktails bullets being fired
@alaa i know. from what i gather, suez was worse than cairo today in terms of violence. eyes still killing me from the gas!
@NaheedMustafa spent the day in suez and it turned super nasty at night. was gassed really badly, my head is throbbing. home in cairo now
The following video, from YouTube user superknight1100, shows a part of the demonstration in Suez from last night:
And this Facebook page (Ar), by Ruham Aldakkak, has a list of tweets, photographs and links on the developments in Suez.
This post is part of our special coverage of Egypt Protests 2011.


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Arab World: New Media and the Egyptian Demonstrations · Global Voices
Tarek Amr

This post is part of our special coverage of Egypt Protests 2011.
The Arab World is looking in awe at the developments unfolding in Egypt. Today, mainstream media is taking  a back seat, while citizen media triumphs.
While new media plays an important role in shaping people's opinions, new means of communication play an important role on the ground where they also help in organizing the masses in protests and demonstrations. Arab bloggers here are discussing the role of all these means in the ongoing protests in Egypt, where thousands of people are taking to the streets to call of political and economic reforms.
Moroccan blogger Hisham wrote here about the role of media in the demonstrations in Egypt. He focused how the new social media tools have been used in Egypt, like they have been used in Tunisia earlier this month.
Hisham made a reference to the Tunisian uprising that preceded the Egyptian one, and shed more light on the role of Twitter and Facebook there.
In fact, social media tools aren't only used as a way for communication between the protesters. But many traditional media outlets in the region as well as outside the region are either ignoring the protests or giving them minimal and inappropriate coverage.
Jordanian blogger, Osama Romoh, who hated how the traditional media all over the region dealt with the events in Egypt, decided to help in spreading the news by sharing links of whatever related news he could get his hands on, on his own blog.
The Egyptian government also resorted to censoring the Internet in order to disable the people from using such social media tools. However, Jordanian blogger, Roba Al-Assi, was still able to get the news from Egypt. She wrote here how new media has changed the way she, and many of her generation, consumes the news now.
She then continued.
Photo taken from the profile of @abanidrees on yfrog
And finally, Youssef wrote here about his anticipation for change in the whole region soon.
This post is part of our special coverage of Egypt Protests 2011.

author: Tarek Amr


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El Salvador: 19 Years Since Signing of Peace Agreements · Global Voices
Omar Nieto

Sunday the 16 of January marked another year of peace for the country of El Salvador. It has been 19 years since the signing of a peace agreement in Chapultepec, Mexico, which brought an end to a bloody civil war that had been going on since 1981. With the commemoration of the event came discussion. Political, economical and social commentators as well as bloggers have had something to say on the matter.
The two sides of the conflict were: the government of El Salvador, led at that time by the conservative party, the Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA), and the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN), a guerrilla organisation that is now a left wing political party.
The current Catholic Archbishop of El Salvador, José Luis Escobar Alas, stated that although the ceasefire was a “blessing from God,” Salvadorans had still not found peace, but it was not too late to achieve it.
“Lamentablemente no tenemos todavía una paz estable, firme, duradera, bien afincada, pero enhorabuena, estamos en un buen momento para ir hacia allá.”
Victor, a psychologist and well-know young blogger, comments in his blog Alta hora de la noche [es] that the people of El Salvador do not have a collective awareness of what peace means, as they have never experienced it. He states that the very concept of peace is stained with blood. It seems, he adds, that egotistical behaviour is the “natural state” of Salvadorans who, thanks to a social and cultural system that favours the strong and the powerful, consider the agreement to be a sign of weakness. In his opinion, building a culture of peace, especially among adults, appears to be an impossible task. But it is a task worth doing, he states, each one, fighting the battle, from their own trench.
¿Cómo hacer pues, para que las personas vuelvan su mirada con otros ojos a lo que ahora miran con desprecio?
¿Cómo cambiamos nuestra mirada, nuestra forma de interpretar el mundo?
¿Cómo desarraigamos de la raíz social aquellos comportamientos e ideas colectivas que constituyen una traba para nuestro caminar?
How can we change things so that people return the stares of those who look down on them?
How can we change our outlook, our way of looking at the world?
How can we remove, from the roots of society, those collective ideas and behaviour that shackle our progress?
Former President of El Salvador, Dr Armando Calderón Sol, in a statement to the media said that the peace agreements had “great merit” [es] in that they had allowed the country to be founded once again and had opened new doors for democracy.
“Los salvadoreños pasamos a una nueva etapa sin esa posición de vencedores y vencidos. El gran triunfador solo hubo uno, que fue el pueblo salvadoreño.”
In response to an article published in Contrapunto, an online news site, on the topic of the peace agreement, Ixqic, a lawyer, points out in her blog Xibalba [es] that it has been 19 years and there are still many things waiting to be done. She also remarks, with annoyance, that she is tired of hearing the vice-president of the republic and Minister of Education, Salvador Sanchez Cerén, asking for forgiveness, as if he did not understand what the meaning of peace was.
The political party the Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA) set up a debate panel this month to discuss the topic with Salvadoran youth [es]. Members of the panel included those at the negotiating table, which led to the signing of the peace agreement in Mexico. Representatives of the insurgency, Ana Guadalupe Martinez [es] and Salvador Samayoa were joined by government members form that time, including Oscar Santamaría, current advisor to the El Salvador Foundation for Economic and Social Development (FUSADES) [es] and a leader of ARENA, and David Escobar Galindo [es], lawyer, writer and rector of the Dr José Matías University [es].
It is important to point out that the panel representing the left have broken ties with the FMLN [es] party and are now members of or are affiliated with institutions that are considered right wing.
Comment on the ARENA [es] debate panel is given by Virginia [es] in her blog Doxa [es], in a post titled “Tentative Title: I went to a FUSADES conversation and all that I got was a sachet of sugar….” [es].
The author of the blog El Trompudo [es] reposted a blog entry [es] written last year on the 18 anniversary of the peace agreement. Written in collaboration with the blog Chichicaste, the post states that the country has gone backwards since the signing of the agreement. Exclusion and poverty, state the writers, are the same or worse than before, with a government which does not implement reform, and a party, the FMLN, [es] which has adapted to playing the electoral games of the right.
Celebramos las aspiraciones de la firma de los Acuerdos de Paz, aspiraciones de poseer las garantias de paz con justicia social, las que hasta ahora han sido negadas al pueblo salvadoreño.
LOS ACUERDOS DE PAZ NO HAY QUE CELEBRARLOS, HAY QUE RESCATARLOS!
We celebrated the aspirations that the peace signing brought, aspirations to have guaranteed peace in line with social justice, which up until now the people of El Salvador have been denied.
PEACE AGREEMENTS ARE TO BE RESCUED, NOT CELEBRATED!
Lastly, in the blog Eco Estudiantil [es], written by students from the faculty of Law and Social Sciences at the University of El Salvador [es], they criticise public sector workers of the current government and members of the FMLN [es] for forgetting their ideals and for forgetting what they fought for during the armed conflict. The students state that these people only recall the moment when the peace agreement was signed, which, they add, they do full of nostalgia, while the current situation of the country is serious. Today’s youth is urged, they say, to take on the historic role and be the builders of this new culture of peace that is so necessary in El Salvador.
La Paz que se anhelaba en aquella época era la de un cese a la guerra, la paz que se anhela actualmente es la de un cese a la delincuencia, cese a la pobreza, cese a la migración, cese a la exclusión, los jóvenes de todos los sectores deben ahora organizar, deben ahora liderar y ser los promotores de cambios sociales, deben ahora ser los protagonistas de llegar
For the people of El Salvador, the peace agreements marked a before and after in their country’s history. However, Salvadorans feel they have not been able to turn the opportunities that came from the accords into the necessary steps needed for moving the country forward.

author: Omar Nieto


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Iran: Remember “the little prince” · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Alireza Pahalvi's death shocked many people. Neo-Resistance writes about Alireza's life and death. Some called him “little prince” of Pahlavi's dynasty.

author: Fred Petrossian


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Iran:High school celebration before the Islamic Revolution · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Here is a video film about a celebration in a high school in Iran before the revolution. You can see girls without veil with their male classmates.


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Israel: Bloggers Eye Gaza as Egypt Unrest Spreads through Sinai · Global Voices
Gilad Lotan

This post is part of our special coverage of Egypt Protests 2011.
This is a summary of Israeli perspectives, blog posts, and media shared online over the last two days, in reaction to the unrest in Egypt. Referenced by Israeli sources as the ‘Egypt Intifada’, bloggers are looking closely at the spread of the violence into Sinai and the possibility of igniting violence in the Gaza Strip or the West Bank.
The recent JCPA post by Zvi Mazael describes Tunisia's domino effect and its spread in the region:
Egypt has a strong and stable government. Every political analyst starts with those words. This is true until the circumstances change, and they have. We are seeing a wholly new condition in Egypt and the Arab world. Tunisia's domino effect is alive and kicking. Tunisia's people's revolution is spreading like fire in a thorn field through the region.
Tzvi continues, describing the hesitant Egyptian opposition:
The large opposition parties have not called out to join the demonstrations and have not backed them. The Muslim Brotherhood announced that “a few of their leaders” will participate in riots in a symbolic way. It is known that the Egyptian security forces have warned the Brotherhood's leaders around the country from calling their supporters to join the riots. However it seems like the Muslim Brotherhood leadership is motivated by a different set of considerations, and estimate that it is not yet time to confront the leadership.
How does all this affect Israel and the US? Tzvi writes:
What does this mean for Israel and the USA, who have been worriedly following the turn of events, and are fearing for the stability of Egypt? It is still difficult to predict.
With that, it is important to state that up until now, neither Israel nor the USA have been mentioned in the demonstrations. Egyptians took the streets for democracy, human rights and to improve their living conditions. A new gov't will need to make economic and social reforms. American support will be more necessary than ever.
Additionally, there's no reason for Egypt to harm the existing peace agreement with Israel. I may be wrong, but it is without a doubt that the Tunisian revolution changed the Arab world. We will see the outcomes in the upcoming months.
The popular forum site, rotter.net, has been hosting a number of discussions about the events in Egypt.
As the fighting in the Sinai Peninsula spreads, an unconfirmed post claims protesters have taken over gov't facilities in Northern Sinai:
The link mentioned in the Tweet above, hosts a conversation describing the possibility that riots may fuel an uprising in Gaza:
Spread of the riots into sinai can bring the fire of demonstrations into the Gaza strip. Hamas might be tempted to think that it can help the people in their resistance towards the central gov't. It is also possible that terrorists operating under Al-Quaeda will try to send armed forces to operate in Sinai to add to the chaos in Egypt. I have no doubt that in this case, the Egyptians will react mercilessly. It it clear to them and to Hamas.
Hamas will allow itself to operate only if it is sure that the Egyptian wheel has turned, and that the gov't is dying.
In that same forum thread, a number of users portray their thoughts:
If he'd use even a little bit of the force that his army is capable of, the demonstrations would have stopped. I'm not trying to discount the riots, but only when the army switches to the opposition, will it be the beginning of the end of Egypt's current regime.
We're not there yet.
Another post describes recent actions the Egyptian religion ministry has taken in preparation for tomorrow's planned demonstrations:
- the religion ministry will postpone the Friday prayers to Sunday
– the Egyptian gov't is planning to disconnect internet connectivity in the whole of Egypt if the situation deteriorates tomorrow
– unverified information states Mubarak has taken command over the Egyptian security forces. In preparation for tomorrow he commanded that the army is ready to replace police forces across cities in Egypt.
– Egyptian gov't ordered media blackout tomorrow. Communications, water and electricity will be shut off.
Video footage posted on the Israeli video sharing site flix:
Two Israelis on holiday in Egypt who were caught in the heat of events reported by +972 Magazine:
When we suggested to an Egyptian friend affected by teargas that he buy onions and use it to diminish the affect of the gas, as we do in Israel and the Occupied Territories, he laughed. He then explained his salary is about 300 Egyptian pounds, and one kilo of onions is three pounds.
We got back to our hotel after being at the demonstrations all through the day. During the night, we could hear the protest continuing – people screaming and police vehicles driving through the streets.
This morning we woke up to find  the streets were quiet and full of policemen, but the Facebook page of the anti-government movement was very much alive.
We would be lying if we said we did not envy the Egyptian people: Seeing masses of people out on the streets to protest for what they believe in is something we, as Israelis, can only dream of now. And it is truly frightening to think that similar masses of Israelis will act only when have experienced the levels of oppression and rage that people are experiencing here.
This post is part of our special coverage of Egypt Protests 2011.

author: Gilad Lotan


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Jamaica, Cuba: Bye Bye, BBC · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Cambios en Cuba [ES] and Jamaica Salt both note with sadness the BBC's decision to cut parts of its Caribbean service in a bid to save money: “The expertise and the daily news that will be lost will have consequences far beyond the loss of  jobs and programmes.”

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Jamaica: “Dog-Paw”  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“The cliche that truth is stranger than fiction is true”: Active Voice interviews the author of Dog-Heart about parallels with the story of Christopher ‘Dog Paw’ Linton, who was recently arrested by Jamaican police.


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Jamaica: Wikileaks & “Dudus”  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Jamaica Salt says that Wikileaks only confirmed what people already knew about the Christopher “Dudus” Coke extradition, which “pretty much makes this whole Jamaican govt enquiry completely redundant (at a cost of JA 40 million), but they carry on regardless and the Jamaican people have to eat it.”


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Lebanon: ‘Day of Rage’ Shocks Bloggers · Global Voices
Antoun Issa

Thousands of supporters of deposed Sunni Prime Minister Saad Al Hariri took to the streets in a ‘day of rage‘ on Tuesday to protest the fall of their leader.
The worst of the scenes were in the predominantly Sunni city of Tripoli, where protestors burnt tyres, vehicles, offices, and attacked the media.
Hariri called for a day of angry protests after Hezballah and its allies forced his government to collapse, and through a parliamentary majority, have moved to form a government without Hariri as its head.
Hariri supporters burn posters of Druze leader Walid Jumblatt – via Mohammad Elrifai, Twitter: @moe_elrifai
If the protests were designed to generate support for Hariri's case, they appear to have failed at least on the blogosphere. Bloggers of all political persuasions expressed dismay at the violent behaviour and openly sectarian nature of the protests.
Rita Chemaly responded angrily to the protests:
I felt frustrated, ashamed and furious yesterday when I saw what happened during the riots, the riots for expressing the “rage” of some Lebanese! During the ” day of rage” as it was called by some people.
Destroying the live press car of Al-Jazeera?!
New TV,  girl being beaten and intimidated?!
By whom? The political party or force that usually claims the state of Law? The so called “ democracy”?
The state of law I live for, advocate for, and hope for? A state where the balance of things is equal to all?
The army not doing anything to stop the masses from burning a building where the press was trying to hide in?
A press-car, Burned and Destroyed?
Lebanon was always known for its Freedom of EXPRESSION and thought!!!
Sectarian banners again? Friends tell me, that this is Not true!!! Shiia/ Sunni? No way…I totally refuse such an equation!
Rami Zurayk at Land and People condemns Hariri's Future Movement for stirring sectarian strife:
Elsewhere in the Arab World, they demonstrate for freedom and in Lebanon they demonstrate for the sectarian leader.
Yesterday's events exposed the ugly face of the Future Movement and on the March 14 coalition: a small group of western-dressed neo-cons suavely wielding the most despicable sectarian discourse in order to control masses of poor people they themselves contribute to keeping in poverty, and whom they only remember when they need to pit them against another sect. For these people, humans are just numbers, both economically and politically.
Ghassan Karam at Ramblings calls for the sacking of Lebanon's entire political class:
Lebanon cannot be saved by those that have created the problem. All of the current crop of politicians needs to be fired. Are we up to the task? Don't hold your breath.
The AngryArab notes the double standard approach to Western media reporting of Hariri's ‘day of rage’, and Hezballah's brief display of manpower on the streets of Beirut last week:
Last week, Hizbullah men gathered peacefully while wearing black t-shirts in various parts of Lebanon.  They did not speak and stayed for an hour. The Western and Hariri press treated that as an assault on the city and its civility.  Watch and see how the Western press will treat the thuggish and Salafaite protests of today in Lebanon.
He continues by arguing that Hariri's overtly sectarian protests may have backfired by alienating any Christian support that remains for him, and ultimately pushing the Christians further into the Hezballah camp:
… mini-Hariri, instead of falsely posing as a statesperson, decided to play it thuggishly and it seems to have backfired.  They are clearly embarrassed as evidenced by the speech of mini-Hariri and they have scared off the Christian allies of Hariri Inc.  Gen. `Awn (the Christian ally of Hizbullah) was beaming today and this is why.  Christians still remember when the Hariri Inc sponsored a Salafi demonstration 4 years ago (?) against the Danish embassy in Beirut over the Danish cartoons and it went out of hand and the Salafite Harirites went wild attacking churches and residential buildings.
Whilst Mustapha at Beirut Spring chastises Hezballah and his Christian allies as hypocrites for undertaking the same violent approach in the past, he equally criticises Tuesday's protests for harming the brand of the Hariri-led March 14 coalition:
In reaction to that, Hezbollah and Aounist apologists did what they did best. They rose on a pedestal, wagged their fingers and started lecturing us about Sunnis being sectarian and thugs.
Oh please shut up. How can you blame them for being angry and behaving like that? If there is one lesson our country learned from Hezbollah, it’s that violence works.
Hezbollah used violence to secure the Doha veto by virtually blocking an entire city for almost two years. They cowed Walid Jumblat by physically assaulting his people, and they scarred the Beiruties by sending their armed thugs into peaceful neighborhoods and imposed their wills.
If there’s anything those demonstrations are saying, it’s this: This is not a level playing field. The people with the guns are the ones who are winning every time. Maybe we should play their game for once.
Mr. Hariri should be very careful about controlling his die-hard supporters. I’m talking about the kind that is in it for Sunni domination and whose idea of protest is to curse the vaginas of the sisters and mothers of opposing politicians.
Although they provide feet on the ground, they are a threat to the March 14 brand and they risk alienating people like Dana who will probably stay home during the next demonstration.
MarillionLB at For a Better Lebanon also shares empathy with the anger felt by protestors, but deplores violence as a means to express it:
I can understand the anger and the frustration, but I cannot accept the similarities (save the detail of armed thugs) with what I condemned vehemently in 2008; the similarities were there for me to condemn. Yes “sticks and stones will not break my bones” as the saying goes, but this does not in any way justify stooping to their level and falling into their well laid trap. All that was missing was the herd of mopeds, AK47’s, RPG’s, and militia uniforms. This does not make the impact any less gruesome and worrying.
Graffiti art in Beirut turns political – by Matthew Cassel on Yfrog (via Beirutspring.com)
Sean at The Human Province gives a much deeper analysis by emphasising Lebanon's structural flaws as at the core of its continued instability:
So this leads back to the initial question of what the problem is. One could point to the STL, but really, that’s just the catalyst. It could just as easily be another issue, as it has been in the past, and it will be something else later down the road. The problem here is structural. In order to accommodate the National Pact and the Ta’if agreement,  this paralyzing “consensus” has become an unwritten rule.
Personally, I think the idea of “no victor, no vanquished,” which has been used to justify paralyzed governments of “national unity,” is stupid — at least when it comes to coalition politics. I think the best thing for Lebanon would be to have a proper government and proper opposition, meaning when one side loses, they bow out of government leaving their opponents to govern and trying to do better in the next elections.
Political analyst Elias Muhanna at Qifa Nabki echoes similar sentiments by adding his support for a majoritarian democracy, and an end to the notion that a consensus must be reached within each sect to form government.
While I sympathize with those who chafe at the hypocrisy of March 8th’s newfound majoritarian impulses, I strongly support the democratic principle that legitimizes Hizbullah’s current move. The March 8th coalition is now Lebanon’s parliamentary majority. They should have the right to bring down this government and form their own. Governments fall all the time, all around the world. This should be able to happen in Lebanon without sparking sectarian protests.
On a slightly more abstract note, I found myself wondering today (as I did back during the 2006-08 constitutional crisis), what effect the majority coalition’s pro-democracy rhetoric would have on Lebanon’s political culture in the long term. The fact that we’ve seen both sides of the political divide appealing to a majoritarian logic within the space of six years seems significant to me. No?
Obviously, what I would like to see happen is for this new method of choosing prime ministers (and speakers) to be enshrined in the Constitution, such that we don’t keep flip-flopping between consensual and majoritarian procedures every other year. A precedent has been set. Let’s stick with it. But you can bet that won’t happen.
American blogger on Middle Eastern politics, Andrew Exum, warns on his blog Abu Muqawama of the danger posed by Israel now that Hezballah has taken the lead role in government:
I want, though, to focus on how this plays into the way another war between Hizballah and Israel might look. Israel, since the conclusion of the Lebanese Civil War, has always held the government of Lebanon responsible for the actions of Hizballah. In the 1993's ‘Operation Accountability,” for example, Israel said it was bombing southern Lebanon in part to coerce the governments of Syria and Lebanon to rein in Hizballah. (Why the Israelis thought Hafez al-Asad cared about people dying in southern Lebanon, Dear Reader, is as much a mystery to me as it is to you.) In 1996's “Operation Grapes of Wrath,” meanwhile, Israel actually gave us a foretaste of the 2006 war by targeting Beirut and Lebanese infrastructure (such as power stations), again in an effort to get the government of Lebanon to crack down on Hizballah.
But Israel's habit of hitting Beirut gets a little less crazy each year. In 1993 and 1996, it made no sense to target the government of Lebanon. By 2006, though, Hizballah was in the government of Lebanon — or was at least holding seats in parliament. And now, Hizballah has formed its first government in Lebanon, which — and Paul Salem is right here — probably makes the organization a little nervous. There are huge risks associated with this. In another war, for example, Israel will be able to claim — for the first time, really — that Hizballah is Lebanon, and Lebanon is Hizballah. Since Hizballah controls the government, any attack on the institutions of the state — to include the US-equipped Lebanese Armed Forces — will be legitimate. And even people like me, who genuinely love Lebanon and its people and do not like to see either bombed, will not have much of an argument for why Israel should not.
Calm has since been restored to Lebanon following a day of ugly scenes, but the country holds its breath as to what lies ahead.

author: Antoun Issa


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Lesotho: My visit to Lesotho · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Sue blogs about her visit to a school in Lesotho called Leseli (the light) begun by Kieke Van der Zwaal. Leseli School started in Kieke’s gara

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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Madagascar: Can you sketch journalism? · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Bunmi writes about Bastien Dubois from Madagascar who has been nominated for an 2011 Academy Award in the category of animated short


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North Koreans Reportedly Consume the Foot-and-Mouth Disease Infected Cattle. · Global Voices
Lee Yoo Eun

Reports have come out from NGO groups that North Korea, as well as South Korea, may hit hard by the foot-and-mouth disease. A more gruesome report[ko] came out from Open Radio for North Korea, a radio station founded and runs by North Korean defectors, that starving North Koreans are eating the infected cattle.

author: Lee Yoo Eun


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Russia: “Anonymous Bomb” and “Random Scapegoats” of Domodedovo · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

In the aftermath of the Jan. 24 suicide bombing at Moscow's Domodedovo Airport, which killed at least 35 people and left over 100 wounded, some Russophone bloggers are once again discussing the ominous patterns that grow more and more obvious with each new major terror attack in Russia.
LJ user dolboeb posed two questions (RUS) to his readers on Jan. 25: “Who must be held responsible for the terror attack at Domodedovo?” and “Who will be held responsible for the terror attack at Domodedovo?” More than 3,000 people have responded so far, and below are the current results (RUS) of this poll:
Who must be held responsible for the terror attack at Domodedovo?
The airport's managers – 941 (13.2%)
Interior Ministry's bosses – 1,944 (27.4%)
Domodedovo region's authorities – 165 (2.3%)
Police and security service officers who where on duty at the airport at the time of the attack – 1,420 (20.0%)
The country's leaders – 2,086 (29.4%)
Ramzan Kadyrov – 551 (7.8%)
***
Who will be held responsible for the terror attack at Domodedovo?
Nobody – 784 (26.5%)
Random scapegoats – 2,091 (70.7%)
Everyone who is to blame – 83 (2.8%)
@akazakov linked (RUS) to a blog post by LJ user graf-alter, written right after the Moscow subway blasts of March 29, 2010:
http://bit.ly/dOZf0r – observations made after the subway blasts, nine months ago. Fits today's situation 100%, every single letter of it.
Here is some of what LJ user graf-alter wrote (RUS) back in March 2010:
Explosions in our country have a number of special features […]:
- Following a terror attack, no one claims responsibility for it, and no demands are being made. Which is very unusual compared to the practice of terror elsewhere in the world. Because we know the names of all sorts of Basque, Palestinian and other terrorist groups due to the well-established phrasing used in the news: “a blast occurred in the city of NN; terrorist group NN has claimed responsibility for it, demanding NN.” Here, bombs are anonymous.
- Investigation usually declares certain bandits already killed in the course of a “special operation” as masterminds of the explosion. […]
- Rarely, investigations of explosions reach trial stage. These trials appear very pathetic and unconvincing. The names of those who ordered [the attack] never surface, and only those who carried it out – not the principal players, though – end up being named. Information revealed during the hearing about the suspects’ contacts with the secret services is somehow never of interest to the court. As the hearing proceeds, cases against lawyers who “attempted to bribe the investigators,” etc., are being opened. […]
- Explosions usually occur during periods when the secret services’ position weakens or when they are being criticized by the public. Or before the elections.
[…]
An old, scratched vinyl record, it's making hissing sounds but continues to play.
A few dozen souls who had nothing to do with this music are off to heaven again.
And here is a post (RUS) written by the same blogger after the Domodedovo Airport blast:
[…] “God, forgive me for my personal daily contribution to the filling made of hatred that this bomb contained.”
This is how it should sound in a society of thoughtful, mature people. A utopia, of course. An ideal. […]
A utopia, indeed.
On Jan. 25, Moscow-based LJ user nataly-kuzmina re-posted a highly disturbing YouTube video that was initially shared on Jan. 22 by LJ user azadovsky (who describes himself as a Moscow-born, Moscow-based “Russian”). The video features a little boy, who is wearing a “Chechnya: Resisting the Russian Invasion” t-shirt (these words are written in Turkish: “Çeçenistan: Rus İşgaline Direniyor”) – and is talking to an unseen adult male, saying this (as quoted by nataly-kuzmina), among other things:
Would you like an ice cream or a gun? – A gun!
What do you need a gun for? – To kill Russians!
The blogger concludes:
[…] Is there anyone else here who still wishes to be tolerant? […]
In another post-Domodedovo bombing entry, she writes:
[…] I don't want to, I'm scared to live in this country. There's nothing to lose here, except life. And it's easy to life here – the state is working hard on it […].
And here is what LJ user z-abdullaeva – a Moscow-based woman, too, whose “roots” (RUS), however, are in Dagestan, and who grew up in Grozny, Chechnya – wrote right after the news of the Jan. 24 attack began to appear:
35 people [dead]
On blogs, they are talking about 70.
I'm waiting.
I don't feel like reading anything.
Our [folks from the Caucasus] will now turn out [to be responsible for the attack] again.
Suitcase – train station – Canada?
* Mood: pessimistic
And a couple more comments from the same blogger and one of her LJ friends:
z_abdullaeva:
Here they're always eager to have us, people from the Caucasus, to bear the collective responsibility…
***
greenarine:
Tell me, how do they immediately recognize a North Caucasian appearance on a thoroughly blown-up person? He must have left a Quran with Russian translation somewhere nearby, right? And a passport with Grozny registration.
Will have to move stealthily around the city again for a while.
z_abdullaeva:
[…] I'd also like to make some noise about this issue, but I know that my fellow countrymen are capable of this. Alas. I don't have any illusions about it…
Shura Burtin writes more (RUS) on the issue of “anonymous bombs” on his blog at the Russkiy Reporter news magazine, explaining that it's now crucial to get “people to start talking, not shooting” at each other:
I had already expressed this seditious idea – that it's necessary to negotiate with rebel fighters. The answer was [“No”]. I feel that this is a completely irresponsible type of morality, and people who talk this way couldn't care less about those who were killed and their families. Moreover, it's nothing but a substitution of notions, because the original meaning of this principle is that the terrorists’ demands shouldn't be met – in order not to encourage new acts of terror. But the problem here is that it's been a long time since suicide bombers from the Caucasus demanded anything from us.
We should realize that a civil war has been going on for many years in our country, in the North Caucasus – almost like in Afghanistan or Iraq. And it's not a metaphor. According to the data from open sources, 1,710 people were killed and wounded in armed confrontations in 2010. And these figures have been deliberately understated […].
[…]
The Russian society has to decide what we want: war or peace. If we want peace, then the process of making peace has to begin. And there's only one way to make peace – which is to start making peace. […] The state has to stop thinking in the “us vs them” terms, it has to recognize this conflict as social insanity that has to be treated. It's important to understand that all parties in this war are Russian citizens. The reason for this war isn't the mythical international terrorism, but our own domestic conflict. This is a tragedy, a mistake, a result of the lack of dialogue and mutual understanding between segments of our society. All parties in this conflict have their own truth – and the task is to help them reach a consensus. […]
Olga Allenova – LJ user allenova, a special correspondent for the Kommersant daily, author of Chechnya is Close: War Through the Eyes of a Woman (RUS), a collection of the 1999-2007 war reportage from Russia's North Caucasus region – has not yet written anything about the Domodedovo tragedy on her blog. But she returned from a trip to Dagestan on Jan. 21, just a few days before the airport blast, and posted a short entry (RUS) about the oppressive atmosphere there and how the local people are coping with it:
I'm back from Dagestan, feeling as if I was at a war – but didn't get to see the war itself. I saw people who had someone [from the family] killed. Saw machine guns in the hands of plainclothes special forces officers. I was shocked by a story told by my good acquaintance Timur: his friend Magomed's brother, a riot police officer, had been killed, and on the day his brother's body was brought home, Timur's neighbors were also awaiting a body – of the man who had killed Magomed's brother. Timur says he feels that the ring keeps narrowing, and the war is now right outside his house.
But if you are driving around the republic, everything looks quiet. People are selling things at the market, go shopping, get married, have children. Perhaps, this is the meanest type of war, when you don't see the actual threat.
What shocked me most was that people remained human even in such conditions. Hospitable, polite, well-mannered – most of the people I met were like this. Even those not very educated – village police officers, for example – but they were still very friendly.
I asked one – “How do you live here, why aren't you leaving?” (he does have a place to go). He replied: “Sooner or later we'll all die, and it's better [to die] at home while trying to do something [good], rather than somewhere far away, like a vegetable.”
There is something to learn from the Dagestanis.

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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Russia: Domodedovo Bombings Expose Imbalance Between Traditional and Social Media · Global Voices
Gregory Asmolov

Domodedovo International Airport , photo by Flickr-user swperman
In most recent emergencies, the new media proved to be a significant source of first-hand information. Although the Domodedovo bombing wasn't much different in this regard, the role of new media here was corroded by sophisticated manipulations.
Frustration with mass media coverage
Russian media reports on an attack in Moscow metro in 2010 and recent blast in Domodedovo International Airport raised a question if Russian traditional media are capable to provide adequate coverage of this type of events. In March 2010, bloggers already expressed their outrage [RUS] about the fact that most TV channels didn't stop entertainment programs with breaking news broadcasting. The same scenario repeated in Domodedovo.
Blogger Netdogg wrote [RUS] that the quality journalism in Russia was eliminated and replaced by relaxing PR. Famous blogger Alexey Navalny suggested [RUS] that the event symbolized the end of traditional media:
Прямо сейчас мы наблюдаем окончательную смерть телевидения и традиционных СМИ как источника оперативной информации в кризисной ситуации. Информационные агентства, радио и тот же телек. Все цитируют сообщения из твиттера. Первый раз я об этом подумал, когда там транслировались “события на Манежной”, сейчас это стало очевидно. Первые полтора часа есть только твиттер.
As described by Alexey Sidorenko, Twitter and other social media platforms provided a lot of first-hand information, photos and videos that were re-published and broadcast later by traditional media. Blogger Rokoto conducted [RUS] detailed analysis of media coverage of the Domodedovo attack and argued that with Twitter one could get information as fast as president. “Slon” news portal made comparative analysis and wrote [RUS] that “TV channels totally lost the first hour and a half when people found information, photo and video on the Internet.”
But the role of social media should be evaluated not only in terms of their  impact on traditional media, but also its influenced on the content of the coverage.
The case of taxi drivers
One of the major stories circulated on social media was an allegation that taxi drivers raised prices [RUS] for a ride from the airport to Moscow. The information triggered not only angry reaction in the blogosphere, but also an active bloggers’ response. Hashtags #dmdhelp and #freetaxi were set up to organize help with transport and list of phone numbers of social media users who are ready to give a free ride to passengers were distributed online.
The first disproofs of this rumor appeared within the first minutes but were silenced by the bloggers’ rage towards taxi drivers.
Few hours later, popular blogger Rustem Adagamov (drugoi) published under a title “Civic solidarity” [RUS] a Reuters’ photo of three young ladies standing at the airport with hand-written signs: “Free ride to metro.” But Bloggers stated that the women were activists of the infamous Kremlin youth movement “Nashi.” Another well-known blogger Anton Nossik claimed [RUS] that the assistance to passengers was another PR action of the activists who already tried to use emergency situations for political purposes. Adagamov responded [RUS] by saying that any collective action made by a political group in Russia is labeled as a window dressing and people miss the fact that actual assistance from any person or a group is valuable. Others mentioned [RUS] that “Nashi” were not the only ones to offer help.
And still, the situation with the taxi drivers wasn't clear. One of the drivers who published his phone online and went to Domodedovo wrote [RUS] that the only calls that he received were either from journalists or contained threats. Ilya Varlamov went to Domodedovo and testified [RUS] that the highest price was not more than usual $100. Besides, he reported, “almost immediately, ‘Aeroexpress’ (the train from Domodedovo to Moscow – G.V.) offered a free ride to passengers.”
Ilya Barabanov, deputy editor of liberal magazine “The New Times” suggested [RUS] that “the taxi drivers’ case” was a plain political manipulation[RUS] :
Идея: перевести гнев с ментов и чекистов, которые прососали теракт, на таксистов – могла сработать. И твитили нашисты, политонлайны
The idea:  transfer the anger from police and security agencies that failed to stop the terrorist attack to the anger toward taxi drivers – it could work. And those who twitted (information about the increased prices – G.V.) were “Nashi” activists and Politonliners (propagandist social media aggregator – G.V.).
Barabanov acknowledged that he was not able to find any significant first-hand evidence to his claim. He explained [RUS] why the manipulation could be done easily, or one particular case could grow out of its proportion:
Журналисты-информационщики сегодня брали по максимуму и оперативно все и из соц.сетей. В такой запаре времени проверять нет.
Unbalance between traditional and social media
There is no proof that the story of taxi drivers was a political manipulation from the start. The perceived picture could be explained by the nature of the new media. The effect of the new media was so powerful because of the information vacuum caused by both mainstream media editorial policy (to minimize the coverage) and authorities’ information policy (to limit the access of media to the scene of the attack). On the other hand, we could see that social media (because of its personalized nature) tended to be dramatic and easily spread rumors and unverified information.
As Zyalt concluded [RUS]:
В блогах все обсуждают, как Твиттер заменяет СМИ. К сожалению, СМИ он не заменяет. […] СМИ просто не может дать в эфир сомнительную информацию, поэтому картинка там не такая яркая, как в блогах и Твиттере. Поэтому у многих создается ошибочное представление, что в СМИ недоговаривают всей правды, врут и умалчивают факты. Зато в Твиттере все пишут правду.
Coverage of the Domodedovo bombing not only revealed problems but also provided solutions. First of all, social media has a certain level of self-awareness. It not only covered the events, but also discussed the coverage. Moreover, we can see that some bloggers (e.g. Varlamov) made attempts to get more first-hand information on the spot.
But the self-accountability of social media can’t be sufficient for its sustainability as a news source. According to Anton Nossik, it has to be supported by traditional media:
Мы не будем узнавать новости из Твиттера ни сегодня, ни через 10 лет.
СМИ будут узнавать новости из соцсетей, и нам докладывать. На то они и СМИ. А Твиттер с Фейсбуком были, есть и останутся сырьём для их работы.
In Russia, the traditional media are not capable of fulfilling their duty as a tool of information balance. Despite the fact that in the time of emergency the demand for information is increasing, the Russian media, especially TV, made artificial efforts to minimize its role trying to reduce the psychological impact of the terrorist attack on the population. The idea that the media should stop to “make PR for terrorists by covering the attacks” [RUS] is popular not only among Russian authorities, but also among media consumers. But minimizing the coverage has quite opposite effects. It creates informational vacuum and leaves more space for Internet-based rumors which, in turn, increases panic and dramatization.
Plus, since the authorities limit the access of traditional journalists to the scene of the attack, the major source of visual information is user-generated content.
Not only traditional media, but also the authorities themselves did nothing to avoid information vacuum. In a country where the president and many officials use Twitter, one could expect that in the emergency situation these channels will be used to provide credible information when it is especially important. There is no doubt that any tweet that comes from official person with any information about the situation would be re-tweeted hundreds of times and it would provide some more certainty and balance.
While all government-Twitterers ignored this channel of information, the only “official” Twitterer to realize this was @KermlinRussia, popular president's fake account. Several minutes after the bombings, he ceased his ironic style and started to post real, verified and needed information.
Anton Nossik concluded [RUS] on a relatively optimistic note:
Что же касается телевидения — оно умерло не тогда, когда его бригада опоздала на 2 часа в «Домодедово». Оно умерло, когда захотело за нас решать, что мы хотим смотреть: новости, сериал или «Большую стирку». В 2011 году такие решения принимает зритель.
Aside from both old and new media, as well as authorities, the society, the fourth important actor, had influenced the observed media effects. The media problem is not only a matter of journalistic professionalism or the policy of the authorities, but also the problem of the society. In an emotional post angry-ksen described [RUS] the atmosphere of apathy among the majority of her Moscow friends:
Сегодня в Москве произошёл «очередной теракт». Это уже даже не новость. Это меньше, чем новость. Это – само собой, как сугробы зимой, отключенная вода летом, опаздывающие троллейбусы и стервозные продавщицы. Это не новость, потому что это нечто обыденное. Ну, взрыв. А у меня, между прочим, чайник кипит. Или мне, как говорится, чаю не пить? <…>Несколько человек посоветовали мне не смотреть новости, чтобы не портить себе настроение. Ещё несколько сказали, что новости всё равно не смотрят и посему настроение у них постоянно-стабильно великолепное.<…> Меньше умерло сегодня в Домодедово, чем нас уже давно неживых ходит по Москве.

author: Gregory Asmolov


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Sudan: What will be the new name for Southern Sudan? · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

This post is part of our special coverage South Sudan Referendum 2011.
A referendum took place in Southern Sudan from 9 January to 15 January 2011 on whether the region should remain a part of Sudan or become Africa's new independent state.
As of 27 January 2011, preliminary results showed that 98.81% of voters are in favor of secession while 1.19% are in favor of unity. Final results will be announced early February.
Since it is almost certain that Southern Sudan will secede, what will be the new name for Africa's new child? In this podcast, Marvis Birungi talks to the Minister of Information of Southern Sudan, Dr. Barnaba Marial Benjamin, about the country's name, anthem, flag and emblem. Dr. Benjamin sits on the steering committee which is working on the name of the country among other issues.
Maggie Fick, blogging from Southern Sudan, posts links to interesting articles that have delved into a variety of referendum-related topics:
Now that I’m on a reporting trip in Northern Bahr al Ghazal state—away from the referendum fever that has continued to reign in Juba—I’ve been slowly working through a stockpile of interesting articles from the past week or so that have delved into a variety of referendum-related topics, including the looming process of nation-state formation in the south. Although I’m too disorganized to commit to a weekly round-up post on my blog, find below a basic “links I dug” plus quotes from these articles that made me think. Given the slow ‘net speed where I am (plus my blog-technology-ineptitude), I’m simply pasting the URLs below instead of hyperlinking them; I realize this is unacceptable in the blogosphere so sorry for this.
Dadakim is amazed by a huge turnout rate of 97.6% of Southern Sudan voters in Dallas, Texas. She writes, “I’ve never heard of an election with such high participation rates (even in Australia, where voting is compulsory).” She continues:
I tried to learn as much as I could about the people who didn’t show up to vote. One woman had come up from Houston on Saturday with all the documents she used to register to vote (including her passport). She had lost her registration card and was hoping these documents would convince the polling staff to allow her to vote. Just as the rules required, she was turned away. Another woman came to the center with the registration card of her relative (as well as her own). She wanted to cast a vote for him because he was in jail. She too, was denied her request (she was, of course, allowed to cast her own vote). There were stories of others deployed in the US Army, sick and in hospital, or others who had lost their registration cards.
Suleiman Rahhal, Chairman of Nuba Mountains Democratic Forum, asks, “Why Are The Nuba Protesting?” Nuba is a collective term used for the peoples who inhabit the Nuba Mountains, in the states of Southern Sudan.
He argues that the Nuba need to be given the right to self-determination:
The indigenous people of the Nuba Mountains are extremely concerned that international concentration on South Sudan’s independence referendum has meant other crucial aspects of Sudan’s so-called Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) have been neglected.  The CPA stopped the brutal civil war in the South, Nuba Mountains and Blue Nile, and as such was initially greatly welcomed by people of the Nuba Mountains, despite failing to recognise their claims and their aspirations.  However, the CPA does not only apply to the South. Separate protocols call for a referendum in the disputed Abyei district and for “popular consultation” in the two contested areas, the states of South Kordofan and Blue Nile.  The Nuba had for long years been voicing their deep concern over their lack of collective rights, including the crucial right to self-determination.
Their claim for self-determination, he notes, is based on their long history of political and economic marginalization:
The fact that Nuba were not present at the peace talks meant their claims were brushed away and compromised. For example, the historical name on the world maps ‘Nuba Mountains’ which has great meaning to the Nuba people. During the peace talks the name was replaced by Southern Kordofan, so as to accommodate the Messiriya Baggara tribe of the former state of West Kordofan, which was incorporated into the new state.  The right of self-determination is at the core of the Nuba’s claims. This claim for self-determination is based on their experience of struggle as part of the SPLA/M; long history of political and economic marginalisation; ethnic, religious and cultural discrimination; dispossession of land, tradition and customs and finally poor education, political and economic opportunities since independence 1956. These are the factors which led to the conflict in the Nuba Mountains.
Responding to Suleiman's post, Samani says that the arguments he put forward are both ludicrous and illogical:
If every group of people that see themselves as ‘cohesiveness and distinctiveness’ called for self-determination or Secession then there would be no need for countries and we should all go back to live as tribes ! Other then Israel no other country in the world is based on race, ethnicity or religion. Surely Mr. Suleiman Rahhal if you are Sudanese and Muslim you would be familiar with our belief that God created us different so we mix, integrate and utilize each others differences, cultures and experiences to better mankind. How many distinct peoples and groups live in the Sudan (North) today, would you suggest each group ask for self determination.
Another reader, David Barsoum, disagrees with Suleiman's position. He says that the Nuba are part of the whole Sudanese fabric:
What intirgues me in Rahal’s argument is how”exclusive” he is?He draws the”Nuba” out of context altogether,and restricts them to Nuba Mountains,thus severing any ties with the other parts of Sudan,this is contrary to history. Where did these Nuba come from and what links them to North Sudan do not feature in his thoughts. Well historically these Nuba are related to the Nuba of the North and if they withdrew to where they are before after the collapse of the ancient kingdoms of the North,it was for reasons best explained by the historians, notably, Basil Davidson.This is as far history is concerned. The Nuba are part of the whole Sudanese fabric,researchers have been trying to identify lingustic similarities between the languages of the Nuba Mountains and the present day language of the Nubians in the North.
Giorgio Musso wonders if the referendum would trigger the quest for self-determination in Africa and the rest of the world:
Among the many issues which are being discussed in the aftermath of Southern Sudan’s self-determination referendum, the “domino effect” which could be triggered in Africa and the rest of the world is one of the most worrisome. Analysts and journalists have warned that from Western Sahara to Nepal, from Zanzibar to Mindanao, secessionist movements and guerrillas could draw further strength from the success of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A).  As a matter of fact, the eventuality of a secessionist wave seems unlikely if we consider the situation with a more balanced attitude: fears of a domino effect have been a constant during similar events in the past, but the independences of Eritrea, Timor-Leste and Kosovo have not shaken the world as they were expected to do.
Finally, Sudan Vote Monitor, an initiative that utilizes information and communication technology to support independent monitoring and reporting of the referendum, has released a summary report  for January 13 – 20:
Reports from January 13 – 15 (while voting was still taking place) are mostly positive, with reports indicating a peaceful voting process in Khartoum, Juba, Eastern Equatoria, Northern Bahr ElGhazal an
This post is part of our special coverage South Sudan Referendum 2011.


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Syria: Internet Users Race to Support Egyptian Protesters · Global Voices
Anas Qtiesh

This post is part of our special coverage of Egypt Protests 2011.
Baladna daily homepage hacked. Egyptian protests news posted.
As protests to take down the Mubarak regime in Egypt rage on, Syrians are rushing to aid the protesters in every way they can. Damascus Bureau reported that hackers took over the website[ar] of Baladna Daily and left a message saying: “We will not allow a media blackout in regards to what's going on in Egypt. Here are some headlines about what's happening in Egypt.”
Maurice Aaek, a blogger and journalist, is dumbfounded[ar] to see state-run dailies publishing misinformation about the motives and demands of the protesters:
عددت البعث جميع مطالب الجماهير (من الاحتجاج على الأوضاع الاقتصادية إلى طرد السفير الاسرائيلي ووقف تصدير الغاز) دون المرور على المطلب الأساس الذي تنادي به الجماهير المحتشدة منذ يومين وهو رحيل الرئيس المصري حسني مبارك.
A few Syrian bloggers dedicated their blogs[ar] to distribute news about the protests, and a group of them came together to create a blog[ar] for the sole purpose of publishing the latest protests’ news around the clock. Ahmad AbulKheir posted instructions[ar] on how to access Facebook and Twitter using HTTPS and a Firefox addon called https-everywhere, after the sites were allegedly blocked in Egypt in an attempt to stop the outpour of updates.
Of course, Twitter played a main role in displaying support and relaying information and calls for action. Omar Mushaweh reported some intriguing plans in Syria:
"Syrian activists call for a protest in front of the Parliament on February 5th.
And Yassin rather poetically tweeted:
Three moments we must experience in a lifetime: Sunrise after a week of rain, the birth of a child, and witnessing the downfall of a tyrant.
This post is part of our special coverage of Egypt Protests 2011.

author: Anas Qtiesh


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Syria: State Media Propaganda In Regards To Tunisia and Egypt · Global Voices
Anas Qtiesh

Syrian Blogger Maurice Aaek found[ar] that state-run media in Syria is publishing false information and half-truths about the protests in Tunisia and Egypt. He found that Tishreen daily left out the reason Ben Ali left leaving it open to interpretation, and that Al-Baath daily stated that the protests in Egypt are demanding the expulsion of the Israeli ambassador, completely leaving out the demands that Mubarak must step down.


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Uganda: Gay Rights Activist Found Murdered · Global Voices
Rebekah Heacock

Ugandan gay rights activist David Kato was found murdered yesterday, just weeks after winning a court case against a local newspaper that had called for Ugandans to “hang” homosexuals.
Kato was an advocacy officer for gay rights group Sexual Minorities Uganda, which published a press release reading:
David was brutally beaten to death in his home today, 26 January 2011, around 2pm. Across the entire country, straight, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex Ugandans mourn the loss of David, a dear friend, colleague, teacher, family member, and human rights defender.
David has been receiving death threats since his face was put on the front page of Rolling Stone Magazine, which called for his death and the death of all homosexuals. David’s death comes directly after the Supreme Court of Uganda ruled that people must stop inciting violence against homosexuals and must respect the right to privacy and human dignity.
Uganda has been in the news for gay rights issues since October 2009, when Member of Parliament David Bahati tabled a bill that would provide for life imprisonment or the death penalty for not only homosexuals but also anyone found to be supporting or promoting gay rights.
The proposed bill has stirred up considerable anti-gay sentiments in Uganda, including the publication by local newspaper Rolling Stone [no relation to Rolling Stone Magazine] of a list of 100 suspected homosexuals and their addresses.  Kato was on the list, and his face was on the paper's front page.
Photo via Gay Uganda.
Bloggers across Africa are mourning Kato's death and speaking up in support of Uganda's gay community.  Sokari of Black Looks writes:
The lives of all Ugandan Kuchus [a term Ugandan gays use to refer to themselves] are now at risk – how will they be protected? Who will protect them? How will there be justice for David? One way is to ensure there is a sincere investigation into his murder including the role played by the homophobia of MPs and religious leaders and what must be done to protect others. Another is to speak about this as widely and as much as possible.
Queeattitude names Kato a “fallen hero” and calls for an end to anti-gay violence:
While this issue has been addressed many a time by a number of bloggers, I think it is time the cloak and dagger games came to a stop. An innocent life has been lost in a grotesque manner. This goes to show how deep-seated the hate for LGBTI persons has become. It is indeed a grave issue that if not addressed might end up justifying the bloodshed of innocent people all because someone holds a different idea on whom they (not you) choose to express their love towards. To kill a fellow human with such savage I think ends up contradicting the same doctrines the anti-gay crusaders purport to stick to. Shame on all of you.
Gay Uganda, who was friends with Kato, writes:
I am in shock.
Literal shock. Just heard that one of our members, a prominent gay activist, an out and out man, who has been at the forefront of the gay rights movement in Uganda, David Kato Kisule was murdered. Dead, a blunt instrument to the skull.
Dead. In Lugazi Hospital at the moment.
What to do? Shock. Shock, shock.
Ugandan news magazine Kampala Dispatch reports that the Ugandan police have denied that Kato's murder was related to his sexuality.  The report includes a quote from Giles Muhame, the editor of Rolling Stone:
“If he has been murdered, that’s bad and we pray for his soul,” Muhame said.
“There has been a lot of crime, it may not be because he is gay. We want the government to hang people who promote homosexuality, not for the public to attack them. We said they should be hanged, not stoned or attacked.”

author: Rebekah Heacock


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Video: Life in a Day · Global Voices
Juliana Rincón Parra

Collaborative documentary recounting what the 24th of July of 2010 was like all around the world through people's uploads on YouTube will premiere later on today, live from the Sundance Film Festival on the YouTube Life In a Day Channel.

author: Juliana Rincón Parra


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Video: Sports of the World and Games People Play · Global Voices
Juliana Rincón Parra

More than two years ago we wrote about national sports. Today we revisit the topic to learn more about the sports and games that people play in different parts of the world.
Arnis is the national sport of the Philippines. It is a combination of contact fighting with the addition of sticks as an extension of the arms. It is said it evolved from a prohibition to use weapons that the Spanish colonizers had imposed on the local population, so they pretended to be practicing mock fighting for plays, and thus they were able to practice. Following is a short documentary on arnis and how some fans of the sport are trying to bring it back into popularity:
Argentina's traditional game is called Pato, a mix between polo and basketball where a ball has to be put through a vertical hoop. The name for the game means duck in Spanish, since originally it was played with a live duck instead of a ball. It has fallen in and out of favor through history [en] , and was once even banned due to the rising count of human casualties. It was declared Argentina's national game in 1953.  This next video animation by the Argentinean Ministry of Education's channel explains Pato's history and rules. It is subtitled in English:
But flinging animals from a horse isn't such a novel idea: in Afghanistan, Buzkashi  is the national sport and it consists of picking up a dead calf or goat (it is said that calves last longer before disintegrating) while riding full gallop and then getting it to the goal area, while avoiding damage from the opposing team which will do almost anything to get control of the carcass except tripping your horse. This next video shows a game being played in the Wakhan Corridor of Afghanistan:
The national game of Iran and Bangladesh is Kabaddi, a traditional sport where team members have to “raid” the opposing team by tagging them and avoiding capture while holding their breath and repeating the name of the game. In the 3 Kabaddi World Cups, it has been India who has taken the glory, followed by Iran and Pakistan.  This next video shows highlights of a kabaddi game in India, where the raiding and tackling can be seen:
In Brazil there's capoeira, a hybrid between martial arts, sports, dancing and music. It originated in the communities of escaped African slaves, it passed through periods where it was outlawed, and it has now become something of an ambassador of Brazilian culture, as interest in the sport has sparked the creation of capoeira schools in many different countries. Capoeira has now made a full circle and has returned to Africa, where many schools are opening. Now African youth have a chance to learn and practice this martial art whose elements they can recognize in their traditional musical instruments and dances, as can be seen in this video made in Sao Tomé e Príncipe.


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Yemen: Thousands Protesting Against Saleh Rule  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

This post is part of our special coverage Yemen Protests 2011.
Reports of protests in Yemen are being received with delight across the Arab world, where netizens are showing a lot of support for their Yemeni brothers and sisters.
According to the BBC, thousands of Yemenis are demonstrating in the capital Sanaa, calling on president Ali Abdulla Saleh, who has been in power for more than 30 years, to step down. The timing of the Yemeni protests coincides with widespread demonstrations across Egypt, calling for an end of Hosni Mubarak's 30-year rule, and follow the Tunisian people's uprising, which saw strongman Zein Al Abidine Ben Ali and his family flee Tunisia, after ruling it with an iron first for 23 years.
On Twitter, the mood was jubilant, as netizens from around the world  wished Yemen would go the Tunisian way, and oust Saleh.
Moniraism notes:
The revolution is contagious. Thank you Tunisia for your inspiration.
Bint Yunus exclaims:
YA RABB! (Oh God!) The Arabs have TRULY AWOKEN!
Mona El Tahawy explains:
#Mubarak has ruled #Egypt since 1981. Ali Abdullah Saleh has ruled #Yemen since 1978. Enough! Kefaya! #DictatorsOut #Sidibouzid #Jan25
Saudi Woman notes:
 it started in Tunis and moved to Egypt and Yemen, I predict Syria next. It might even already started but the media there is controlled.
Tarek adds:
wish as much news was coming out of Yemen as there is Egypt. Which decades-old dictatorship will fall first?
And Kevenleversee predicts:
Iran, Tunisia, Egypt and now Yemen, I see the previous totalitarian world coming open thru mobile social web
This post is part of our special coverage Yemen Protests 2011.


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Zimbabwe: Myopic Look East Policy · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Upenyu analyses Zimbabwe's “Look East” policy: “When ZANU PF looks East I wonder what it is looking at. Is it examining the Chinese Communist Party’s successes and failures and how these may be instructional for them too?”


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China: Current Affairs Commentary, the Internet and the Spirit of the Media · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Veteran journalist Chang Ping (长平) has been forced by authorities to leave the Southern Media Group, where he has worked as an editor and columnist for years. It is believed that the decision is related to his current affair commentaries, a political act (see ESWN's translation) that he refuses to give up.

author: Oiwan Lam


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Bolivia: Coca-Chewing Protests Held Around the Country · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

Pablo Andrés Rivero [es] and J.F. String blog about recent demonstrations held in several cities in Bolivia to overturn a UN ban on coca-leaf chewing.

author: Silvia Viñas


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Burundi: Nation-wide forum on media and ICT next month · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Burundi plans to hold nationwide talks on the press and the new information and communication technology next month: “Its objective would be to look into the big challenges of material, financial, legal and administrative challenges facing media professionals in the country.”


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China: Air force training exercise or Top Gun? · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

China Central Television reported on an air force training exercise on January 23. The news clip showed a target hit by the air-to-air missile fired by a J-10 fighter aircraft. However, netizens found out that the images look almost identical to a cinema scene from the Hollywood film Top Gun. (More from Ministry of Tofu)


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Cote d’Ivoire: Lessons for international community · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Laura's thoughts and links on Cote d'Ivoire: “After a nearly two-month stand off between former President Gbagbo, who refuses to admit defeat, and newly-elected President Ouattara, who is sequestered in a U.N.-fortified hotel, the situation for civilians is grave and looks likely to become even more dire.


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Cuba: Second Arrest for Fariñas · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

On learning that Guillermo Fariñas was arrested for a second time in less than 24 hours, Uncommon Sense says: “Nothing is unusual about what is happening…what is unusual is for the police to move so aggressively against someone with Fariñas’ profile, someone whose arrest will get at least a few lines of mention by an otherwise disinterested foreign press.”


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Cuba, U.S.A.: New Travel Rules in Effect  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Cuban diaspora bloggers note that the new Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) regulations, which contain the new Cuba-related travel policy, are out; from Havana, Iván García observes that “the new policies of flexibility in the U.S. embargo against Cuba have permitted an exhibit [by Dégas] to be displayed at the National Museum of Fine Arts.”


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Egypt: An Internet Black Hole · Global Voices
Jillian C. York

This post is part of our special coverage of Egypt Protests 2011.
Over the past few days, as protesting Egyptians have utilized social media tools for organizing and disseminating information, they've also come across numerous obstacles to access: On January 25, Twitter was reportedly blocked, with Facebook following the next day.  By the 27th, access to both sites was sporadic.
At around 1:00 am in Cairo on Friday, January 28–a day of planned protests–reports began to trickle in that the Internet had become inaccessible to Egyptians in Cairo and Alexandria.  A few minutes later, @iman_said tweeted:
yes, CNN confirms internet is down in ALL of Egypt. Egypt now is total blackhole #jan25 #egypt #SHAME
Shortly thereafter, Alaa Abd El Fattah (@alaa), an Egyptian based in South Africa, warned:
we should be prepared for total mobile phone blackout tomorrow also (or at least in protest hotspots) #Jan25
Jacob Appelbaum (@ioerror), an American who has been reporting instances of Internet filtering in Egypt, confirmed the almost-complete block, saying:
It sure looks like nearly all of Egypt is offline – only their SS7 network seems to be working. #jan25 #egypt
Those working to contact friends and family in Egypt expressed frustration and concern over Twitter.  @alaa explained:
cell phones still working in egypt that's how I'm staying in touch, but service spotty in areas
The view from the U.S. is somewhat encouraging; in an interesting twist, Alec Ross (@alecjross), Senior Adviser for Innovation to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, tweeted in Arabic:
Despite the block, it appears that a few remaining Egyptians are still tweeting in hopes of getting news out to the world.  In light of the blackout, Global Voices will attempt to report from phone calls and other communications over the course of the next few days.

author: Jillian C. York


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Egypt: Citizen Videos Manage to Bypass Blockage · Global Voices
Juliana Rincón Parra

This post is part of our special coverage of Egypt Protests 2011.
Although the internet and mobile phone shutdown during the protests of the past few days have made it harder for people in Egypt to show the  rest of the world what is happening at ground level during the protests, some citizen videos have made it through.
Both these videos show how the riot police back away from the protesters who clearly outnumber them. When added to the unexpected behavior from the army: who has taken the streets when ordered by the government, who didn't seem to enforce the declared curfew and were cheered by the protesters, it seems to imply that the armed forces are not against the people in this struggle.
First, a view of the Kasr Al Nil bridge in Cairo, as riot police and protesters meet head on in the middle of the bridge, and tear gas canisters are fired as the armed forces retreat:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VorMWFePpY
And in this next video the same is seen in downtown Cairo at street level, as we get a first person perspective of the moment protesters and riot police clash and it turns into a rout.


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Egypt: Countdown for Day of Rage Continues  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

This post is part of our special coverage of Egypt Protests 2011.
Thumbs up to soldiers who let us walk in peace. Cairo, Egypt.  Photo by TravellerW, copyright ©Demotix 26/01/2011
Netizens from around the world are holding their breath, as widespread demonstrations are scheduled to begin in Egypt in less than an hour. International support is overwhelming, as well as a clear defiance to back Egyptian protesters and make their voices heard despite the total information blackout.
With the Internet services blocked in the country, a first for the world, phone lines jammed and international reporters harassed and locked up in their hotels, Egyptian netizens are going back to basics to make their voices heard. Supporters from around the world will be calling their contacts and recording their testimonies and spreading the information online.
Mohannad tweets:
In less an hour, a future-shaping long day of protests is about to start. God give them strength and courage. #Jan25 #fb
Mireille Raad, from Lebanon, adds:
Friday prayers in 8 minutes in #Egypt #jan25
UAE's Sultan Al Qassemi reminds us:
RT @SultanAlQassemi: now noon in Egypt. Friday prayers start at 12:08 today (in a few minutes) in Cairo's 4000 mosques #Jan25 (UTC/GMT +2)
And he adds:
Friday prayer services usually last for 20-30 minutes, so should end in  45 minutes or so depending on where in Cairo the mosque is located.
Draddee notes:
Friday prayers in Egypt will be starting an a few mins. Protests should  kick off in 1 hr. ElBaradei will reportedly be at AlAzhar #Jan25
Meanwhile, more news of a total news blackout are being reported. @25Egypt says:
Najib Cherif adds:
RT @ArabRevolution: RT @najibcherif #Egypt:Foreign journalists are not allowed to leave their hotels #jan25
CNN's Ben reports:
Just saw blue fiat entering main tv building in Maspiro when guards opened trunk, full of baseball bats. Car allowed in
And Tim Marshall adds:
#Egypt Counter terror forces now deployed in streets around Tahrir Sq.
Meanwhile, Sarah El Sirgany appeals to people with access to Egypt's only working isp to support the protests:
If anyone has nour isp anywhere please leave wireless service open without password. It'll help. #jan25
Worldwide support is continuing as well in the form of sit-ins and protests outside Egyptian Embassies. From Jordan, @7iber announces:
Goin 2 protest downtown @ 1 pm & next to Egyptian Embassy @ 4pm? Send photos&videos 2 editor[at]7iber[dot]com #ReformJO #Jan25
South Africa's Khadija Patel adds:
This is what I've managed to learn about the planned protest at the Egyptian embassy in Pretoria today:  http://t.co/JHKypcY #Egypt #Jan25
And Dubai-based Abbas Al Lawati informs us:
Attempted rally at Egyptian consulate in Dubai. 20 ppl dispersed by police. Cop tells me to write about stormy weather instead #Jan25
And there is more news. Wikileaks just released its first batch of new Egyptian cables!
@wikileaks announces:
WikiLeaks releases first batch of new Egyption cables http://is.gd/T9ghki
Is this really a revolution which will not be tweeted?
This post is part of our special coverage of Egypt Protests 2011.

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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Egypt: Information getting out despite information blackout · Global Voices
Ivan Sigal

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This post is part of our special coverage of Egypt Protests 2011.
Egyptian authorities yesterday shut down the Internet and ordered closures of cell phone networks, in anticipation of today's protests. The shutdown has significantly curtailed the information flow through those channels. The four main internet providers are not working at present. Only the stock market continues to have internet. Blackberry services are working sporadically, and most cell phones are down.
Internet activists are also reminding Egyptians that both internet and cell phone services can be used to track users, and that security precautions are vital. EFF activist Eva Galperin, in a Global Voices Advocacy guest post, says:
it is absolutely critical that Egyptian protesters take precautions  when communicating online. To reiterate, social networking tools have  given activists a powerful voice, which can be heard well beyond Egypt,  but activists should also remember that the Egyptian government could  use these same tools to identify and retaliate against them.
Despite that, some writers and observers continue to use digital media to get their message out. Activists have found ways around the shutdown.
People around the world are focusing on radio, TV and print media. They have also been using landlines to call colleagues, friends, an relatives outside of Egypt, who are then sending messages in their name, or using landlines to connect to outside internet services.
Nora Shalaby, for example says:
I'm tweeting on behalf of my sister from the states! 2 people seen pouring gasoline on cars in downtown cairo today w/police nearby..#jan25
Jan25 Voices, @Jan25voices has set up a new feed specifically to breech the internet block. They began sending messages January 28, and quickly garnered more than 700 followers. Their feed says:
We are using phones and other means to speak with Egyptians behind the blocked internet, tweeting their words in real time. contact: jan25voices(at)gmail.com
They are attempting to name the source in each twitter. A typical post:
Live Phonecall: Unconfirmed story from someone in Suez that a buldozer was used on a police station. #jan25 #jan28 #Egypt
Many others are feeding off of the images from Al Jazeera English, which is streaming live, although the images have been scrambled in Egypt, and are not available. CNN has been streaming Egyptian state TV. A screenshot from Al Jazeera:
Protesters take a prayer break. Al Jazeera English screenshot, January 28, 2010
Al Jazeera reports on the air that there is an attempted media blackout, and that their reporters, as well as other international and local journalists have received warnings, and may be shut down.
International broadcasters and journalists with other access points also continue to get online, and are using their outside bureaux.
In some ways, the Egyptian use of internet and cell phones as a tool for reporting is exactly opposite to the Iranian protests in June 2009. In this case, mass media have continued to function, at least for audiences outside of Egypt, but networked media have been severely curtailed. Finally, despite the shutdown, the networked nature of Egypt's society has connected people to the point that a shutdown is primarily reactive. Street protests will now have their own momentum.

author: Ivan Sigal


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Egypt: Is the Army on the People’s Side?  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

This post is part of our special coverage of Egypt Protests 2011.
Following massive protests across Egypt today, the army was deployed to enforce a night time curfew. On Twitter, the news was received with surprise, with reports that the army was on the people's side.
Following is a selection of tweets from across the region.
@flashboy: AJ report from Alexandria suggests the Egyptian army's decided which side they're on, and it's not Mubarak's – shaking protesters’ hands.
@news_view RT @BreakingNews: Egyptian army ordered onto the streets, but they do NOT appear to be taking any action against protesters -NBC's Richard Engel #Egypt #Jan25
@terriaminute: Demonstrators in Cairo surrounded a military vehicle, but they were cheering the army http://bit.ly/f6WPYV #jan25 #awesome
@SultanAlQassemi Must see: Egyptians saluting massive army presence in downtown Cairo. #jan25 http://yfrog.com/h4a0rgj
@DannyRamadan: Four Army cars on Qasr al-Neel bridge and protesters are standing ontop of them cheering and waving Egypt flags. It looks peaceful. #jan25
@ReneeEverett: People cheering army on the streets of Cairo. #Egypt
@ShahbazWeb: Looks like army is with the revolution – long live Tunis Fever! #Egypt #TunisFever #jan25
@shamanyalkhaili Army joining forces with protests !!!
@lishypo:  “In other words, if the army ever decides to shoot into a crowd of unarmed protestors, it will be shooting with hardware provided by the US”
@strangetales CNN: Nationwide curfew now in effect for #Egypt. Nobody obeying it. Nobody enforcing it. Protesters cheer the army's support. #jan25
This post is part of our special coverage of Egypt Protests 2011.