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Saudi Arabia: Government Cracking Down on Bloggers, New Saudi Ambassador to US, and More · Global Voices
Global Voices MENA

A Press frenzy over Saudi school curriculums, a govermental campaign targeting a number of male Saudi bloggers, Anna Nicole Smith, Kareem Amer, forced divorces, a new government program to fight corruption, and much more are keeping the Saudi blogosphere lively.
Khloud did a great job at summarizing a recent BBC article that talks about King Fahad Academy's regret over some books, parts of which label Jews as “repugnant” and Christians as “pigs.” Ash, who happens to have spent 12 years in that school up until 1999, claims that it's all a “damn lie,” and elaborates on the recent hysteria:
It started when a teacher Colin Cook, who taught my brother btw :P decided to take legal actions against my school after being dismissed in 2005. Honestly I don’t really care if he wins or not he feels he was unlawfully dismissed that’s his problem and he has to deal with it, BUT to drag my school's name through the mud?!?!
According to Bloggers Observatory there has been a recent governmental campaign against 4 Saudi male bloggers, Fouad Al-Farhan, Riyadhawi, Mashi Sah (translates to “On the Right Track”), and Rajul Al-Huriyya (translates to “Man of Freedom”). This did not go unaddressed by other bloggers; Al-Failasouf (translates to “The Philosopher”) has written (in Arabic) a post about it and titled it “A Letter.” He began it with: “Our silence, as Saudi bloggers, in itself, is a shameful thing.” Aya addressed a similiar case; the sentencing of Egyptian blogger Abdel Kareem Suleiman (pseudo name: Kareem Amer) to four years in prison for “the crime of insulting the president and inciting hatred of Islam.”
Crossroads Arabia have also been very busy recently. In one week, they updated on the recent Valentine's-day-related punishments, Adel Al-Jubeir's formal assignment as Saudi ambassador to the US, HR groups protesting Saudi beheadings, cyber activism by Saudi women, and both forced divorce cases of Fatima and ex-husband Mansour, and Rania and ex-husband Saud.
Regarding the most-recent death of celebrity Anna Nicole Smith, Yazeed seems to have had it with the obsessive media coverage of the case. He is disappointed with CNN's Larry King and said: “Every night, every single night (I like to have CNN on when I sleep) that's all he talks about, he has the same guests (almost), talking about the wacky case.” He also said that he is changing his “sleep channel” to Fox News. This whole craze has certainly turned some heads. Aya thinks that the media regards Anna Nicole's death more important than Iraq. Speaking of Iraq, Ubergirl87 raised some very interesting questions, in a recent post, regarding the wartorn country.
Our favorite couple in the Saudi blogosphere, Two Dykes and a Closet, return once more with some news; The L Word DVDs are being sold right now in Saudi. Maybe these two girls would like to know that Crossroads Arabia is, yet again, sharing a very interesting article with its readers; “Saudi Lesbians Coming out of the Closet.”
Now, to wrap up…
Sous posted about the hassles of getting a maid in Saudi. Sam linked to an article that talks about a Saudi being sentenced to death for joyriding. Personally, however, I'm not really sure that the car was stolen. Syed was evoked by a funny picture to talk about Saudi marriages and related divorce rates. Green Tea posted (in Arabic) about a national strategy, devised by the Saudi Council of Ministers, to “protect integrity and fight corruption” amongst government officials, regardless of rank. Here is a related English article on the Khaleej Times Online website.


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Saudi Arabia: The Birth of a New Blogger · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Saudi Stepford Wife  is Saudi Arabia's latest female blogger to start ranting to the world.
“I'm venting about issues I encounter from my perspective and through the filter of all my different roles in life; woman, wife, mother, educated professional, etc,” she writes.
Stay tuned for her posts.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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Senegal: Thumbs Down for the Minister of Justice · Global Voices
Alice Backer

Semett  alleges that (Fr): “The justice minister … has unjustly broken into the voting center  at Ndatté Yalla, in Saint Louis, while votes were being counted and his men have spread chaos in this republican space. They have pushed around the center's managing team and this, in front of police officers technically keeping the peace!!! Candidate Idrissa Seck's lawyer, Abattalib Gueye, has also been assaulted by a herd led by … the “Guardian” of the Republic's Seal.”

author: Alice Backer


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Senegal: Voting Process Report Card · Global Voices
Alice Backer

Semett ‘s voting process report card (Fr): “The Presidential election took place peacefully and with a participation rate estimated at 70% by the vote's organizers. The electoral body went from 2 to 5 million. More than 2,000 observers were deployed. Generally, the voting process has been  positively evaluated and Senegalese participation appreciated by the international community. However, opposition leaders … have noted some irregularities. “


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Slovenia: Traditional Cures · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

The Glory of Carniola catches a cold (or something) and contemplates trying a number of Slovenian traditional cures (which, if proved inefficient, would get him tipsy, at least). Get well soon, Michael :)

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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Soviet History: Chechen and Ingush Deportations · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

J. Otto Pohl writes about the deportation of the Chechen and Ingush people from their homeland 63 years ago.


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Sri Lanka: Saddam and the Sri Lankans · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

True Sri Lankan on what appears to be a lot of silence regarding the execution of Sri Lankans. “When Saddam Hussein was hanged there were massive protests in Sri Lanka organised by certain sections of the muslim community but a few days ago 4 Sri Lankans were beheaded and then their bodies were displayed in public by the Saudi government but we did not see any sort of action/protest of the same scale being carried out by the same group that came forward to protest on behalf of Saddam.”

author: Neha Viswanathan


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Sri Lanka: What is the LTTE trying to do? · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Indi.ca on LTTE's antics. “The LTTE is well on their way to pissing off everyone on Earth. After their strategically brilliant ploy of assasinating the Indian PM, Rajiv Gandhi, they’ve followed up in the last few years with a failed attack on the Pakistani envoy, and today by injuring the US and Italian ambassadors – firing mortars at their helicopter.”


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Syria: Iraqi Refugees  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Matthew Carrington visits an area inhabited by Iraqi refugees and shows us fleeting moments of their lives here.


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Tajikistan: Food for the Neigbhors · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Elizabeth posts on the Tajik tradition of bringing a plate of food to one's neighbors whenever a large meal is made. The only catch is that one cannot return the plate empty.

author: Nathan Hamm


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Transylvania: Funeral of Farsang · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Csikszereda Musings posts pictures and writes about a mock funeral held in a Transylvanian village on the weekend before Lent begins.


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Trinidad & Tobago: Writing and un-writing · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Stefan Falke posts some atmospheric photos of a homeless gentleman in Trinidad who has been keeping a journal for 21 years, along with a lovely text: “His older journals got lost or stolen, he does not care too much because they are written and can’t be unwritten. . . . ”

author: Georgia Popplewell


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Tunisia, France: How To Wash the Dirty Laundry At Home · Global Voices
Alice Backer

Mouwaten Tounsi deplores (Fr) that ex-Tunisian diplomat Khaled Ben Saïd is being judged in France for torture. He would have liked Ben Saïd judged in Tunisia. He proposes a reconciliation-based justice. The process would focus on indemnification of  torture victims by the government rather than on prosecution of officials who have committed acts of torture.


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Tunisphere:  How to blog about politics without being censored? · Global Voices
samsoum

Tunisian bloggers seem to have found ways to talk about Tunisian politics while avoiding getting caught by the ATI (Tunisian agency of Internet) watchdogs in charge of denying access and filtering out any site or blog that is critical of the Tunisian government and its members.
After its last campaign in December last year, which targeted multiple blogs that were a little critical about the current situation in the country, ATI seems to be more permissive.
Zizou from Djerba interpreted this as a good sign, hoping that it is a prelude to a new overture from the government, even though he thinks at the same time we saw very few critical posts since that campaign, adding that the last events (gunfights between police and armed Salafists) had to do something with this attitude.
Il est aussi vrai que les blogueurs tunisiens ne se sont plus risqué dans les sujets sensible et le surf sur les sujets borderlines ne semble plus etre le passe temps favori de la majorité des blogueurs.
En tout cas on ne peut pas nier que tout ceci est la consequence de l'episode de Soliman…
The only blogger who remains under surveillance is Mouwaten Tounsi, who is at his 6th new address since last year. Mouwaten chose to be more direct in his posts, especially in his open letter to the president, about more freedom for the Press.
It is true that lately, very few posts were critical to the government.  Critics tend to be very present in commentaries around social or economical posts like Tarek Cheniti's post about the privatization of the education [fr] or very subtle like Isis ‘s post [fr] about the country's accomplishments in the last 51 years since its independence. By trying to expose certain problems without dealing with the cause, bloggers avoid being targeted by ATI.
Another very creative way to avoid censorship while talking politics was initiated by blogger OuNormal (usual). His blog NormalLand is about a virtual country with a virtual governor (himself). He started by assigning department head functions to different Tunisian bloggers.   Being very satiric, his departments are for ultrastructure, black market, fights and disputes  and even one department of corruption! He even created a parliament designated as Znouss counsel (my translation for Znouss is bad boys).  NormalLand has a flag inspired by the real Tunisian flag and a very funny national anthem.
Many bloggers took part in this fiction, especially when OuNormal was victim of coup plotted[Ar] by one his aids Chanfara[Ar]that forced him to stage a presidential election[fr] for which many bloggers announced their candidacy such as Mouwaten[fr]and  Temeraire[fr].
This is in my opinion, very typical of Tunisians, who always come up with ways to work around many limitations in our society.

author: samsoum


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Turkey is Typing….Food and Music · Global Voices
Deborah Ann Dilley

I'm reaching in a different direction this week. Let's talk Turkish food and music.  Zen in the Kitchen talks about the simple pleasures in eating bread with fresh olive oil.  Tastes of Mavi Boncuk gives us a background to the history of the Turkish national drink Raki, and Almost Turkish Recipes shows us what Raki and meatballs have in common:
Tekirdağ, my hometown, is renown for its rakı (Turkish brandy made from grapes) and meatballs. Tekirdağ rakı is famous because although it's made from raisins everywhere else, in Tekirdağ rakı it's made from fresh grapes. As for meatballs, the recipe is a mystery. The recipe is not widely known, because nobody in Tekirdağ would make Tekirdağ meatballs at home; you go out to one of the billion meatball restaurants in town for meatballs.
Yogurtland teaches us about Ashura, a dessert rumoured to have been made on Noah's Ark:
Here is a another traditional dessert from Turkey, which I am yet to find another country in the region to have it in their repertoire. Please let me know if you know any other cultures having this tradition.
Its name comes from Arabic, in which ashura literally means “tenth.” A dessert that is made on the 10th day of the Islamic calendar. Since Islamic calendar is based on moon, it is 10 days shorter than the Gregorian, hence this day as well as every Islamic holiday has a different date every year. One should not confuse this dessert with the day of ashura. Even though it is a custom to cook this dessert on that day, it is not a religious ceremony.
A story of this dessert tells us that it was a meal made in the Noah’s ark, right after the great flood was over. As you can see in the ingredients list, the main items of the dessert are the grains that one can hardly associate with any dessert.
After watching a video on Erkan's Field Diary, I took a little odyssey on iTunes and found some interesting Turkish podcasts that I would like to share with you.  Blog Tarkan Deluxe has posted a podcast with a recent interview with Turkish pop artist Tarkan.  Two Istanbul DJs have regular podcasts (both of which are great fun!) Turkish House Mix with DJ Bulut and DJ Murat Uncuoglu.
METU‘s (Middle East Technical University) College Radio Station, Radyo ODTU, has the distinction of being the first Turkish radio station to begin regular internet and podcast broadcasts.
And of course if you want to work on your travel Turkish, you can always study Turkish with Sinan.
Well, that is all I have for you today, 5 podcasts available on iTunes, but there seems to be an emerging Turkish podcast market.  The more I learn, the more I will pass on to you.  Until next week!

author: Deborah Ann Dilley


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Turkmenistan: What If There Was Internet? · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

neweurasia posts a comment from a reader who was discussing whether or not access to the internet is important for people in Turkmenistan. The commenter points out there are plenty of more serious problems to worry about.


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Uganda: a preventable tragedy · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Head Heeb analyzes the state of peace talks between the government of Uganda and the Lord's Resistance Army, “Given the volatility of the situation in the north, however, a state of “no war, no peace” is inherently unstable, and unless talks resume, it will only be a matter of time before a UPDF-LRA clash spirals into full-scale fighting. When the collapse of talks is combined with the recent resurgence of violence between the government and the Karamojong people of the northeast (who, ironically, were armed by the government in 2003 to fight the LRA), the north could shortly be plunged back into a brutal multi-sided war.”

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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Uzbekistan: Plight of the Merchants · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Registan.net discusses the plight of Uzbekistan's merchants. Despite recent changes that should make trade easier and more profitable, cross-border traders still face numerous difficulties as a result of police harassment and high taxes.


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Zambia: adventures in Zambia · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Laura, a peace corps volunteer, blogs about her adventures in Zambia, “My women's group is finally back on track and things are going swimmingly. We are going to start to keep bees and I have a local expert coming to teach the women how to do it. He's very local- he's actually married to one of my women. Pretty cool. He's already working on his speech for monday. I'm going to have my own hive too. It'll be fun. I'll have gallons of honey and bees around at all times. This happens at my house anyway. A few days ago I left some fruit out and it attracted a cloud of African bees. Yea the ones that come over and terrorize you Americans. I got bit- they are pretty aggressive. I'm excited.”


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Zambia: village nicknames · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Zambian Fish blogs about village nicknames, “Ba Yehwa (Mr. Yelling): one of my farmers got stuck with this one because he has a tendency to yell at people when conversing with them.
Ba Ndeke (Mr. Airplane): one of my neighbors got this one for his drunken antics. Apparently he flaps his arms and pretends he's an airplane.”


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· Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

The Voice of Somaliland Diaspora-Ottawa writes about the foreign occupation of Somalia and “hatemonger websites”: Overall, it is clear that the foreign occupation and possible recolinization of Somalia has dawned on the so-called leaders of “Transitional Federal Government” (TFG)—a euphemism of “Tigre Founded Government” (TFG) as well as their shadowy organizations, intellectuals and elites, hatemonger websites, and their envy-filled authors. And this scenario also fits the proverb that they are: “Between the devil and blue sea.”


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Algeria: Advice to the US · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Algerian blogger Nouri writes: “Washington must distinguish between those with whom it can deal and those it can't; even if they aren't Ideal.” To read more of his advice to the US, click here.


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Arabisc: A Pictorial Tour of North Africa · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

There is one word to describe this picture taken by American blogger Cory Driver, who is based in Morocco, and it is wow! Not being a photography critic, however, I am reserving my exclamation for the amazing work Driver is involved with in Moroccan villages, including that of Tattiwin, located near the mountain range you see in the photograph above. To read more about his efforts, see what he does to collect books for a literacy programme in another village here.
Driver's fellow American R Andy (I don't know if they are connected), also keeps a blog, which highlights his adventures in North Africa. He is, for instance, seen here, dressed up as Santa Claus, and practising his headstand in the Sahara desert. Like Driver's blog, Andy's posts offer us a fabulous photo album and a wonderful insight to life in Morocco as well as the customs and traditions of its people.
Moroccan blogger and writer Laila Lalami also has made it a custom to dot her posts with photographs and today posts a picture of a cinema, which has just opened in Tangier.
“Regular readers of this blog may be familiar with photographer Yto Barrada's work, which I have mentioned on several occasions. I finally had the chance to meet her in person this past weekend, when I traveled to Tangier to attend the opening of the Cinémathèque de Tanger, a project that Barrada has been working on for several years. Barrada bought the old Cinéma Rif, which is located on the historic Gran Socco plaza, in 2001 and, after years of planning and fund-raising, closed it down in 2004 for renovations. The Cinéma Rif has now reopened, and has been completely modernized, with new seats, new screen, new projection equipment, but all the charm of the original metalwork on the box office window, the original lamps in the café area, the movie posters–and the same staff,” she writes.
While still in Morocco, we will stop by A View from Fez, which although may not have posted a photograph this week, has some photography related news here:
“The View from Fez team have invested in some brand new, top of the line, photographic equipment so that we can increase the number and quality of the pictures with our stories.
Coming up will be a new series on day trips from Fez, interviews with the house renovators and restoration experts and hopefully a series on the various bloggers active around Morocco,” writes Samir.
Still in North Africa, we move to Libya, where Tripoli teacher and social worker Hibo Abu takes us on a visit to Fashloum Mosque, which is still under construction.
The photographs she posts shows us some of the work going on inside the mosque as well as some of the art and relief work on the outside. Muslims pay a lot of attention to the details and art work in their mosques, which they consider as houses of Allah.
Away from serious issues, Tunisian blogger Leilouta posts a number of photographs of well-known personalities, making us wonder how will they look if they all decided to copy Britney Spears latest craze!


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Armenia: Election Monitor · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

The CRD/TI Armenia Election Monitor rounds up the latest parliamentary election news.


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Armenia: Self-immolation · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

In Armenia yesterday, a man died after setting himself on fire in the capital's Republic Square. It is not known exactly why the man set himself alight, but he reportedly was angry at government officials and over unspecified injustices. The CRD/TI Armenia Election Monitor reports on the incident and rounds up the reactions of Armenian bloggers.


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Bahrain: Who Created Sandwiches? · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Bahraini blogger Bahraini Rants takes us into a culinary tour of the world of sandwiches, after proclaiming that they are the world's greatest invention.


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Bangladesh: Pseudo Innovation in Dhaka · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Unheard Voices points to a an article in Himal on military and governance. “As Dhaka’s military-backed interim government gets on with its anti-corruption agenda amid cautious cheers from the public, Bangladeshis at home and abroad are arguing over what kind of government system can both be functional and deliver for the long-beleaguered people.”


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Barbados: Draft energy plan analysed · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Keith R at The Temas Blog analyses of Barbados’ draft national energy plan with a particular emphasis on its “environmental implications”.


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Barbados: Tony Cozier interviewed · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Robert Frische of cricketwukup.com interviews Barbadian Tony Cozier, the dean of West Indian cricket commentators, who talks about the West Indies’ chances in the upcoming Cricket World Cup, Barbados's refurbished cricket ground, the life of a cricket correspondent and more.


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Burundi: Where No means Yes · Global Voices
Alice Backer

Expat blogger BeneBurundi is learning about local culture (Fr): “Communicating with people from Burundi is all about subtlety and interpretation; for example if you're proposed to and you decline with a ‘no’, it is highly possible that what will be heard will be ‘yes, maybe one day if you insist’. Also, in answer to ‘is everything okay?’ a ‘yes-yes’ would mean there's a problem. “


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Cambodia: Banning Ads · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Vutha says Cambodian wonders about the double standards of the government in banning tuk-tuk drivers from displaying commercials on their vehicle in a bid to “preserve public order and the beauty of the capital” and at the same time allowing billboards featuring alcohol.

author: Preetam Rai


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China: Chinese second life? · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Jason Li from Virtual China blogs about HipHi, a China-produced and Chinese language version of Second Life.

author: Oiwan Lam


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China: failed online question to Preimer Wen  · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Sohu.com has a special section to ask Preimer Wen questions for the upcoming two Meetings, positive solutions asked: When will China become a democratic country with a free press? I believe this would be beneficial to China’s sustainable development and peaceful rise. And his question is no where to be seen because of censorship.


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China: Xinjiang Jan Raid · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Xinjiang Watch have a blog post discussing media reports on the implication of China's War on Terror against alleged separatists of the East Turkestan Islamic Movement in Akto County in January, especially in response to the speigel report.


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D.R. of Congo: new travel guide · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Extra Extra interviews the author of a new travel guide to the Democratic Republic of Congo, “Visiting in the 1920’s, Grace Flandrau may have been unimpressed by the cuisine, but she had fewer difficulties getting around Ituri than she would if she could return today. The likes of Joseph Conrad, Mobotu, Mohammad Ali and Franco may have helped keep the Congo/Zaire on the map internationally, but it has never been much of a tourist destination.”


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Egypt: BBC World Lost September 11 Tapes · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Egypt-based blogger Tom Gara is confused as to how BBC World has lost tapes of its coverage of the September 11 attacks on the US. Gara reports that a BBC World editor wrote: “We no longer have the original tapes of our 9/11 coverage (for reasons of cock-up, not conspiracy). So if someone has got a recording of our output, I'd love to get hold of it. We do have the tapes for our sister channel News 24, but they don't help clear up the issue one way or another.”


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Egypt: Mossad Spy Update · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Egyptian blogger Zeinobia continues to follow news on an Egyptian-Canadian accused of spying for the Mossad here. “He wasn't spying for Israel despite the fact that he went to the Israeli Embassy , knew the three other wanted Mossad officers and considered them as friends and was going to Israel after visiting Egypt!!!” she writes.


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Egypt: Nawal Al Saadawi Show · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Egyptian blogger Zeinobia accuses Egyptian feminist and writer Dr Nawal Al Saadawi of coming up with an annual gimmick to ensure her name remains in the news. “(I)n 2004 she wanted to be a president ,in 2006 she came and her daughter with the new idea that people to be called with their mothers’ names,” she writes. This year, Zeinobia says Saadawi fled Egypt to Belgium and is now seeking asylum in the US because “Egypt doesn't deserve her.”


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Egypt: What If Anna Nicole Smith was Egyptian? · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Freedom for Egyptians wonders what if Anna Nicole Smith was Egyptian! “This woman was into the playboy world of fame, however there was no one single story judging her based on morality, religion or ethics…There are three men who are claiming to be the daughter’s father. This means that the three men slept with her during a very short period of time that the three of them are now fighting over the daughter. However, no one in the United States is judging Smith or trying to deviate into personal talk about her private life… Literally everyone is minding his own business,” she writes.


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Guyana: Letter to Opportunity · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Guyana-Gyal writes a letter to Opportunity.


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Haiti: Carnaval photos · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Haitianalysis.com posts some lovely photos of the 2007 Carnaval in Haiti by Wadner Pierre.


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Honduras: Operation Scissors · Global Voices
David Sasaki

“La Gringa” describes how Honduran President Mel Zelaya is trying to literally cut corruption with “Operation Scissors.”

author: David Sasaki


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Hungary: British Council To Move Out · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

According to Further Ramblings of a N.Irish Magyar, the British Council is closing 10 of its 19 offices in Europe, including the one in Hungary. The library will stay, though.


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Hungary: Mozikep · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Shopping for movies at Mozikep DVD/Video shop in Budapest is a crazy experience: read the details at Further Ramblings of a N.Irish Magyar.


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Hungary: Politicians Speak (a Prank) · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Pestcentric puts words into Hungarian politicians’ mouths.


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Hungary: Two-Tailed Dog Party · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Pestcentric writes about Two-Tailed Dog Party – “a guerrilla street artist (read: creative university student with too much spare time) operating out of Szeged” – and showcases some of his work: “Well, fortunately, there’s now an English-language subsite, where a lot of the written work is actually translated so non-Hungarian readers can get the joke too. Granted, sometimes things are lost in translation, but it’s still very much worth a look.”


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Indonesia: Citizen Diplomat · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Maverick Indonesia blogs about meeting an Indonesian diplomat and his ideas of a citizen diplomat. “But most important is what Aula calls the second track diplomacy. Any Indonesian can be the ambassador of the country, through interactions with people from other countries. Thus, every Indonesian must understand the nation’s foreign policy, so we can achieve the goal together.”


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Indonesia: Fertility in Indonesia · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Indonesia Matters has a break down of the fertility rates in Indonesia by religion and ethnicities.


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Iran:Anti war Campaigners in London · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

According to Haji Kensington[Fa], on Saturday, anti war marchers in London asked British troops out of Iraq and they also asked there will be no attack against Iran.

author: Fred Petrossian


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Iran:Economic illusions of Iranian Goverment · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Jomhour says that Iranian goverment failed to accomplish its economic promises such as fighting against poverty. According to the blogger, goverment has no reason to accuse “enemy” for its economic failure because 90 percent of country's economy is in the hands of goverment[Fa].


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Iraq: US Allies No Longer Allies · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

The US allies are no longer its allies, rats are leaving the sinking ship and Canada is no longer in the flock. If you want to understand what I mean read what Iraqi blogger Ladybird has to say here.


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Jamaica: An evening with a dub poet · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Geoffrey Philp posts a podcast of the proceedings from the premiere of a documentary on the life of the Jamaican dub poet Malachi Smith.


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Jamaica: Top ten books · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Jamaican novelist Marlon James posts a list of his top ten books.


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Japan: addressing racism · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Debito blogs the transcript of Press Conference with United Nations Special Rapporteur Doudou Diene and Debito Arudou (himself) at Foreign Correspondents Club of Japan. The press conference addressed racism issues in Japan


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Japan: Citizen report change public policy · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Mayumi Shimotai from Ohmynews reports how a report on factory pollution pick up by Japan citizen journalist at Ohmynews changed the public policy on environment protection.


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Japan: Hokkaido woman is violent? · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Mari blogs some statistics about domestic violence in Hokkaido, 2.5% came from the husbands. The blogger comments that “because of their equality of the sexes idea, we might think Hokkaido men would use counseling more easily than men in other areas.“


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Madagascar: Expulsions in France questioned  · Global Voices
Lova Rakotomalala

(courtesy of sarkostique)
Stemming from ongoing racial tensions and amplified by the riots of last summer, fear of immigrants led the French ministry of homeland security to crack down on illegal immigration. Immigrants of Malagasy origins were also affected by the new emphasis on expelling any immigrants without proper accreditation. The haste with which the legal processes were expedited was a major concern for many bloggers. Here are the views and testimonies from Malagasy bloggers on these issues. For instance,        Blog d'Hiver points out that:
Depuis quelques années, la chasse aux sans-papiers se résume donc par un objectif chiffré – 25.000 expulsions par an – qui s’impose aux Préfets et aux services de police. L’expulsion des familles fut la grande nouveauté de 2006 : en coffrant « en bloc » des parents et leurs enfants, cela permettait d’expulser toute une famille et de marquer 4 ou 5 points sur les 25.000 à atteindre. L’exercice s’est avéré plus compliqué que prévu car des citoyennes et citoyens français – outrés de voir des policiers venir arrêter des écoliers à l’école ou des enfants en centre de vacances – ont pris leur courage à deux mains (l’aide aux sans-papiers est désormais passible de prison) pour prendre la défense de ces familles. C’est le cas du Réseau Education Sans Frontières.
Malagasy are well aware that there are immigration laws to abide to. However, specific cases of expulsions have left many bloggers shaking their heads in disgust. For instance, Harinjaka notes:
En ce moment même, la police française est en train de se bagarrer avec une GRAND-MERE malgache de 71 ans pour l’expulsé du territoire alors qu’elle vivait en France depuis cinq ans. Sur ses 7 enfants, la moitié vit en France. Les autres terminent une procédure de naturalisation à Madagascar. Cette famille est française , ses membres sont intégrés et participent à la vie en France. Je pense qu’il est temps de réfléchir …
A description of the hurried legal procedure is pointed out here:
Son passage au tribunal est une parodie de justice, comme souvent lorsqu’il s’agit d’étrangers. La Préfecture n’envoie pas de représentant. L’avocat commis d’office n’ouvre pas la bouche, ne présente aucun des documents que le comité de soutien lui a remis ; Mélanie a du se défendre seule sous l’œil goguenard d’une magistrate qui tournait en dérision ses arguments.
Le 25 décembre, la petite Winnie, trois ans  et demie, passe un premier Noël sans sa maman, toujours enfermée en centre de rétention. Le 26 décembre, Mélanie est conduite à Roissy et embarquée de force dans un avion pour Madagascar. Elle laisse derrière elle la France, pays pour lequel elle n’aura vraisemblablement plus jamais de visa. Elle laisse surtout à Paris sa petite Winnie, trois ans et demie, scolarisée dans une école du 18ème arrondissement, sous la garde de son père, mais devenue de fait orpheline de mère.
J’ai moi aussi eu du mal à le croire, mais c’est bien ce qu’ils ont fait : expulser une maman en la séparant de sa petite fille née en France. Qu’on ne nous parle pas de droits fondamentaux ou de droits de l’enfant après cela…
Vola in ” brotherhood” encourages us to read the testimony of some immigrants and says:
Imprimez-les et lisez-les: les publications de cette association qui travaille auprès des réfugiés, des immigrés, des demandeurs d'asile donnent un tout autre regard sur la question de l'immigration.
she believes that:
Il faut arrêter de voir l’immigration comme un problème !
Perso, je pense que l’immigration, c’est même une partie de l’avenir de la France : imaginez un peu le dynamisme de ces personnes qui se donnent tous les moyens pour travailler afin de simplement s’intégrer
The final word belongs to Sipakv who says about the movie “days of glory” (Indigenes in French) by Bouchareb that tells the story of the contribution  of the parents of the now unwanted immigrants:
En tout cas, je voulais surtout dire : “MERCI Mr Bouchareb ! MERCI les acteurs indigènes”

author: Lova Rakotomalala


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Martinique & Guadeloupe’s Music Opened French César Awards · Global Voices
Alice Backer

Martinique-based Internetrapide.com was happy to see the music of Martinique and Guadeloupe featured on the French equivalent of American Oscars(Fr): “The mistress of ceremony of the 2007 edition of the César Awards kicked off the show … by singing a boisterous zouk song, true invitation to celebration and travel.” He posts a youtube video of the performance.


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Morocco: Vintage Larache Postcard · Global Voices
Alice Backer

MarocAntan, a blog dedicated to “documents and souvenirs of past Morocco” posts (Fr) an old postcard depicting an aerial view of Larache.


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Myanmar: A Glimpse of the New Capital City · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Fifty Viss links to a post by an Indian journalist who took some pictures of the mysterious new capital city of Myanmar. The government moved the capital last year from Rangoon to Naypyidaw in a surprise move and people are still speculating over the reasons of the move.


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Nepal: On funding terrorism · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Madhesh Blog on funding terrorism in Nepal. “Several donor agencies who invested their time to investigate the use of their funds have found them not being used for the intended targets. For example, many grants for poverty reduction and micro-credits have not reached to the targeted grassroots, and many other projects were “drawn” to the area of influential leaders, rather than implementing them where they were really needed.”


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Nepal: Weapons and the UN · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Accounting for weapons in Nepal is rather controversial. Nepali Netbook explains – “Moreover, according to Prachanda, many of their weapons were destroyed in fire and swept away by river during the conflict. (Translation: if everyone’s so interested in exact numbers, why does no one ask Girija Prasad Koirala about the substantial arsenal the Nepali Congress maintained even after Indira Gandhi requisitioned those supplies for the Bangladesh front in the early 70s?)”


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Palestine: A Lesson in History · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Palestinian blogger Abu Issa takes us down memory lane to Palestine in 1948 through words, memories and photographs here.


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Peru: A Minister’s Departure & War with Chile? · Global Voices
Juan Arellano

The political event of the week was, without a doubt, the case of Interior Minister, Pilar Mazzetti, who was forced to resign exaggerating the value of patrol cars for the police. The press played an important role in this, not only by dedicating their front pages to the story, but also by pressuring the administration into make the minsterial change. It finally led to the minister's resignation, although it is still left to doubt whether the resignation was obligated or not.
Bloggers’ opinions on the matter are varied. For example, Milanta writes that “Mazzetti has balls” [ES] for how she confronted the Problem. In blog Andando sin Caminos, who was in favor of the minister's resignation from the beginning, posted three times on the topic: first when the minister declared that she did not want to step down in “The minister who didn't want to leave“; then when then minister brought up her resignation in “The minister who didn't know whether to leave or not“; and finally “The minister left at last“. The Political Wizard has summary of almost everything that happened at the public level in “Holy oils for Minister Mazzetti,” and in Blog del Paki, although they agree with the resignation, they don't hold the same opinion conerning the treatment given by the press has given him: “Enough paranoia, no?“
For his part, Pepitas.com tells us some relevant jokes: “How Embarrassing … Mazzetti's resignation confirmed while she was on a flight.” Finally, in Pueblo Vruto they add “The Useful Idiot of the Week: Pilar Mazzetti,” which speculates on some possible Machiavellian politicians behind it all.
Leaving the subject, and moving to another related one, we have From the third floor, who wonders if there won't be other ministers who we will see stepping down in “Wagner: the Next Victim?” In this case it's said that there would be groups within the military pressuring – mainly through the Fujimori-aligned newspaper La Razón – to cause the departure of the Defense Minister. The reasons? On the one hand, because of the new reforms that the minister wants to implement and on the other hand, although it doesn't seem like much, a new post to deal with the eternal skirmishes at different levels that periodically occur with our southern neighbor Chile.
On this thorny subject, it is worth reading the complete post written by Gran Combo Club just a bit ago: The Peru-Chile War. This doesn't have to do with a war around the corner. Even though the possibility is always present in Peruvian-Chilean relations and is a permanent topic of conversation this side of the border, it's not probable that it would materialize. Nevertheless there are those who know how to take advantage of the subject and already have it all thought out. Silvio, of Gran Combo Club was investigating some military forums and she has summarized the different positions, some of which sound terrifying.
La guerra tiene que iniciarse como toda guerra que se estime. Por el lado aereo. Los chilenos tratarían de dar un golpe de mano a la base aerea de La Joya. Su avión Condor estaría determinando los movimientos de la FAP para ver si hay reacción y por donde. La artillería antiaerea haría presa facil de los Mirage que tendrían que acercarse mucho. Los Mig-29 derribarían a los Mirage. Los misiles israelitas son buenos pero son iguales a los R-73 e inferiores a los R-77. El Perú a su vez trataría de destruir la base aerea de Cerro Moreno en Iquique asi como los hangares subterraneos secretos y los tramos de carretera anchados que les servirían de pista de aterrizaje clandestinas. Arica seria tomada fácilmente. Los 6 submarinos bloquearían cualquier avance de la marina chilena. Los blindados chilenos serían atacados por los helicopteros asi como por los bombarderos peruanos, volando a cotas medias.
But not all the gathered opinions are military in nature. Some of them are also geopolitical, such as this from a Peruvian and its consequent response by a Chilean:
Lo preocupante es que el vecino del sur muestra un núcleo vital tan activo que no encuentra ya suficiente su espacio vital, de por sí reducido, y se lanza resueltamente a la conquista económico-comercial (por ahora) de nuevos espacios en sus países vecinos. De este paso a la conquista territorial hay algún trecho, sin duda, pero es un paso previo, y mientras nuestro núcleo vital se muestre débil e incapaz de de desarrollar el Hinterland y hacer sentir su poder en las fronteras, la tentación para un vecino con un núcleo vital activo y resuelto será muy grande.
And the Chilean's response:
Dominacion de mundo? Chile en hambruna buscando ampliar su hinterland? el mar como via alternativa en Chile?: Viejo, por dios, no se nos estará pasando la mano?. En Chile aun hay lugares deshabitados, fronteras interiores, zonas de baja conectividad, pueblos sin electricidad. Opinar de geopolitica (que involucre a Chile) sin saber esto es puro bla bla. Creo que no amerita mayores comentarios.
At the end of his post Silvio places some photographs of airplanes and military boats. In the comment section, somebody indicates that one of the photos is from a recent joint military exercise between Peru and the USA and so in the post Military exercise PERU-USA: Photos and Videos of “OPERATION HALCON-CONDOR 2007”, Peruanista reports about the said activity, of which, although she describes as positive, thinks that the same collaboration in other scopes should also occur, such health, literacy and others. And with this, I bid farewell until the next one.
Translation from Spanish by David Sasaki

author: Juan Arellano


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Peru: Thunder in Lima · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Waldo of El Mundo de los Pendrejos creates a storm in the comment section when he writes [ES] “I'm in Lima in the early morning and I've heard thunder, supposedly it's spread from Carabaillo to Huachipa.” His readers nod excitedly at a weather phenomenon that almost never visits Peru and, of course, the conversation soon turns to global warming.


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Poland: McDonald’s Sales; Rospuda Bypass · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

The beatroot writes about Prince Charles’ McDonald's comment and the Polish First Lady's views on the planned Rospuda bypass.


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Senegal: Youssou N’Dour Cinematic Debut · Global Voices
Alice Backer

California-based Congolese blogger Alain Mabanckou has nothing but praise for Senegalese singer Youssou N'Dour's big screen debut in Amazing Grace (Fr):”to see the few clips featuring Youssou N'dour, I think we'll need to to follow him closely. His future is bright if he chooses to concentrate exclusively in this direction and hence to play roles other than those characters deemed natural for men of color. “


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Singapore: Having kids · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Coffee and Cigarettes invites comments on why should Singaporeans have kids? after listening to a radio show that focussed on the reasons why Singaporean are not having kids.


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Slovenia: The Erased · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

The Glory of Carniola reports on a rather surreal bureaucratic mishap: “This week marks the 15th anniversary of a now infamous moment in Slovenian history: the removal of 18,000 people from Slovenia’s permanent registry of citizens.”


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Sri Lanka: Inheriting Colombo · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

The Lolly DJ writes a fabulously touching piece on inheriting Colombo from a grandpa who came to Sri Lanka 65 years back.” In 1942, my grandfather, Arthur, was en-route to Singapore, when the impregnable city fell. The soldiers who were there became the stuff of myth, imprisoned and emaciated under the Japanese. While the Army debated where to redeploy his unit, my grandfather was sent over to Ceylon.”


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St. Kitts, Antigua: What is luxury? · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Simone at Something Extra looks at the web sites of two luxury hotels in St. Kitts and Antigua, in an effort to determine “what defines luxury“.


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Sudan: Diversity And Identity Crisis · Global Voices
SudaneseDrima

Many of the posts on the Sudanese blogosphere during the past 2 weeks discussed Sudan's diversity and also revolved around the issue of identity. Sudanese Thinker had an interesting post entitled “Sudan: Arab or African?”
He was responding to a question posted on Sudan Watch:
Since Sudan belongs to both the African Union and Arab League, I wonder if Sudanese women see Sudan as an African or Arab country.
Sudanese Thinker argues that Sudan is an Afro-Arab country:
Is Sudan an African or Arab country? In other words, are we Sudanese, African or Arab? It’s a tough question to answer for the simple reason that I’m only given the option of choosing between “Arab” or “African”. I don’t see Sudan as being either one or the other. There are about 600 tribes in Sudan. Yes, that’s right, 600 tribes! Ethnically, some are African, some are Afro-Arab and the few remaining others are Arab. Therefore Sudan is an Afro-Arab country.
He concludes, however:
As I’ve presented, ethnically speaking we Sudanese are mainly African but culturally we’re more Arab than African (thanks to Arabization). So, which one do we belong to more? Which one do we choose? In order to give an answer, I have to ask another question. Which one plays a bigger role in forming one’s identity? Would that be ethnicity or culture? For me, the answer is ethnicity.
Daana Lost In Translation wrote a post about her experience of trying to deal with her own identity crisis:
Being born in UAE and having lived there pretty much most of my life I was brought up around a lot of people from many different backgrounds, especially Arab countries.
…I didn't know who I was and never completely felt the security that stems from the sense of belonging
throughout my life I hated labels, stigmas, and stereotypes people tend to create about each other
I hated having to classify myself as one thing and one thing only and how could that be when I am a variety of emotions, experiences, backgrounds, and beliefs
I hated to define myself based on demographics that I hadn't chosen for myself
and I most definitely hated how some people think that they are superior to others
Hipster then wrote a powerful poem in relation to Daana's post:
Ever since I was young I was being singled out
Situation dramatized black is wats its all about
Hated my race cuz they had me locked out
Assumptions had me blinded to the natural facts
But I'm all grown now I can finally see
You and me are one we share the same reality
…He di-ver-sified to beautify our land
Why y'all letting grass grow under your feet?
Help the Muslim cause (pause) by following its creed
Supercilious superficial that's how you proceed ?
Is that how you live? (Pause) by seeing us bleed !!
Yea I'm irate hate I try to mitigate
Unlike you I aim to strive to elevate
I was taught to respect n appreciate
My brothers n sisters for the love they generate
Like the Roman Empire nothing great lasts
You reap wat you sow karma wat you sow will blast
Your lack of understanding is how you'll collapse
Help yourselves grow before your perilous crash
Someone by the name of CommonSense commented the following on Hipster's post which sums up what many Sudanese feel:
Sudanese people always delving into the identity issue. On top of defending themselves from racism….they are trying to find out who they are…whilst at the same time being racist to each other..that to me looks like a national issue not just one person.
Black Kush on the other hand explored the issue of Sudan's national dress and food and whether it is representative of the whole of Sudan or not:
I once had a discussion with a colleague from North Sudan about the question of national dress and national food in Sudan. It was interesting how he feels strongly about it.
On the other hand, Nomadic Thoughts blogged something slightly different. She wrote a post about interracial adoption:
Adopting a child of another race means that you're consciously embracing a new culture (with all that entails) and new way of life.
There are millions of orphaned children all over the world. When you get down to it, all they really want and need is a good home and a dream of a bright future. Should we leave these children grow up in institutions simply because they're from a different race? Who is to judge?
Last but not least, Mimz thinks Valentines Day sucks!:
I've always hated valentine's day.
If people want to celebrate the love they have for one another they could very much do so on any day of the week.. I don't get the point behind inventing a day where in alot of cases one of the two lovebirds feels forced to express what feelings he/she already has. Why program someone to do something that's best done in a spontaneous fashion? I really don't get it.

author: SudaneseDrima


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Sudan: names of genocide suspects · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Black Cush does not think the release of the names of genocide suspects in Darfur will improve the situation, “I just have a feeling it is going to have the reverse effect . . .”


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Taiwan: KMT internal rivalry · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Michael Turton translates some local reports about the internal rivalry between Ma Ying jeou and Wang Jin-ping on the upcoming presidential election.


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Taiwan: Name-rectification Debate · Global Voices
Portnoy Zheng

The two terms “Taiwan” and “Republic of China” ( R.O.C.) has been intertwined together for the last decades. However, after several elections, with the switch in ruling parties from the pro- Chinese- unification party KMT to the pro- Taiwan- independence party DPP, these two terms are now at the focus of political controversy.
With its pro-Taiwan-independence tendency, the ruling party DPP has been promoting the “Taiwan identity”. For example, the authority has taken actions in modifying the high school history texbooks, in particular sections related Taiwan's relationship to China and Japan. Another action is the removal of bronze statues of Chiang Kai-Shek, Taiwanese ex-president from 1950 to 1975 who viewed by many Taiwanese as a dictator. Name-rectification is a recent project. The so-called “name-rectification” means governmental organizations and institutions officially change their names from Chung-Kuo (China, 中國) or Chung-Hwa (the Chinese nation, 中華) to Taiwan (台灣). For instance, ChungHwa Post Co., the nation's postal service, has just switched its name to Taiwan Post Co., and Chinese Petroleum Corp., the largest oil refinery, has its new name as CPC Crop., Taiwan.
There are varied opinions among Taiwanese bloggers: timing and the motive of the authority to promote the name-rectification project is in question and has attracted heavy criticism. Although some support the name-rectification, the legitimacy of the means to approve the name-rectification is still under debate.
Supporters claim that the name-rectification contributes to commercial benefits. Mark says:
請注意，重點是：然而帶有「中華」、「中國」商標的台灣申請人，迄今未曾有核准案例，即使該商標已長久使用而具有顯著性者仍無法獲得註冊。 所以，該不該正名，從商業利益角度，當然應該正名。
However, others point out that name-rectification of state-run firms might cause inconvenience and unnecessary costs. John writes:
我真的很不想讓媒體牽著鼻子走，身為一個小老百姓，比較關心的才不是那些抗爭事件吧！而是想知道這些改名的預算，究竟是從那裡跑出來的？如果去年就已經編列，那表示這件事早就規劃好了，為什麼大家現在才在抗爭？如果沒有編列，是不是又偷挪用老百姓繳的錢來做這些沒有意義的事了？除此之外，我也很關心，究竟這些國營事業改名之後，我們也必需跟著做那些更動？例如，郵局的金融卡要怎麼重發？還是可以繼續沿用？和中油有關的信用卡還可以繼續使用嗎？
Animation Notebook said,
民進黨認為只要把跟中國、中華有關的名字改成台灣就是『對』，但這基本上就很有問題，首先，把中國換成台灣沒有任何民意基礎，請問民進黨有徵詢過所有中華民國人民的意見嗎？這包含屬於中華民國的澎湖、金門、馬祖地區，所以為何要用台灣這個名字？．．．並非所有人都跟民進黨一樣認同台灣獨立，尤其是在這個國內國家意識非常分歧的時期，許多人不見得認同民進黨認為中華民國並非獨立國家的論述．．．使用中華民國這個名字不見得跟以台灣為中心的思考衝突，反而是基於認同中華文化背景，以台灣為主體，融合中國及其他地區的綜合個體．．．第三，使用台灣這個名稱在國際上有地區化自己國家的疑慮…就像許多國際場合香港仍舊使用香港這個名稱一樣．．．
Anthropologist sitting in social field also said,
當一個韓國大學生能夠清楚表述台灣是個主權獨立國家之時，能夠用歷史來論述東亞政治關係之時，我們的政府以『歷史』之名告訴我們，清朝時期，我們的郵政的標記就是『台灣』。清朝？！．．．雲南的郵票，也是打著雲南的名號啊！．．．不思透過各種實質的方式，藉著國際交流討論，和鄰近國家的交合，來浮現台灣作為一個主權國家的主體性，而是以歷史之名自清。
However, many people point out that the name-change issue represents the wrestling of the politicians from the two parties.   Yuan Xu Wu Wu (言之無物) points out (zh) if name-change is a consistent policy of DPP, then “Yu (Dean of Executive Yuan) should check the name and avoid ‘Chung-Hwa’ when the post office changed the name last time.” 914 quotes from Southern News and points out that Ma Ying-Jeou had also promoted name-rectification when he was Mayor of Taipei. Ma stated that
『北市為了與國際接軌，仍將採用漢語拼音，而且重要路面的路標將於十一月底更改完成』。所以，十一月底，我們會看到馬英九花費2500萬元，讓台北大街小巷都可以看到他所創造的世界級笑話。
Xiao Mao Luan Pao Hong Pei Che (小貓亂跑烘焙車) mentions that
我一直在納悶，如果我支持台獨,那麼,我看到正名運動不是應該感到高興嗎？但我只感到羞恥，正名不是風光快樂的，而是因為執政太失敗, 搞些別的名目來掩人耳目罷了嘛.證明了什麼?
Ubi Amor Ibi Fides says with frustration,
台灣已經被綠營綁架到跟中華民國也沒兩樣的狀況了．．．強迫人『愛國』『忠誠』，只要不符合他的標準的，都是『背叛』．．．可悲的是，綠營的操作方式居然也跟國民黨一樣。
也許某些機構商標的正名有其正當性有其必要性，然而，不分青紅皂白的正名已經讓台灣人感到厭煩感到憤怒。民進黨和國民黨的領導者真應該靜下心來想想怎麼讓這個國家以最少的錢達到最大的效益，而不是藉由鼓動中國意識與本土意識的對立來達到他們的政治利益。

author: Portnoy Zheng


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Taiwan: the death of twblog.net · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Inertia announced in his blog that twblog.net has officially died because the domain name has been took by other internet company. Bloggers under blog.twblog.net would be affected. He explains the current situation that “in taiwan blogosphere, it is simple to be independent, but to maintain that independence alone is difficult…” (zh)


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The Balkans: Bloggers Discuss the ICJ Verdict · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

On Monday, after nearly ten months of deliberation, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) declared that the 1995 Srebrenica Massacre was an act of genocide, but that the pattern of the atrocities committed by Bosnian Serbs during the 1992-1995 war (which claimed more than 100,000 lives) was “too broad” to qualify for the definition of genocide. The ICJ also decided there was no sufficient evidence to pin the blame on Serbia.
Below is a selection of responses to the ICJ verdict by the Balkan and international bloggers writing in English.
On the eve of the verdict, Eric Gordy of East Ethnia posted this detailed analysis of what there was to expect from the ICJ and how the decision could influence the region's politics:
[…] This type of business will always be implicated in day to day politics. The Serbian Radical Party wants the country to quit the UN in the event of a guilty verdict. Afghanistan's parliament has passed a resolution granting amnesty to a whole hatful of powerful war criminals. And the general assembly of the state of Virginia has passed a resolution apologizing for slavery. Insistence on denial or opening up the books are pretty much the only options available. Time does not make anything go away.
In a comment to Gordy's post, Shaina (who blogs at Bosnia Vault) wrote:
[…] A few analysis I've read predicted a “compromise verdict”; although my own prediction is that a compromised verdict would just end up with both “sides” being unhappy; rather than just one.
When the verdict arrived, Bg anon left this comment, summarizing the mood in Belgrade:
Well we have it now – and dare I say it, a sigh of relief really.
I havent spotted any cock-a-hoping going on in the streets of Belgrade and quite right too. There is nothing to be happy about.
I think this day should be spent thinking about the victims of that pointless war and not on a sense of vindication or crippling disapointment.
In his next post, Gordy reviewed the initial reactions to the verdict in the Bosnian and Serbian political circles – and offered his own judgment:
The finding that a crime occurred but that nobody is guilty of committing it tends toward a bizarre sort of mysticism. And the finding that the Serbian state is not responsible seems to be based on a very strict interpretation of rules of evidence, in which the destruction or withholding of documentation may have proved to be an effective strategy, and indirect evidence was not treated as relevant. This seems to offer a sort of legal invitation to criminals to cover their tracks, and the precedent will probably be controversial.
He also mentioned a few other bloggers’ views:
Not everyone will agree with me, of course. What I have seen in Blogland so far: Viktor Marković was hoping for a middle path and got it, while Neretva River flows colder, worried that the decision is a backhanded acquittal of Milošević. And Yakima Gulag finds the end run around the issue of guilt “lame assed” (and I have a feeling she is not thinking of an injured donkey).
One of the comments to this entry was written by Seesaw (aka Quod/Zdenka Pregelj), a 64-year-old Sarajevo resident whose photoblog offers beautiful images of the city – “the ones that you usually do not see”:
[…] I am old enough to realize, few days before the decission on Kosovo, the ruling could not be different. (I live in Sarajevo now, as I did live then). I can agree on the part that Serbia did not commit genocide (what happened in Bosnia can not be compared with WWII), but to abolish Serbia from responsibilty, makes me wonder why did Đinđić bother (and got killed because of that), why did NATO bombard Belgrade… Many questions, and no answers.
(It seems Richard (H.) really and trully promissed to Radovan (K.) he will not be indicted – better to say arrested! But today this world is very far from any kind of justice. I only do hope other inhabitants in Bosnia will find the strength to live together, forgiving if not forgeting.
In his last post on the issue so far, Gordy opened up his blog to Andras Riedlmayer, a “friend of East Ethnia (and plaintiffs’ witness)” – who was also cited by Bosnia Vault‘s Shaina, here:
A number of people on the political fringes have tried to show that a guilty verdict against Serbia would mean that Serbia is a “genocidal nation” and that the average Serb will have to bear a cross as being labeled part of a “genocidal people.”
[…] As Andras Riedlmayer explains here, in a way the the ICJ trial is not too different in concept from the trials of citizens suing towns or city halls for discrimination. An affirmation that one was discriminated against, does not render every single person in that town guilty of discrimination; but the specific people and city government institutions that are responsible for said act of discrimination.
Gordy, in the Waiting for the Verdict post mentioned above, also tackled the issue of collective blame/guilt:
[…] A guilty verdict would not change the criminal guilt of the people who ordered, facilitated and carried out crimes, nor would it change the legal innocence of the huge majority who did not. But it would mark a moment at which it would be appropriate to embark on various ways of recognizing responsibility. […]
“You probably heard most of the news coverage on this event, but as the verdict is being read this very moment it occured to me that you maybe haven’t heard enough personal opinions on the matter, at least from the Serbian side,” wrote Viktor Marković of Belgrade 2.0 in an entry titled My Verdict. Later, in the rather busy comment thread, he elaborated on his personal position regarding the ICJ's ruling:
I don’t feel guilty. But the genocide did happen. I feel ashamed for the monsters that did it and who thought they are doing me a favour by doing it. But i can’t feel guilty instead of someone else. Best and least i can do is to say that I am sorry that it happened.
That’s exactly what the court decided: Serbia is not guilty – but there was a genocide. […]
Like i said this is the downside of the verdict – that there will always be someone to interpret this decision by saying that now, since Serbia is aquitted most charges, it is clear the genocide did not happen at all.
South East Europe Online‘s author – bytycci, “a graduate student preparing to start saving the world soon” – mentioned the anti-Kosovo independence rally held outside the U.S. embassy in Belgrade Tuesday in his post on the ICJ verdict; in the comments section, Bg anon argued that there was no connection between the two events; bytycci responded to that and also clarified his position on the politics behind the verdict:
I know the rally didn't have to do anything with the ICJ ruling. But it is one of the incidents of nationalist gloating in Serbia.
I am not saying that ICJ is politically motivated. I said this decision was politically motivated. It was meant to reduce tensions and say to Serbia “it's not true that the world hates you”. And all it did was help the nationalists by giving them a reason to say “look we didn't do anything wrong”.
More analysis, comments and links to the media coverage can be found at these blogs:
- Srebrenica Genocide Blog: here and here;
- YakimaGulagLiteraryGazett: here and here;
- 1948, an International Blog at the University of Leiden: photos and report from the Peace Palace in the Hague by Otto Spijkers;
- Publius Pundit: a post by Robert Mayer and a subsequent discussion;
- Gray Falcon: here;
- Byzantine Sacred Art Blog: here.
Finally, Neretva River wrote about a protest scheduled at the University of Sarajevo for Friday:
Meanwhile, on Friday all classes across all faculties at the University of Sarajevo will be canceled in protest of the ICJ decision, and Faruk Čaklovica, the university's rector called into question the mental health of ICJ judges.


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Trinidad & Tobago: Young and black in Babylondon · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

London-based Trinidadian Sinistra posts part two of her “Young and Black in Babylondon” series: ‘“So, what do you speak in the Caribbean? African?”’


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Turkmenistan: Post-Turkmenbashi Roundtable · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Ian Chesley reports on a Harvard roundtable on Turkmenistan after the death of Turkmenbashi.


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Ukraine: Arena Bar · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Olechko shares sketches and observations of the Arena bar in downtown Kyiv.


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Ukraine: Chernobyl Posters · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Ukraine List posts samples of Chernobyl poster art.


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Ukraine: Tymoshenko in D.C. · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

LaurenceJarvikOnline shares his impressions of Yulia Tymoshenko, who was in Washington, D.C., this week: “She described her nation as ‘in crisis’–and took a number of hostile questions about her legal problems from Russian-speakers in the audience. Tymoshenko handled them with grace and aplomb, didn't bristle, smiled even. She's definitely a tough cookie and obviously smart.”


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Ukraine: Volodymyr Shcherban · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

“Who are the prison cells for?” asks Foreign Notes in a post about Volodymyr Shcherban, former governor of the Donetsk and then Sumy regions. Not for those who seem to deserve being there, it appears.


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Uruguay: Negotiating Outside of Mercosur · Global Voices
David Sasaki

About Lula's recent decision to let Uruguay negotiate outside of South America's Mercosur trade block Gaby writes “It's a bit pathetic that we have to go by asking permission to do things, when is something that doesn't happen the other way around, but that's the way it is (let's face it… we are a midget in the middle of two basketball players).”


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Uzbekistan: Perils of Assisting Homosexuals · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Registan.net covers the latest crackdown on foreign health NGOs in Uzbekistan, which includes action against an organization running an HIV/AIDS prevention program for not just paperwork problems but also because it works with homosexuals. Male homosexuality is a crime in Uzbekistan punishable by three years in prison.


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Venezuela, Brazil: Chavez Versus O Globo · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Daniel Duquenal posts and narrates two video clips from a Chavez press conference in Caracas in which he criticizes Brazilian media conglomerate O Globo for its opposition to Lula in Brazil's last presidential elections. In the second clip, Chavez focuses on O Globo's reporter, accusing him of not understanding Venezuela.


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Venezuela: Una tarde con campanas / Juan Carlos Méndez Guédez · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Guillermo Parra translates an excerpt from Juan Carlos Méndez Guédez's novel “Una tarde con campanas.” Explains Parra, “the book is narrated by a boy whose family migrates to Madrid after a military government comes to power in Venezuela. Una tarde con campanas was a finalist for the Premio de Novela Fernando Quiñones in Spain, where Méndez Guédez now lives.”


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Africa: desperate call for recolonization · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Dennis Matanda writes his last desperate call for the recolonization of Africa, “Look across the African continent today and see who is being villainous. I can, from over my shoulder, look down at Zimbabwe and see their octogenarian President, Mugabe going for another term and gluing himself to the seat of power while his people suffer. I can also see Uganda’s President Museveni abusing the constitution of Uganda by refusing to release treason suspects who have been bailed out. There is the case around Senegal where President Wade, 80, is going to win with more than a 50% majority over his 12 or so competitors – and if he had had his way, Olusegan Obasanjo of Nigeria would have gotten away with sacking his Vice President because the latter crossed to another political party.”


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Algeria: Two Arrested Lawyers and a Banned Reconciliation Conference. · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Or Does it Explodes points out some abuses in human rights in Algeria here. The post contains updates on two arrested lawyers and a banned reconciliation conference.

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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Arabisc: An Ode to a Jailed Egyptian Security Guard · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

As usual Egypt again keeps us busy this week, where a security guard has been sentenced to six months in prison for refusing to guard the Israeli Embassy in Cairo.
Egyptian blogger Nora Younis, posts a poem by Majeed Al-Barghouthi dedicated to jailed Egyptian security guard Mohammed Khalaf Hassan Ibrahim. Ibrahim, as I have mentioned earlier, had refused to obey orders and guard the Israeli Embassy in his country.
In another post, Nora also writes an update on Ibrahim's condition, saying that he has been sentenced to six months imprisonment and is on hunger strike.
In conclusion, Nora urges all those interested in the case to sign a petition, calling for the guard's immediate release.
This seems to be a particularly busy period for Egypt's bloggers and courts, following the sentencing of Egyptian blogger Kareem Nabeel Sulaiman to four years in prison last week.
These two court cases aren't the only ones which are keeping Egypt's bloggers up, for the Muslim Brotherhood, which also seems to want to a share the limelight with Kareem and the security guard, is entangled in another court case there.
According to Reuters report, a Cairo court on Wednesday upheld a freeze on the assets of 29 members of the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's largest opposition movement. The public prosecutor ordered the freeze on January 28 after accusing them of money laundering and other offences. The Islamist Brotherhood has dismissed the decision as a politically motivated attempt to disrupt the organisation's activities.
Blogger Abdulrahman Ayyash posts pictures of the crowds which gathered outside the court house here while his fellow blogger Abdulmonem Mahmood posts more pictures and a commentary on the trial.


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Bahrain: King’s Vow to Protect Freedom of Speech Ignored · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Bahraini blogger Mahmood Al Yousif says the King's vow to protect freedom of speech is his country might be ignored.
“No sooner than our king vowing to protect the freedoms of expression in Bahrain, than we get yet another journalist dragged in for questioning by the public prosecutor!” he writes.


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Bangladesh: What’s next for Yunus? · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Unheard Voices speculates on the political ways of Dr Yunus. “While enjoying a slew of publicity lately (both negative and positive) , Dr. Yunus now is pondering his next steps. Word from inside is that a new team is being formed to form campaign strategy and media relations for NS.”


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Botswana: blessed is the hand that giveth · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Nata Village clinic staff are excited about their new protective gowns, “These gowns will make their jobs a little easier and help to put their minds at rest when treating patients.  The staff at Nata clinic wish to thank all of you who have donated to this website.  The total cost for the gowns was approximately U.S. $270.  You made a difference today!”


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China: golf · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Imagethief picks up an article from financial times and discusses how golf is at odds with the development of a harmonious society.


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China: happy cities · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Zat Liu from Shanghaiist blogs a recent research on happiest cities in China, the results are: Nanjing, Hangzhou and Shanghai.


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China: Mosquito Fish · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Tim Beckenham from Shanghaiist reports about the plan to introduce Mosquite fish to solve the problem of potential mosquito plague.


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China: ups and downs of stock  · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Fons from China Herald blogs about the recent ups and downs of Shanghai stock market: yesterday's correction was certainly not a sign of a bubble.


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Cuba: Let’s meet in Cuba? · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Luis M. Garcia reports briefly on a survey conducted by a meetings and conventions industry newsletter to determine whether event planners would consider Cuba a potential meeting destination if the US lifted the current travel ban.


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Egypt: Anonymous Blogging Tips  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Writing in The Arabist, Tim Seah links to Global Voices Online Co-founder Ethan Zuckerman's guide to blogging anonymously here.
“If you’re an anonymous blogger, remember: your pseudonym affords you no protection against anyone with even a little bit of determination and know-how,” he cautions.


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Egypt: German Decision ‘Ridiculous’ · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Issandr El Amrani, writing in The Arabist,says the German authorities refusal to register a child's name as Jihad – a common Arab name – is ridiculous. “Utterly ridiculous: German authorities are trying to get courts to back them in preventing a baby being named “Jihad” — even though it is a completely common name in the Arab world,” he writes.


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Egypt: How to Treat Burns · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Egyptian blogger Whisper of Madness shares some traditional remedies to treat burns here!


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Egypt: Internet War on Islam · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Egyptian blogger The Sphinx has decided to remove links to Digg on his blog because of the increasing attacks on Muslims and Islam. On Digg, The Sphinx says: “comments bashing Islam and calling for the genocide of all Muslims or the destruction of Islam as a whole started getting extremely positive ratings, while the comments saying that it's just a minority of extremists and not the religion got buried very quickly, along with the comments saying that not all Muslims are terrorists, and that the media is just biased and that Islam is in fact not a violent or hateful religion.”


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Egypt: Jailed Egyptian Blogger Allegedly Abused · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Free Kareem posts a video allegedly showing jailed Egyptian blogger Kareem Nabeel Sulaiman screaming after being hit by a police officer here.


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Estonia: “E-lection” · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

“Estonia is the first country in the world to hold such a parliamentary election by a web-based system in which voters can cast ballots online,” reports A Step At A Time.


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Fiji: Newspaper Executive Arrested · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Intelligentsiya blog is reporting that the general manager of the Fiji Daily Post newspaper was arrested by the military. “It could probably have been over a letter from a Fijian in Australia (titled ‘Defunct Police Force’) criticising acting Police Commissioner Romanu Tikotikoca for shelving the investigation into army commander Voreqe Bainimarama in connection with his seditious remarks last year.” Bainimarama recently took over the power in Fiji in a coup.


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Guadeloupe: FIrst Cinema and A/V Technology Conference · Global Voices
Alice Backer

InternetRapide.com writes (Fr): “The Sytek Gwadloup Company, in partnership with the Guadeloupean Region and ANPE Art, Culture et Spectacles are initiating the First Cinema and A/V Technology conference on March 1st and 2nd, 2007.” The conference seeks to present the latest A/V technologies to  A/V professionals and to provide them an opportunity to network with each other.

author: Alice Backer


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Guyana: Piss poor Mashramani · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Mashramani, the carnival-style festival commemorating Guyana's independence on February 23, is “piss poor”, says MediaCritic: “We begin planning for Mash around Valentine's Day, at best just after New Years day. That's pathetic and woeful and disgraceful and piss poor.”


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Hong Kong: Henry Tang’s budget  · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Simon's world comments on Henry Tang's budget and raises the issue of migrant domestic workers’ wage for showing the euphemism of his lip service to the lower class.


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Hong Kong: @media 2007 called-off · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Chiunam said that he got an email from the organizer of @media 2007 that the conference in HK has been called-off (zh) due to lack of response. The web design conference is originally planned to have its first Asia meeting in May 31st and June 1st. The call off announcement hasn't appeared on their official website yet.


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India: The Madras Regiment · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Recursive Hypocrisy traces the history of the oldest unit in the Indian Army – the Madras Regiment . “In spite of being the vehicle with which the British conquered India, the Madras Regiment was mostly abandoned through the 1800s and later disbanded in 1928 — until World War II necessitated a revival. After the Vellore Mutiny in 1806, the British decided not to recruit Tamils as soldiers.”


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Interview with Farsi Tube Co-Founder Sherwin Noorian · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Farsi Tube or Iranian You Tube, launched in the US at the end of last year, attracts 3,000 visitors daily, says its co-founder Sherwin Noorian. On a busy day, the figure could leap to 7,000 visitors who are there to catch the latest videos Persian-speakers are posting on the site.
In addition to Farsi Tube, the founders are now planning to launch a forum and blog to create a social network rather than an entertainment place for speakers of Farsi. Noorian, one of co-founders of Farsi Tube, has given us the following interview:
Q- May you introduce yourself and Farsitube (FT)?
A- I'm Sherwin Noorian, a student in Texas, US. Two of my friends and I, started FarsiTube.com. FarsiTube is a video sharing community targeted towards Iranians, and has all kinds of videos about Iran and Iranian culture. The site has music videos, funny clips, political videos, entertainment videos, satirical clips, full length movies, and more. Anyone can post a video on FarsiTube, and people can comment, share, and bookmark videos.
Q-What is the added value of FT for the Iranian or non Iranian community?
A- We feel that FarsiTube brings tremendous value to the Iranian community. It's a place where they can go and easily browse hundreds of videos and immerse themselves in Iranian culture. In a time where the gap between Iranians living in Iran, and those who live in Europe or North America grows wider, FarsiTube attracts Iranians from all over the world. They can feel connected to what is going on in Iran politically, or they can simply be entertained. Also, they can check out videos made by FarsiTube users and share them with their friends. The site creates a sense of community and identity.
Q-Are you planning to launch a forum and/or blog on your site? If yes, what for?
A- We used to have a forum, however, it's temporarily been removed until we re-design it. The forum will be for any kinds of discussion.
Q-What are the video clips that are not welcome on your site?
A- This has been a tricky issue for us lately. We had some people who come from certain political groups try to upload a large amount of videos that were more or less propaganda for their believes. We decided not to keep the videos on our site. The reason being is that we don't want FarsiTube to be a place to post propaganda from either side. Rather, we'd like a place where you can learn about Iran, Iranian culture, and what's going on in Iran, and decide for yourself instead of being bombarded with hardliners from either side. We don't want to make the site too politically charged. We also try to keep the videos related to Iranian interests, instead of just becoming another YouTube. For these reasons, video uploading is moderated.
Q- As an American-Iranian, do you think FT can play a role as a cultural bridge between the two communities?
A- Yes, in fact, this is one of the main things I've experienced on FarsiTube. I've realized that children of Iranians who are born in Iran, like myself, are increasingly different from those youth living in Iran. At the same time, they obviously have much in common. I think FarsiTube can show both communities to each other and help them feel more connected to each other. We still have a long way to grow in this regard, especially through new features such as  a video blogging service that we plan to add in the future.
Q- Are you following Iranian blogs?
A- I have been following some Iranian blogs and forums discussing FarsiTube, and it's mostly a positive reception. We've been linked on dozens of Iranian sites.


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Iran:No right to have Makeup in Universities · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Sanjaghak writes that according to new law, women can not have makeup or carry jewlrey or necklace inside her university[Fa].


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Iran:Sociologists Without Borders are against war on Iran · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

In Sociologists Without Borders’ blog, we read a petition:”war is not compatible with democracy. As Max Weber wrote, war means use of violence and force against civil society. Therefore,“War for Democracy” or, as Antonio Negri puts it, “ War for Peace!”is paradoxical. In democracy lies peace and, in fact, violence by the abuse of the term democracy will legitimize violence.”


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Japan: Thumb tribe · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Neomarxisme has a great article discussing the second digital divide in Japan. The 20 years old generation is shifting from computer to mobile phone. A new generation of thumb tribe emerged.


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Jordan: Canadian Film Festival A Treat · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Jordanian blogger The Black Iris was in for a treat during the Canadian Film Festival, held in Jordan. “It’s been a pretty enjoyable experience getting to watch a handful of Canadian films at the Balad Theater these past few days. I hope they’ll get to host another one come next year,” he writes.


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Jordan: East Meets West in Commercial  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Zeid Nassar posts a video link for a commercial featuring Egyptian heart-throb Amr Diab as well as American divas Beyonce and J Lo. “I’m not sure if this is a fancy special effects/post-production job or if Amr Diab was actually on a set with Jennifer Lopez and Beyonce for this Pepsi commercial.
WOW! It’s another East pop-star meets West pop-star from Pepsi,” he writes.


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Jordan: Forest Campaign a Success · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

A campaign spear-headed by Jordanian bloggers to preserve the Dibben Forest has been declared a success, announced Jordanian blogger The Black Iris.


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Jordan: Male Belly Dancer · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Jordanian blogger The Observer criticises a new Lebanese television station here , especially after it aired a programme featuring a male belly dancer.


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Kazakhstan: Almaty at Work · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Kamneed's Friday photos from Kazakhstan feature Almaty residents at work (RUS).


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Kazakhstan: President’s Goals · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

KZBlog summarizes Kazakhstan's president's address to the nation, a speech outlining the government's goals for the next year.


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Kuwait: Calling Numbers · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Mark, a Lebanese blogger in Kuwait, is apparently running high telephone bills, calling the numbers which appear in 24!


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Kyrgyzstan: Revolution Brewing · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Mirsulzhan Namazaliev reports on rumors that Kyrgyzstan's opposition is planning large, well-organized protests against the president for later this month.


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Laos: Pho Recipe · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Laocook.com describes and posts a recipe for Laotian Pho (noodle dish). “I have never seen a dish that changes so much when it reaches the table. You could say that Pho is “Personal”. “


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Moldova: Satirical Cartoon · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Watch a satirical Moldovan cartoon and read more about the country at Scraps of Moscow.

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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Morocco: International Magic Festival · Global Voices
Alice Backer

EspaceMaroc announces (Fr) the  4th International Magic Festival to take place in Marrakech mid-March and adds :”Having become one of the most marking events of the city, the festival seeks to promote magician arts by offering a popular attraction, democratizing magic shows by offering them to the public… [and] by offering free magic shows to orphan children of the region. “


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Myanmar: Chin State Dancers · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Myat Thura posted a video of dancers from Chin state in Myanmar celebrating the Chin national day.


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Nepal: Censored in Nepal? · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Madhesh.com may find itself blocked in Nepal. “This site appears to be banned in Nepal. We are not sure if the site has been banned with ALL ISPs, but according to our LOG, we have no visitor at all recently from any of ISPs from Nepal.”

author: Neha Viswanathan


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Pakistan: On history and Timurlane · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Light Within on the way we look back at Timurlane. “I wonder why and how governments choose and glorify a particular historical character and ignore others. Stalin valorised some of the cruellest figures in history as outstanding statesmen, including Ivan the Terrible. In 1937 he added Timur’s name to his list of esteemed military commanders. Soviet history books were immediately rewritten to depict Timur as the saviour from the Mongol-Tatar yoke.”


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Russia: Caviar Bar · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Russian Spy writes about a surprisingly “democratic” new caviar bar in St. Petersburg.


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Russia: Fish Soup · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Darkness at Noon describes his complex relationship with ukha: “I've spent most of the past week evading the ukha. No, the ukha isn't a branch or directorate of the FSB (KGB for those of you still keeping time with the old calendar). It's the pot of fish soup that lives out on host fam's balcony.”


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Russia: On Xenophobia, Again · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Here's the translation of one of today's top-rated posts at the Yandex Blogs portal, written by LJ user nl, one of the most popular Russian bloggers:
The degree of xenophobia in our wonderful land tends to remain underestimated right until you collide with its fruit and feel the shame for it with your own skin.
[My wife] is looking for a babysitter for [our baby daughter Maria]. She gets in touch with yet another potential babysitter and gives her the details in brief: the child's age, what kind of work, the amount of it…
Do you know what the first question of the potential babysitter is?
She asks:
- Tell me, have they informed you that I am not [ethnic] Russian?
[LJ user kmaka, nl‘s wife] says this question put her in a state resembling shock.
An elderly [ethnic] Armenian [originally from Azerbaijan's capital Baku]. A philologist. “I haven't lived in Moscow for a long time – 17 years or so.”
Me, I had just returned home from the latest [political debates] held at Bilingua (where I had the pleasure to observe a group of young people who were yelling [Sieg Heil] for about 20 minutes), and I tried to explain to [kmaka] that there's nothing whatsoever to be shocked about here, and moreover, this is how it's been for a long time.
So far, there are 638 comments to this post.
***
The debate nl is referring to was between Yulia Latynina, a Russian journalist and writer, and Maxim Kononenko, best known for his satirical vignettes on Vladimir Putin (Vladimir Vladimirovich™); the debate's topic was “Where are the democrats?”
At least two of the neo-Nazi guys who interrupted the event are also bloggers, and their posts describing the fun they had that night are – just like nl‘s post – in the top 30 at Yandex Blogs today.
I choose not to translate anything from their posts, except for Yulia Latynina's retort, which both of them quote, in two slightly different ways:
tesak-f18:
“If such creatures – I can't call him a man – keep killing Tajik girls and get drunk on beer, this isn't going to help Russia in any way.”
***
rusns:
Latynina replied: “Here's how brave they all are. They must be the same guys who, in group of 20, are capable of nothing but killing one Tajik girl.”
The Tajik girl Latynina was referring to is the 9-year-old Hurshida Sultanova, who was stabbed to death by a group of neo-Nazis on Feb. 9, 2004, in the heart of St. Petersburg.
***
On a different note, unrelated to xenophobia, Lyndon of Scraps of Moscow has recently translated into English four of Maxim Kononenko's Vladimir Vladimirovich™ pieces – here and here.
Last month, Kononenko switched his LJ identity from mrparker to maxim-kononenko, deleting his highly popular blog (which, surprisingly, is still rated #5 at Yandex Blogs). Gone with the old blog is Kononenko's cruel remark about the Beslan mothers who lost their children in the school siege of 2004, the post dating back to September 2005, around the first anniversary of the tragedy. Though now erased, it features in many Russian blogs whose authors were outraged at the time; also, there's a mention of Kononenko's remark in the article by Yuri Saprykin in the Bolshoi Gorod magazine – whose translation Lyndon of Scraps of Moscow has recently posted as well:
In spite of its apparent democratic spirit, ZheZhe [LiveJournal] is more and more structured along the lines of TV: there are the ratings leaders, hooked on the feeling of their own importance, and an amorphous mass following their every move. The leaders set the key items on the news agenda (see the Ivannikova case, the story about the NBP members getting beaten up, or the one about Minkin and Latynina getting pelted with tomatoes), and the masses approve (or disapprove) with a discordant rumble. And as for the idiocies of the rating leaders, well even the [Russian TV stars] Malakhovs and the Solov’yovs of the world couldn’t dream of them. Just consider the (already paradigmatic) phrase about how “the mothers of Beslan should just have more children.”


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Russia: Polonium-210 in “Law & Order” · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Polonium-210 poisoning is a central theme of the latest episode of Law & Order: Criminal Intent, reports Scraps of Moscow.


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Russia: Putin’s Daily Route · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Moscow-based Darkness at Noon fears he lives in an unsafe neighborhood, but then makes quite a discovery about the nature of the neverending sound of sirens outside his window: “It turns out that Putin himself passes my apartment every day on the way to and from work. Imagine that!”


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Russia: Sochi Energy Accident · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Sochi Travel Info blog reports on yet another recent energy accident that took place in the city that aspires to host the 2014 Olympics.


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Russia: Vodka Museum · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Russian Kafe posts pictures from the Vodka Museum, based in Verkhnie Mandrogi, a village near St. Petersburg.


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Saudi Arabia: Critics Banned From Travelling Abroad · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Or Does it Explode reports that citizens critical of the Saudi government are banned from travelling outside their country here. Citing Human Rights Watch, the blogger says the move is “unsurprising.”


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Senegal: Candidate’s Vote for Himself Not Counted · Global Voices
Alice Backer

Blog Politique du Sénégal quotes candidate Moudou Dia's declaration that at the voting center where he, his wife and two friends voted for him, he officially received no votes. The blog  humorously adds (Fr): “To take 3 to 4 votes from a man who barely got .13% of the vote is a bit mean” and wonders whether Dia's decision not to contest the results isn't  motivated by his desire for a minister post.


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Singapore: Sex Education and Teen Pregnancy · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Kitana blogs in response to a news story in Singapore that talked about a 9 year old girl getting pregnant. The blogger feels that objective sex education should be a must in schools. “I’m irritated at the lack of objective sex education in schools. There is all this moral talk about how this promotes undesirable moral values and promiscuity and so on, but seeing that the result is complacence, unsafe sex practices and the resulting harms that we need to prevent against, I consider the latter a much worse harm than the former, especially because pro-abstinence no longer is as effective culturally as it used to be.”


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Sri Lanka: Hate and Harm · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

groundviews on the politics of hate and harm. “Most readers in Colombo would have seen the posters of the National Movement Against Terrorism (NMAT) calling for the peace, media and leftist ‘Tigers’ to be identified and destroyed. This columnist was asked to comment on the poster by a newspaper and he along with other colleagues condemned the message conveyed by it.”


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Tanzania: hybrid identities · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Charcoal Ink blogs about hybrid identities, “It used to hurt me a lot as a child because I was so proud of Tanzania despite the fact I lived abroad but when people constantly told me that I wasnt a real Tanzanian or a real East African — I then knew that this notion of a real ‘Tanzanian’, ‘West Indian’ is bogus because circumstance and environment creates who we shall become. I feel like I have a hybrid identity in that I am an East African girl with a London view of life. I always like saying that I am a Tanzanian girl via the airport of London: if that makes me less Tanzanian, then so be it. I know where my roots are.”


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Thailand: Possible Trouble in Bangkok · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Bangkok Pundit translates Thai a news story that talks about senior military leaders meeting to discuss rumors of terrorist attacks in Bangkok coinciding with holidays.


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Trinidad & Tobago: An Orisha wake · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Attillah Springer attends the wake of Baba Sam, priest of the Orisas: “Baba Sam would have wanted music and laughter, and Mother V confirms that that is the case, that he warned her before he went his way, that he didn't want any crying and getting on.  He wanted people to remember how he lived his life.“


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Trinidad & Tobago: Globalisation – what me, worry? · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

The hoops he's being made to jump through by the two large multinational banks where he's trying to open accounts, reminds Trinidadian blogger Seldo (who recently relocated to San Francisco from London) why he doesn't worry too much about globalisation: “Humanity is a lot more resistant to homogenization than we think. McDonald's has to serve salads in the UK and can't serve beef in India. Multinationals that ship their call centres to India discover that cultural and linguistic problems cause customer satisfaction rates to plummet. Coca-Cola has to change its recipe in every nation it goes to. Globalization is self-limiting.“


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Tunisia: Bloodbath in the Holy Land Unacceptable · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Tunisia-based blogger Sub Zero Blue is angered by the amount of blood being spilled in the Holy Land. “Over 5,000 Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli army since 2000. Since the outbreak of the second Palestinian Intifada in September 2000, until late January 2007, the Israeli army has killed 5,050 Palestinian men, women and children, wounded 49,760 others and detained 10,4000 others…(f)or the same period, 704 Israeli civilians and 316 Israeli occupation forces were killed by the Palestinians,” says the blogger.


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Ukraine: Bread-Lover’s Kyiv · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Olechko writes about the delights and disappointments that Kyiv has to offer to a bread-lover.


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Ukraine: Russia-Owned Businesses · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Foreign Notes translates parts of an article on “Ukrainian commerical enterprises controlled by Russian businessmen,” whose main point is that “the high competitive ability [konkurentosposobnost’] of Russian business in comparison with its Ukrainian counterparts is a myth.”


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Vietnam: Traffic Jam Coming Soon · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Jotman writes about one of the conditions that Vietnam has to fulfill in order to enter WTO – slash taxes on automobile purchases. “That's a pretty stark example of how a trade agreement can undermine the the quality of life in an urban center, and comprimise the ability of a state to manage its own transportation infrastructure.” The blogger suggests a possible solution in his post.


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Zambia: blogging and African women · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Brenda Zulu writes a thoughtful piece on African women and blogging: “If mobile subscribers in Africa could provide a platform where women who own mobile phones could mob blog the internet, the traffic of internet bloggers in Africa would increase. Women who do not have access to the internet would in this way have access by sending text, audio, video and pictures to the internet using their mobile phones.”


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Afghanistan: Karzai’s Amnesty Choice · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Safrang says that Hamid Karzai is facing the biggest choice of his term as Afghanistan's president in deciding whether or not to sign into law amnesty bill that recently passed through legislature.

author: Nathan Hamm