Blog archive all
My talk at Café Diplo last night. Read it here.
Posted by Brian Whitaker, 22 Feb 2011
Just in case anyone is wondering ... after a period of very intensive blogging here since the events of Sidi Bouzid in December, I have to take a short break in order to catch up on a few other things.
One of them is to prepare a talk on Saudi Arabia (to be given at Café Diplo in London next… Read more
Lest we forget that Yemen also has a place called Tahrir Square, here's an account from Human Rights Watch about the events there yesterday:
Hundreds of men armed with knives, sticks, and assault rifles attacked anti-government protesters in Yemen's capital, Sanaa, as Yemeni security… Read more
National politics or tribal politics? In Yemen it's often difficult to tell the difference, as illustrated by a violent spat on Saturday involving Hamid al-Ahmar, one of the most outspoken opposition MPs, and Nu'man Duwaid, the governor of Sana'a province.
Al-Ahmar is a prominent figure in the… Read more
The situation in Egypt, as a friend from Alexandria described it to me in an email this morning, is "quite fluid and extremely scary". It's also very difficult to work out what is really going on behind the scenes.
Vice-President Suleiman increasingly behaves as if he were president, while the… Read more
Tens of thousands took part in Yemen's "day of rage" yesterday, and it looks like becoming a regular Thursday occurrence. The turnout was probably less than the organisers had been hoping and I doubt that it did much to frighten President Salih. Although he is increasingly unpopular, the opposition… Read more
Egyptian protesters have dubbed today the "Day of Departure" for President Mubarak – and they may be proved right. There are reports this morning that the US has now shifted from vague talk of "transition" to working on a plan for him to step down immediately.
The American plan is said to… Read more
Today has been declared a "day of rage" in Yemen and a demonstration is about to start in Sanaa as I write. This follows a series of protests in the capital last month (here and here) in which several thousands took part. The organisers are hoping for a much bigger turnout today – but… Read more
It hasn't taken long for Egypt's "official" opposition parties – the Wafd, the Tagammu and the Nasserists – to cave in and
agree to talks with the Mubarak regime. Fortunately, they are not enough on their own to make any dialogue meaningful.
Events of the last 24 hours – Mubarak's TV… Read more
Faced with an event of Berlin Wall magnitude on its home turf, the Arab media is torn over the uprising in Egypt and how to report it, if at all.
In the old days, the media's role was not so much to report the news as to "guide" the public, shielding them from "harmful" information or anything that… Read more
ARAB ART ONLINE: Susan Hefuna: Al Sabr Gamil (Patience is Beautiful) 2007. Ink stained on wood 140 x 170 cm. More information | Click to enlarge
