Blog archive all
Al-Ahram's front page. Acknowledgement: The Angry Arab
In the absence of any noteworthy events in Egypt, the semi-official al-Ahram newspaper had to look further afield for its main front-page headline yesterday: "Widespread protests and disturbances in Lebanon". This is a… Read more
In an article for The Atlantic, Alexis Madrigal, formerly of Wired magazine, takes a detailed look at the recent battle between the Tunisian authorities and Facebook – and how Facebook responded to it. He writes:
After more than ten days of intensive investigation and study, Facebook's… Read more
Kifaya – "Enough!" One man and the riot police in Cairo today
Well, who would have believed it? Today's protests in Egypt far exceeded my own expectations and, no doubt, the expectations of the organisers and the Egyptian authorities. The Mubarak regime, even if it's not headed for… Read more
Today is national Police Day in Egypt. It marks the occasion, 59 years ago, when police in Ismailia refused to surrender to British forces and 41 of them died in a three-hour battle. Their act of heroism is officially commemorated every year on January 25.
But since 1952 perceptions of the… Read more
Not much to say about this – except that I rather like it. It's a new font from the Monotype company, looking sleek and modern, and known as Neo Sans Arabic.
There were more anti-government protests in Algeria and Yemen yesterday.
In Yemen, about 2,500 students and opposition activists demonstrated at Sana'a University, calling for President Salih to go. Although recent demonstrations have increasingly focused on Salih's presidency,… Read more
Having ignored the Tunisian uprising initially, the American right is now struggling to come to terms with it. Very inconveniently, it's hard to fit into standard neocon/clash-of-civilisations narratives – though that doesn't stop Robert Kaplan, writing in the New York Times, from having a try. He… Read more
The "Tunisia effect" continues. Several thousand protesters took to the streets of Jordan yesterday, for the second Friday in succession. More than 5,000 marched in the centre of Amman, with smaller demonstrations in several other cities, according toagency reports. The protesters are said to have… Read more
The Tunisia effect continues with a Reuters headline, "Protests erupt in Yemen", reporting that thousands took to the streets in the central city of Ta'izz yesterday.
This followed two nights of rioting by secessionist supporters in the southern city of Aden on Tuesday and Wednesday… Read more
Writing for Comment Is Free yesterday, I suggested that events in Tunisia could herald the rise of a new post-Islamist politics in the Middle East – a politics where religious movements are not automatically seen as the main threat to hidebound Arab regimes.
Tom Pfeiffer, a Reuters correspondent in… 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
