Blog archive all
Tariq Alhomayed, editor-in-chief of the Saudi newspaper, Asharq Al-Awsat, has been reflecting on that bizarre incident (reported here last week) when Tariq al-Fadhli, self-appointed leader of Yemen's southern separatist movement, hoisted an American flag at his home in Abyan while sounds of… Read more
Saturday was the UN-sponsored International Day of Zero Tolerance to Female Genital Mutilation. In Egypt, about 1,000 girls took part in a protest in Minya province calling on the government to implement its law against the practice.
According to statistics cited by al-… Read more
A brief update on Hanefi Ould Dehah, the Mauritanian journalist whose case I reported last December. After completing a six-month sentence for "indecency", Ould Dedah – editor of theTaqadoumy news website – was not released but continued to be held in jail illegally.
At a new… Read more
AFP is reporting that the Yemeni government has drawn up a ceasefire timetable and relayed it to the Houthi rebels via an intermediary. There is also talk of having the ceasefire implementation overseen by parliamentary committees.
This is beginning to look more hopeful. At least one… Read more
Calm analysis of Yemen's problems, by Yemenis from inside the country, is rather scarce but Abdullah al-Faqih, Professor of Political Science at Sana’a University, provides exactly that in an articleheaded "The challenges of dealing with Yemen’s deep crises".
It's a clear and concise review of… Read more
A video purporting to show members of the Saudi armed forces torturing suspected Houthi rebels has been posted on the internet.
The Washington-based Saudi Information Agency (critical of the Saudi regime) says:
The prisoners, who are suspected to be affiliated with the Houthi rebel… Read more
Hussein Ibish, of the American Task Force on Palestine, has written a thoughtful and, I think, important essay about the controversy surrounding Joseph Massad and gay rights in the Arab countries.
This is partly in response to those on the American right who seem more eager… Read more
Five years ago this month, there was a good deal of excitement in Saudi Arabia when men (but not women) were given an opportunity to vote for the first time in 40 years.
They were electing half the members of municipal councils – the other half to be appointed by the king – and… Read more
An intriguing clip from YouTube, apparently filmed at the home of Sheikh Tariq al-Fadhli, erstwhile jihadist and associate of Bin Laden, and now self-appointed leader of Yemen's southern separatists.
It shows the hoisting of an American flag in his compound with people standing to attention as the… Read more
Following on from my talk at SOAS last week about the "crunch points" in Arab society, a reader asks:
How do you explain the apparent contradiction between the authoritarian nature of all of these societies and the apparent (often shocking) lack of order and discipline, and an almost… 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
