Blog archive all
29th July 2016
One of the funniest comedy sketches shown on British television featured the Ministry of Silly Walks – an imaginary government department whose task was to encourage silly ways of walking and provide funding for their development.
I was reminded of this yesterday when Bahrain's information… Read more
28th July 2016
For several weeks now there has been growing evidence that Twitter is being used for a covert and highly organised propaganda operation which disparages Shia Muslims while supporting the Sunni Muslim governments of Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.
The tactic is to deluge Twitter with multiple copies of… Read more
27th July 2016
Boris Johnson, the former Mayor of London who was unexpectedly appointed as Britain's Foreign Secretary two weeks ago, is famous for his gaffes. No newspaper story about Boris is complete, it seems, without some amusing reference to his blunders and mishaps. But such are the expectations of him, as… Read more
26th July 2016
On March 26, 2015, civil war officially broke out in Yemen. On that day, Saudi Arabia marshalled a hastily convened coalition of the willing to forcibly intervene in Yemen’s internal affairs, launching an all out armed conflict between forces loyal to the ‘legitimate government’ of president ‘Abd… Read more
25th July 2016
GNRD, the strange "human rights" organisation that was declared bankrupt earlier this month, had an unusually favourable view of human rights in the UAE. It was also on friendly terms with Egypt's Sisi regime and the Kurdish PYD. Another of its friendships, though – and one which it sought to keep… Read more
23rd July 2016
For several years GNRD, the now-bankrupt human rights organisation, boasted that the European Parliament was one of its international "collaborators" and proudly displayed the parliament's logo on its website. The effect of this was to give the UAE-funded organisation an aura of credibility that… Read more
23rd July 2016
During the 16 months that Saudi Arabia has been waging war in Yemen there has been little discussion of the kingdom's media strategy, though in some ways it is almost as important as the military strategy. In the article below, Sebastian Sons and Toby Matthiesen argue that the kingdom is… Read more
18th July 2016
Bahrain stepped up its suppression of critics yesterday by dissolving the kingdom's main opposition party, al-Wefaq, and confiscating its funds. An announcement by the government news agency said the party, which was founded in 2001, had "provided an environment" that embraced terrorism, extremism… Read more
17th July 2016
A verse from the Qur'an says:
“Men are the protectors and maintainers of women, because God has given the one more [strength] than the other, and because they support them from their means.”
In Saudi Arabia this forms the basis for a system where all women must be assigned a male guardian –… Read more
16th July 2016
In the midst of Britain's political turmoil there was a rare – and surreal – moment of consensus in the House of Commons this week over the BBC's use of the phrase "so-called".
MPs were discussing a government move to add four more groups to the official list of terrorist organisations: the Global… 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
