Archive for
February 18th, 2007


Stories

A Week in the Saudi Blogosphere 

a small portrait of this author Fahad Albutairi · 16:37

False assumptions of a Saudi threat to US campuses, a bald Britney Spears, two new Saudi air carriers, Valentine's day, and the infamous “burqini;” all that and much more is in this week's roundup.

I noticed many Saudi bloggers referring to the recent happenings in Jerusalem. As it turns out, last Friday, February the 16th, was the Jerusalem Blogging Day. According to Saudi blogger ماشي صح (translates to “On the Right Track”), it was the fruit of joint efforts by bloggers Nuzha and Mohammed Lachyab. A new website is also dedicated to the cause.

Two new airlines in Saudi were launched recently. Until recently, Saudi Arabian Airlines were the only air carriers operating in the Kingdom. In one of his posts, Yazeed said that “Sama recently operated their first flight within Saudi, and plan to expand into the Middle East soon.” Feras talks about NAS Airlines in one of his posts, and mentions something very interesting about the airlines:

You might find this a bit funny, the CEO of the company Captain Peter Griffiths flies the companies planes!! Just goes to show you…

This past week, Saudi bloggers have also observed Valentine's Day. It is a well-known fact that as a result of efforts by the Saudi religious authorities, mainly the Committee for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (a.k.a. Religious Police), red roses are banned from being sold on Valentine's Day; a day which, according to our lovely lesbian couple in the Saudi blogosphere, Two Dykes and a Closet, is “the day that the single people love to hate, and the in-a-relationship people love to love.” However, according to an article posted by Crossroads Arabia, red roses were still sold out due to the huge demand by young Saudis, who have been defying the Kingdom's official ban year after year. Furthermore, Crossroads Arabia suggests: “Perhaps we can start to do what we recommend to others: ‘Judge people by what they do, not by what they say.' ” If you want to hear it from someone who is not Saudi, but happens to be living in the Kingdom, you should visit Chris' take on V-Day in the KSA.
(more…)

2 comments · »»

Syrian Blogsphere in a Week 

a small portrait of this author Yazan Badran · 10:14

We start off with a very special goodbye from Brian Anthony…

Brian has lived, taught, and blogged from Damascus for more than two years, he returned to the US a couple of months ago… We all want to wish him the best of luck.
This was his last goodbye post on his blog, In The Axis…

In writing this blog, I've tried to present a personal view of everyday life in the Middle East. With few exceptions, I tried to steer clear of politics and to focus on the human element, that which is so regrettably missing from the sometimes unrecognizable caricature of the Middle East we get through our politicians, our media, and our own cultural assumptions. I don't claim to have been right about everything, just honest about what I saw. I hope you found something here worthwhile, and that my experiences encouraged someone somewhere to take a deeper look.

Moving on to Middle East politics…

Ammar, is explaining why he an “Unreasonable Heretic”. Why Democracy and Development are the real national cause…

A friend told me not too long ago that some people tend to find my position on the Assads to be somewhat unreasonable. After all, some of their stands and policies, especially with regard to the peace process and the Arab-Israeli Conflict seem to reflect how the majority of people in Syria and elsewhere in the region and the world feel and think. So why we not support them on these matters? Wouldn't this be the patriotic thing to do, regardless of how we feel about their internal policies?

(more…)

0 comments · »»
Funders
Sponsors
Korea content
supported by		 OutBlaze Japan content
supported by		 SanrioTown