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Between Media Realism and Acting

This is what is intended to be the first in a series of translated pieces by my friend Saed Karzoun, a journalist, musician, and blogger from Ramallah. Original piece in Arabic by Saed Karzoun Translated by Raghda Butros As I sit watching television, listening to the radio, reading the papers or browsing the Internet, amidst [...]

31.12.2009

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Fighting Hate…With Hate?

Re-posted from The Huffington Post: The JIDF, or Jewish Internet Defense Force, started as a collective of activists dedicated to the noble cause of combating antisemitic speech online. The group stood up against sites such as Facebook and Wikipedia in attempts to get them to remove hateful speech, and in mid-2009 achieved success in lobbying [...]

28.12.2009

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A Few Twitter Campaigning Tips

We’re in the midst of an attempt to get the #Gaza hashtag to trend on Twitter (if you don’t know what that means, let me Google that for you), and are learning bit by bit what doesn’t work (and of course, what does).  Twitter is an ever-changing platform, so what mattered one year ago may [...]

27.12.2009

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The Role of Global Voices

By now you might have seen David Sasaki’s retrospective about Global Voices,  or Rebecca MacKinnon’s post about GV, five years in.  Maybe you’re aware that GV is celebrating its fifth anniversary.  Anyway, now you are! I joined Global Voices in April 2007, about two years and 8 months ago.  As I explain in this video [...]

22.12.2009

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The Inimitable Arab Bloggers

Perhaps you’ve wondered about my bit of a blogging hiatus: I spent December 7-13 in Beirut for the second annual Arab Bloggers Workshop. The workshop, sponsored by The Heinrich Böll Foundation and Global Voices Online, with support from HIVOS and the Open Society Institute, brought together about 80 of the most amazing bloggers from around [...]

21.12.2009

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Chance

On a night unlike many others, I took a taxi home. I had approached the first cab I saw outside of the bar, but the driver didn’t have a credit card machine and I didn’t have cash. The second cab I approached didn’t want to go to my neighborhood. The third driver agreed to it. [...]

16.12.2009

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A democracy is only as righteous as its citizens

Many people are outraged at the Swiss people’s decision to ban minarets from their skylines, a decision made by referendum. From the outset, let me say that I am wholly opposed to this decision, just as I am opposed to the burqa ban in France, Egypt’s ban on building churches, several Muslim countries’ bans on conversion, and Saudi Arabia’s banning of female hair. I fundamentally believe in the right of anyone to practice their religion, anywhere (though I certainly prefer they keep it to themselves). I should also say that two wrongs don’t make a right: I’ve heard plenty of statements along the lines of “good for the Swiss, they’re standing up to Islam” from people who, were the tables turned, would call inequality if a majority-Muslim nation does the same thing.

01.12.2009

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