Currently browsing posts tagged: Israel.

The Definitive Collection of Thomas Friedman Takedowns

As my colleague and current couchmate Trevor Timm pointed out, it is ironic that today of all days I have chosen to compile the definitive collection of hilarious Thomas Friedman takedowns. Why today, you ask? Because today Thomas Friedman actually made sense. Mull that one over for a moment. It’s okay, take your time. As [...]

14.12.2011

7 Comments

Twitter Trolling as Propaganda Tactic: Bahrain and Syria

First, a note: I’m no expert on either of the two countries that are a focus of this piece, nor do I intend to be comprehensive in my analysis. I know a bit more about Syria than I do about Bahrain, having studied its history closely and traveled there, but nonetheless, I intend purely to [...]

12.10.2011

1 Comment

Facebook and the Third Intifada Page: An Update

Further update: This CNN article is essential reading, particularly this quote (emphasis is mine): “The page… began as a call for peaceful protest, even though it used a term that has been associated with violence in the past. In addition, the administrators initially removed comments that promoted violence,” the company statement said. “However, after the [...]

29.03.2011

5 Comments

Israeli Minister Joins Call for Removal of Facebook Page

Last week, I wrote about AllFacebook.com’s Editor, Jackie Cohen, using her platform as a bully pulpit to encourage “friends of Israel” to report a Facebook Page in the hopes of getting it taken down.  Apparently, Cohen has been joined by Israeli Minister of Diplomacy and Diaspora Affairs Yuli Edelstein in appealing to Mark Zuckerberg to [...]

27.03.2011

16 Comments

Microsoft Hotmail: No HTTPS for Arab, Iranian Users

Update 2: Microsoft has fixed the bug; all users can now enable HTTPS. Update: Further testing by EFF International Activist Eva Galperin found that, in addition to Arab countries and Iran, Myanmar, Nigeria, Kazahstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan are also affected. This morning, a Syrian Hotmail user noted that he could not turn on [...]

25.03.2011

10 Comments

Israel as “Safe Haven” for Arabs

An interesting bit in today’s Jerusalem Post; Egyptian journalist Nabil Sharaf Eldin argues, in a rather poorly written piece, that as a journalist, he is safer in Israel than in much of the region.  His ultimate point?  That as a journalist who refuses to mince words in respect to Arab regimes, he is unsafe in [...]

11.11.2010

21 Comments

“Democracy Defenders” Urge State Department to Meddle with Palestinian Online Conversations

The Foundation for Defense of Democracies has released a study on Palestinian social media entitled “P@lestinian Pulse: What Policymakers Can Learn from Palestinian Social Media.”  Researchers analyzed Arabic-language blogs, news sites, forums, and other resources, the majority of which were said to have originated in Gaza and the West Bank, in an attempt to take [...]

27.10.2010

5 Comments

Internet Killed Israeli PR; Israel Killed YouTube Video

In Turkey and in Thailand, and perhaps elsewhere, there are a few YouTube videos you can’t see; videos in violation of local laws–in Turkey, insulting Ataturk, and in Thailand, lèse majesté. Though both governments filter their fair share of websites (and now, Turkey blocks YouTube as well), in this case, the filtering is not coming [...]

13.08.2010

21 Comments

Israeli Court Calls Lying for Sex Rape

For those stumbling upon this story months later, there is new evidence that suggests that this was in fact a forcible rape, not a “rape of deception”.  At the same time, it is unlikely that the Kashur will be re-tried; thus, we may never know what transpired. I think it is important to consider the [...]

22.07.2010

7 Comments

Infiltrators

A recent military order by the IDF calls for the deportation of Palestinians residing in the West Bank who are not in possession of West Bank ID cards. Worth noting before I get into this post is that, while typically Palestinians born in Gaza have Gaza ID cards and those born in the West Bank [...]

15.04.2010

1 Comment

A Minor Encounter

I was sitting on the bus yesterday morning, reading with headphones in, hood up, lost in my own world, when the woman sitting next to me accidentally elbowed me. She apologized, then in a deep southern drawl, asked, “Whatcha readin’?” I, headphones, still in, flipped the book closed to show her the cover: She paused [...]

05.02.2010

8 Comments

Links for 9.2.09

There are far too many things for me to comment on, and way too few hours in the day. Some links for your reading pleasure: Charlotte has an excellent piece on “authenticity” on Morocco that makes use of a recent Guardian piece on finding the authentic in Casablanca (also worth a read). Naomi Wolf states [...]

08.09.2009

8 Comments

On Un-Sanctioning Syria

A notable news item this morning is that of the United States’ lifting two bits of its sanctions on Syria, one of which happens to be its ban on the import/export of IT, including hardware and software (the other is on the exportation of goods to the Syrian aviation industry). Syrian envoy to the U.S. [...]

27.07.2009

3 Comments

On Racism and the Northern Elite

So there’s this video circulating the viral Web; a bunch of American Jews in Tel Aviv are interviewed by Max Blumenthal on the eve of President Obama’s speech in Cairo and are shown on camera spouting racial epithets and hateful words, directed at the president. I’ve actually heard people express surprise at such racist outbursts. [...]

09.06.2009

4 Comments

On Apartheid

No one can put it better for the masses than Juan Cole: Netanyahu wants the Palestinians to acknowledge that Israel is a “Jewish state.” I don’t understand this demand. Israel is not a Jewish state, it is a multi-cultural state, with about half a million non-Jewish Russians and Ukrainians and 20% of its population is [...]

24.05.2009

14 Comments

BBC: “Just trying to stay neutral”

“The hottest places in Hell are reserved for those who in time of great moral crises maintain their neutrality.” – Dante Last week, the BBC made the decision not to air an appeal on behalf of the Disasters Emergency Committee for Gaza on the basis that “the BBC’s impartiality was in danger of being damaged.” [...]

25.01.2009

9 Comments

What will it take?

Bold is mine: We are the keepers of this legacy. Guided by these principles once more, we can meet those new threats that demand even greater effort — even greater cooperation and understanding between nations. We will begin to responsibly leave Iraq to its people, and forge a hard-earned peace in Afghanistan. With old friends [...]

20.01.2009

5 Comments

Two Wars

The terror and destruction does not look as if it will come to an end anytime soon. Friends are growing weary. Today, I got a call from my friend Mohammed Omer, who is from Rafah. While he is fortunate enough to be in the Netherlands right now (Fortunate? He’s there because he was beaten brutally [...]

05.01.2009

1 Comment

Free Hoder?

Following my posts here and at the Huffington Post regarding the “arrest” of blogger Hossein Derakhshan (aka Hoder), I realize that perhaps my pronouncements were premature. Many of you are following this story with skeptical eyes, and I want you to know: so am I. For those of you who aren’t so aware of what’s [...]

24.11.2008

2 Comments

Blogging for Palestine

Thanks to za3tar, who organized the initiative, today is Blog About Palestine Day. I’m blogging the event for Global Voices, but I’d also like to express my own thoughts. The first few paragraphs are about me, so read on to get to the actual point! I learned about the Nakba and the origins of Israel [...]

15.05.2008

5 Comments