My Iranian friend, Bozorgmehr Sharafedin, who currently works in London for BBC Persian and featured in my book The Blogging Revolution when we were together in Iran in 2007, writes that this week’s mass protests across the Islamic Republic signal a shift in focus of the opposition; It is clear that Monday’s demonstrations in Iran…
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What New Delhi can learn from Cairo
My following article is published by leading Indian magazine Tehelka: The Middle East is the region where global empires lavishly exercise their chequebook. Since the Second World War, America has bribed, cajoled and backed autocratic regimes in the name of stability. Israel, self-described as the only democracy in the area, has been insulated from the…
US definition of web freedom; content that we like
How noble is the Obama administration, pledging to support citizens in repressive regimes (many of which are run by US-backed thugs but why quibble with such details?): Days after Facebook and Twitter added fuel to a revolt in Egypt, the Obama administration plans to announce a new policy on Internet freedom, designed to help people…
What online culture has brought to Egypt (and didn’t start yesterday)
The internet has certainly played a role in bringing Egypt to this moment. It started years ago – something I documented in my book The Blogging Revolution – and hasn’t just appeared in the last two weeks. Instant Facebook Revolution, indeed. I like this: As one secularist blogger put it in commenting on the protocols…
West Bank and Gaza Arabs likely to march in numbers, too?
Amira Hass in Haaretz says it’s highly unlikely because Palestinians are exhausted and both live in police states. They wonder; what would it really gain? On Thursday, January 20, a group of young people wanted to demonstrate their support for the Tunisians. As is customary nowadays, they organized themselves using Facebook and e-mail. And in…
Washington, backing Facebook in Egypt isn’t quite enough
Here’s some free advice to the US State Department; trying to keep Twitter or Facebook or other social networking sites alive inside dictatorships is a fine task but have you stopped for a minute and wondered what citizens think when your own government has backed these brutes? The State Department has been working furiously and…
Not a Twitter revolution
Parvez Sharma: #Egypt became strong only AFTER #internet etc died 80 million people? 1% have smartpnones THE POOR DONT TWEET They walk into bombs & bullets
People of Gaza and Egypt need freedom from our thug
Burn, baby, burn. Israel and America are scurrying for some kind of response to the Egyptian uprising. The poor lambs. What on earth will they do if a compliant dictatorship actually falls? For example, the siege on Gaza may well be about to change. I hope. And so do the people of Gaza. They deserve…
Egyptians, we stand with you
Feel the fear in Israel and America. The Arab world is rising up. Decades of dictatorships are under threat. Tel Aviv and Washington have created a nexus of bigotry to support their goals. And now what do they have? Mass anger. Nice work. US Vice President Joe Biden talks about Mubarak being “moderate” and a…
Repeat after me; there was no Wikileaks revolution in Tunisia
Jillian York asks the ever-eager Western press to take a long, cold shower and actually ask Tunisians themselves if the internet/Twitter/Facebook/Wikileaks seriously contributed to the downfall of President Ben Ali. In a word, no.