A Week of Arabic Blogs, Kadhafi and freedom of expression
2007-04-04
Bloggers discussed the Arab summit, Kadhafi and a lawsuit against an Algerian blogger.
 [Getty Images] (left to right) Qatari Emir Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, Lebanese President Emile Lahoud and Algerian President Abdel Aziz Bouteflika share a light moment at the Arab Summit in Riyadh on March 28th. |
Saturday (March 31st) was the last day of the first "Week of Arabic blogs." Initiated by Mohamed Said Hjiouij, the roundup was intended to "facilitate following original blogs" by having prominent Arab bloggers post on the site of the online magazine Madarat.info.
The response was slow, but has yielded some compelling social and political comments. Algerian blogger Issam Hamoud wrote about the March 28th Arab summit, wondering who might be "stupid enough" to believe, even for a second, that Arab leaders want to change: "All that has been said, and will be said, is for nothing." Hjiouij quoted an entry from the Altayeboun blog about the Mauritanian election. The blogger, Altayib, credited the country- typically a symbol of poverty and under-development- with "slapping" other Arab countries, teaching them that a nation does not need to be wealthy and powerful to achieve democracy. It does not need centuries of change, or pressure from outside, Altayib wrote. "Mauritania has proven that democracy is a decision, [born of] good intentions and love of one's country."
This week, Tunisian blogger Cos-Maux-Polis dedicates a post to Libyan leader Muammar Kadhafi, and his "encyclopaedic knowledge." The blogger argues that, despite the belief some people hold that the Libyan leader has retired his more provocative side, "Kadhafi is back to his natural self."
According to the author, Kadhafi wants to restore the Muslim caliphate in North Africa, and rule the Arab world, "to counter Western aggression". The Libyan leader considers other monotheistic religions besides Islam to be "mistaken".
The blogger also mentioned recent comments wherein Kadhafi called the political events in Mauritania "a masquerade", stating that meanwhile, "the Bulgarian nurses and Palestinian doctor are dying in the prisons of a regime equally as cynical as it is absurd."
Abdulsalam Baroudi is one of the first Algerian bloggers to be sued for his writings. The writer was accused of defamation by an Algerian official for comments posted on his blog. He received a summons from officials in Tlemcen, "to be present Saturday before the Judiciary, after Tlemcen’s Director of Religious Affairs filed a defamation case against me, for the article I posted on my blog on February 20, under the title Al Sistani Appears in Tlemcen". The blogger added that by giving the official "the go-ahead…the Ministry has now opened the door for the initiation of legal proceedings against bloggers."
Tunisian authorities have censored Mouwaten Tounsviii again, according to Mazen from the Bloggers Observatory: "it looks like the cat-and-mouse game has not ended yet between the censorship department and Tunisian blogger Mouwaten Tounsviii. For the sixth time in a row the censorship department has blocked his site, despite constantly changing his blog's address by adding numbers. Hasn't the department seen that there is no use in censorship? All the bloggers who have been censored have come back with new blogs."
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ليبي Posted 2007-04-07
He stated that meanwhile, "the Bulgarian nurses and Palestinian doctor are dying in the prisons of a regime equally as cynical as it is absurd." The Tunisian brother doesn't know that the number of children affected by the HIV is about 400 and over 60 have died, and of course there's no one to restore their right, and because he's like a parrot copying the west media that do not give these victims equal and fair coverage.
م.س. احجيوج Posted 2007-04-08
The celebration of "the Week of Arabic blogs" has nothing to do with Madarat. It's true that I supervise both of them, but they're totally independent. I wonder where you got the idea that the event was organized to find editors for the magazine! Sincerely
Algy Posted 2007-04-13
Following the serious studies that have been conducted, it seems contaminations date back from before these nurses and this doctor arrived in Libya. Besides, the drama of these kids and their families will not be attenuated by some trial mascarade or hard sentences. All this is most obviously some propaganda set up by the regime in Tripoli, that allows it not only to calm down possible demonstrations in this part of Libya, likely to experience some political unrest, but also to negociate their freedom. Evidence that these people are really hostages!
jean Posted 2007-07-30
Unfortunately, it is not his first attempt at manipulation.
محمد عبد الحميد العاتى Posted 2007-09-16
I'm an ordinary citizen and want to join the revolutionary committees.
الدكتور علي زغدود Posted 2009-08-12
I renew the call to Algerian bloggers to activate political action. I call upon Algerian bloggers anew to support party political action and dedicate some of their pages to raise awareness of the Algerian society about their rights. They should also force elected politicians to achieve positive results during their mandates. This can be realized only if everyone participates in supervising them through observations or critics. We hope that bloggers support political action because their opinions can contribute to speeding up its development and ensure that citizens benefit from it. We note that the problem with Algerian blogs is that they don’t deal with political, party or even cultural topics seriously and extensively. Although there are a considerable number of citizens affiliated in political parties, a big number of teachers and university graduates, we don’t see their ideas on blogs except some bloggers including Mr Yahya or Hiba who dealt with the topic of parties succinctly. Failure to encourage Algerian citizens to deal with political issues on blogs will just lead to a low political performance, deterioration of cultural product and weakness of political ideas. This doesn’t facilitate contribution to solving disputes and crises of the country. Dr Ali Zaghdoud, Party of the Algerian Rally.
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