"an Arab man's attempt at bridging the cultural gap. Trying to make a difference. Failing a lot. Succeeding once in a while."
Mahmood Nasser Al-Yousif
CNN posted this article today, here is the first part. For those of you who are concerned about the plight of women in Arab countries, note the numbers of females. (Also that these voices do better in our language than we do.)
I've really enjoyed watching the process of dialog over the past months online. Feels like our founding fathers meeting the world. East and west, men and women, feminists and imams, Shia and sunni. (Interestingly never seen people claiming alliance with the Taliban on Twitter. Which reinforces my opinion about supplying Afghanistan with satellite internet and cheap laptops. )
The process is the same as posting and commenting here,just back and forth, trying to be civil and understand each other. Apologies for misunderstanding or rudeness.In systems theory we used to talk about feedback loops, old words maybe for learning from each other. Check it out~
(CNN) -- Political unrest across the Middle East has increased appetite in the wider world for comment from within the region, and some are turning to bloggers for insider views on the events unfolding on their television screens.
Social media -- including blogging, Twitter and Facebook -- has played an often-crucial role in organizing the protests sweeping the region. But it's not all politics, and blogs about the ups and downs of daily life can offer a fascinating glimpse of real life in the Middle East.
Here, we have drawn up an entirely unscientific list of 10 of the most interesting blogs from the region.The bloggers come from a variety of backgrounds and countries. Our only criteria were that they are based in the region, write mostly in English and have something worth saying.
Politics in Egypt and the wider Arab world
Arabist is popular for its insightful comment on Egyptian politics. Often thought provoking, it's a good place to monitor developments in post-revolution Egypt.
The principal blogger on this site is Issandr El Amrani, a freelance journalist and commentator for several international publications. El Amrani was born in Morocco, and has lived in Cairo, Egypt, since 2000.
I felt that I would rather represent myself instead of having others speak for me.
--Eman Al Nafjan, author of Saudiwoman
The Saudi woman who got tired of reading "expert" opinion on her country, Riyadh-based mother of three and post-graduate student Eman Al Nafjan, 32, set up her blog Saudiwoman as a response to reading non-Arabs and non-Saudis giving expert opinions on life and culture in the kingdom.
She said: "I felt that I would rather represent myself instead of having others speak for me. There was no long-term plan but eventually I became addicted to it. To me it's an outlet and a way to voice my concerns about everything, including Islamophobia, human rights violations and women's movement in Saudi Arabia, and the Palestinian/Israeli conflict."
Saudiwoman was a finalist for Best Asian Blog in the 2011 Bloggies.
Bahrain's "Blogfather" Mahmood Nasser Al-Yousif, the author of Mahmood's Den, is a long-time blogger who has been described as the region's "Blogfather."
Al-Yousif was recently arrested and briefly detained by the Bahraini authorities. He describes his blog as "an Arab man's attempt at bridging the cultural gap. Trying to make a difference. Failing a lot. Succeeding once in a while."
Young Yemeni woman reporting on protests
Afrah Nasser is a 25-year-old journalist at the Yemen Observer. Nasser has been blogging for just over a year, featuring politics, news and views. Her recent posts have been about the protests in Yemen and include updates from Sanaa's Change Square, a focal point for protest in the capital.
She said: "I love to blog about political topics especially since the revo started. It's my gateway to express my views freely. However, that caused me trouble sometimes."
Nasser said she recently received a threatening message on her Facebook account. Her response? She just translated it from Arabic to English and posted it on her blog.
"Rantings" from Egypt
The Rantings of a Sandmonkey was an anonymous blog until its author Mahmoud Salem went public, saying he had been attacked close to Cairo's Tahrir Square during pro-democracy demonstrations in February this year.
Salem said his car was destroyed and he was beaten up by pro-government thugs in the days before the resignation of President Hosni Mubarak.
Sandmonkey has just won the best English language blog -- a people's choice award -- in The Bobs, Deutsche Welle's Blog Awards.
* If you're interested, the Interim Government of Libya has set up a website, very well done. Not exactly AlQuaeda type language. This is from their home page, makes me proud to have lived there.
"In this important historical juncture which Libya is passing through right now, we find ourselves at a turning point with only two solutions. Either we achieve freedom and race to catch up with humanity and world developments, or we are shackled and enslaved under the feet of the tyrant Mu’ammar Gaddafi where we shall live in the midst of history."
