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From Beirut with love
Posted on November 6th, 2007
Please allow us to introduce ourselves. Menassat.com is a brand-new website with correspondents throughout the Arab world. Our modest mission: to defend press freedom and freedom of expression wherever we can find it.

'Until you change your mind'
Posted on November 13th, 2007
On the first anniversary of his imprisonment, when fellow bloggers all over the world held demonstrations for his release, Egyptian blogger Kareem Amer was allegedly tortured for having exposed corruption inside the prison.

The talk of Amman is Ammon
Posted on November 15th, 2007
It has become as essential to Jordanians as their morning coffee. Menassat.com talks with the two men behind Ammon, the website that became an overnight success as a platform for freedom of expression.

The frailty of freedom of expression
Posted on November 18th, 2007
A conference in Beirut takes another look at the state of press freedom in the Arab world.

Facebook banned in Syria
Posted on November 20th, 2007
'Facebook is a social utility that connects you with the people around you. Everyone can use Facebook.' Well, except if you live in Syria that is.

Egypt's Muslim Brothers in online fight
Posted on November 22nd, 2007
A dispute over the Muslim Brotherhood's website has led some to believe that a power struggle is going on inside the Islamic group. But caution is warranted; there has been no real change in the group's ideology since it was founded in the 1920's.

Is YouTube feeding the regional crackdown on cyber-activists?
Posted on December 3rd, 2007
Esra'a Al Shafei, director of MideastYouth.com, looks at YouTube's suspension of Egyptian blogger Wael Abbas' account, and wonders why the tech giant is choosing the side of the oppressors of free speech.

We are not the enemy
Posted on December 4th, 2007


Menassat.com banned in Syria
Posted on December 4th, 2007
Officially, Menassat.com is only a month old, and already we seem to have offended the Syrian government. The reason (we assume): publishing an article regarding Syria’s banning of the social networking site Facebook.

Blogging for freedom in Morocco
Posted on December 5th, 2007
The news about freedom of expression in the Arab world isn't all bad. In Morocco, for instance, bloggers enjoy near absolute freedom.

From Lyrical Babe to Lyrical Terrorist
Posted on December 6th, 2007
A British-born Muslim was given a nine-months suspended jail sentence today for "possession of material likely to be useful to a person preparing to commit an act of terrorism." Samina Malik, dubbed the Lyrical Terrorist, had fantasized about dying a martyr's death in her poetry.

2nd Arab Free Press Forum puts the usual suspects on trial
Posted on December 11th, 2007
There was little to rejoice about at the 2nd Arab Free Press Forum that was held in Beirut this week. Arab governments are still stifling press freedom wherever they can find it; some even prevented their citizens from attending the conference.

Circumventing the gatekeepers to tackle old taboos
Posted on December 12th, 2007


A hip hop foreigner in Gaza
Posted on December 12th, 2007
Our correspondent in Gaza City explores what one group of young Palestinians are doing to express themselves in the face of the daily struggle for survival in the Strip: rap, Gaza style.

World demands release of Syrian political activists
Posted on December 21st, 2007
Syria is cracking down on political activists after a Dec. 1 opposition gathering. Human Rights Watch and others are demanding their release.

'We out to show the world that we not a bunch of terrorists!'
Posted on December 25th, 2007
A voice from the hip-hop wilderness is emerging to define a new musical sound in Lebanon. Menassat.com profiles the Lebanese hip-hop scene through the eyes of its most celebrated DJ/producer, Hussein Mao – aka DJ Lethal Skillz.

Not quite the President's Man?
Posted on December 27th, 2007
Last November, Makram Mohamed Ahmed was elected head of the Egyptian Journalists Syndicate. His is not an enviable job, to negotiate with a regime known to jail and torture journalists, while fending off criticism that he is the President's Man.

World rallies behind Saudi blogger
Posted on December 28th, 2007
The arrest of Saudi blogger Ahmad Fouad Al-Farhan has caused consternation in the Arab blogosphere. Al-Farhan had warned his friends in a letter that his arrest was imminent.

FreeAccess Plus!, A new way to circumvent Internet censorship
Posted on January 15th, 2008


It's official: Freedom of expression is sacred (in Egypt)
Posted on January 15th, 2008
Things are far from perfect in Egypt, but a recent court ruling against the banning of 51 websites, based on the Egyptian Constitution's defense of freedom of expression, was a breath of fresh air. MENASSAT.COM's Syria correspondent – himself a lawyer – analyzes the verdict, and dreams of one day seeing Syria's courts follow the Egyptian example.

In Lebanon, Facebook can land you in jail
Posted on January 21st, 2008
Facebook is making headlines again – this time in Lebanon, where four male college students were arrested, and spent a week in jail, for defaming a female student.

Damascus Declaration signatories go on trial
Posted on January 31st, 2008
A number of renowned pro-democracy activists and signatories of the Damascus Declaration, an appeal advocating reform in Syria, were brought before a Damascus court this week. Among them were two journalists.

'We are all Fouads'
Posted on February 15th, 2008
The Free Fouad campaign has organized a Fouad's Week on the blogosphere, while activists in the U.S. held a demonstration in front of the Saudi embassy. HAMSA's Nasser Weddady explains why on- and offline activism need to go hand in hand.

Gay or lesbian, and Muslims too
Posted on February 18th, 2008
Parvez Sharma spent six years traveling throughout the Muslim world, Europe and North America documenting the lives of gay and lesbian Muslims – many of them devout – who struggle to reconcile their faith with their sexuality. Marianna Evenstein caught up with the Indian filmmaker.

Wael Abbas questioned over harassment video
Posted on February 21st, 2008
Egyptian blogger Wael Abbas has been questioned by the authorities about a video clip he posted on his website which allegedly depicts a plainclothes police officer forcing a woman to strip naked.

Gaza artists reflect on 60 years of human rights
Posted on February 22nd, 2008
Gaza's artists have been given a 40-meter long wall to express their thoughts about the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

'We need to keep Kareem in our thoughts'
Posted on February 22nd, 2008
On the first anniversary of his imprisonment, the 'Free Kareem' campaign launched another worldwide campaign today to draw attention to jailed Egyptian blogger Kareem Amer.

Cartoons against extremism
Posted on February 26th, 2008
In his new book, 'Cartoons from a Berber,' Dutch-Moroccan artist Abttoy wields a sharp pen at both Islamic and Dutch extremists. Should we expect a backlash as with the Danish cartoons? No, says Abttoy, "I don't attack Islam, only those who abuse it."

Don't mention the King (or the Prince)
Posted on February 28th, 2008
The unusually harsh treatment of Fouad Mourtada, who was given a three-year prison sentence for creating a spoof Facebook profile of Morocco's Prince Molay Rashid, has many wondering what happened to the promise of turning the page on history.

Crazy in Gaza
Posted on February 29th, 2008
Not many people in Gaza would think openly declaring one's love for Israel is a very good idea. But Khalil Mohammad Shaath has been shouting it through a megaphone and writing it on the walls for more than a decade. MENASSAT met with the "crazy man of Gaza."

The three new No's
Posted on March 6th, 2008


RSF to hold first 'Online Freedom of Expression Day'
Posted on March 10th, 2008
Bloggers in nine "Internet enemy countries" are invited to participate in a worldwide online demonstration on Wednesday, organized by Reporters without Borders (RSF).

Who's afraid of Marjane Satrapi?
Posted on March 14th, 2008
Persepolis, the graphic novel turned Oscar-nominated movie by Marjane Satrapi, has been shown in two cultural centers in Tehran but it will not be seen any time soon in Lebanon, where the censor fears its critical portrayal of Iran's Islamic revolution might upset the Shia population.

Fatwa issued to kill two Saudi writers
Posted on March 17th, 2008
A leading Wahhabi cleric has issued a fatwa that calls for the killing of two Saudi writers. The cleric, Sheikh Abdurrahman al-Baraak, is reportedly close to Al-Qaeda.

Fitna, Much ado about nothing?
Posted on March 28th, 2008
Reactions to the early release of Dutch MP Geert Wilders' anti-Islam movie, Fitna, have so far been muted in the Muslim world. But it may be too early to tell how the Arab street will react. MENASSAT reports from Beirut, Cairo and The Netherlands.

The straight stuff: Hip-hop in Morocco
Posted on March 31st, 2008
Morocco has been experiencing a veritable hip-hop explosion over the past few years. MENASSAT spoke with Caprice of Casa Crew, one of the country's leading rap groups, about the reasons behind hip-hop's appeal to Morocco's youth.

Graffiti for a cause
Posted on April 3rd, 2008
Looking for that special way to propose marriage? And show your support for the Palestinian cause at the same time? A joint Dutch-Palestinian initiative, Sendamessage.nl, allows anyone in the world to spray a message on the Israeli separation wall in the West Bank from behind their computer.

Revenge of the pyjamahedeen
Posted on April 7th, 2008
In the old days when you wanted to suppress a general strike you just sent in the troops to crack some heads. Nowadays, Egypt's security forces are facing an army of Internet-savvy activists using Twitter, Facebook, text messaging and blogging as their weapons.

Happy birthday, Mr. President
Posted on April 9th, 2008
The revolution may not be televised – at least not on Egypt's state-run TV – but you can be sure it will have its group on Facebook. Undeterred by last Sunday's security crackdown, Egypt's cyber-dissidents are calling for new anti-government protests on May 4, president Hosni Mubarak's 80th birthday.

Taking Kurdish activism online
Posted on April 16th, 2008


MC's not AK's
Posted on April 18th, 2008
MENASSAT and Arab Images Foundation invite you for a historic night of "Reconciliation hip-hop" featuring Palestinian and Lebanese rappers. Monday night's free concert in Beirut is part of Nada Sehnaoui's eye-opening installation, "Haven't 15 years of hiding in the toilets been enough?"

C for censorship
Posted on April 22nd, 2008
Egypt's Morality Police has confiscated a new graphic novel, Metro, by Lybian-born artist Magdi El-Shafee, claiming it offended public morals.

Rapping across the sectarian divide
Posted on April 23rd, 2008
Rappers from across Lebanon's confessional divide, including some from the Palestinian camp Bourj al-Barajneh, performed in downtown Beirut on Monday.

Fighting racism, one child at a time
Posted on April 28th, 2008
One in five people in Lebanon today is a domestic worker from Sri Lanka, Ethiopia or the Philippines. Simba Russeau organized a media workshop at a school where their children mix with those of Iraqi and other refugees. Using interview techniques, she tried to get the kids to overcome their prejudices against each other.

Freedom goes online
Posted on May 3rd, 2008
On World Press Freedom Day 2008, Alexandra Sandels looks at the importance of Internet activists for freedom of expression in the Arab world. Has the real struggle for press freedom gone online?

Trading places
Posted on May 5th, 2008
A former political prisoner, 70-year-old Ghassan Najjar, has offered to take the place of Fidaa Akram al-Hourani, the head of the Damascus Declaration for Democratic National Change who was arrested in December.

Three years for six words
Posted on May 16th, 2008
Syrian blogger Tariq Baissi will spend the next three years behind bars for posting a six words comment criticizing the Syrian security services on an online forum.

Blogging for change in Saudi Arabia
Posted on May 22nd, 2008
Saudi Jeans is one of the most influential blogs in the Gulf region. It is run by pharmacy student Ahmad Al Omran, who through his blog hopes to "be a part of the change that is taking place in Saudi Arabia."

Al-Bunni family presented with Irish human rights award
Posted on May 23rd, 2008
Praising his "extraordinary sacrifices," Irish President Mary McAleese on Thursday presented the annual Front Line award to the wife of jailed Syrian lawyer Anwar al-Bunni. Al-Bunni is part of a remarkable family of human rights activists who together have spent more than 60 years in prison.

'I have taken a lot and I will take more'
Posted on June 3rd, 2008
Tunisian journalist Slim Boukhdhir has been in a Tunisian jail for 7 months, charged with refusing to give his ID-card to a police officer. MENASSAT highlights the case.

A blog is what in the Middle-East?
Posted on June 25th, 2008


Mauritania authorities silence voice of the people
Posted on June 25th, 2008
Mauritanian authorities silenced radio Sawt al-Mouwatana (voice of the people) this month after only 19 months on the air. Its closure may mean the end of impartial reporting on Mauritania's radio airwaves.

A new watchdog for Tunisia's media
Posted on July 10th, 2008
A group of media activists in Tunisia has launched a new website to critique the country's so-called independent media. It is an ironic twist that caught the eye of MENASSAT's Tunis correspondent.

Four empty seats and a shouting match
Posted on December 12th, 2008
The 3rd Arab Free Press Forum was four participants short when it started in Beirut on Friday—Syria, Saudi Arabia and Tunisia all stopped people from traveling to the conference. Tunisia even sent a government delegation to impose its point of view on the conference, which resulted in a bit of a shouting match.

Journalist humiliated in Gaza for being pro-Fatah
Posted on December 15th, 2008
A correspondent for Al-Quds Radio was assaulted, humiliated and repeatedly asked details about "Fatah's collaborator radio station," after being kidnapped by the internal security of the Hamas government in Gaza.

A victory for Egypt’s private press in the courts
Posted on December 19th, 2008
The Egyptian administrative court reversed a government decision to monitor financial and administrative records of privately owned newspapers. Press advocates in Egypt say it’s a victory for the free press, but the verdict is still out as to whether the government will press the case further.

When social networking becomes a news source
Posted on December 20th, 2008
Tunisians facing continuing government restrictions on their access to domestic news are turning to social networking sites to balance the stunted news coverage of Tunisia’s official media. MENASSAT highlights one such incident during popular protests in the mining area of Gafsa.

Reporting under a police state in the West Bank
Posted on January 29th, 2009
One day after being interviewed on Beirut-based Al-Quds TV, Palestinian journalist Khalid Amayreh found himself in a Palestinian Authority detention center. The veteran reporter tells MENASSAT that the situation in the West Bank is at its worst since the PA was established in 1993.

Hamas police expel Al-Arabiya reporter from Gaza
Posted on February 10th, 2009
On February 7 Hamas forces ordered Al-Arabiya’s correspondent Wael Issam to pack his bags and escorted him to the Rafah border crossing with Egypt where he was expelled from the Gaza Strip. MENASSAT's Ola Madhoun interviewed Issam over the weekend to get his side of the story.

Al Hiwar Attounsi: Under the guillotine
Posted on February 12th, 2009
The Tunisian government is cracking down on media outlets that are using satellite systems to broadcast their content. Following the government's closure of Radio Kalima that broadcast on the Hotbird satellite, Tunisian satellite television channel “Al Hiwar Attounsi” appears to be next on the hit-list. MENASSAT’s Sofiene Chourabi reports on what is really a crackdown on independent media.

Rights group condemn Egyptian state security
Posted on February 26th, 2009
An Egyptian rights group is accusing the country’s public prosecution office of playing a role in the detainment of 23-year old blogger Diaa Eddin Gad, who disappeared in early February.

Did Mauritania's military rulers decide to silence the "Pashmerga" media?
Posted on March 3rd, 2009
Three Mauritanian journalists were jailed in late February – accused of defamation, blackmail and attempting to mislead the public. It’s the first case brought against members of Mauritania’s press corps since General Muhammad Ould Abdel-Aziz took power in an August 2008 coup d’etat. MENASSAT’s Sayyed Ahmad Ould Bab takes a closer look at how this case will affect these so-called “Pashmerga” reporters.

Egypt arrests “April 6 Youth” activist - group plans for new strike
Posted on March 3rd, 2009
Egyptian security forces temporarily detained Ramil Al-Swisi, a member of the April 6 Youth opposition movement, in a pre-dawn raid on March 2 according to the group. The detainment coincided with calls from the movement for a new general strike in Egypt on April 6. Last year, the movement organized a similar strike via Facebook that rallied massive online support.

Which Egyptian bombing did you hear about?
Posted on March 4th, 2009
A bomb exploded February 22 in the Khan El-Khalili bazaar in Cairo, a popular tourist area, killing four people and injuring 17, but details surrounding the bombing have been slow to emerge because of the heavy-handed tactics of the Egyptian government. As a result, the Egyptian independent media has been locked in a fierce battle with pro-regime media outlets that are giving wildly different accounts of the bombing and its aftermath.

Film tests cultural mores in Lebanon – banned by censors
Posted on March 5th, 2009
On February 16 Lebanese director Marc Abi Rached’s film “Help” was banned by Lebanon’s censors after they had previously granted the film permission to screen. The film’s producers described the film as trying to put a human face to taboo issues such as prostitution, homelessness, and drugs. MENASSAT sat down with the director for a chat to discuss the latest developments.

Mauritanian junta forced to address press freedoms?
Posted on March 19th, 2009
Was it public pressure that caused the Mauritanian courts to reverse its ban on the dissident e-journal Taqadoumy and release one of its jailed journalists? Or is the military junta that took power in an August 2008 coup actually considering taking the shackles off opposition media ahead of June presidential elections?

Syria's only national journalists' union: membership has its privileges
Posted on March 26th, 2009
The one official union representing reporter's rights in Syria is the Syrian Journalists Syndicate (SJS). But joining the SJS is a daunting task requiring background checks, and inside connections. MENASSAT's Omar Abdul Latif presents this investigative report on the process, seen by most critics as a rubber-stamp for supporters of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad.

UN experts: Egyptian blogger “arbitrarily detained”
Posted on March 28th, 2009
A new report issued by the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) has concluded that imprisoned Egyptian blogger Kareem Amer has been detained arbitrarily by the Egyptian government for his online criticism of the Egyptian authorities and Islam. Amer’s detainment constitutes a violation of international human rights law, the report argues.

Egypt releases pro-Palestinian blogger
Posted on March 30th, 2009
The Egyptian authorities have released 22-year-old Egyptian blogger Diaa Eddin Gad after nearly seven weeks in detention, according to an Egyptian human rights group. Gad was arrested on February 6 for criticizing Egypt's policies during Israel's recent war on Gaza.

Palestinian rap godfathers DAM represent for the '48ers
Posted on March 31st, 2009
March 30 marks the annual Land Day (Youm Al-Ard) commemoration for Palestinians remembering the 1976 general strike in historic Palestine to oppose an Israeli government plan to confiscate land. Today, support for this movement “from the inside” takes on a number of different forms, including hiphop! Pioneer Palestinian rappers DAM sat with MENASSAT discussing what’s next in their music careers, and what is next for the Arab minority in Israel.

Algerian media - between diversity and censorship
Posted on March 31st, 2009
On the eve of the April 9 Algerian presidential elections MENASSAT offers this reading of Algeria's media landscape as seen through both political and historical lenses.

On Saudi driving rows, reform, and women’s rights
Posted on April 3rd, 2009
In commemoration of International Women's Day last year, Saudi women's rights activist Wajeha Al-Huwaider posted a video of herself driving on the popular video-sharing site YouTube in a bid to pressure the Saudi authorities to grant women in the Kingdom the right to drive. MENASSAT met with pioneer "driving activist" Su'ad al-Mana in Riyadh to discuss driving bans and women's rights in Saudi.

US rapper Busta Rhymes' single 'Arab Money' - offensive or not?
Posted on April 18th, 2009
US-based hip-hop legend Busta Rhymes’ single “Arab Money” has managed to anger a legion of fans, but the healing has begun. MENASSAT's Jackson Allers takes a look at what has been a heated controversy between Rhymes and the Arab hip-hop world for several months now.

Jeddah dances to its own heavy metal beat
Posted on April 21st, 2009
Talents from various music genres are sprawling in the Saudi red sea port city of Jeddah as taboos appear to ease in the Kingdom. MENASSAT met with the Jeddah-based hip-hop band Red Coast, death metal group Breeze of the Dying, and rock metal band Disturb the Balance, whose lyrics aim to deliver a message of social change to Saudi youth.

Opposition media outlets in Tunisia take on government suppression
Posted on April 22nd, 2009
Rigid media laws and an oppressive government hasn't stopped newspapers and publications from making it to the newsstands in Tunisia. In a battle between the state and the opposition, who will turn out victorious?

The kingdom’s new breed: Saudi film makers
Posted on April 22nd, 2009
There are no proper cinemas or film schools in Saudi Arabia. Yet, the Kingdom’s underground film scene is a bustling one filled with self-taught young filmmakers whose films are increasingly being shown at festivals around the region. MENASSAT met with some of the up and coming talents in Riyadh.

Algerian hip hop crew 213 speak out on social injustice
Posted on April 30th, 2009
Algerian rappers and DJs have figured large in France's hip-hop history, but the hip-hop scene in Algeria is no less established. And while Algeria's rap scene doesn't have the same international reputation, hip hop crews like 213 (Algeria's international telephone code) are having greater influence worldwide - producing rhymes that often deal with political injustice under the Bouteflika regime. Greg Schick, founder of World Hip Hop Market(dot)com sat down with 213's lyricist Sofyan SS to find out more.

Egypt: the failure of the virtual protest movement?
Posted on May 4th, 2009
Egypt's April 6 protest movement has joined with Egypt's largest opposition group, the Muslim Brotherhood in calling for a nationwide "stay at home" strike on May 4 to protest president Hosni Mubarak's government - on his birthday. The May 4 protest is set against a year-long series of failed protest actions called for by the April 6 movement. MENASSAT's Ismail Alexandrani looks at how a police state is successfully silencing the dissident masses.

Egyptian Journalist experiences police state first hand at May 4 anti-Mubarak demo
Posted on May 5th, 2009
Egyptian activists held demonstrations on Monday, Hosni Mubarak's birthday, to protest what they said were the Egyptian president's failed domestic policies. Five people were arrested and 17 detained throughout the day. Journalist Sarah Carr, who had her equipment confiscated during the demonstration, has this personal account of the days protests.

Jordanian reporters hung by legal ropes
Posted on May 12th, 2009
Jordan's media environment reflects a general trend in the Arab world of increased governmental control over the press establishment. Jordanian journalists are at the whim of the government's legal policies - some 17 legal press statutes - that have changed the very way Jordanian journalist think, work and function. Coinciding with World Press Freedom Day (May 2), Oula Farawati looks at a recent report that survey's press freedom in Jordan.

Egypt moves to block "obscene" websites
Posted on May 14th, 2009
A Cairo court ruling to block pornographic sites on the Internet has caused a stir among Egyptian rights groups and bloggers this week. Meanwhile, the country’s National Telecom Regulatory Authority (NTRA), who the court ruled as responsible for implementing the censorship along with Egypt’s Telecommunications Ministry, said that the order would be "extremely difficult" to carry out.

Introducing, "The Circumventer"
Posted on May 20th, 2009
A new software aiming to circumvent web censorship in the Middle East and beyond was recently launched at a summit on blogging in Cairo. The tool "Al-Kasir" - meaning "the circumventer" in Arabic, is now available for public use in its first test version. MENASSAT spoke to the brain behind Al-Kasir, Sweden-based Yemeni Internet pundit Walid Al-Saqaf.

MAURITANIA: Controversial opinion writer jailed for writing about presidential candidate
Posted on June 25th, 2009
Considered one of the most vocal critics of the Mauritanian regime, dissident writer Hanevy Ould Dahah was jailed last week and charged with defaming Mauritanian presidential candidate Sar Ibrahima Mokhtar. MENASSAT's Mohammad Salem looks at the controversial arrest and what is being done to free Ould Dahah.

Sarkozy’s Burka row stirs debate
Posted on June 29th, 2009
In a recent speech, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said that the body-length garment worn by some Muslim women - the Burka - is not welcome in France. Sarkozy’s remarks have sparked strong reactions from Muslim communities around the world and some rights groups believe that banning the Burka is a breach of freedom of choice. MENASSAT takes a look at some of the responses in the Arab press and blogosphere.

Detained Egyptian blogger: "I think someone set me up"
Posted on July 1st, 2009
On Tuesday morning prominent Egyptian blogger and human rights activist Wael Abbas was detained by security officers at Cairo airport for more than 13 hours as he was returning from a conference in Sweden. His laptop remains confiscated by Egypt's anti-piracy authority. Abbas told MENASSAT upon his release that he thinks he was "set up."

Egypt: See no strikes, hear no strikes, report no strikes
Posted on July 2nd, 2009
Hundreds of workers at a local factory have been on strike since the end of May, demanding an increase in salaries and back pay that has not been given. On Tuesday, the Egyptian state security reared its ugly head when a foreign journalist attempted to cover the strike.

Qadhafi pressures Moroccan government into fining three newspapers
Posted on July 6th, 2009
Three independent Moroccan newspapers had fines of over $370,000 levied against them last week for allegedly defaming Libyan leader Colonel Moammar Al-Qadhafi. The ruling has angered the Moroccan media and media advocacy organizations who are publicly calling the move a new threat to press freedoms in Morocco.

Royal horses stomp newspaper in the UAE
Posted on July 10th, 2009
The Emirati media is a family-ruled domain par excellence, working to uphold the image of purity, modernity, and moderation of the civil state and its values – well a few of these values at least. Anyone who challenges this image will be punished, but is there anyone who will object?

"In the country of boys": new book on gay life in Egypt sends shockwaves through Egyptian society
Posted on July 14th, 2009
A few days ago, the controversial book of Egyptian journalist Mostafa Fathi on the lives and struggles of homosexual men in Cairo hit book stands in the Egyptian capital. Expectedly, Fathi’s novel has created a stir in Egyptian media and among conservative Egyptian society. MENASSAT called up the author in Cairo to speak about his groundbreaking novel.

Al-Jazeera out of the West Bank
Posted on July 17th, 2009
Following Al Jazeera's broadcasting of former PLO Chief Farouk al-Kaddoumi's claims that Mahmoud Abbas and Mohammad Dahlan conspired to assassinate Arafat, the station's West Bank bureau has been shut down indefinitely on orders of the PA.

Saudi religious clerics ban film festival – blow to media reformers
Posted on July 20th, 2009
Top Saudi Arabian religious clerics pressured government officials to cancel this week's Jeddah film festival leaving organizers scrambling to figure out how to reverse a process endorsed by Jeddah city officials as part of their summer tourist offering. Advocates for freer access to media in Saudi Arabia say the cancellation is part of a focused trend of cultural repression by the kingdom’s religious authorities.

Confronting fears of Eurabia - Courrier International and Newsweek
Posted on July 20th, 2009
The French weekly Courrier International and the mainstream US weekly magazine Newsweek deal with growing anti-immigrant and Islamophobic sentiments in Europe fueled by statistics portending to show that countries such as Germany and France will have Muslim majority populations by the turn of the century.

Gaza in the eyes of women - first of its kind film festival in Gaza
Posted on July 21st, 2009
The Women’s Affairs Center in Gaza is preparing to launch its first festival for women’s films before the end of 2009 under the title “Gaza in the eyes of women.” Its aim: to shed light on the cinema of women and highlight the incredible creativity existing in ranks of Arab and Palestinian women.

Underground Internet ‘newspapers’ emerge in Iran following media crackdown
Posted on July 21st, 2009
The Iranian authorities have continued to tighten its grip on the media, jailing journalists, shutting down reformist newspapers, and filtering websites since June’s disputed presidential poll. As a result, opposition activists have increasingly turned to web-based news publications as a tool to get their message out. MENASSAT spoke with Hamid Tehrani, Iran editor at the international blog community Global Voices, about his research on the phenomenon.

Analysis: An ode to the potential Palestinian state
Posted on July 21st, 2009
The future of a Palestinian State is now more unclear than ever before, despite moves by the Obama administration to push forward the "peace process.” As such, Israel has stepped up its political and diplomatic overtures, in all directions, in order to create the favorable conditions for its own survival in the unlikely scenario that such a Palestinian state is actually created.

Egypt loves their bloggers – in handcuffs that is
Posted on July 23rd, 2009
When Abdel Rahman Ayyash traveled to Turkey earlier this month, he expected to learn about the role of Islam in governance. The 19-year-old reform-leaning Muslim Brotherhood blogger got more than he bargained for upon returning from that trip on Wednesday evening when Egyptian security forces arrested him and a fellow blogger, Magdy Saad

Sexuality and the national struggle - being Palestinian and gay in Israel
Posted on July 27th, 2009
Rauda Morcos has every right to hate the press. On July 2003, the Israeli newspaper Yedeot Ahronot interviewed Morcos about her poetry but also announced to the world that she was a lesbian.

Sudanese journalist faces flogging for "indecent" clothing
Posted on July 29th, 2009
Lubna Hussein, a Sudanese journalist and UN employee in Khartoum, had her trial moved to Tuesday, after being accused of wearing "indecent" clothes. Hussein was arrested along with a group of other women in a Khartoum restaurant in early July for wearing pants. If convicted she will face 40 lashes and a fine of 100 US dollars.

Breaking the lens that binds you - Gaza's women photojournalists
Posted on July 30th, 2009
For many years, photojournalism in Palestine was the exclusive domain of men. Women were largely restricted to only taking pictures of weddings and social events. Recently, Palestinian women have burst on the photojournalist scene challenging these social norms, while receiving accolades for the work abroad.

Israel continues its drive to erase history - removes references to 'Nakba'
Posted on July 30th, 2009
With Israel’s government asserting an increasingly right wing political agenda since its February elections, the Israeli Knesset has been making moves to expunge all references to the Palestinian Nakba – or “catastrophe” – the event by which over 700,000 Palestinians were exiled, displaced or killed during the creation of the state of Israel (1948). The latest move for the increasingly nationalist Israeli government is expunging the word “Nakba” from Israel’s school textbooks.

Lebanon’s ‘Never Before Campaign’ - redefining Palestinian victimization
Posted on July 31st, 2009
The Never Before campaign was launched in Beirut, Lebanon, during the December/January war on Gaza. The seven different short 2 to 4 minute videos that have been created since then have been circulating on the web, each with a different theme, attempting to present the Palestinian issue in another light, contrary to what the Never Before Team calls, “one of victimization.”

Radio/T.V. reporter survives assassination attempt in Somalia
Posted on August 3rd, 2009
Mohamed Ibrahim Rush was the target of an assassination attempt in the Somali capital Mogadishu last month. The climate for reporters in Somalia continues to degrade as the Somali transitional government has all but ceased to function, and the Islamist militias assert more control over the country. MENASSAT talked with Rush.

Don't rate the king
Posted on August 4th, 2009
The Moroccan authorities have banned this week's editions of two local magazines from newsstands for carrying a poll about the 10-year rule of King Mohammed VI. In his supportive argument for the seizing of the magazines, Morocco's Minister for Communications, Khalid Naciri, stressed that the "monarchy cannot be the subject of opinion polls." The media group that manages both magazines, has countered Naciri's remarks, saying there is no law in Morocco that prohibits opinion polls and that the seizures were illegal.

KSA: LBCI bureau closed in Al-Riyadh after Jeddah office shut down
Posted on August 13th, 2009
The official spokesman for the Education and Information Ministry in Saudi Arabia, Abdul Rahman bin Abdul Aziz al-Hazaa, assured that the Lebanese Broadcasting Company's (LBCI) bureaus were closed in the Kingdom on orders of the vice-Prime Minister, Prince Nayef bin Abdul Aziz. He said the ministry's order came in coordination with the other emirates, and that both offices in al-Riyadh and Jeddah had been closed.

Envy the carbon-free magazine
Posted on August 14th, 2009
The first of its kind in the country, en.v magazine is part of an initiative recently launched in Kuwait to encourage social responsibility in the Arab world.

Threats and harassment draw red lines for Karbala journalists
Posted on August 21st, 2009
A few years back, journalist Ali Ibrahim, director of “Bayina” newspaper in Karbala, spent a few days in prison for “insulting” the former police chief in the city. He was only released after local officials intervened in his favor. But this incident still haunts Ali Ibrahim, which he describes as a “slap on the hand” meant to deter him and other journalists from criticizing the local officials.

Israel claims Swedish press committing "blood libel" over organ theft allegations
Posted on August 21st, 2009
Earlier this week, the Sweden's biggest daily, Aftonbladet, published an article that suggested Israeli military troops killed young Palestinians and stole their organs. The man who penned the article, Swedish photographer and journalist Donald Bostrom, claims he witnessed such an incident himself in the early 1990s. The article has attracted a great amount of international attraction and sparked an intense media debate in Sweden as well as outside. Israel has responded with fury over the piece, accusing Sweden of publishing a “blood libel against Jews” and demanding that national authorities officially condemn the article.

Swiss fear ‘symbols of Islamic power’
Posted on August 24th, 2009
Langenthal, a provincial town in the Swiss canton of Bern, is at the center of a fierce right-wing campaign to prevent the construction of a minaret. Home to an estimated 14,547 residents and 11 churches, Langenthal’s population is also eight percent Muslim—mostly of Albanian, Bosnian and Turkish background. "Anti-minaret" campaigners are trying to force the capital Bern to rescind its approval for the addition of a minaret and dome to an existing Muslim house of worship, and are also trying to amend Switzerland’s constitution.

Security crackdown in Egypt’s green oasis
Posted on August 26th, 2009
A joint new study issued by the Cairo-based Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI) and the Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression (AFTE) claims security forces in the Egyptian city of Fayyoum are viciously clamping down on outspoken bloggers and students in the area. MENASSAT looks at the report.

Meet ‘Naqa’ Tube: Saudi Arabia’s purified You Tube
Posted on August 29th, 2009
In its latest bid to protect religious virtue and cultural morals on the Internet, Saudi Arabia has introduced its own “clean” alternative to the leading video-sharing site You Tube. Naqa Tube, billed as “the pure You Tube”, censors all video material deemed harming towards the national authorities and Saudi citizens, including music videos and footage depicting women.

The Country of Unrealised Plans
Posted on September 8th, 2009
Life is not easy in Morocco. And this was the motivation for writer Abdellah Taïa to ask seventeen other Moroccan writers to write an open letter to their country-folk. These letters have now been published in a book entitled Lettres à un jeune marocain. Kerstin Knipp read it

Broadening horizons on the web
Posted on September 11th, 2009
"One of the best things about my job is helping people make their voices heard", says Tinia Nassif, one of three video journalists at AnnaharTV in Lebanon. "I think it is very important to develop video journalism in the Arab world because the Arab countries need to improve; we need to broaden our horizons while still keeping the beautiful traditions that make this culture unique."

IFJ Unions in Arab World Focus on Freedom and Rights of Journalists
Posted on October 2nd, 2009
Unions of journalists from the Middle East and the Arab world meeting in Jordan next week plan to send a powerful message to regimes in the region with calls for repeal of laws that target journalists, action on rights of women and more protection for independent media.

Arab Women… Minors Until They Die
Posted on October 6th, 2009
Though blessed with inner strength that enables them to deal with the shackles of their culture, some Arab women are dealt with as minors who will never reap the fruits of adulthood. Egyptian bloggers Fantasia's World, Dalia Ziada, Asser Yasser, Heba Najeeb are all women who have been featured on Global Voices for standing up for their rights, as have those blogging ”sinster spinsters“, who refuse to consider themselves outcasts.

Investigative journalism is alive and snooping in the Middle East
Posted on October 9th, 2009
“Investigative journalists are like the dead rat that was brought to the party. No one likes us.” A colorful, throwaway quote from Seymour Hersh, the world’s most famous investigative journalist, speaking at this year’s Arab Media Forum in Dubai. And in the Middle East he could well be right; the region is hardly revered for its freedom of expression.

Patrick Baz: A new perspective on the war in Iraq
Posted on October 27th, 2009
AFP Middle East Photo Director Patrick Baz signed his book 'Don't Take My Picture, Iraqis Don't Cry' (Tamyras editions), at the Francophone Book Fair in Beirut; A very personal and fascinating book that covers the war in Iraq from 2003 until 2008. The book constitutes a part of Baz’ diary in Iraq during his days at work or boredom, spent alone and with the American soldiers… Emotions, life, death, and deep humanity over each page.

IWPR Iraq producing human rights-focused television news magazine
Posted on November 4th, 2009
IWPR Iraq is producing a television news magazine show that educates citizens on human rights and provides a platform for activists and political leaders to debate and problem-solve issues.

Blogging flourishes; governments block and monitor content
Posted on November 9th, 2009
Thousands of writers, journalists, activists, lawyers and others are expressing their dissent and reporting on social issues by blogging throughout the Middle East and North Africa, says a new report by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). Bloggers are free to write about issues that are not covered by traditional media due to intimidation and interference by the state.

What Haitham al-Maleh told the television before he was arrested
Posted on November 13th, 2009
From the heart of Damascus, Haitham al-Maleh, lawyer and human rights activist, spoke by phone on Oct. 12, 2009 to the presenter of the Panorama show on the Barada television channel about the intensifying security grip in Syria. Two days after the interview, he was arrested.

Swiss xenophobia reflected in the vote to ban minarets
Posted on December 1st, 2009
The Swiss ban on the construction of new minarets has angered Muslims and human rights groups.

Syria: Lift Blackout on Prisoners’ Fate
Posted on December 11th, 2009
Syrian authorities should make public without further delay the fate of all prisoners whose whereabouts and well-being remain a mystery almost 18 months after security forces put down a riot at the Sednaya prison in July 2008, Human Rights Watch said today. Human Rights Watch released a partial list today of Sednaya detainees whose families have not been able to get any information about them.

Human Rights in the Arab World: Bastion of Impunity, Mirage of Reform
Posted on December 14th, 2009
The Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies released its second annual report on the state of human rights in the Arab world for the year 2009. The report, entitled Bastion of Impunity, Mirage of Reform, concludes that the human rights situation in the Arab region has deteriorated throughout the region over the last year.

Morocco: Jail sentences for blogger and Internet café owner
Posted on December 18th, 2009
A court in Guelmim imposed jail sentences on a blogger and an Internet café owner for circulating information about a heavy-handed crackdown on student protests in the nearby village of Taghjijt (200 km south of Agadir) on 1 December.

Egypt: Bloggers arrested over Naga Hammady Visit
Posted on January 18th, 2010
More than 20 Egyptian bloggers were arrested when their train arrived in the village of Naga Hammady in Upper Egypt.

The struggle of young Egyptian artists in natural colors
Posted on January 22nd, 2010
In Natural Colors, Egyptian director Osama Fawzy's latest film, has caused a stir. Among its critics, students and staff from the Faculty of Fine Arts in Cairo where the film is set have protested at "a distortion of their image on the big screen." Reem Shawkat went to see the controversial film.

Missed Opportunities and Bigger Challenges for Human Rights in the Middle East
Posted on January 28th, 2010
Middle East governments repressed efforts to promote human rights and backed away from bold reforms despite growing human rights challenges and promises to take action, Human Rights Watch said today in releasing the Jordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and Yemen country studies from its World Report 2010.

Pioneer of independent press in Morocco silenced
Posted on February 8th, 2010
Le Journal Hebdomadaire, the first medium to openly criticize the Moroccan monarchy, was shut down in what its founder, Aboubakr Jamaï, called an act of 'state terrorism' last week.

Syria: More victims of Internet repression
Posted on October 20th, 2007


How to remain anonymous: A user-friendly guide
Posted on October 22nd, 2007


Looking for lost souls in the virtual world
Posted on October 23rd, 2007


R.I.P. the Anonymous Arab
Posted on October 29th, 2007
Arab governments are catching up with technology. Their latest target: anonymous comments and the forum administrators who let them slip past.

Blogging all the way to jail
Posted on October 29th, 2007
In Egypt, bloggers are talking about issues that the traditional media fail to report on. And they are going to jail for it.

Wael Abbas: the Arab Internet's unlikely superhero
Posted on November 9th, 2007
He is the first blogger ever to be given the Knight International Journalism Award, next Thursday in Washington. Menassat.com tracked down Egypt's Wael Abbas in Beirut and sat him down for an exclusive interview.

Morocco's 'video sniper' sparks a new trend
Posted on November 12th, 2007
Do you have a video camera and access to the Internet? Then you have a powerful weapon at your disposal. If you use it as the 'Targuist sniper' did in Morocco, you might even bring about social change.

The Internet as a global village for Arab activists
Posted on November 15th, 2007


In Lebanon, a dynamic year for news sites
Posted on January 10th, 2008
2007 saw a number of new Lebanese news websites, and an increase in popularity for some existing ones. MENASSAT.COM takes a look at Lebanon's online media landscape.

Yamli, Writing Arabic for Dummies
Posted on January 21st, 2008
Anyone who has tried to use an Arabic keyboard is familiar with the headaches it can bring – whether you are fluent in written Arabic or not. Because necessity is the mother of invention, Lebanese-American Habib Haddad came up with Yamli, a program that automatically transcribes an Arabic word written out in Roman characters into proper Arabic.

New union puts Mauritanian bloggers on the map
Posted on March 26th, 2008
The newly formed Mauritanian Bloggers Union wants to unite the country's bloggers in order to defend their rights. But it also seeks to impose self-censorship on the diverse Mauritanian blogosphere.

'Integrity' returns to Syria
Posted on March 27th, 2008
When the Syrian anti-corruption site Al-Nazaha ("Integrity") was banned in 2007, it took every possible step to get the ban revoked through the judicial channels. In the end they were unsuccessful. This week, Alanazaha.org has resurfaced as alnazahanews.com.

Facebook making waves in Saudi Arabia
Posted on April 1st, 2008
Conservative clerics in Saudi Arabia are railing against Facebook, calling it 'a door to lust,' and a strange story surfaces about a girl who was allegedly killed by her father for using the social networking site.

'Dean of Saudi bloggers' released
Posted on April 28th, 2008
Saudi blogger Fouad Al-Farhan was set free over the weekend without charges after spending almost five months in a Jeddah prison.

China to the rescue (of Internet freedom in Yemen)
Posted on July 2nd, 2008
A Chinese computer program is helping web surfers in Yemen break through government control of the Internet. It is part of a bigger trend by journalists and activists who are beginning to challenge Internet censorship in Yemen.

Israeli ‘South-Park’ style cartoon mocks Arabs
Posted on March 10th, 2009
The new Israeli cartoon on YouTube “Ahmed and Salim” - a South Park-style series that launched on the web a few weeks ago - is causing quite a stir on the Internet. Animators Tom Trager and Or Paz claim the cartoon is intended to mock terrorists, but is that all it does?

Jordan's news websites running for legal cover
Posted on March 11th, 2009
Despite being in their infancy, Jordanian news websites such as Khaberni.com are facing legal challenges from government officials and the Jordan elite angered at their content. They join other Jordanian media outlets also facing legal pressures in what is becoming an increasingly restricted media environment. MENASSAT’s Oula Farawati investigates.

RSF examines “Internet enemies” of the world in new report
Posted on March 16th, 2009
Paris-based press freedom group Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has released a new report on Internet censorship and clampdowns on advocates of free speech in twenty-two countries around the world. RSF has singled out the world’s twelve biggest “Internet enemies”- countries where the national authorities have imposed particularly aggressive measures on web censorship and dissident Internet writers. Four of RSF’s “Internet enemies” are Arab countries.

Israeli e-war to brighten its image
Posted on March 18th, 2009
Israel has launched an unprecedented number of public image campaigns in the last year to help present a unified narrative of the Jewish state to the world. MENASSAT's Randa Abu Shakra looks at Israel's latest public image campaign.

Jailing of Iraqi shoe thrower sparks continued online debate
Posted on March 21st, 2009
The 3-year jail term given to Iraqi TV-journalist Muntazar Al-Zaidi for throwing his shoes at former US-President George W Bush at press conference in Baghdad last year has generated massive debate on social networking sites and in online forums. While many are rallying in support of Al-Zaidi, others maintain that Al-Zaidi’s shoe toss was an insult to journalism.

Egypt’s National Democratic Party knows how to advertise
Posted on March 24th, 2009
The ruling Egyptian National Democratic Party is having major success selling the government’s new tax policies because of a slick new advertising approach that began during the Egyptian presidential elections in 2005. MENASSAT’s Ahmad Rajab takes a look at the roots of the NDP’s American-style ad campaign, and why it is having such success.

Saudi lingerie blues
Posted on March 31st, 2009
Appalled with always having to deal with male sales staff when purchasing intimate clothing items such as bras or panties, and other exquisite lingerie, Saudi women are campaigning to implement a policy of "women only" sales staff in the country's lingerie stores. MENASSAT met with Reem Asaad, one of the pioneers of the initiative, whose Facebook campaign has been gaining ground on the twist in Saudi’s lingerie trade.

Tweeting Iraq: US IT tech execs urge use of new media in the country
Posted on May 13th, 2009
In Iraq, only five percent of the population currently has Internet access. Still, US tech moguls are banking on the fact that new social networking technologies, such as Twitter, will make it big in the country. In a recent trip to the Iraqi capital, executives from leading IT technology companies Google and Twitter, among others, called on Iraqis to exploit such applications on the web - mainly through more widely available mobile phone networks.

Lebanon's politicians get hip to online campaigning ahead of June elections
Posted on May 22nd, 2009
Online formats like YouTube and the social networking site Facebook are competing with the online viewership of Lebanon’s newspapers, and with Lebanon’s elections due to take place on June 7, Lebanon’s politicians are turning to these formats to push their political messages in the election run-up.

Controversy still follows Obama's Cairo speech
Posted on June 16th, 2009
Mainstream press in Egypt has treated the political fallout delicately since US President Barack Obama’s June 4 speech in Cairo. Mirroring public opinion in the Arab world, Egyptians are unconvinced that America has turned a new page in its US foreign policy playbook. MENASSAT takes a look at events playing out in Egypt since Obama’s speech that are not on the official media radar.

Iranians in the Arab world respond online
Posted on June 22nd, 2009
Iranian authorities have continued their clampdown on information as the demonstrations in Iran enter their second week. MENASSAT looks at how Iranians living in Arab countries are increasingly relying on alternative sources of news from social networking sites and blogs to keep tabs of unfolding events.

Citizen media takes the stage as protests continue in Iran
Posted on June 23rd, 2009
With foreign media expelled from Iran, and local journalists being targeted, citizen journalists are becoming vital in covering the situation on the ground. MENASSAT interviewed Magda Abu-Fadil, Director of the Journalism Training Program at the American University of Beirut (AUB), to discuss what this means for the future of journalism.

"Politics, culture, and dissident:" New study maps out trends in Arab blogosphere
Posted on June 26th, 2009
The Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University has published an analysis of the Arab blogsphere, studying the views of Arab bloggers across the Middle East on issues such as media, politics, religion, culture, and international affairs.

"Pervert travels in the Muslim world" - does "gay" equal "shazz?"
Posted on July 27th, 2009
The first book on gay life ever to be translated into Arabic from English is soon due to hit bookstands in Beirut. The book’s translation, however, has caused a stir well before its release. The Lebanese publisher in charge of the Arabic translation has namely chosen to translate “gay” as “shazz," meaning “pervert” or “deviant” in Arabic. What is in store for “Gay travels in the Muslim world” now called “Pervert travels in the Muslim World” in its Arabic translation?

To live or die: the digital age and Lebanon's newspaper industry
Posted on August 3rd, 2009
The digital revolution has revolutionized media and helped to breakdown formally established media and journalistic rules in the process. Will this digital media evolution mean the death of traditional print media? Although the discussion has been passionately viewed from both sides of the digital divide, what is sure in Lebanon is that the Lebanese newspapers are going through hard times – similar to newspapers the world over.

Niqash—an insightful discussion on Iraq
Posted on August 12th, 2009
Amidst the deafening echoes of explosions and the subsequent lackluster reports on the number of victims in Iraq, comes the online magazine "Niqash-briefings from and across Iraq" to offer refreshing in-depth reports penned by Iraqi journalists with a focus on human interest stories.

Gamal Mubarak + social media = true
Posted on August 12th, 2009
In an apparent attempt to garner popularity among Egypt’s internet-savvy youth, the thought-to be heir to the Egyptian presidency, Gamal Mubarak, has jumped on the social media bandwagon, launching his own fan page on Facebook and an interactive discussion forum for young Egyptians that is to be broadcasted widely through various social media platforms.

Internet filtering on the rise in MENA, says new report
Posted on August 13th, 2009
A new study published by the research group Open Net Initiative on Internet content controls in the Middle East and North Africa claims web censorship, both in scope and in depth, is increasing in the majority of countries in the Middle East and North Africa region. Fourteen out of the eighteen countries surveyed in the study censor Internet content using technological means.

The goose that lays golden eggs burns its owners
Posted on August 25th, 2009
Two weeks ago Lebanon entered a new episode of internal conflict. This time the headlines concern the “Barouk station.” The details include illegal Internet suppliers, stealing public money and communications with Israel.

UN: Arab World Rife with Illiteracy & Lacks Innovation
Posted on November 1st, 2009
U.N. report finds one third of Arabs illiterate and only $10 per person spent on scientific research. The level of education, research and innovation in the Arab world is appalling, a new United Nations report has claimed.

A Sudanese presidential candidate on Facebook
Posted on November 20th, 2009
In less than six months, the Sudanese will be choosing their next president. A young Sudanese voter writes about the need for change, the power of popular movements, and one promising candidate with a campaign on Facebook.

The desperately defeated seek victory in football
Posted on November 25th, 2009
When football erupted into violence between Egyptian and Algerian fans over the World Cup qualifiers in Cairo and Khartoum last week, alarmed commentators asked what Arab fraternity had come to.

True to form, Ramadan soaps stir controversy
Posted on November 2nd, 2007
During Ramadan, Arab families fast during the day and... watch TV at night. This year's crop of Ramadan soap operas, or Musalsals, has stirred the usual controversy and kept the censors busy.

Syria's accidental journalists
Posted on December 13th, 2007
Syrian journalism is famous around the world for its wooden language and constant praise for the powers that be. That is hardly surprising when most people working in journalism are not journalists, and most journalists are out of work.

Syria: The dreaded invitation for coffee
Posted on January 8th, 2008
More than a hundred websites have been banned in the past few months in Syria, where online journalists are left to guess what is allowed and what will land them in jail.

Syrians are shacking up, say official media
Posted on January 22nd, 2008
More and more Syrians are choosing to live together without being married. It is not so much the phenomenon that is surprising as the fact that the official Syrian media are openly discussing it.

[ Saalouk #3: Mazen Darwish ] 'Syrian media is still incapable of reflecting reality'
Posted on February 1st, 2008
A journalist and an activist for press freedom, Mazen Darwish is not easily deterred. Only just released from Adra prison, he talks to MENASSAT with candor about the many shortcomings of the Syrian media. And yet he refuses to admit defeat: 'Defending press freedom is a duty for each of us, and I believe a whole new generation is holding on to the values of journalism.

[ Saalouk #3: Mazen Darwish ] 'All I want is to publish it'
Posted on February 1st, 2008
When confronted with the choice to lie - and be rewarded -, or to tell the truth - and go to jail -, Syrian journalist Mazen Darwish chose the latter. For this, MENASSAT decided to make him our 'Saalouk #3.'

A happy family no more
Posted on February 6th, 2008
In the first article from MENASSAT's new partner, Radio Netherlands Worldwide, Nicolien Den Boer talks to the three remaining members of the Happy Family Group, a collective of Iraqi clowns. They fled to Damascus after two group members were assassinated in Baghdad.

How to say No in Syrian
Posted on February 19th, 2008


Ban it and they will come
Posted on March 5th, 2008
Sometimes, in Syria, the best thing that can happen to an article is to be banned by the authorities.

One man's cultural capital is another man's jail
Posted on March 7th, 2008
At the opening of the year-long Cultural Capital of 2008 celebrations, Syrian president Bashar al-Assad extolled Damascus as 'the capital of freedom and the defense of freedom.' His words rang hollow to many of Syria's cultural elite who are rotting in the country's jails.

Hackers targeted Syrian media during Damascus Summit
Posted on April 1st, 2008
Apart from being boycotted by half the Arab world's leaders, last weekend's Damascus Summit was also subject to an organized computer attack targeting the country's official websites.

Syrian PM lashes out against electronic media
Posted on April 15th, 2008
It is not the first time that the Internet has come under attack in Syria. But it is the first time that Prime Minister Mohammad Naji al-Otari has lashed out against websites publicly and in the presence of the who's who of Syrian journalism.

The view from Syria
Posted on May 14th, 2008
The average Syrian media consumer might be forgiven for thinking that the citizens of West Beirut were being terrorized by mercenary pro-government militiamen until Hezbollah stepped in to liberate them.

Opening up an Internet café in Syria? Good luck
Posted on June 13th, 2008
Internet cafés in Syria have become targets in the government's policy of repression. MENASSAT takes a look at the difficulties of setting up these businesses that are on the front lines of the battle for free speech.

Six-month ban in Syria revisited
Posted on June 13th, 2008


Media blackout obscures Sednaya prison uprising
Posted on July 7th, 2008
Despite a media blackout in Syria, human rights sources confirmed to MENASSAT on Monday that there have been possibly dozens of deaths and injuries in confrontations between political detainees and prison officials at Sednaya military prison near Damascus.

Where the poor are concerned, Syrian media has nothing to report
Posted on July 15th, 2008
More than 2 million Syrians live below the poverty line of two dollars a day. But you would never know it from the Syrian media. Media analyst Ruhada Abdoush explores how Syria's poor are perceived, and ignored, by the media establishment.

Kurdish lifestyle and Syria censorship
Posted on July 22nd, 2008
Syria is a country notorious for its control of the media, but Kurdish media have nevertheless found a home of sorts there. Mehyi Eddine Isso surveys the Kurdish online presence in Syria.

Syria gags Al Nazaha news website
Posted on August 19th, 2008
Abdallah Ali, director of the Syrian websites Al Nazaha and Al Nazaha News and a MENASSAT correspondent, has been released after spending thirteen days in detention. But chances that Al Nazaha will make yet another comeback appear slim.

A tale of two Sleimans
Posted on August 20th, 2008
The abundant Syrian media coverage of Lebanese President Michel Sleiman's visit to Syria contrasts sharply with its almost nonexistent coverage of another Sleiman, the Syrian general who was assassinated earlier this month.

Syrian media rally behind terrorism theory
Posted on October 2nd, 2008
A car bomb on September 27 killed 17 in Damascus, and unlike two other recent assassinations, the Syrian media had a unified narrative of the incident, describing the attack as the work of a terrorist – a foreigner. MENASSAT talked to media analyst Mazen Darwish about the coverage of the incident.

Finding refuge from censorship... in Syria
Posted on October 7th, 2008
Syria is usually associated with repression of freedom of expression. Yet, to outspoken Palestinian painter and writer Mahmoud Shahin, whose books have been banned in several Arab countries, it is a safe haven. MENASSAT met with the charismatic figure in Damascus.

Al-Hayat’s Syrian bureau chief resigns, blames own paper for ban in Syria
Posted on October 9th, 2008
The Syrian bureau director for Al-Hayat, Ibrahim Hamidi, resigned from his post this week and attacked his own newspaper after it was banned for publishing defamatory information about Syria.

Missing American journalists under arrest in Syria
Posted on October 9th, 2008
American journalists Taylor Luck and Holli Chmela, who were reported missing in Lebanon, are safe and sound in Syria – albeit under arrest by the Syrian authorities who accuse them of illegal entry into the country.

US attack on Syria has many baffled
Posted on October 28th, 2008
The U.S. Special Forces raid into Syria on October 26 that left eight civilians dead has further strained an already tense relationship between Washington and Damascus. MENASSAT looks at what is being said about this raid on the brink of the November U.S. presidential election.

Syria sentences Damascus Declaration dissidents to 2.5 years
Posted on October 29th, 2008
Twelve prominent Syrian dissidents were sentenced to 2.5 years in prison each on Wednesday for "inciting sectarian strife." The convicted activists are all members of the so-called Damascus Declaration, a group calling for radical democratic change in Syria.

The Secret Life of Syrian Lingerie
Posted on November 27th, 2008
While visiting Syria, two London-based women of Arab origin became fascinated by the risqué lingerie openly on display in the souqs and shops of Damascus and Aleppo. The book they produced is one of the most unusual publications you are likely to see on the Arab world.

Sex and the Arabic city
Posted on November 27th, 2008
No Arab book has ever been sold for so much money to foreign publishing houses. Though it is part of the current trend that is witnessing both real and fictional erotic confessions by women writers storming the best-seller lists, Salwa Al Neimi's novel, Proof of Honey, has substantially more to offer than the mere lurid sensationalism of some of its competitors.

Syria: Free speech quelled by “kangaroo courts”
Posted on February 25th, 2009
In an extensive report published by Human Rights Watch (HRW), the organization documents how Syria’s State Security Court (SSSC) has prosecuted 150 people on the basis of ambiguous charges that criminalize freedom of expression. Those prosecuted in these “sham” trials include ten bloggers and eight citizens accused of "insulting the Syrian president" in private conversations.

Eslam Jawaad: an old-school Arab MC comes correct
Posted on August 4th, 2009
We are in the throes of Arab hip-hop's most significant contributions to the larger world hip-hop massive (Diaspora). Arab hip-hop crews the world over are feelin' it. Like sharks attracted to blood, Lebanese, Moroccan, Palestinian, and (fill-in-the-blank) Arab MC's are schoolin' up to take a bite out of the Arabic hip-hop phenomenon. Lebanese-Syrian MC Eslam Jawaad is one of the leaders of this new school.

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