Tunisia: Let's Invade Social Networks!

A crazy wave of posts hit the world of social networks when Tunisian netizens decided to invade Facebook and Twitter with their comments. The move started with netizens showing solidarity and support for the American occupy movement by posting chants and messages on the official Facebook page of US president Barack Obama. Many of those comments were funny as they tried to Americanize the chants of their revolution that started last December. This came hand in hand with a hashtag on Twitter called #TrollingObama. Surely those posts are not only to support the protests across the US but to also criticize US foreign policy.

Continue reading this post on Global Voices

Saudi Arabia: Poverty Video Vloggers Released

Around two weeks ago, Saudi Arabia arrested three young video bloggers Firas Buqna, Hussam Al-Darwish and Khaled Al-Rasheed for producing an episode of their show Malub Alena about poverty in one of Riyadh's areas. The name of the show can be translated into We Are Being Fooled and this episode was actually their fourth episode after previous shows on youth and police corruption. Before the arrests, the show was having a good number of views but in few days after their arrests, it was viewed for more than 600,000 times.

Continue reading this post on Global Voices

Bahrain: Muharraq United Against Sectarianism

As the Shia Muslims in Bahrain were celebrating one of their religious ceremonies in Muharraq, a group of men showed up and attacked them. Pictures of people injured and bleeding were shared on Twitter. Bahrainis of both sects called the group “regime thugs” who wanted to start a sectarian clash between the people of Muharraq but failed because the families in the area united against them. On the other hand, some pro-regime Twitter users said that those thugs are pro-Shia opposition group “Wefaq” and were trying to start chaos.

Continue reading this post on GlobalVoices

Saudi: Prince Naif is Coming

It didn't take Saudi netizens more than minutes to pop up on Twitter with their worries after the death of their late crown prince Sultan Bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud. Many of them kept asking the same question about the identity of their coming crown prince until the news came from the Royal palace by midnight on the 27th of October appointing Prince Naif Bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, the interior minister of the kingdom since 1978 and the second deputy prime minister as the next in line to the throne. It is not like the Saudis haven't expected it coming. However, they tried to use some sort of wishful thinking saying King Abdullah might choose someone else. Now, with the official news appointing Naif as the crown prince, who will stay in charge of the interior ministry as well, Saudis are expecting a stronger support for religious authorities and police, as well as less freedoms and more arrests which Prince Naif has been known of through the past years as he managed the interior ministry. 

Complete reading this post in GlobalVoices

Pictures from the Statelessness conference

From Left: Refugees International President Michel Gabaudan, UN High Commissioner for Refugees and Former Portugal Prime Minister Antonio Guterres, and me tweeting.

On my left, famous stateless Dominican- Haitian activist Sonia Pierre speaking

Next to Maria Otero, US under secretary of state for democracy and global affairs

Reading of my speech about the stateless of Kuwait

* Pictures taken, with permission, from MOSCTHA.

أن تكون بدون

شاركت اليوم في مؤتمر "انعدام الجنسية والتمييز الجنسي" الذي نظمته منظمة اللاجئين في معهد الولايات المتحدة للسلام في العاصمة الأميركية واشنطن، وذلك بحضور رئيس المنظمة وممثل الأمم المتحدة وممثلة الخارجية الأميركية. الكثير من الحاضرين لم يسمعوا من قبل بقضية البدون فلذلك كنت سعيدة لكوني حصلت على فرصة الحديث عن البدون لأول مرة في الولايات المتحدة على أمل الحصول على اهتمام أكبر بهذه القضية يقود إلى حدوث تغيير إيجابي.

هنا نص الخطاب الذي قرأته بعدما ترجمته إلى العربية. شكراً لدعمكم.

أن تكون بدون

حينما كنت في الـ 11 من عمري، سألتني جارتنا الكويتية: "من أي بلد أنت؟" فأجبت: "أنا من البدون" لترد بضحكة ساخرة قائلة: "لا يوجد بلد اسمها بدون. لا يوجد بلد للبدون." عرفت حينها بأن كلمة "بدون" هي الاسم الذي يستخدم لوصفنا في الكويت فقبل هذه الحادثة كنت أعتقد بأن البدون والكويت مجرد شيء واحد! والدتي لم تعرف كيف تفسر الأمر لي وأجابتني قائلة: "يقولون بأننا لا ننتمي هنا." منذ حينها، عشت مثل مئة ألف من البدون على أمل كاذب لحل مشكلة التجنيس في المستقبل العاجل، فحينما استقلت الكويت في العام 1961، الكثير من الأشخاص الذين ولدوا في البلد ويستحقون الجنسية – بينهم من عاش في الصحراء – لم يعوا أهمية التسجيل من أجل الجنسية، فالبدون الموجودون في الكويت الآن هم أبناء وأحفاد أولئك الذين لم يقوموا بالتسجيل للجنسية ومشكلتنا استمرت في التضخم بشكل تدريجي مع الوقت.

الوضع أصبح أسوأ في العام 1985 حينما قررت الحكومة بشكل تدريجي أن تحرم البدون من التوظيف والتعليم العام والوثائق الرسمية. خلال مراهقتي، تحول الانتظار إلى عذاب وبت أشعر بأنني مكروهة ومهانة في بلدي ومن ثم تحول ذلك إلى غضب تجاه جدي الذي كنت ألومه لأنه لم يحصل على الجنسية قبل أكثر من نصف قرن كما فعل أخوته، وهذا اللوم تحول إلى كره للذات وفقدان الرغبة في عيش الحياة أو البحث عن تحقيق أي طموح ليصل الأمر إلى قمته حينما تخرجت من الثانوية العامة ولم يكن مسموحاً لي أن ألتحق بالجامعة الحكومية الوحيدة في البلاد.

الفتاة التي تحدثكم الآن تعتبر الأوفر حظاً من البدون حيث حصلت على دعم مادي لإكمال دراستي في جامعة خاصة لأنني كنت قد نشرت ديوانين. هذا الدعم كان طريقي الوحيد للتعليم العالي بحكم أن التعليم الحكومي ممنوع والتعليم الخاص لا يمكن مجاراة تكاليفه. الكثير من زميلات الدراسة لم يكن بمثل حظي وانتهى بهن الأمر في البقاء في المنزل بانتظار معجزة أن تحدث مثل زوج جيد وعلى الأرجح كويتي لكي يحصلن على الجنسية، أو بانتظار الموت خاصة وأن كثر حاولوا الانتحار. بعض زميلاتي شعرن بأن حياتهن دُمرت من غير التعليم العالي لأن الجامعة كانت أملهن الوحيد لبدأ حياة عملية والحصول على بعض الحرية من مجتمعهن المحافظ. ولكن في الواقع ينتهي الأمر بهن في زيجات مدبرة تكرر السيناريو ذاته في الصراع من أجل الوثائق وبالتالي جلب المزيد من الأطفال لذات التراجيديا.

حينما عملت كصحافية، سمعت كثيراً بأن علي أن أكون حذرة لأن الصحافيين البدون لا يملكون طريقاً سهلاً في حياتهم العملية ولن يدافع عنهم ملاك صحفهم الأغنياء. الصحافيون البدون شعروا بالإهانة والخجل من أنفسهم لعملهم في صحف تستمر في مهاجمة ناسهم وتسميهم بالمرتزقة والمتخلفين. حينما فقدت وظيفتي ذات مرة، لم يكن لعقد العمل خاصتي أي معنى في المحكمة لأن البدون غير مسموح لهم بأي عقود عمل بحكم أنهم لا يمتلكون بطاقات مدنية. كما واجهت مشاكل مع الكثير من السفارات التي لم تتردد في رفض جوازي الرمادي. لسوء الحظ، منذ الغزو العراقي للكويت في 1990، أحوال البدون من سيء إلى أسوأ.

أختي أسرار التي تبلغ من العمر 17 عاماً تعيش الآن السيناريو ذاته في الصراع من أجل دخول جامعة ما. بالنسبة لي، الصراع الذي عشته في سن صغيرة ممكن تحملة مقارنة بالإهانات والمضايقات التي يواجهها البدون خاصة من قبل السلطات ورجال الشرطة. أكثر ما آلمني كان سماع بعض الكويتيين يطلقون العبارات المهينة عنا ويمارسون التمييز ضدنا ويطالبون بالقضاء علينا بعدما تظاهرنا في فبراير ومارس الماضي. وبينما أحدثكم، هنالك 40 متظاهر من البدون يواجهون محاكمات لكسرهم قانون التظاهر الذي لا يسمح لغير الكويتيين بالتظاهر.

كما يهمني أن أشير إلى أن قانون الجنسية الكويتي يمنع المرأة من منح الجنسية لزوجها وأطفالها وبالتالي حينما تتزوج الكويتية من رجل بدون فإن أبنائها بدون، بمعنى أن التمييز الجنسي في قانون الجنسية يساهم في تضخيم مشكلة البدون. المخرج الوحيد بأن تتطلق المرأة من زوجها أو يتوفى إلا أن الكثير من النساء اللواتي حصلن على الطلاق من أجل مستقبل أولادهن، مازال أطفالهن ينتظرون الحصول على الجنسية الكويتية. مثل غيري من البدون، لدي في عائلتي نساء كويتيات متزوجات من بدون اضطررن للحصول على الطلاق وعاش أطفالهم في عائلات مفككة دون أن يحصلوا على الجنسية بعد.

الذكور الكويتيون مسموح لهم بمنح الجنسية لزوجاتهم البدون إلا أن ذلك لا يحدث بشكل تلقائي، فإحدى قريباتي تزوجت ابن عمها الكويتي منذ 15 عام ولديه منها عدة أطفال إلى أنها مازالت تنتظر وليس أمامها غير ذلك في دولة بيروقراطية مثل الكويت لا تسمح للبدون بأخذ قضاياهم للمحكمة للبت فيها. إحدى صديقاتي لديها أعمام كويتيين، أم كويتية، ابن كويتي، وهي أرملة رجل كويتي، إلا أنها منذ أكثر من ثمان سنوات تنتظر الجنسية ومن نتائج ذلك أنها لا يمكنها الحصول على رخصة لقيادة السيارة وهي مضطرة لأن تقود سيارتها للعمل أو إيصال ابنها للمدرسة أو أمها إلى المستشفى وبالتالي أخذها رجال الشرطة عدة مرات إلى المركز لهذا السبب.

الكثير من الشباب البدون تركوا تعليمهم لأنهم يعلمون بأن التعليم الجامعي ليس متاحاً لهم وبالتالي يعملون في السوق السوداء في بيع الأفلام المنسوخة أو قضاء وقتهم كئيبين في بيوتهم بدلاً من أن يستمتعوا بسنوات شبابهم. لا أحد منهم لديه أي أمل، لا أحد منهم يستخدم كلمة "أمل". حينما تتحدث فتاة من البدون عن أحلامها في الذهاب إلى الجامعة والحصول على وظيفة، فإنها تواجه بالسخرية والرفض فعائلتها على الأرجح ستجيبها "قد نستطيع توفير تكاليف دراسة أخيك، ما الذي ستصنعينه بشهادة، إن كان هو رجل ولا يستطيع الحصول على عمل." نساء البدون يواجهن قسوة الجماعة المحافظة وظلم الدولة وبالتالي ليس لهن أمل سوى الزواج من رجل كويتي. صديقتي الذكية التي تبلغ من العمر 23 عاماً لم تستطع الالتحاق بالجامعة وتربي الآن ثلاثة أطفال دون أمل في قلبها. قالت لي مرة: "رجالنا عبيد المجتمع، ونحن عبيد العبيد."

أنا سعيدة لحصولي على هذه الفرصة للفت انتباهكم إلى هذه القضية وأناشد هنا حكومة الولايات المتحدة والأمم المتحدة للضغط على الحكومة الكويتية لتغيير قانون الجنسية لتتساوى المرأة مع الرجل في الحق بمنح الجنسية، كما أطالب بالسماح لأولئك الذين تم حرمانهم من الجنسية والوثائق بأن يأخذوا قضاياهم إلى المحكمة.

On Being a Stateless

Today, I have talked in the "Statelessness and Gender Discrimination" conference organized by Refugees International in the United States Peace Institute in Washington DC. I had the honor to present the case of the stateless (Bidun) of Kuwait to the audience who mostly haven't been exposed to our struggle before. I have tweeted, from the panel, the highlights of each speaker's talk and storified those tweets for reference. This is the first time in the US that a stateless of Kuwait gets to present the case of her people and I hope this will lead to more activism and a higher awareness of the Bidun case, internationally. Here is the full text of my speech: 

When I was 11 years old, a Kuwaiti woman who lived next door asked me, “Where are you from?” I answered innocently “I am from Bidun”; an answer that surely made her laugh and reply “There is no country called Bidun; there is no country of Bidun.” I learnt that bidun is simply the Arabic word for “without” and that is how my people are known in our country. Before this incident, I never knew that I was a stateless person in Kuwait. I thought Bidun and Kuwait were the same thing! My mother did not know how to explain to me what it means to be a Bidun, and explained it to me in a harsh way, “They say we do not belong here.”
Since then, I grew up just like any of the other more than 100,000 stateless Bidun, buying the lie that there would be a solution to the problem of statelessness in the near future. When Kuwait became an independent country in 1961 many people born in the country and eligible for Kuwaiti citizenship – some of whom were living in remote desert areas – did not realize the importance of registering for citizenship. The Bidun living in Kuwait now are the children and grandchildren of those who did not register for citizenship, and the problems of our community have increased as time has gone by.  Things got much worse in 1985, when the government gradually denied employment, public education and access to official documents to the biduns. At a certain point during my teenage years, waiting for the situation to change turned into a burden and I started to feel humiliated and hated in my homeland. The questions of my status as stateless turned into anger towards my grandfather, and I blamed him for not making us Kuwaiti citizens more than half a century ago when his brothers received citizenship. The blame turned into self-hate; losing any appetite for life and having no ambitions. This definitely became worse by the time of my graduation from high school because I was not allowed to apply to the country’s only public university.
The person talking to you now is considered the luckiest of her community. I was able to get published as a poet when I was 14 and because of that I was later granted a scholarship to a private university. This was the only way for me, as a bidoun, to have access to higher education because I was forbidden access to public university, and tuition for private universities were too expensive. Many of my schoolmates weren’t as lucky as me. They ended up staying at home waiting for a miracle to happen; hoping for a good husband – maybe a Kuwaiti husband who could pass citizenship on to them - or for death to take them away. Many attempted suicide. Others were destroyed because the university was their only hope for starting their careers and gaining some freedom from their conservative communities. Instead they will end up in marriages that will most likely be arranged for them, among the bidun community, which will only result in the same scenario of fighting for documents and bringing more kids into the same tragedy.
While working as a journalist, I have always been told to be cautious because Bidun journalists do not have an easy path in their careers, and will not be defended by their wealthy newspaper owners. All of us Bidun journalists felt insulted and ashamed to be working for newspapers that shamelessly attacked our community and called us mercenaries and savages. When I lost my job once, my contract had no meaning in court because Bidoun are not allowed certified contracts since they do not have civil IDs. I also had trouble with some embassies because I didn’t have a Kuwaiti passport and they did not hesitate to reject my grey passport. And, unfortunately, since the invasion and occupation of Kuwait by Iraq in 1990, things have become even worse for the bidun.  My 17 year old sister Asrar is now reliving the same scenario trying to find a way out in order to finish her education. The entire struggle I experienced at a really young age seems bearable when compared to the insults and harassments that other Bidun have to endure, especially from authorities or policemen. It was especially painful to hear fellow Kuwaitis insulting us, discriminating against us, and demanding the end of our community when we protested in our isolated areas back in February and March. As I am speaking, over 40 Bidun protesters are waiting to be prosecuted for breaking the law, which does not allow anyone who’s not a citizen to protest.
I would also like to highlight that Kuwaiti nationality laws prevent Kuwaiti women from passing on their nationality to their children or their husbands. So, when a Kuwaiti woman marries a Bidun man, their children are stateless. In other words, Kuwait’s gender discriminatory nationality laws create more statelessness. And the only way for Kuwaiti women to pass on their nationality is if they divorce and or if their husband dies. But, many of those who have divorced for this reason have waited unsuccessfully for decades for their children to be granted Kuwaiti citizenship, since citizenship determinations in these cases remain discretionary. Surely, like thousands of Bidun, I also have women in my family who are Kuwaiti and had to get a divorce from their Bidun husbands in hope for a better future for their kids. Those kids had to grow up with divorced parents so they would be citizens, but they are still waiting. 
Kuwaiti men can pass on nationality to their bidun wives, but this is not automatic.  The story of one of my bidun aunts who is married to her Kuwaiti cousin illustrates the problems that these women face. She has been married to him for over 15 years yet she is still stateless, even though she has several kids from him. She was asked “to wait” and in a country of bureaucracy like Kuwait, she has no alternative. This could be an especially long wait since the Bidun of Kuwait are not allowed to take their cases to court to get sorted out legally
A personal friend of mine is in a similar situation: she is a bidun and has direct Kuwaiti uncles, a Kuwaiti mother, a Kuwaiti son, and she is a widow of a Kuwaiti man, yet she has been waiting for over 8 years for her citizenship. One of the consequences of her not being granted Kuwaiti citizenship yet is that she cannot get a driver’s license. She lives alone with her son and mother and has to drive to work, drop her son off at school, and drive her sick mother to the hospital. So she has been driving without any papers and has been taken to the police station many times for this reason.
Many of the Bidun youth are dropping out of school because they know they will not find their way to the university. Many of them are working in the black market selling copied DVDs or just sitting at home growing up depressed when they should be enjoying their youth. None of them have hope; none of them even use the word ‘hope’. When a bidun girl talks about her dreams of getting a university education and a job, she gets mocked because she faces rejection. Her family will most probably tell her “we can only pay for your brother’s education, what can you do with a degree anyways, if he is a man and incapable of finding a job, then you will surely not have a better chance!” Bidun women confront the conservative cruelty of their community and the injustice of their country. Therefore, they are left only with one hope, which is to marry a Kuwaiti man.  My exceptionally smart 23-year-old friend wasn’t able to go to college and is now raising three Bidun kids with no hope in her heart.  She says: “Our men are the slaves of this society and we are the slaves of the slaves.”
I am very pleased to have this opportunity to raise this issue today with you all and I ask the United States Government and the United Nations to  press the government of Kuwait to amend its nationality laws so that Kuwaiti women may transmit nationality on an equal basis with Kuwaiti men, and to allow stateless individuals who have been denied naturalization or official documentation to contest it through the courts.

Tweet-Poems

ألفية الأوغاد

 

تحذير: هذا النص لا يهتم بأدوات التشريح النقدي حيث تطز الكاتبة في هذه الحالة بالذائقة الأدبية.

الحياة لا تخلق الأوغاد

الأوغاد "ولدتهم أمهاتهم أوغاداً"،

الأوغاد محرمون من الصمت،

الأوغاد لديهم ثلاث وجوه أو أكثر

ثلاثة نساء أو أكثر،

ثلاث أوطان أو أكثر.

الأوغاد لا يعرفون بأن الحبّ أهم من الثورة

الأوغاد سمنت أفخاذهم من لحم الشعارات

الأوغاد يمتدحون شجاعتهم وبيدهم النسكافيه أمام من يحمل السيف،

الأوغاد يزعقون ويخطبون (من على المنابر والمآذن وحسابات الشبكات الاجتماعية)

كيف على الميت أن يموت.

الأوغاد لا يعتذرون،

الأوغاد يمكن محاربتهم بالشوكولاته،

الأوغاد يفسرون الموسيقى من خلال اليوتيوب،

الأوغاد لا ينضجون ولا يتوبون ولا يستحمون،

الأوغاد ليس لهم حزباً ومانفيستو،

الأوغاد هم الكولونيالية الجديدة والكفاح المسلح والسلمية..

الأوغاد يديرون البروفة الأخيرة للجحيم

الأوغاد ممكن محاربتهم بالنوم،

الأحلام تقتل الأوغاد والسفلة..

* ملاحظة: هذا النص/ المحاولة لا يحتوي على ألف بيت كما يوحي العنوان فلا شيء في هذه الحياة يتحمل ألف سطر، لذا كان علينا الاكتفاء بالإشارة إلى نيتنا من خلال العنوان فقط، فالأعمال بالنيات.

He is dead. The End.

Picture of 18 year old Ahmed Al Shebani who Killed Gaddafi today

31 Bidun Protesters on Trial

Once again, if you are not familiar with the name "Bidun", please go a head and check this blog label that has all my previous explanatory writings on the case of the stateless (undocumented) of Kuwait, so to spare you the repetitive introduction. 

I have previously wrote a post on how a group of Bidun men in Kuwait will be facing trials in December for protesting; as Kuwait does not allow you to protest if you are not a citizen, and even citizens need to get a permission from the ministry of interior affairs to do so. 

Here, I bring you the four pages document (taken from the Kuwaiti Bidun movement website) that was signed by the public prosecutor (on the 24th of August 2011) to call those protesters to court. The document has in the first two pages the names of those 31 protesters and in the other two pages the reasons why they are called to court, which I have translated to English below, for the international community and media to better understand the situation, as those protesters need attention and international pressure so they won't face injustice for practicing their human right of speaking up and demonstrating. 

Your support means a lot. 

The reasons public prosecution wants to bring protesters to court: 

1- They have, with other unknown persons, attacked public employees (policemen who their names are written in the investigation), by resisting them with force and violence while the latter were trying to do their job duties in ending a protest which was organized by those accused with others unknown, in aim to hold down the duties of the policemen and causing injuries documented by primary medical reports attached, as investigation found out.

2- They have participated with others unknown, in a gathering that had more than 5 persons in a public place to make crimes and disturb public order and they stayed gathered even after authorities ordered them to leave. Some of them were carrying solid things (stones) that they used to attack police men with causing injuries, as our investigations found.

3- They have organized and participated with others unknown, in a protest that is not permitted and did not respond to the orders made to them by authorities to stop it. They used force and attacked police men, as our investigations found.

Therefore, Public prosecution asks the criminal court to punish those charged according to the mentioned articles, as we attach with this report a list of proofs.

Um Poema Na Ardósia

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

Photo Credits: Rui Gomes Coelho

Bahrain: Teen Protester Shot Dead

Protests erupted in Bahrain this weekend as angry mourners buried 16-year-old Ahmed Al-Qattan, who was killed by a bird shot according to the Ministry of Interior Affairs, which rarely states the truth about the causes of protestor deaths. In contrast, the Bahrain News Agency, which fabricated numerous stories during the February 2011 uprising, stated a different cause of death for the killed teenager.

Continue reading this post on GlobalVoices

In Solidarity with Bahrain Detainees

People of Bahrain and Kuwait have always had a special love relationship; the Kuwaiti flag waving in Bahraini protests and in return, Kuwaitis were the first to protest in February and March in solidarity with the Bahrainis who went through a horrifying time of their history getting detained, humiliated, beaten, tortured, and killed for protesting. I have many times slept with anger and grief over what is happening in Bahrain and how their revolution was turned, by its scandalous media and regime, to a deformed movement. It is indeed the 'forgotten' revolution that even Arab revolutionaries gave it their backs.

They only want to live; live with dignity in their country and have the right to dream of a better future for their kids. The regime, in return, works on dehumanizing them and depriving them of their basic rights. Bahrainis amaze me everyday with their stubbornness and fearless struggle; they sometimes see the situation slipping to a worse condition, yet they never give up, they never leave their home for the darkness to eat. 

In Kuwait, even our oldest opposition figures, refer to Bahraini opposition and struggle as the most solid with the most sacrifices paid in the Gulf region. This is an old struggle and a lot of the activists have been in and out jails several times, most notably in the horrifying 90's. Today, medics, teachers, kids, and activists are living one of humanity's nightmares in their country's jails. 

 

Therefore, I joined Arab bloggers (Mauritanian @weddady, Moroccan @__Hisham and Tunisian @Operateur @Azyyoz ) fasting today in solidarity with those heroic detainees. What about you?  

 

Follow the hashtag #HS4BH

A HISTORICAL DAY!

Viva Yemen. Viva Arab Women. Viva Tawakol. 

Yemeni winner of the Nobel Peace Prize Tawakul Karman (C) is congratulated by her supporters after winning the Nobel Prize, outside her tent in Tagheer Square in Sanaa October 7, 2011. Karman said on Friday the award was a victory for Yemen's democracy activists and they would not give up until they had won full rights in a "democratic, modern Yemen".

Credit: REUTERS/Ahmed Jadallah

Bahrain: Dr Ghassan Dhaif Tweets His Jail Experience

The plight of Bahraini medics, 20 of whom have been sentenced to 5 to 15 years in prison on allegedly fabricated charges, is still gathering momentum, despite an announcement by the government to re-trial them in a civilian court.Medical organizations abroad, especially those located in Ireland, have shown a lot of support and solidarity with the medics by awarding them for their courage and dedication and by taking part in a hunger strike a month ago to demand their release. One of the interesting takes in the medics' case is that many of the targeted doctors have become active in social networks, tweeting their stories, about getting beaten, tortured, harassed, and insulted whether by the police or even some members of the Royal family. 

Continue Reading this post on GlobalVoices

UAE Activists Face Trials for an Online Petition

An online petition is the only common factor between five detained activists in the United Arab Emirates. Ahmed Mansour, Nasser Bin Ghaith, Fahad Al-Sihhi, Hassan Ali Al Khamis, and Ahmed Abdulhaleq Ahmed are the names. Mansour is a well known blogger and an outspoken secular activist from Dubai, while Bin Ghaith comes from a wealthy family and has served as a consultant for the army beside being a war veteran, a decorated pilot, a columnist, and a lecturer. The other three names are not very well-known for readers outside the UAE as the topic of their trials became a taboo inside the wealthy-family-ran Gulf state. Ahmed Abdulhaleq Ahmed, according to AFP, is a stateless of the UAE, a community that is denied all the rights for documents, and public access to education, medication, and employment; another taboo that the UAE does not like any light shed at, especially by foreign media.

Bin Ghaith was shocked to have been detained. According to his brother, as interviewed by AP, Bin Ghaith was detained for an article he published in www.darussalam.ae a week before his arrest last April. A day before his trial which he refused to show up to beginning of October, Bin Ghaith wrote a letter talking about his case and mentioning that his arrest had to do with opinions he posted in online forums. However, media and local talks link the five detainees in one circle which is the online petition they signed with more than a 100 Emiratis demanding reforms and more freedoms including giving power to the parliament and reconstructing its hierarchy and voting system.

The same blog that published Bin Ghaith's letter, Emirati blogger Khalifa Al-Nuaimi wrote the trial's details that he attended. He said the five activists did not show up yet the trial started with a testimony from the representative of the information ministry answering questions about some online forum. The representative said those who wrote ‘insulting' comments in the forum cannot be identified, that the web hosting company is American, that the forum's manager cannot be identified, and that the website has been blocked in the UAE since 2010. Al-Nuaimi writes what happened in the trial without specifying which forum they are referring to, who wrote in this forum other than Mansour, and what specifically were the written comments.

In general, the UAE seems to have succeeded in blocking a lot of information and details from the world about this specific trial which is moderated by a court specialized in anti-regime and terrorism cases. When making a decision, this specific court does not allow any appeal. Al-Nuaimi in the same post talked about the games the authorities play through the state security police by grouping people in front of the court to insult the activists and call them ‘traitors', while Bin Ghaith in his letter talked about the mistreatment that he faced while getting arrested and in the last six months he spent in jail. He expressed his shock over the justice system of his country that he never realized its ugly truth until his arrest, and according to different sources, he was denied treatment for a recent skin disease he caught during his time in prison.

Global Voices Advocacy 

The Beat Generation Tour

What am I but a Beat Generation fanatic; my senior thesis was on the image of America in the poems of Allen Ginsberg and Arab poets and this is all what I want to do in my graduate studies. The Beat ideals, methods, madness, screams, expression, and rebellious soul are the ones I relate to most, and I have previously dared to call the rising Arab generation "The New Beat Generation"; one without a face, though.

Last week, I got the chance to achieve one of my biggest dreams when I had a walking tour around New York City visiting the places where the Beat writers used to hangout, live, drink, buy their books from, meet, and read their works. New York is not like Paris as it doesn't care if a famous writer or artist lived in this or that place, because the capitalist question will always be the loudest to be heard "Turn a place that a writer once lived in, to a museum? who will pay for that?" so unlike all the writers' maisons I got to visit in Paris two years ago, New York has no special treatment for them and unfortunately no one thought of doing what Lorca once has done in Andalusia leaving marks on the places where the best minds of his generation lived.

I surely did not get the chance to visit all places; directions are not easy to catch, and time was too short, however I tried to visit as many places relevant to Kerouac and his masterpiece On the Road. I didn't take pictures of all places especially those I got to during the evening, therefore, I will surely have to revisit these spots next time.  

[Click on any of the pictures to see it in full size].

In this Italian restaurant, William S. Burroughs used to invite his Beat friends to dinner.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Cafe Wha?" is the place where the Beat members used to go to listen to music, mostly Jazz. Great figures like Bob Dylan and Jimi Hendrix performed in this place.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Caffe Reggio is a very simple and intimate place in Greenwich Village. It was not only a place for the Beat writers to hangout but also the site for Bohemians, a John F. Kennedy's speech, and some shots from Copolla's The Godfather II.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In this basement bar called "Gas Light Cafe" the Beat recited their works. Bob Dylan has also performed there and lived in the upstairs apartment for a while. A teenager working in the shop next door told me the place changed its name six time, the last to be "106" and that it has had hard times. Unfortunately, many beat-relevant places are vanishing, getting neglected, losing their spirit, or even shutting down, as I've discovered in this short trip.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In this building, Lucien Carr lived. He was the one to have introduced Burroughs, Kerouac, and Ginsberg to each other. He was the one that introduced Ginsberg to the writings of Arthur Rimbaud. Kerouac used to visit Carr in this apartment, and while sneaking out, once, Jack fell and injured his head.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The White Horse Tavern is a bar where Jack Kerouac used to go drink sometimes. When talking to the bartender, he told me that they used to write 'Go home, Jack' in the bathroom so when he reads it he will remember to leave! The place was also a spot for Dylan Thomas, Norman Mailer, and Hunter S. Thompson. Kerouac lived across the street for a while in this building:

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Our Lady of Guadalupe is one of Kerouac's favorite churches. You have a weird feeling when seeing it left out of the 'developed' concrete atmosphere where one can notice the huge tasteless buildings, the metro stop, the bus stops, the European tourists, the tired workers, and the arrogant lunatic taxi drivers.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In this apartment, Allen Ginsberg lived for a year. A passer-by gave me an absurd look for taking pictures of someone's door and did not hesitate to ask the question. When I answered, she replied "Ginsberg who?." I was of course disappointed.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In this building, Jack Kerouac wrote his masterpiece On the Road. The building is getting renovated and I could not get in to see his apartment. One of the construction workers was nice enough to let me stand in front of the door and take a picture of me.

Bahrain: 15 Year Jail Sentences for Medics Who Treated Protesters

After months of detention and a hunger strike, Bahraini medics were released a month ago on bail waiting for their trials. The shock came when the court announced its verdict, sentencing them to 5 to 15 years in jail and accusing them of different charges including threatening public order, possession of weapons, invasion of the country's main hospital, the Salmaniya Medical Complex, and many other fabricated accusations that the regime and its media apparatus have imagined since Bahrain's protests started on February 14, 2011.

The doctors, who have been arrested and subjected to torture because they witnessed the atrocities committed by the state against the protesters first hand, have taken their struggle online, addressing international media and human rights organizations through Twitter and telling the world their stories in their own words. Among them is Dr Nada Dhaif (@NadaDhaif), who was brave enough to talk about what she has been through in jail and send video letters through Amnesty International and BBC to the world, as part of her testimony. Dhaif, who has been sentenced to 15 years, has accused a member of the Bahraini ruling family Nourah Al-Khalifa, in her recent interviews, of torturing her and calling her “a Shia pig.”

Continue reading this post on GlobalVoices