We are young digital natives reaching out across seemingly impenetrable national, social, political, ethnic, and sectarian barriers, employing the freedom created by media platforms to demand and create our own civil discourse.

And we survive another year at Mideast Youth

December 31st, 2007Esra'a (Bahrain)

A lot has happened here in 2007, the past few months were by far the most active for us. We now proudly have authors representing every religion within the region and (almost) every country. We host over 40 websites for individuals and organizations not just within the Middle East but also in countries like Peru, Vietnam, and China, to help our friends fight for freedom.

This year, two promising campaign sites we initiated, which are:
The Muslim Network for Baha’i Rights
No Honor

Within the website itself, we added petitions, gallery, and a video service. We hope to add much, much more next year.

We continue to proudly lead:
Free Kareem
Migrant Rights
Sexual Terrorism
The Middle East Interfaith Blogger Network
Inter-Iman
The Arabic Network for Kurdish Rights

We initiated many more, but not all of them worked out, mostly because we are understaffed and we didn’t find enough people to continue the ideas. We will be sure to revive them as we grow.

Now, for the posts! Here are some of our greatest hits of all time, chosen randomly.

Israeli Army – from a mother’s perspective

What I’ve discovered about being a “moderate” over 31 years

Women’s rights, from a Saudi’s perspective

Iranian student on free speech/academic bias in a prestigious Tehran-based university

Sudanese student in the UAE on racism

Bahraini rock musician on music and Islam

Libyan blogger on Persian animated film

Forgotten massacre of 1988 in Iran

Iran and the US: Both guided by God?

On the history of Hijab/Hijab-Crackdowns in Iran

Don’t you know that we can’t stop the violence?

All in all, this year, we have 1,650 posts, and just over 15,000 comments.

Happy new year. I especially want to wish all our authors and supporters a great year to come. We couldn’t have done any of this without you. Your support, courage, participation, and your ongoing belief that we can really be a force for change in this region and beyond is our primary source of inspiration and encouragement.

Stay tuned for another excellent year at Mideast Youth, lots of our projects are due between February and March. We can’t wait to announce them! In the meantime please enjoy our excellent authors and their upcoming posts.

8 Responses to “And we survive another year at Mideast Youth”

  1. Happy new year Esra’a and everyone, I actually just got home from a new year’s party and I’m pretty exhausted:-)

  2. didnt know all of these ‘GR8EST hits’ :P
    Happy new year to MEY, its founder Esra’a n everyone else familiar with MEY!
    I came home after a fantastic 13 KM run [mashalllah plz] n am coo ooo oo ling down

  3. Esra’a,

    The effort and dedication that you and the other authors have put into these projects is nothing short of awesome. Thank you, and very best wishes for an even more outstanding 2008.

    My2

  4. Esra’a dear,
    I learnt about mideastyouth as the year 2007 was signing off, but I saw enough of the place as to lean how wonderul and cozy it is , how encouraging it is to communicate with my generation of Middle Easterns and people interested in our region from other countries and people living in the other side of the oceans who have their roots and their heart bound to this side of the waters. Likewise I wish you and other respectful contributors and readers a happy new year. :)

  5. More reasons for me to be proud being part of this amazing Family..

    For this year, and the years to come, all the best and prosperity inshallah..

    Yours,

    Lou..

  6. This gorgeous website has been my homepage for over 6 months now. I am so proud of it!

  7. Best wishes for all of you for 2008. This site has been a “learning experience” for me. Thank you all.

  8. I know this comes late: Happy new year!

    Thankx for selecting my post and considering it a great hit.

    Honoured:)

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