“Mosireen”, Arabic equivalent of Persistent, was formed in 2011, as a social/citizen media collective that focuses mainly on picture and video to disseminate authentic news to combat the state controlled propaganda.

“Mosireen”, which rhymes with the Arabic Masrieen or Egyptians, are persistent to: Continue the goals of the revolution, produce and make films that support the revolution, raise awareness, train young youth on using social media and video techniques, archive the revolution visually, and finally network between similar initiatives, bloggers, activists and filmmakers.

Sherief Gaber is one of the spirited revolutionary group of youth that we’ve encountered in the elegant high-ceiling headquarters of Mosireen in Down Town Cairo. A young Egyptian-American man who left his Texas studies behind to revolt.

The podcast features three different voices: Ahmed Zidan, Sherief Gaber, and also Nick Holdstock, a Scottish author, researcher and freelance journalist who has spent three weeks in Egypt meeting with activists from grassroots initiatives.

During a Kazeboon screening in Tahrir Sq

Gaber explains in this podcast what is the Collective exactly, and why “Mosireen”?, and then delves into the very successful street screenings of Kazeboon and the challenge of authentication of footage.

He then talks about moving beyond Tahrir, and reaching out to Cairo’s crammed informal settlements.

Also he highlights military trials and SCAF’s propaganda concerning foreign funds, and how does it impede civil society work, and how people perceive it.

Listen to the podcast or download it now!

Subscribe to Mosireen YouTube channel from here, follow the Collective on Twitter from here, and join their page on Facebook from here.

Austin G Mackell is an Australian freelance journalist with a special interest in the Middle East was arrested alongside Derek Ludovici, an American masters student, and Aliya Alwi, an Egyptian translator and news producer. Until this moment, and after more than one month, they are still waiting for their unknown fate.

“We had travelled to interview trade union leader Kamal el-Fayoumi. The three of us were held for around 56 hours, during which time we were charged with inciting people to commit vandalism. Specifically, it is alleged we promised to give children money if they threw rocks at a police station.” – Austin G Mackell

Al-Mahalla is known to be the inspirer of 6th April 2008 general strike, which is regarded by many commentators as one of the main rehearsals of Jan 25th 2011. It’s also the home of the largest public sector Egyptian textile company, “Misr Spinning and Weaving Company”.

The arrest, which came at the first anniversary of Mubarak’s fall, has taken place amidst the spread of SCAF rhetoric about foreign funding, and after a short time of several organized crackdowns against American NGO branches in Cairo, and deporting seven American NGO workers for the same alleged reasons.

The case is still open, until the Egyptian general prosecutor either lift the travel ban or opens a case whose sentence could range from 5 to 7 years, according to Mackell.

“The case was (and remains) open, and a travel ban is in place. Our faces – particularly Aliya’s and mine – had been flashed on state TV along with alarmist headlines about foreign agents. This has made things difficult and dangerous for us – my landlord changed the locks and aggression from some neighbours has meant I cannot go back to my apartment. Aliya, while unmolested so far since her release, probably faces much greater danger.” – Austin G Mackell

Read the full text of Mackell’s message to Bob Carr, the Australian Minister of Foreign Affairs, here. Also, listen to Mackell’s interview on ABC website here.

Sign this petition for his release here.

He tweets on @austingmackell and blogs on The Moon Under Water. View his full profile here.

Follow also the other two who still await their fates, Derek Ludovici and Aliya Alwi.

On this day in 2009, Omid Reza Mir Sayafi, Iranian blogger and journalist, died in Evin Prison in Tehran. The December before his death, he was sentenced to two and half years in prison for allegedly insulting religious leaders, and engaging in propaganda against the Islamic Republic of Iran. Omid Reza was the first blogger to die in prison and his death reveals that getting censored is far from the worst thing that can happen to a blogger. The March 18 Movement was born out of a tragedy. March 18 has been since synonymous with Day of Freedom of Speech, of the Day of Solidarity With the Prosecuted Bloggers.

Mir Sayafi was still awaiting an additional trial for insulting Islam. Some human rights groups commented that Omid’s death follows a pattern of Iranian authorities “denying urgent health care to prisoners of conscience, resulting in their death.”

Mir Sayafi’s blog is no longer accessible. But with some searching one can find an archive containing the blog posts that led to his imprisonment. Mir-Sayafi’s main area of expertise was traditional Persian music. He also wrote poetry and penned articles for Persian-language electronic art journals. He was apparently well known in Iranian intelligentsia circles.

YouTube has highlighted our March 18 video for a few days on its homepage. Also, the movement has won ThinkSocial Award in Nov 2010, and gained a wide media exposure.

Follow @March18Movement on Twitter, participate on OR318 on Facebook, and view Flickr’s photostream.

Every year, the world commemorates World Day Against Cyber-Censorship on the 12 March.

The day was first launched by Reporters Sans Frontières in 2008, and it’s intended to rally everyone in support of a single Internet without restrictions and accessible to all.

Never have so many countries been affected by some form of online censorship, whether arrests or harassment of netizens, online surveillance, website blocking or the adoption of repressive Internet laws. Netizens are being targeted by government reprisals. Around 120 of them are currently detained for expressing their views freely online, mostly in China, Iran and Vietnam. World Day Against Cyber-Censorship pays tribute to them and their fight for Internet freedom.

“…Democratic countries continued to set a bad example by yielding to the temptation to prioritize security over other concerns and by adopting disproportionate measures to protect copyright…” – The introduction of 2012 report.

Internet users in “free” countries have learned to react in order to protect what they have won. Some governments stepped up pressure on technical service providers to act as Internet cops. Companies specializing in online surveillance are becoming the new mercenaries in an online arms race. Hacktivists are providing technical expertise to netizens trapped by a repressive regime’s apparatus. Diplomats are getting involved. More than ever before, online freedom of expression is now a major foreign and domestic policy issue.*

2011 was the deadliest year for netizens, its violence unmatched in the time that dissidents and human rights campaigners have been making widespread use of the Web. Several were killed in Bahrain, Mexico, India and Syria. Dozens of others are probably still to be identified and there will undoubtedly be still more to add to the toll, particularly in Syria.

Ammar 404 is crawling back to Tunisia cyberscene after a judicial verdict set to ban pornographic content. Meanwhile, Syria’s cyber army is expert in the art of trolling the Facebook walls of opponents and dissidents, often with the aim of discrediting them, and to drown out critical comments with a tide of praise for the government of President Bashar al-Assad. Twitter accounts have been created to exploit the #Syria hashtag, sending out hundreds of tweets with keywords that link to sports results or photos of the country.

Some countries such as Burma, North Korea, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Cuba, and also Iran, censor Internet access so effectively that they restrict their populations to local intranets that bear no resemblance to the World Wide Web.

Two countries, Bahrain and Belarus, have been moved from the “under surveillance” category to the “Enemies of the Internet” list, joining the ranks of the countries that restrict Internet freedom the most: Burma, China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Vietnam. They combine often drastic content filtering with access restrictions, tracking of cyber-dissidents and online propaganda. Iran and China, in particular, reinforced their technical capacity in 2011 and China stepped up pressure on privately-owned Internet companies in order to secure their collaboration.

Countries under surveillance include: Australia, Egypt, Eritrea, France, India, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Russia, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey and United Arab Emirates. View the full map here.

It is no longer enough to take a bullet-proof vest when setting off for a war zone or troubled region. A “digital survival kit” is also needed to encrypt information, anonymize communications and, if necessary, circumvent censorship. The likes of SOPA, PIPA, ACTA, IPRED, and all the repressive siblings alike face a lot of resistance, which should escalate; because obviously, there’s a fine line between protecting intellectual property and violating netizens’ freedom.

In 2011, the fragmentation of the Internet gathered pace. Web users were granted varying access depending on where they were connected. This is contrary to the original concept of the founders of the Web. Digital segregation is spreading, or what I like to call, isolated digital islands. Solidarity between defenders of a free Internet, accessible to all, is more than ever needed for the information to continue to flow.

The report, which has been released annually for five years in row, has become the world’s most comprehensive source on monitoring cyber-censorship and clamp down against netizens. The editors used the highly-regarded reputation of the report to warn Pakistan of possible inclusion in the Enemies of Internet 2013, if she pursues the setup of a national Internet filtering and blocking system, which would result in the creation of an Electronic Great Wall.

* Excerpts of the report were used. Read the full report here, published on 12 March 2012.

Read also the new version of Handbook for Bloggers and Cyber-Dissidents here.

The first step involved the compilation of an extensive long-list of 1,000 nominees. This was subjected to two group reviews – the first resulting in a short-list of 400, and the final an unranked list of 100, according to Geneva based publication inaugural list. Read more about the methodology here.

“Recognizing the significant role of NGOs as influential agents of change on a global scale, The Global Journal has sought to move beyond outdated clichés and narrow conceptions about what an NGO is and does. From humanitarian relief to the environment, public health to education, microfinance to intellectual property, NGOs are increasingly at the forefront of developments shaping the lives of millions of people around the world.” – The Global Journal editorial team.

The prestigious list includes the likes of Wikimedia Foundation, Oxfam, Médecins Sans Frontières, Ushahidi, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, Ashoka, Reporters Sans Frontières, TED among others.

Mideast Youth is not the sole organization from the region to achieve this milestone, as the Association for Protection of Environment (A.P.E.) from Egypt, and Injaz al-Arab from Jordan, have also made it to the final Top 100. Take a look at the full list here.

The Jan/Feb 2012 edition of the Global Journal is especially dedicated to the Top 100 Best NGOs worldwide. A digital copy of the magazine could be ordered from here.

Follow us on Twitter and check out a list of our ongoing projects. Watch our video to see what we’re all about:

If you support what we do, please consider making a donation.

The whole story started when Copts, who make at least 10% of Egypt’s 80 million population, got a building attached to a Church demolished by radical Islamists who belong to the Sunni Muslim majority. Although Copts have compromised removing the domes, crosses and megaphones from the building situated in Aswan, a southern province in Upper Egypt, this hasn’t stopped local Islamists from torching it.

Aswan’s governor has officially leaned to Muslims offenders, a position which has ignited a wave of anger among Egyptian furious Copts, especially Aswan’s local Coptic population. The military council has played fuelled the heat by being too lenient on the perpetrators, apparently to keep the public talks with Islamists in motion, and also to retain support of the Muslim traditional majority.

The Coptic minority, alongside with secular activists, have been asking long ago for a unified law for building houses of worship – A common reason for the recurrence of sectarian strife every now and then. The protesters, not exclusively Copts, have mounted in thousands from Shoubra district in North Cairo, which has a significant Coptic population, intending to march amass into Maspero, the National TV and Radio building in Down Town Cairo, only two miles away from the world famous Tahrir Sq, the area which has become the unofficial site of Copts’ protests lately.

The protesters have agreed on a sit-in infront of Maspero, asking the SCAF (Supreme Council of the Armed Forces) to sack the biased governor of Aswan. However, they were faced with armoured tanks, live ammunition, rubber bullets and tear gas. The armed forces personnel were backed by thugs with knives and sticks, who were invited openly by the state sponsored propaganda apparatus to join the protests in order to “protect the armed forces” from the Coptic Crusades, a falsified news which stirred wide public controversy and was responsible for the bloody extent of the events soon after. The state controlled TV has spread rumours accusing the Copts, live on air, of attacking and killing the military personnel with live ammunition, a lie that was withdrew at the end of the chaotic night by the Minister of Information Propaganda. The public TV has ignited a wide sectarian incitement by spreading rumours, which led some furious Tweeps to start #ShutDownPublicTV campaign on Twitter.

At least 24 died and hundreds were injured during the events, in addition to scenes of burned army vehicles. Vandalism, loot and arson were reported, in what has been called the “Tank Battle”, in reference to the infamous “Camel Battle” which has taken place on 2nd February 2011 by reportedly regime’s sponsored thugs. Protesters were run over by armoured tanks yesterday in Maspero, as shown in graphic live broadcast scenes, the footage which were confiscated by the armed forces after several private satellite TV channels had been stormed.

“I’ve been to the Coptic Hospital morgue in north Cairo, which was overloaded with dead protesters. I’ve witnessed 17 dead bodies; one of them was decapitated, one whose head was completely smashed, and several ones were deformed by the effect of military tanks and had their limbs separated.” – Hossam Bahgat, a tireless Egyptian human right defender and director of the Egyptian Initiative for Person Rights (EIPR).

The cabinet is holding an urgent meeting on Monday, meanwhile Dr Essam Sharaf, the transitional PM, has appealed to Egyptians in the early hours of Monday, local time, not to give in to sectarian strife.

Eye-witnesses have confirmed on the micro-blogging website, Twitter, that thugs and thieves have attacked several shops owned by Copts in Down Town area, a similar incident to what happened with Egyptian Jews’ business back in the forties in the very same area. The curfew was reimposed in Down Town area, among various tension spots around the capital, a measure which was lifted in June 2011 after being imposed for six months, following similar incidents during and after the revolution.

These violence raises a new set of question marks around the performance of the SCAF in the civil and political life following 25th Jan Revolution, considering at least 10,000 civilians who serve various military sentences behind the bars, let alone Maikel Nabil’s case. The latest tension and escalation of protests against the SCAF in general, and Tantawi in specific, has left lots of Egyptian activist Tweeps “optimistic” of upcoming wind of change, noting that the Camel Battle was an important co-factor in writing off Mubarak’s era, which isn’t totally different from Tantawi’s era. Louder voices are now plainly asking for resignation of the veteran Field Marshal Mohamed Tantawi, who has served as the MoD under Mubarak for nearly 20 consecutive years.

This isn’t the first time that sectarian strife resurfaces between fanatic Muslims and Copts after the revolution, as 12 people have died last May in attacks on Coptic church in Imbaba, while on March, 13 people were killed in clashes between Muslims and Copts in Tahrir Square. Worthy to mention that last new year’s eve has also seen a horrible suicide bomb at a Mass at al-Qiddissin (The Saints) Church in Mediterranean port city of Alexandria, an attack which has left 21 Copts dead. Similar incidents in the past decade include Nag Hammadi, Kosheh Massacres, and several other minor incidents. Sectarian tension is lingering within the Egyptian society, and all kinds of sedatives have proven obsolete. A real social change is the only cure for such chronic syndrome, and the new generation, backed with technology Apples and fruits, is capable of achieving that.

The Copts, largest minority group in Egypt, complain of discrimination, including a law requiring direct presidential permission for churches to be built. Weirdly enough, Egypt only recognises three religions which are Islam, Christianity and Judaism. Moreover, it allows conversions only from Christianity to Islam, not the other way. According to Sharia, the state only seals Muslim male to Christian female marriage, and not vice versa, a discriminatory law which has strongly contributed to the strife in the last couple of years.

The tension flames ahead of parliamentary elections scheduled for 28th November, the first such vote since ex-President Mubarak stepped down on 11th February 2011.

Maspero building, blue-dotted, in relation to Tahrir Square, red-dotted, using Google's satellite view

For all the videos, photos, news and Twitter updates, follow our coverage around the clock on Crowd Voice’s page “Sectarian violence in Egypt.”

For Hashtags, follow, #Maspero, #Copts, #Egypt, #Cairo, #Tahrir, and #NoSCAF.

The video was considered for an award in the 2011 New Works Contest run by “Art With Impact”, an arts-centered, social engagement organization based in San Francisco. The contest called for submissions of new short films on socially conscious topics. This year, creators were asked to submit short films of any genre on the topic of the Israeli/Palestinian relationship. We submitted our video Voices for Gaza, which was one of two runner-ups for the award. The winner of this year’s contest is “No More Shooting and Crying.”

As for our video, as noted in their press release:

Voices For Gaza urges increased global awareness of Palestinians’ social condition in Gaza, and advocates increased accountability for the atrocities of war.

Our intention is to create an extensive crowdsourced database of information relating to the human rights violations occurring in Gaza due to the growing oppression as well as the blockade.

Our video will be included as a “bonus feature” in the Host Kit for Art With Impact’s Underground Film Series October and November film, Slingshot Hip Hop.

Maikel Nabil has begun today a hunger strike in his cell in Marg Prison, north-east Cairo.

Maikel Nabil Sanad, an Egyptian blogger, and both MEYEnglish and MEYArabic member, was arrested on the night of Monday 28th March 2011 from his home in north Cairo, by the military police, for allegedly defaming the armed forces. Thirteen days later, and after a Kafkaesque military trial procedures, he was sentenced to three years on charges of “insulting the military institution and publishing false news about it” and “disturbing public security.”

Maikel, an anti-militarism activist, pacifist and conscientious objector, now faces an unknown fate, and his only crime was blogging a post criticising the military!

Maikel has faced lots of harassments in different cells, injustices and disregard to his serious medical conditions. Let alone the legitimacy of this trial from the very beginning, Sanad is a civilian who should not stand before a military court, which normally does not have any jurisdiction over civilians.

More than 10,000 civilians have been prosecuted by military tribunals since Mubarak’s ouster, according to human rights groups.

Everybody at Mideast Youth is seriously concerned with Maikel’s case, and closely tracks the events. And we urge you to spread the word about Maikel in the global Blogging Day for Maikel Nabil which is today, Tuesday 23rd August.

How to help Maikel?!

Join the growing Facebook campaign page, follow @FreeMaikel on Twitter, tweet about Maikel using hashtags: #FMNC; #FreeMaikel and #MaikelNabil; spread his blogs from jail; sign this petition; or at least share this post.

Read How to help Maikel in prison? for further guidance. Read all Maikel Nabil articles on MEY here.

Watch this video for an art-installation, created by the Egyptian graffiti artist, Ganzeer, and set near Tahrir Sq. This piece is one of many contemporary art pieces trying to bring attention to the SCAF (The Egyptian Supreme Council of the Armed Forces) intolerance to criticism and trickery on the revolution, which has obviously happened with Maikel. The installation was labelled “Soldier’s Dance.”

The independence flag was seen flown in the premises of Shohada (Martyrs) Square, formerly Green Square, after the rebels have liberated Tripoli and captured Saif al-Islam, Gaddafi’s son and ex-apparent heir.

We’ve been following the Libyan Revolt closely on CrowdVoice since the very first beginning on our Libyan voices in English and Arabic, and we are still in the process. Stay updated with the situation in Libya through news, social networks updates, photos and videos on the Libyan voice as the events unfold. Also, you can grab the voice widget from the top of the page, by copying and pasting it on your personal website/blog, in order to stay tuned to the revolution.

Mideast Youth congratulates the Libyans for their revolution, mourns their martyrs, and wishes that this political revolution could be followed by a social change too.

Follow CrowdVoice, that was recently relaunched after a big redesign, on Twitter and Facebook.

Follow our posts on Libya on Mideast Youth here, and read our Arabic posts on the Libyan Revolution on MEYArabic.

The website, which has celebrated its fifth anniversary last May, has never been better, with a smooth user-friendly interface and a better way to find out about the various project that has been keeping us incredibly busy.

Now, you can navigate vividly across our ever increasing archives, explore our projects, jump to our Arabic website, or have a break to listen to the latest tunes on Mideast Tunes from the frontpage.

The networking and author pages were renewed. The project page was renewed as well, with a dedicated menu to the brand new MEYLabs, which replaces the traditional toolbar and collects all our applications, widgets and plugins in one place. The page still constitutes our comics and illustrations as well. The Video page was added to enable our readers to easily watch our videos and animations without leaving the page.

The new sensitive search box at the top right hand side will ensure that you successfully access the content that you’re looking for without much hassle. A new button at the top right corner of each post will help you navigating through “more posts by this author” easily. You can now also subscribe to the author’s feed to keep track of your favourite authors on the site.

Tip: No matter how far did you scroll down, the new “Top” button will place your browser at the top of the page, once you’re done. You’ll find it at the bottom right hand side for your convenience.

From one design to another, from an idea to another, and from a blog post to another. MEY now serves as a platform to amplify diverse and progressive voices advocating for change throughout the MENA region via its various initiatives. Several new projects are still in the works.

Is it your first time on here? Check out what we’re all about. Is this a movement you’re interested in fueling? Join us. Still hesitant? Follow us on Twitter, join us on Facebook, or subscribe to our YouTube channel.

Follow the feed of the whole network from here. Sign up for our newsletter at the bottom right hand side of our front page. Contact us for inquiries!

Thanks to the magnificently creative team, active members, insatiably inspirational readers, enthusiast supporters, and generous donors for their patience. Thanks to every Like and Retweet. You have made this possible. We’re only just getting started!

Keep us live by donating!

Are you an Arabic speaker searching for a convenient website to market your products and services?! Instead of hiring a developer, Naseemi will get you exactly what you want! With affordable prices and less efforts, you’ll create and customize your website in a few minutes to market your products and ideas exactly the way you want. Sign up now with Naseemi to get a 7-day-free-trial. Naseemi revenue will help us sustain our initiatives and extend our causes and projects. Naseemi: The easiest way to create your website online!

All funds from the Naseemi projects goes directly to support our growth! Our mission is to be entirely sustainable and if you use our products, you’ll help make that possible.