Syria

We’re starting off the year with a new podcast, and this time with Marwan Kamel, lead singer of the punk Middle Eastern band “Al Thawra.” I could try my luck writing my own introduction of this awesome band, but I wouldn’t be able to top my friend Daniela who wrote about them on Mideast Youth [...]

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This is Damascus… If you want to play punk, you need to really want to. The hand of politics is everywhere. Both US foreign policy and domestic law can make or break your band: trade embargoes determine whether or not you can get equipment and censors make it difficult to speak about any real issues. While the suffocating restrictions and obstacles are annoying, the fact that the punks exist is a testament to their perseverance.

This request is an urgent one. I personally am very passionate about the usage of any media to tell a story, it’s the most empowering thing. So you can imagine why I’d request for your help in pushing this forward; reading the “dream” alone is inspirational as it is:
“My dream assignment would be to work [...]

In the past we have always dealt with rejections while shopping for hosting, since several of the sites we host are in all of the “sanctioned’ countries within the Middle East that some companies are banned from doing business with. Recently, Iranian blogger Arash Kamangir translated a post by another Iranian blogger concerning this as [...]

With the bloody fighting in Gaza, emotions are running high in the region, and around the world. The ghastly images we see on the news evoke a wide range of emotions: sympathy, empathy, regret, guilt, remorse, and yes, anger. All this is understandable. And yet we sense that strong passions and unbridled emotions, in and [...]

In less than six weeks the American people will be casting their votes for their next President. The 2008 Election Campaign has proven to be one of the most historically important, with regard to both gender and race. There has been an incredible amount of interest in the 2008 election campaign, not only for the [...]

As a Palestinian and an Arab I was extremely proud to see such a large contingent of athletes from the Arab World participating in this year’s Olympics. Even though they are being held in Beijing, one of the most repressive nations in the world, the Chinese people themselves have a tremendous and rich culture and [...]

On Sunday 11-5-2008 the State Security Court in Damascus stated its verdict on the Syrian blogger Tariq Baiasi who was held in detention since 7-7-2007. Tariq was detained for leaving a comment on websites disfavored by the Syrian government. Free Tariq Campaign condemned the State’s verdict and asks for freedom to the Syrian blogger:
The State [...]

A lead op-ed in the New York Times today by Edward N. Luttwak draws attention to Obama’s irtidad, his decision to leave the Muslim faith he was born into. According to Islam, which defines the children of any Muslim father as Muslim themselves, Obama’s conversion to Christianity is an act of apostasy. “Indeed,” [...]

After posting some information about the New Year holiday, some of you replied with some comments regarding the response of Syrian and Turkish forces to the celebrations in the Kurdish regions within each country. In the largest Kurdish city, Diyarbakir (or Amed, in Kurdish), reports say that over 1 million people gathered to listen to [...]