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.

Human Rights

AudioA good day comes

March 20th, 2010Lord Kavi (Iran)

Soroush Lashkari, better known with his nickname, Hichkas (No one), is an Iranian rapper. His lyrics are about society, poverty and resistance against foreigners. He is an underground well-known artist inside Iran.
After 2009 post-election riots in Iran, he sang a song called “a good day comes”. I heard it yesterday and liked to share it [...]

VideoThe March 18 Movement – Bloggers should not be killed

March 18th, 2010Esra'a (Bahrain)

Today is the first anniversary of Iranian blogger Omid Reza’s death. For those of you who don’t know who Omid is, this is an excerpt from the entry we created on Wikipedia: Omid Reza Mir Sayafi (also Omidreza Mirsayafi), a 29-year old Iranian blogger and journalist died in Evin Prison in Tehran on March 18, 2009. In December, he was sentenced to two and half years in prison for allegedly insulting religious leaders, and engaging [...]

Letter from Kurdistan, March 16th

March 16th, 2010Vahal

22 years ago today, the former Iraqi regime ordered its air force to bombard the Kurdish town of Halabja with chemical weapons, instantly poisoning to death 5000 men, women and children. I went to Halabja for the first time in the spring of 2006 to pay my respects to the dead. I [...]

Mainstream Politics, Hypocrisy and Civil Society

March 14th, 2010Pouyan (Iran/Germany)

Hypocracy[1] is understood as a so called democratic government in which hypocrisy rule i.e. the ruling party/individuals does not keep on what is being promised and/or told.

VideoBloggers should not be killed

February 17th, 2010Uzma (UAE)

Bloggers across the globe are being imprisoned for writing posts that are deemed “blasphemous” or are accused of “spreading false information harmful to the country.”
In the last month almost 10 netizens and bloggers have been arrested worldwide.
The March 18 Movement aims to shed light on these cases and calls for free speech on the [...]

Once upon a burka – Part 1

February 16th, 2010Marian (Somalia)

It’s oppressive. It’s degrading. It’s this, it’s that. Jack Straw claimed this, Nicholas Sarkozy mentioned that. Let us liberate them in Afghanistan, let us liberate them in France. Yawn. I am getting fed up of these burka stories. They seem to be never ending and at times very cringe worthy. ’Burka woman sacked from her job!’  ’Lets [...]

VideoBeyond King of the Mountain

February 15th, 2010Leyla Haidarian (USA)

Beyond our culture of contest lies a different kind of democracy: gentle, just and… inevitable.
“Beyond King of the Mountain” is a documentary short about democratic governance outside of the “Western Liberal” model. Particularly poignant for those who are thinking of what democracy would mean in the Middle East, it features interviews with: Iraj Abedian, Nick [...]

Donkeys that have Kinship to London !!!

February 7th, 2010Sami, the beduin.

This story happened more than 70 or 80 years ago, in the Galilee Heights, during the British occupation “Mandate” to Palestine, a long time before we had the “honor” to host our “cousins’ the jews. There, in one of the Galilee villages, there was a Palestinian peasant who had a stubborn donkey. Both, the peasant [...]

Turkey: There Is Murder Here

January 30th, 2010Yara Al-Wazir

Transcript of Turkish Prime Minister Erodgen’s famous ‘one minute’ speech at the 2009 World Economic Forum in Davos Switzerland

Interview with the father of modern Peace research on post-election Iran

January 27th, 2010Behdad Bordbar (Iran)

Prof. Galtung is one of the most important dissident intellectuals of our time; distinguished professor of Sociology, Peace and conflict research and world renowned founder of the academic discipline of peace research and founder of PRIO, is currently director of TRANSCEND, a global peace and development network. He has served at so many universities that [...]