Arabisc: The Arabic Bloggers Ken, Media, Anti-Blogging and the World Cup

Haitham Sabbah — Fri, 16 Jun 2006 20:48:29 +0000

The following is an abbreviated translation from some of the Arabic-language blogs. It was initially published at Global Voices...

Arabic language and the Internet...

Marwan, from Subzero Blue blog, writes in his Arabic blog about the new Google News service in Arabic. He seems have found something we all have missed for long time. Marwan writes:

?????? ????? ???? ???? ???? ?????? ?? ???? ????? ????. ???? ?????? ???????? ??? ??????? ???????? ?????? ??? ?????? ? ??? ???? ??????? ????.

???? ï¿½????? ????ï¿½ ??? ??????? ??????? ?? ????? ??????? ???? ??? 150 ???? ?? ???? ????? ??????? ??????? ???????????? ???? ??? ???? ??????? ?? ???????. ??? ????? ??????? ??????? ?? 15 ?????? ???? ??? ??????? ?? ??? ????? ??????? ????? ?? ?? ??? ????? ???? ??????.

???? ???? ???? ????? ??? ???? ????? ???? ????? ?????? ?????? ???????? ?? ??????? ??????? ????? ?????? ????????? ? ??????? ? ???? ???????.

?????? ?? ??? ?????? ?? ??????? ??? ???????? ??????? ?????? ???????? ?? ???? ? ?????? ?????? ?? ????? ?????? ??????? ??? ??????.

Finally, Google launched the Arabic version of their Google News. I found the Arabic version among others while I was browsing for my daily news read.

Google news gather the news stories from more than 150 news sources from all around the world, then sort them automatically and puts the hot news on top. The front page is refreshed every 15 minutes, so you might see new stories every time you visit the page.

I think it is a very good move from Google to introduce the Arabic language in its services like E-mails and the translation services and now the news.

I hope to see more online services from Google and others in Arabic, which will strengthen the Arab presence on the Internet.

Not far from the Internet; The Emirate's blogger Ben Kerishan is criticizing what he calls the foolishness and backward mentality of the way things are dealt with in his part of the world. He said:

??? ???? ?? ????? ????????? ???????? ????? ??????..?? ?????? ???? ??? ???? ????? ?????? ???????? ???? ??????? ? ??????? ?? ?????? ???? ???????? ?? ??????? ??? ??? ????? ??? ??????? ???????? ?????????

After a tour in various Lands of Sands Internet sites, in an attempt to understand the reason of the delinquency of Arabian desert brain towards superstition and distance from the rationalism, my finding may help us to understand the causes of this massive phenomenon of foolishness

After giving many examples of material published online and describing how it mock and ridicules the intelligence of our brains, Ben Kerishan concludes:

?? ???? ??????? ?? ????????? ??????? ? ?????? ?????? ????? ??? ???? ??????? ??? ??????? ?????? ??????? ???? ???? ??????? ?????? ? ? ?? ??????? ???????? ????????.. ?????? ????? ??????? ???? ?????? ???? ??? ??????? ?????? ?????? ?? ????? ??????? ? ???? ????? ?????..???? ?? ???? ????? ????????? ????????????? ????..??? ???? ???? ???? ?? ??????? ??????..????? ???

The success of globalization in Western societies and its scientific superiority depended on the ability of its members to think for themselves outside the framework of good myth and religion, or what we call, the non secular thinking. Compared to the Lands of Sands and its communities which failed in liberating their thinking from the control of superstition and the clergy. Even if the non secularism and democracy were imposed on them, there will be no more than foolishness complications.

Very harsh, but maybe true!

On the political side...

The ï¿½Gaza Beach Tragedyï¿½ had a big presence in the Arabic blogsphere. The Palestinian cartoonist, Amal, in her new latest work sums up what is going on, world wide (World Cup 2006) and the tragedy news coming from Palestine on the World Cup opening day:

Playing with the words equivalent to 'World Cup' in Arabic (??? ??????) the cartoon is simply ï¿½bad-mouthingï¿½ the world (not the World Cup).

Still on ï¿½Gaza Beach Tragedyï¿½, a campaign was launched to call the Arabic TV channels, to use the scenes of the tragedy as much and as often as they can.

They wrote a letter and asked readers to send it to AlFajr, Aljazeera and Alarabiya TVï¿½s. The letter reads:

?????? ??????? ?? ?????? ??????? ..????? ???? ?????
?? ?? ?? ?? ??? ??? ??? ?????? ??? ?????? ??????? ..??? ??? ?? ??
?? ???? ??? ?? ??????? ..????? ?? ?? ???? ???? ????????? ???? ?????
?????? ????? .. ??? ???????? ?? ?????? ??????? ?? ???? ??? ?????
??? ????? ??? ???? ??????? ????? ????? ?????? ????? ... ??? ?????? ???? ??
?????? ??????? ???????
???? ?????? ... ?? ?????? ?????? ??????? ?? ?? ?? ??? ????? ??? ?????
??? ?????
??? ?? ?????? ??????? ?? ?? ?????? ????????? ????? ??? ???? ??? ???? ??????
??? ?????? ??????? ???? ???? ?????? .. ???? ???? ?????? ?? ???????
?????? : ????? ????
????? ??? ?????? ?? ???? ??????? ?? ????? ????
???? ???????

Distinguished brothers in our beloved channel,
May God Guard You. There is no doubt that what has happened in Palestine last Friday has shaken the heart of every human. Beside the religious and nationalism ties between the Palestinian brothers and others, it is strange that our beloved channels passed this news and to treat it like any expired material ... So, donï¿½t disappointed us, we ask you ... to cover the news story of the murder of Huda Ghaliaï¿½s family, from political and/or social aspect of sister Huda, and to produce ads that marks this incident.
I ask God the Almighty to bring you success.
Signature: Arab Viewer

On the sarcastic side...

Surfing the Moroccan blogsphere, I came across a new Arabic term, funny one, but has a strong roots that refers to the rising numbers of unemployment in Morocco and the Arab world.

Heyttism, is the new term. Hamoud explains the roots of the term, he said:

??????? ???? ????? ?? ï¿½???ï¿½ ?? ï¿½????ï¿½.. ????? ??? ????? ???? ???? ?? ?? ??? ??? ??? ???? ?????? ??? ?? ??? ???? ?????? ?? ???? ???? ?????? ?? ?????? ????? ??? ???? ??? ???.. ??? ????? ??????? ??? ??? ?? ???? ?? ???.. ??? ????? ?????? ????? ?? ????? ??? ??? ??? ????? ????.. ?????? ???? ?? ???? ?????? ?????? ??? ??? ????? ?????? ????????? ???????? ?? ?????? ???? ??? ??? ??????? ????? ???? ????? ?? ?????? ?????? ,

Heyttism derived from the word "Heyt" or "Wall." It symbolizes the act by individual youthï¿½s who studied after he found himself compelled to act upon his parents wish, not knowing why he should. He studied for about five to ten years or more or less, received a college degree, ultimately to fill the horrible position of supporting the walls of the country and protect the walls from falling, only by leaning on the walls throughout the day with a cigarette to smoke

Heyttism!! Added to personal dictionary.

Blogging nightmare...

Last but not least, it seems that the Egyptian blogsphere is going to face more hard time in the near future.

Following Aljazeera's one hour TV documentary about blogging and its role in the political scene in the Egyptian street, one of the oldest, biggest and most read newspapers in Egypt, published a long report about the bloggers. The article was published at besara7a blog and is titled ï¿½The Bloggers Declares Revolution on the Internet: A sociological Study on Bloggers and their Blogsï¿½ (Arabic).

The alarming news comes from 43arb and Jarelkamar. Tadwen blog sums up the story as following:

?????? ??? ???????? ??????? ????? ??? ????? ???? ??? ??? ????? ??? ??ï¿½?????? ???????ï¿½? ??? ????? ??? ?????? ?? ???..
????? ????? ?? ???? ??? ï¿½????? ????? ?????ï¿½? ?? ï¿½?? ???? ?????????ï¿½? ?? ï¿½??????? ??????? ???? ?????ï¿½ ?? ???? ??? ???????? ??? ??? ????????..

Some Egyptian blogs are circulating recent news about the establishment of a special office called "anti-blogging", within the State Security Offices in Egypt.
The blogs confirmed that charges such as ï¿½inciting public opinionï¿½, ï¿½insulting the Presidentï¿½ or ï¿½propaganda for demonstration without a permitï¿½, may be directed to bloggers.

Now, that is scary! We can understand the need for ï¿½anti-terrorism forceï¿½, but ï¿½anti-bloggingï¿½ security office?! Wow!

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Arabisc: The Arabic Bloggers Ken, Media, Anti-Blogging and the World Cup