IME Cairo: Egypt after the Revolution

There are plenty of warm smiles to complement the heat of the Cairo summer but behind the traditional hospitality of the Egyptian people there is a division between those who tell you that they believe the revolution is the beginning of a positive change for their country and those who say life simply goes on as before. There are many – such as those working in the country’s vital tourism industry – who still welcome the revolution but face an uncertain future with a fragile economy, longing for the day when the visitors will return to the pyramids.

 Tourism affected:

He tells us that visitors have been scared off by the revolution but points out that none of the many foreigners in Egypt at the time were hurt and no tourists should feel unsafe visiting the ancient treasures of the Pharaohs. He hopes that by September the numbers will be returning to previous levels, irrespective of whether the country is undergoing elections by then. When Dr. Zahi discovers that the tourist police have been demanding money for access to filming the story he summons a group of officials and berates them in no uncertain terms. The ground beneath the feet of the Sphinx seems to shake as Zahi storms off with a trail of chastened officials in his wake, leaving us to relish the opportunity to shoot more footage from a privileged position within

touching distance of the ancient wonder.  

It’s not often you encounter a moment of archaeological history, so the IME team became wrapped up in the excitement of discovery when we learned a Japanese team was about to unearth a significant find. We arrived at the site at the base of the Grand Pyramid to find two members of the archaeological team sitting astride an enormous stone, winching it from the ground and onto a track. It turned out to be no ordinary stone but the first of 40 “locking stones” each weighing in at around 16 tons. Its function had been to lock in place a solar barge buried with the pharaoh King Khufu, who had commissioned the pyramid. It’s the second of two such vessels buried at Giza – the first has already been removed and put on display – and represents what the venerable Dr. Zahi describes as one of the most important archaeological discoveries in the world today. The boat was buried in kit form, ready to be assembled and sail the pharaoh to the afterlife, a bit like a flat-pack furniture kit on a much grander scale.

 

 After a long hot day watching others work in the sun, the exhausted IME team is in need of sustenance. After asking several people to recommend some typically nourishing Egyptian food, we realized that Abu Tareq’s famous “Koshari" is known to almost everyone. Koshari is a popular Egyptian dish which consists of a base of rice and pasta with brown lentils, some chickpeas and caramelized onions on the top served with a spicy tomato sauce. It’s a vegetarian dish which was originally the most affordable and filling dish for the poor in Egypt but over time became championed as a specialty of

Egyptian cuisine. Our route to the restaurant took us  past

 Tahrir Square where the flags and banners waving belonged to the impromptu stalls selling revolutionary souvenirs. Traffic ground to halt here, so we set off on foot for the final fifteen minute walk to the Koshari.. Abu Tareq’s eaterie has been around for 60 years.. It’s not the kind you go to for a three course meal as your only option would be whether you want a small or a big portion of the only dish there, the Koshari. But who could want for more? You can choose to have the dish served ready-mixed or in kit form – just like the Pharoah’s solar barge only fresher – ready for you to assemble. Tasty and cheap, the devouring of the Koshari produced a rare moment for the IME team – a few precious minutes of satisfied silence.

Indonesian migrant worker endured years of abuse

 

 Indonesian domestic helper Rosnani Matsuni says her employers abroad ignored her basic human rights.

Indonesian domestic helper Rosnani Matsuni holds traumatic memories from her years working abroad, claiming she was beaten, threatened with her life and "treated like an animal" by her employers. Having worked for most of the past decade in and around Saudi Arabia, she identifies with the case of fellow Indonesian migrant worker Ruyati bin Satubi, who was executed there by beheading on June 16 for killing her employer's wife, who she says abused her. Saudi Arabia is suspending the issuance of visas to domestic workers from Indonesia starting Saturday, the latest move in a tit-for-tat game of economics and human rights. The statement came days after the Indonesian government declared it will refuse to allow its citizens to go to Saudi Arabia until human rights conditions there improve. Indonesia issued its moratorium policy, effective August 1, after the Gulf kingdom beheaded Satubi. Read more...

Unrest in Middle East, Africa cast pall over Ramadan for Muslims

 

 This file image, taken October 13, 2007, shows Egyptians praying in Cairo's streets during the holy month of Ramadan.

Muslims around the world on Monday ushered in Ramadan, a month of dawn-to-dusk abstinence from food and drinks. But this year, the unrest in the Middle East and North Africa has cast a pall over what is traditionally a period of comity and goodwill toward men. Several countries in the region have been swept up in protests against longtime rulers since the January revolt that ousted Tunisian strongman Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. In many cases, these demonstrations and movements have been met with brute force that has escalated into seemingly unending violence. Most anti-government demonstrations have taken place after prayers, with the masses taking to the streets after meeting at mosques. The month, which brings more Muslims to mosques, has some governments worrying that the gatherings will provide more opportunities for such protests - and demonstrators fearing that security forces will crack down forcefully to prevent them. Read more...

Israel's social media defender

 

Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon speaks before a Knesset committee.

He is a vocal proponent of Israel's foreign policy and his no holds barred approach to diplomacy has bought him many critics, but love him or hate him, it is hard to ignore Israel's Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon.

With an extremely high-profile on the web,  Ayalon, a member of Avigdor Liberman's Yisrael Beiteinu nationalist political party and a former Israeli ambassador to United States , has been recognized by Foreign Policy Magazine as one of the leading politicians around the globe utilizing social media.

Whether spending his time tweeting in 3 different languages, openly voicing personal opinions on his Facebook  wall, making new friends on Google+ or posting videos and publications on his slick website , Ayalon has earned himself thousands of followers around the globe.

Ayalon's most recent and controversial social media venture is a new YouTube video  titled "Israel Palestinian Conflict: The Truth about the West Bank" in which he attempts to poke holes in what he says are some common misconceptions regarding the Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands and vigorously advocates Jewish presence in them. The video has drawn some quarter of a million views and not surprisingly has attracted a mix of comments of condemnation and praise.

Israel to make payment for "Cast Lead" deaths

 

                                                                                                          

This week, Israel's Defense Ministry agreed to make an extraordinary payment – an award of almost $150,000 to a Palestinian family in Gaza. It is the first pay-out to any party claiming harm during the course of Operation Cast Lead – Israel's three-week offensive in Gaza that began at the end of 2008, according to the Ministry and human rights organizations The settlement was negotiated by the Gaza-based Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) on behalf of the family of a mother and daughter killed by Israeli soldiers during Cast Lead. The payment is to be made to the family in return for their dropping the claim against the Israeli military. The family of Riyeh and Majda Abu Hajjaj filed their claim against the Israeli military two years ago – with the help of the Israeli human rights group B'Tselem The family claimed that on January 4th, 2009 the mother and daughter were shot and killed by Israeli soldiers as they and other civilians evacuated a house in a Gaza city neighbourhood while carrying white flags. The family said they were not able to retrieve the bodies from the scene until two weeks later because of continued fighting in the area. In a statement to CNN the Israeli Ministry of Defense said the claim was settled out of court "because the Defense Ministry believes that it was exceptional (not reflecting at all on the norm) and justifies the granting of reparation."

Arab Facebook users parody UK riots

 

 Looters pile into a store in London.

“We will liberate London, house (by) house, room (by) room, street (by) street, corner (by) corner, until we liberate London from the bad boys and the rats.” While the bombastic diction may sound familiar, these are not the words of Libyan President Moammar Gadaffi who earlier this year proclaimed he wanted to “cleanse Libya house by house.” Instead, it is a somewhat sarcastic post by a Facebook user who calls himself "Syrian Prince." He is part of a section of the Arab blogosphere satirizing the scenes of looting and mayhem coming out of the UK during this week's riots. Some have tried to compare the violence in London and other UK cities with the discontent that sparked the Arab Spring, a number of parody Facebook pages have quickly sprung up to witheringly dismiss this analogy. “Mr. Bean tell BBC, we are against any form (of) disorder, and I tell the whole world, we are all equal, and will stay with the queen (sic) forever,” reads a post written by the admin of the group on the “Britain is our country, and Elizabeth is our Queen” page. Another poster on the "God, Britain, Freedom, and that is it" site identifying themselves with a picture of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, meanwhile writes: “Damascus viewed with concern the events taking place in London and calls on the British government to avoid violence against peaceful Almtazahrien and meet their legitimate demands and acts of reason and logic in dealing with the sons of the British people, eager for freedom.” The posts seem to mock not only comparisons to the Arab protests but also the response of Arab leaders to the entire affair. Libya’s Prime Minister, al-Baghdadi Ali al-Mahmudi has claimed that the riots showed his UK counterpart David Cameron had “lost legitimacy” while Syria’s ambassador to the UK accused Cameron of “arrogance” and “hypocrisy” for calling UK rioters criminals but not extending the same language to those on the streets of Syria. But while some posts use satire to what they see as political maneuvering, others poke fun at the archaic nature of British society and in particular the Royal Family. “William you are not one of us, take Harry and go away from here,” reads one entry while another states “the people want to topple the Queen.”

Jerusalem's controversial rail project opens

 

 Israelis gather to board a train to enjoy Jerusalem's light rail system's first day of operation (Getty)

 After years of delays, hundreds of millions of dollars in cost overruns and stiff political opposition, Jerusalem's ultra-modern light rail project was finally launched this past Friday in what transportation officials are calling "a dream come true". Originally planned to embark on its debut journey in 2006, Jerusalem's grandiose light rail trains finally opened their doors for thousands of passengers anxious to experience the electric wonder. "This is a new era for the public system", says Nadav Meroz of the Jerusalem Transportation Masterplan, a body established by city officials in an effort to put an end to major traffic backups across the dense city. But with costs that escalated like a runaway train to an astounding price tag of $1.2 billion dollars– almost double the original estimate– not all are certain that this was money well spent. "The train has transformed from a mean's to an end to a goal of its own (one) that justifies all means and crushes everything on its way in order to produce fat profits to its planners", residents of one of the impacted neighbourhoods complained in a letter sent to local newspapers. But transportation officials say otherwise. "This system is going to give service to the people of Jerusalem for decades now. So I believe it is worth it, of course", Meroz tells CNN.

Lebanese culture served on a plate

(CNN) -- Diners at the Tawlet Souk el Tayeb restaurant in Beirut never know quite what to expect. Their food is cooked by someone different every day, usually a woman preparing local specialties of her own village. Tawlet Souk el Tayeb, which has been open for two years, uses only food from the Lebanon's only farmers' market, run by the same organization. The cooks, almost all amateur women from villages all around the country, work on rotation, with new cooks starting all the time. The emphasis on rustic home cooking is a long way from Beirut's reputation for chic nightlife, but reflects the country's obsession with food. Kamal Mouzawak, founder of both the restaurant and farmers' market said: "Food and food culture is very important in Lebanon as an expression of history and tradition." He said nothing defined Lebanese culture more than tabbouleh, the salad of bulgur wheat and parsley. That tradition and obsession is celebrated in an exhibition by graphic artist Maya Zankoul which recently opened in Tawlet Souk el Tayeb. Zankoul, 25, said: "Every occasion or celebration has a particular traditional food attached to it. It's the best part of our culture. "The posters are all different shapes, sizes and colors, just like meze." The pictures include one chronicling the seven steps of a Lebanese lunch, the final step being into bed to sleep off all the food. Another shows typical dishes served at celebrations of various life-stages, from a birth, the appearance of a baby's first tooth to graduation. Zankoul said: "I asked my grandmother and mother about their typical traditions and recipes. "I noticed patterns and table traditions in Lebanese culture and made fun of the names of dishes, because some are really weird." Zankoul had already fallen in love with Tawlet Souk el Tayeb before Mouzawak asked her to create pictures for the exhibition. She said: "A lot of restaurants in Lebanon are similar and copy each other. It's good that this is something different, but still typically Lebanese. It's doing its own thing. "I love drawing and I love food, so to combine them is perfect. Most of my work is more political or personal, it's the first time I've done anything like this." For Mouzawak, 42, a former food and travel writer, cuisine -- and farmers' markets in particular -- are a way to get to a nation's heart. "If you want to get to know a country, the best thing to do is visit a farmers' market," he said. However, it was as a rural development project, rather than as a celebration of food, that he started Souk el Tayeb in 2004. He said: "It was to support producers and farmers, and to find common ground of land and production between people with political differences after the civil war. "It started as a weekly farmers' market and evolved into many different projects, from education in schools to exchange programs around the world. "In 2007 we added regional food festivals. Each year we have five to seven local festivals in different villages celebrating local specialties." Around a third of the roughly 100 producers at the farmers' market are certified organic and many others are part way through the process of converting to organic. This is significant in a country where organic food is still a niche interest. The condition is that those selling on the market must have grown or prepared the food themselves. "The income goes straight to the producer, not to the middle man, and the consumer has direct contact with the producer," said Mouzawak. "This is important for the consumer to understand where their food has come from and for the producers to get feedback." Lebanon's 2006 war with Israel had a serious impact on its farmers, according to the Association for Lebanese Organic Agriculture, which said that most organic farms were concentrated in the south of the country, which was most heavily affected. Mouzawak said: "We carried on through the 2006 war. We moved out of Beirut and went to a mountain resort. It was our positive resistance by carrying on what we were doing."

Young start-ups shaping Egypt's future

Cairo's notorious traffic inspired Bey2ollak application that helps users share real-time information about road conditions.

(CNN) -- Their country may be struggling to emerge from chaos, but a new generation of young Egyptian entrepreneurs are already forging a high-tech future. Six months into the revolution and with elections due in the Fall, Egypt is working to rebuild its ailing economy. Unemployment rose from just under 9% to almost 12% in the first quarter of this year and GDP fell by 4%, according to Trading Economics -- and tourism has dropped dramatically. Despite the tough conditions, many young entrepreneurs are taking advantage of the new-found optimism to start businesses and help build their country's economic future. The U.S. State Department and the Danish government recently sent a delegation that included the Young Entrepreneur Council to Egypt to mentor a group of Egyptian start-ups. During the NexGen IT Entrepreneurs Boot Camp they ran, four winning Egyptian start-ups were chosen to take an internship at an American company or a further three-month boot camp in Denmark. Mike Ducker, of the U.S. State Department's Global Entrepreneurship Program said in a press release: "Building a successful entrepreneurial community is critical for pointing the way towards building a strong economy in Egypt. "The Middle East is striving to become the next global center of entrepreneurship, and Egypt is a central focal point of small business activity in the region." Here, we profile the four winning young Egyptian high-tech entrepreneurs who are hoping to be the country's business leaders of the future.

 

Weaving a way through Cairo's traffic Cairo's notorious traffic inspired Mostafa Elbeltagy and four friends, all aged between 23 and 30, to start Bey2ollak, a smartphone application and website to report road conditions. "Anyone who lives in Cairo dreads the traffic," said Elbeltagy, 25. "We have some of the worst traffic conditions of any city and it's so unpredictable. "We don't have CCTV or helicopters reporting on traffic conditions, so people tend to call each other." Elbeltagy said Bey2ollak wanted to take the information that people usually pass on informally to a wider audience. Their application, which launched last October, allows drivers to see other people's traffic reports for a certain road before leaving the house. The smartphone application already has 50,000 registered users, and others use the website without registering. Elbeltagy said all the team was involved in protests in Tahrir Square and bring the country's optimism to their business. "Our vision is to go global, and if we are going to do this we will be creating more jobs and helping out the economy," he said. "We are proud of what we did in the revolution. It was a spark of hope that we can do better and build a better country. It means a lot to be starting a business at this optimistic time, although we know there are difficult times ahead."

 

 Parenting advice without the old wives' tales When Yasmine El-Mehairy's sister-in-law was pregnant, she was bombarded with conflicting advice from every direction, but much of it was old wives' tales, she said. "Your mother tells you one thing, your mother-in-law tells you something else, but there's difficult to get good expert advice," said El-Mehairy, 30. So she and colleague Zeinab Samir had the idea for Supermama.me, an Arabic parenting website that already has 10 employees ahead of its launch in September. The site has ambitious plans to be the number one Middle Eastern website for women by 2015, with its expert advice and articles on pregnancy, parenting, women's health, career options and budgeting. El-Mehairy said: "We have a vision that we want to establish now because when things are more stable and the political systems are in place, people will start looking for jobs and we will be able to provide a work environment where women can work from home. "Everybody has a real belief in the country at the moment."

 

 Emergency help for travelers Marwan Roushdy is still half way through his degree in construction management but is already a serial entrepreneur. He came up with the idea of for Inkezny, or "rescue me" in Arabic, on a whim during an event called Startup Weekend -- where entrepreneurs pitch business ideas and can hire staff on the spot -- and won first prize. He honed the idea during the NexGen IT Boot Camp and again became one the winners. "The emergency system in Egypt is really bad and you often get put on hold," said Roushdy, 20. "I thought of an application to bypass the system and get in touch with hospitals directly. "The idea developed further into something for travelers worldwide to help them find emergency numbers in whatever country they are in." Roushdy, who describes entrepreneurship as his hobby, said: "I love starting businesses." He hopes elections planned for the fall will bring much-needed stability for new businesses.

 

Crowdsourcing the final days of Mubarak Egypt's revolution directly inspired Ahmed Ellaithy and his four business partners to create an online platform telling the story of the final days of president Hosni Mubarak through the eyes of those who lived through it. They are encouraging people to upload videos, blogs, photos, tweets and commentary to create a picture of ordinary life at an extraordinary time for their 18daysinEgypt project. The long-term plan for the part-Egyptian, part-American team is to create a platform to aggregate blogs, videos, photos and videos of any major news event. "We see immense potential in transforming crowdsourcing and citizen journalism," said Ellaithy. Ellaithy, who was born days before Mubarak came to power in 1981 and moved back to Egypt last year after a period in Dubai, said a new entrepreneurial spirit was emerging in the country. "I feel lucky to be in Egypt at this time and if I was still living abroad I would want to come back," he said. "It's a great time for new ideas, there's more of a can-do attitude in everyone."

Beirut's girl geeks aim to close tech gender gap

 

 Teenagers taking part in Girl Geek Camp Lebanon July 8-14, 2011

 (CNN) -- Karine Ramadan is a self-confessed teen geek who often spends five hours a day on the internet. She would love to work in technology when she is older, but will have to fight against a stark "gender gap" among Lebanon's high-tech community, according to activists. Karine, 16, was the ideal candidate for Girl Geek Camp, currently running for the first time for 16 teenagers in the mountains of Lebanon. The girls learn about social networking, internet security, basic programming, blogging, photography, gaming, mobile technology, video editing, careers in technology, entrepreneurship and much more. Nadine Moawad, an activist for women's rights and technology who is running the camp, said: "I want to close the gender gap in technology which is very pronounced in Lebanon. Girls are not encouraged to pursue math or engineering, if you meet someone in IT support or an entrepreneur you expect them to be a man. "We are trying to break these myths and give girls the option to do technology at college or in their careers." Statistics on opportunities for women in technology in Lebanon are hard to come by, but a 2010 study of Facebook membership carried out by Spot On Public Relations and reported in Online Marketing Trends showed women were more active in Lebanon than other countries of Middle East and North Africa, but behind Europe and the United States. It found 44% of Lebanon's 930,000 Facebook members were women, compared with 37% across the Middle East and North Africa, and 56% in the United States. Moawad is part of a women's collective called Nasawiya which runs programs in various fields from politics to writing. It has an ongoing program called Take Back the Tech aimed mainly at women in their 20s. Girl Geek Camp is an attempt to bring these ideas to a younger generation of 15 to 19-year-olds. Moawad said: "We realized teenaged girls are using the internet and need to enhance their skills and understanding of social media and technology. "I've been surprised by the girls' ability to take in so much information so quickly. They are digital natives." Moawad, 29, found her own interest in technology almost by accident, when she exaggerated her technical knowledge to get a part-time job building websites while at university. She said: "When I was growing up the internet had just come to Lebanon. I got my first connection when I was 17. I needed a job at university so I lied to get a job and then had to teach myself html overnight." Girls attending the week-long residential camp were asked to pay as much or little as they could afford, with fundraising among Nasawiya to make up the short fall. One of the challenges was persuading was girls' parents to allow them to take part, as many were worried about letting their daughters away for a week. "We had meetings so the families could get to know us and understand the project," said Moawad. "But still a lot of parents didn't allow their girls to come." That wasn't a problem for Karine, who learned about the camp from an advertisement on Facebook. She said: "My family knows I'm a geek so they were really keen for me to come. My friends all thought it sounded really cool too. "I've most enjoyed learning about hacking and programming. We all have good skills, so I can't imagine it will be too hard for us to have careers in technology."

Tahrir Square musicians keep revolutionary spirit alive

London, England (CNN) -- The moment Egyptian musician Zakaria Ibrahim remembers best from the revolution is singing with his band El Tanbura as they snaked their way through the million-strong crowd in Tahrir Square on the way to the stage. "It was a very special moment," he said. "We went through the crowd but we started to sing on our way to the stage and this was something special -- not from the stage, not with (a) soundsystem -- it was just acoustic." The renowned collective of master musicians whose traditional folk is infused with politics had been invited to play at Tahrir, Cairo's nexus of protest. It was early February, just days before former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak stepped down, and Tahrir Square was thronging with Egyptians clamoring for change. Egypt's revolution at six months: 'We can't go back' And fueling this huge revolutionary party were musicians, who had traveled from cities across Egypt, performing rebel songs for the crowds. Protesters could listen to soapboxes from activists about the politics of the country, but it was music that kept their spirits up and steeled their resolve, according to Ibrahim. "(Music) can encourage people to continue to be in the square and recharge their desire and their mind and their spirit. ... especially if the music goes with the reasons which push those people to be in Tahrir Square -- revolutionary songs, patriotic songs," he said. Songs like "In Old Port Said," which El Tanbura, from Port Said in the south of Egypt, played for the crowd that night. Play El Tanbura "Port Said is very well known in Egypt as the city of resistance," said Ibrahim, 59. In 1956, France, the United Kingdom and Israel attacked Egypt following President Gamal Abdel Nasser's decision to nationalize the Suez Canal. "There is a big repertoire from this time," Ibrahim added. Many of these songs were revisited during the 19 days of the revolution, with old words gaining a new resonance. Six months on from the start of the revolution on January 25, El Tanbura was at London's Barbican to perform with other musicians who played in Tahrir Square. They include 24-year-old singer Ramy Essam. Essam came to be regarded as the singer of the revolution for his song "Irhal" or "Leave," scribbled down in a few minutes in his tent using protesters' slogans as the lyrics. Watch Essam singing "Irhal" in Tahrir Square "At first I thought only the younger generation would interact with my songs but it turned out everyone related to them," said Essam. "The songs were mocking the system and giving people a reason to laugh and get through time at Tahrir Square." Play Ramy Essam Like many, the previously unknown singer from El Mansour lived in the square: "We used to stay there for days and my family and friends encouraged me to bring my guitar," he said. He describes the outpouring of creativity there as a way for people to express how they were feeling. "Art ... came out of the ordinary people of Tahrir," Essam said. "Because people had strong artistic energy and honest feelings that they wanted to put out, to express their different feelings, whether it was fatigue, anger, or even happiness." Mohamed Ghorab, founder of Egyptian label Hybrid Records, says lots of new musicians have been inspired by the revolution, particularly in hip hop and rock, and while there's always been an underground scene in Egypt, people are paying more attention to it now. "People are just going to the square with their guitar and playing -- it's very, very hippie in Tahrir Square right now. "This is the spirit of the revolution: Bringing the good out of everyone and the musicians who thought, 'Since life is going to change, now I'll try to work more on my music; I'll go to Tahrir Square and play; I'll record something and put it up on YouTube. "You have a lot of trash but there is some really good stuff in there," he added. Unfortunately, the peace and love ethic doesn't always reign at Tahrir: Essam was one of 220 people arrested on March 9 by the military council and beaten. "We were tortured for four hours. I was tortured more because they knew my name and knew what I do," he said. But despite the incompleteness of the revolution politically and the continuing dangers, Essam said Egyptians like him have experienced a seismic psychological shift: "The biggest change is in the people. They can say 'No' now." Egypt after Mubarak: A checklist "There's a lot of hope," agreed Ghorab. "Society is going through a lot of changes right now." But while the revolution has stimulated a new wave of Egyptian musicians, it will be a long time before there is a system that can sustain them. "There isn't a music platform that (artists) can make money out of," said Ghorab. "People here just don't pay for music. "The live music scene here in Cairo is still very tiny. You don't have many venues," Ghorab added.

Thousands forcibly 'disappeared' by Syrian regime, says action group

 

 Protesters outside the Syrian embassy in Cairo call for the release of the country's "disappeared."

(CNN) -- A 14-year-old male student last seen two months ago being beaten and dragged into a white van by Syrian security forces; a 13-year-old boy arrested with his friends and bleeding badly from his ears, nose and mouth when they last saw him; a mother who says her two youngest sons were arrested but the security forces claim no knowledge. These are just a few examples of Syria's "disappeared," provided by global campaign group Avaaz, which claims that nearly 3,000 Syrians have been arrested by the government's security forces since the start of the uprising on March 15, whose whereabouts remain unknown. "We have 2,918 names and each of them has a different story," said Wissam Tarif, a human rights activist working for Avaaz, who coordinated the organization's research in Syria. The group launched a campaign Thursday to draw international attention to the enforced disappearances. It includes a wall of profiles on Avaaz.org of missing people. "Some were kidnapped during protests; some from their schools or universities; some wrote something; some were detained by security forces in raids on their homes. "They were all involved in the pro-democracy movement in some way: Some went to protests; some wrote something they shouldn't on their Facebook page; some said something to a colleague and were reported," said Tarif. One mother's three sons, aged 27, 22 and 14 were all taken, says Tarif recounting one case. The oldest was released after 10 days, but when she asked about her two other sons, the security forces claimed they had not taken them. "They are doing this because the oldest brother, who had been active in protests, is now too scared to go to protests. He thinks that if his younger brothers are still alive, (the security services) will kill them. "Forced disappearances are so scary because the community lives in total fear. Families don't know if their children are alive or dead; if they are being tortured. It's the unknown that's so hard," said Tarif. Website profiles will include the person's name, age, job, where they lived and details of their disappearance -- a calculated risk, says Avaaz, taken in conjunction with victims' families, who cite safety in numbers. Because of the implications for their families, Avaaz says it will not give names in any individual cases it highlights in the media Avaaz says that researchers spoke to the families of every one of the 2,918 missing people profiled. The organization allows the family to guide it on how much information they release about their identity. "We have a strong team of international lawyers and people with deep experience in Syria that have worked closely with two leading Syrian human rights organizations ... to verify each and every one of these cases," said Avaaz Executive Director, Ricken Patel. He says that Avaaz will remain in continuous contact with its networks in Syria to keep the website profiles updated with those released and new disappearances. Patel claims that Avaaz, which he says supports over 60 citizen journalists in Syria, is the only organization currently doing this kind of research there. "Part of the problem in Syria right now is that the government isn't allowing in any international journalists, any foreign human rights organizations ... so we are having to rely on Syrians themselves and the families of these people to tell us what is happening." Nadim Houry, Senior Researcher for Syria for Human Rights Watch said Syria's government has a history of detaining people and holding them incommunicado. "There are already an estimated 17,000 people who disappeared in the events around Hama in 1982," he said. Under the orders of current president Bashir al-Assad's father, Hafez Al-Assad, the Syrian army brutally crushed an uprising by Sunni Muslims in Hama. Tens of thousands of people were killed, with estimates ranging between 10,000 and 40,000. "What's important is that the Syrians need to realize this is not the 1980s anymore and that you cannot disappear people and get away with it," said Houry. "Today the information will be documented and those committing these crimes will have to be held accountable." In June, human rights group Human Rights Watch released a report detailing government abuses against its citizens that could possibly qualify as crimes against humanity. Later that month, a delegation of human rights organizations and their lawyers met with prosecutors at the International Criminal Court in the Netherlands. They alleged that government forces have killed more than 1,168 people and injured 3,000 more since March. Avaaz is calling on its 10 million members worldwide to call on key governments with influence in Syria -- South Africa, India, Brazil, Kuwait and Qatar -- to send human rights delegations to pressure the Syrian government to release the disappeared. "We're breaking the silence in the international community on this issue," said Patel. "The international community has yet to bring the kind of pressure on Syria that can stop these kinds of atrocities." Find Avaaz's petition here: avaaz.org/syrias_disappeared

The feminine face of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood

 

Editor's note: Shahira Amin was deputy head of Egyptian state-run Nile TV -- and one of its senior anchors. After 22 years with the network, angered by its censorship of the Egyptian revolution, she quit on February 3 2011. Cairo, Egypt (CNN) -- When Iman Abdella steps out of a black-and-white Cairo taxi in Haggana, residents of the impoverished quarter rush to greet her with jubilant cries and trilling zaghareet. "Alf marhaba (welcome a thousand times)," cries Soad Bekheit, a shabbily dressed mother of four, opening her arms to embrace the familiar visitor. "It's as if the Prophet himself has visited us today." For the families in this desolate ghetto, one of Cairo's poorest, a visit from this chubby woman in a traditional Islamic head scarf means they will not have to go to sleep on an empty stomach -- at least, not tonight. Abdella is on one of her charity missions -- part of her work as a devoted member of the Muslim Sisterhood, the female division of the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's oldest and largest opposition group. She visits Haggana at least twice a month to distribute relief bags among the needy families: "I have been doing charity work ever since I joined the group 17 years ago as a student at Al Azhar University," she says. Each bag contains a frozen chicken, a kilo of sugar, a bag of rice, flour and a pack of lentils.

"It's not much," she says. "But I hope to be back with more before Ramadan." The Muslim fasting month -- just round the corner -- is traditionally a time of "zakat" or alms-giving. "People in this neighborhood need basic necessities," Abdella says. "Residents in slum areas like Haggana have long been forgotten ... that is why we had a revolution. "The mass uprising in January was about social justice and giving people

back their dignity." For years, the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood movement has won over Egypt's poor and working classes with charity work -- stepping in to provide many of the services that the former government did not provide, like subsidized healthcare. And the women of the Sisterhood (the name for female members of the Brotherhood) have traditionally been more involved in welfare activities than their male counterparts. These range from small-scale social work like organizing the collection and distribution of alms to building mosques and schools. The Islamists have also established numerous benevolent institutions such as hospitals, pharmacies and clinics targeting Egypt's downtrodden and forgotten. The Sisterhood's charity work has, for years continued to attract new recruits from across the country -- particularly vulnerable unemployed youths -- allowing the movement to steadily gain strength despite long years of suppression under former President Hosni Mubarak's regime. "We look for assertiveness and leadership skills in our new members," says Abdella. New recruits commonly hail from university campuses, mosques and trade unions. Originally founded in 1928 as an Islamic charitable social movement, the Muslim Brotherhood or "Ikhwan" became politicized some years later. The organization sought to rid Egypt of British rule after World War I and rejected Western influence. The group, which has strong links to Hamas in Gaza and offshoots in many Muslim countries, has worked largely through peaceful methods to attain the long-desired goal of creating a state ruled by Islamic law or Sharia. More radical members of the Ikhwan, who often take their lead from Sayed Kotb, a leading member of the Brotherhood in the 1950s have in the past advocated jihad against what Kotb described as "ignorant societies in need of transformation." Despite renouncing violence in the 1970s, the movement was banned from politics under Mubarak. Its members could only run in previous parliamentary elections as independent candidates, and is the only opposition that did well. In recent years -- and increasingly so since the January mass uprisings -- the Ikhwan have tried to shake off their past fundamentalist image and sell themselves as moderates and reformists. But some Egyptians aren't buying it. "The Muslim Brotherhood are not to be trusted. They are just after a power grab," says Ramadan Ismail, a mechanic in the working-class district of Imbaba. That is a view that is shared by laymen and analysts alike in Egypt -- and this is not a surprise after the massive show of support by the Brotherhood for radical Brotherhood ideologue Sheikh Qaradawi when he addressed tens of thousands of opposition activists in Tahrir Square during the February uprisings. Qaradawi has a long record of inciting violence against Jews and Israel. During a sermon aired on the Arabic satellite channel Al-Jazeera in January 2009, Qaradawi told his audience, "I will shoot Allah's enemies, the Jews, and they will throw a bomb at me, and thus I will seal my life with martyrdom." Meanwhile the Brotherhood continues to attract new recruits with its slogan: "Islam is the solution" -- among other incentives. Women who attend the Brotherhood's Quran recitation and interpretation classes receive between 40 and 100 Egyptian pounds ($7 - $17) a month. The money, according to Abdella, comes from "an Islamic Association outside the country," but wouldn't say which one. There have been unconfirmed reports of Gulf non-profit organizations pouring enormous amounts of cash into spreading Wahhabi influence in Egypt and other Arab countries. Wahabbism or Salafism is an ultra-conservative form of Islam that is the dominant faith in Saudi Arabia. It has been linked to extremism. It's a long-standing source of concern for secular Egyptians. Emad Gad, a researcher at Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies says: "Egypt has been Saudised for decades. This revolution was about claiming Egypt back from the grip of the Wahhabists." It may, in the end, be the Sisterhood who provide the change of image the organization is looking for. After rubbing shoulders with their male counterparts in the January revolution, women of the Sisterhood are venturing into political activism -- an area previously considered off-limits in the male-dominated political arena. At the recent launch of the Muslim Brotherhood's newly formed Islamist Justice and Freedom Party, female members of the movement joined their male counterparts in celebration -- although they were seated at separate tables. "This is a new dawn," says female party member Manal Ismail. "We have been waiting so long for this day. Today we are celebrating the end of tyranny and our new-found freedom." Ismail ran as an independent candidate in the November 2010 election, as part of a quota system introduced under the former regime that reserved 64 of the lower parliament's 454 seats for women. She claims to have won more votes than any other female candidate in 2010 and says she is hoping to repeat her success in the next parliamentary election, slated for November. Yet, the female activists of the Brotherhood insist that implementing Sharia is the only way of guaranteeing that women's rights are respected. "Justice, freedom and equality for all are the principles advocated by Sharia," Ismail says. But she says she would like to see what she calls a "moderate interpretation." "There is no room for old penalty laws in our modern societies," she says. "Laws ruling that women who commit adultery must be stoned or that those who steal must lose their hands cannot be enforced in this day and age." Everything must evolve with time ... that is the movement's motto," Ismail says, flashing a bright smile. "Those who don't reform get left behind." While Egyptians welcome the transformation the women of the Muslim Sisterhood have undergone in recent months, positioning themselves as moderate reformists, there are still the skeptics. They wonder if the changes are genuine and will last. To what extent the sisters of the Muslim Brotherhood will practice what they preach remains to be seen.

Arabian oryx back from brink of extinction

 

Dubai (CNN) -- Forty years ago the Arabian oryx was extinct in the wild. Today this large antelope, native to the Arabian peninsula, is back from the brink with 1,000 animals across five Middle Eastern countries, thanks to a breeding program and series of re-introductions. It is an unprecedented conservation success story, according to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), which recently re-classified the Arabian oryx from "endangered" to "vulnerable." The organization said it was the first time that a species which was once "extinct in the wild" has improved in status by three full categories out of six on its Red List. The conservation organization said it is believed that the last remaining wild individual was shot in Oman in 1972. Thabet Zahran Al Abdessallam, of the Environment Agency, Abu Dhabi, said: "Hunting was the principal reason, but of course the loss of habitat due to the development and population increases (is) another reason. Now after the re-introduction into the wild, poaching is a threat." Operation Oryx, which included the World Wildlife Fund and Phoenix Zoo, in the United States, was set up in 1962 to establish a herd in captivity -- comprising the last remaining animals and those in royal collections -- to prepare to reintroduce them into the wild. The first re-introduction of 10 animals was in Oman in 1982, and it was subsequently extended to Saudi Arabia, Israel, the United Arab Emirates and, most recently, Jordan. Re-introductions in Kuwait, Iraq and Syria have also been proposed, according to the IUCN. The animals were introduced to the United Arab Emirates 10 years ago, and the Al Maha Desert Resort, established in 2004, now has at least 450 oryx. Al Abdessallam said: "We have formed an Oryx Conservation Group covering the original countries, and we are cooperating. "United Arab Emirates is in the forefront. We have been responsible in the past few years (for) re-introducing them to Jordan, we have also a bilateral agreement with Syria. "We re-introduced 20 oryx in Jordan the intention is to re-introduce 100, and we also just recently sent 100 oryx to Oman." Al-Maha Resort in Dubai has been created to give an ideal habitat for the oryx, with 6,500 trees planted and man-made water holes -- although staff do not interfere in the animals' breeding, birth or death. The majestic creatures were once abundant in the Arabian Peninsula and were often the subject of classical Arabic poetry. The Bedouins coveted them for their meat and skins. Al Abdessallam said: "The Arabian Oryx is a traditional symbol of this region of the Bedouins. It was, at one point, an animal that used to exist in big numbers in the wild, and the Bedouins were primarily hunting it for food and their skin. "They were hunting them traditionally but with the new technology of guns and cars and sophisticated equipment. They were quickly wiped out." Riaan Tolmay, senior field guide at Al-Maha Resort, said it took a "very, very long time" for the animals to pass out of danger of extinction. "If you take these oryx, we started already in 1960s and in 2011 these animals are still endangered," he said. The Arabian oryx is uniquely adapted to living in harsh desert conditions, with wide hooves helping it walk across shifting sand, an ability to smell water from miles away, and living in small herds to reduce stress on individuals, according to the IUCN. Its two horns can appear as one when viewed in profile, leading many to believe it is the source of the unicorn legend. Tolmay said the black markings on their faces work like sunglasses in protecting their eyes from the bright desert sunlight.

Gas-guzzling Gulf cities bid to go greener

 

Abu Dhabi, UAE (CNN) -- With the world's highest per capita ecological footprint, the United Arab Emirates is not an obvious green hub. It is the world's eighth largest oil producer, according to the CIA World Factbook, and came top of the WWF's 2010 Living Planet report on per capita ecological footprint -- mainly due to its high carbon emissions from burning fossil fuels. However, the country has been chosen to host the new International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), a fact that environmentalists hope may be just what is needed to turn around attitudes to the environment. The agency will be based in the new low-carbon development, Masdar City in Abu Dhabi. Adnan Amin, director general of IRENA, said: "This is really actually becoming quite a hub for discussion of renewable energy." He added: "Although it's an oil economy they make more money exporting oil than they do subsidizing it and selling it locally. "Local consumption is increasing quite a lot so it makes economic sense for them to start looking at alternatives and they've invested very ambitiously in renewable energy projects." Areeba Hanif, a Dubai-based filmmaker, who recently made a documentary about environmental awareness, said: "I realized that our ecological footprint was the largest in the world. That put me in a very disturbed state of mind. "I also discovered that it was partly due to our petrol consumption and, suddenly, also due to the vast amount of developments that were taking place." The country is also catching up with other parts of the world through the Middle East's first scheme to recycle cooking oil into biodiesel. When Karl Feilder, chairman of Neutral Fuels, moved to the United Arab Emirates he decided to try and bring in the practice which has been increasingly used in Europe in recent years. He said: "When I moved to the UAE I saw there was no biodiesel in the market at all, and yet there was a lot of waste cooking oil. "So I thought it's a great opportunity to really show some leadership in the marketplace. I approached McDonald's and asked them if they would work with us on the first biodiesel factory anywhere in the Middle East." McDonald's agreed to provide all its cooking oil to be converted into biodiesel for all of its vehicles. "The elegance of the closed loop system is that it's full recycling," said Feilder. "We're taking a 100% of the cooking oil from 100% of the restaurants to provide 100% biodiesel to 100% of the trucks. "The idea of being the first biodiesel producer in an oil-producing country was something I just set myself as a challenge. "I became obsessed with the idea, I worked and pummeled everyone I could meet, I pushed government hard, I lobbied, I got everybody on board so I could make this a reality." Amin said sustainability was moving up the agenda, not only in the United Arab Emirates, but in many Middle Eastern countries. "The recognition of the importance of sustainability is growing tremendously," he said. "Throughout the region people have started to talk about sustainability not as an abstract green concept, but as something that makes sense for the way they organize their societies. "When you live in an environment like this which can be quite inhospitable you have to marshal your resources," he added. Despite all the green initiatives, there is still some way to go to in changing public perception of environmental issues. Few young people approached by CNN had heard of IRENA or put green issues high on their agenda. Hanif said: "UAE is a young country and it has a very educated community, but there's a difference between education and awareness. "There's no environmental commitment, and I would say one of the major reasons is that this is a transition society. "When [people] come to this part of the world -- we do not have stringent laws -- yet so then they get relaxed then you find four-wheel drives starting coming and irresponsible use of water and electricity and the wasteful habits."

Cedar forests lead Lebanon eco-tourism boom

 

Shouf, Lebanon (CNN) -- Lebanon's 2,000 hectares of cedar forest are a peaceful oasis for hikers, mountain bikers and bird-watchers, a world away from the hustle and bustle of Beirut. In the Shouf Cedar Reserve, the country's largest natural forest, villagers make a living selling home-made jam, honey, pickled olives and wine to tourists. The area was declared was declared a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in 2005. While sustainable tourism is booming, the ancient forests are under threat from climate change. Nizar Hani, manager of Shouf Cedar Reserve, said: "Right now we have a new challenge for the cedar forest in Lebanon, which is the climate change. "The expected threat to the cedar forest is (that) the natural regeneration will be affected, because the cedar seeds need to be under snow for two months minimum." Hani said it also affected the insects of the forest. "Right now the impact of climate change is under control. Our role, and the role of the scientists in the universities in Lebanon, is to monitor the impact of climate change on cedar forests. "We hope in the next year we'll have more snow and more rain to minimize that impact," he said. The reserve is trying to raise awareness of biodiversity among its visitors and the local community, including schools and decision makers. Hani said: "The eco-tourism is to raise the awareness of the visitors, always we talk to them about the importance of the protected areas, the importance of the cedar forest, the importance of biodiversity. "We believe if you know something very well, you can protect it. If you don't know, you can't protect it." The reserve had 40,000 visitors last year, 65% of them Lebanese and 35% foreigners. This year it is expecting to reach 50,000 visitors. "Now we have the capacities to receive all those people, before we didn't have the capacities," said Hani. "Now we have the infrastructure, we have the professional guides, we have the professional team to receive all the people, with a minimum impact on nature and on biodiversity." Villagers in the forest benefit from a sustainable tourism program to sell 42 different home-made products, from honey to walnut jam, herbs and olive oil, to tourists. Hani said: "About 40 women benefit from this program. We increase their income and they work on a seasonal basis to prepare all the products. "In addition to the women, we have the bee keepers. They can put their bees in the reserve and at the end of the season promote their honey here." The villagers also offer a unique vacation experience, renting out rooms to tourists and cooking traditional meals for their guests. During Lebanon's civil war 15 years ago, militia leader Walid Jumblatt dug ditches around the forest and planted landmines to protect it from loggers and rival militias. Hani said: "He planted landmines in those ditches to protect this forest. "We're lucky, really, it was a very difficult way, it was maybe a strange way, but it was very difficult during the civil war, it was a mess." After all, cedar trees have a fond place in Lebanese history as well as in the center of the country's flag. Their soft, light wood was highly prized in the ancient world and they featured in the "Epic of Gilgamesh" poem written nearly 3,000 years ago, as well as the Bible.

Egyptian bloggers try to make sense of UK riots

 

  A screen grab of Egyptian blogger Zeinobia's twitter account from Monday nigh                                                        

London (CNN) -- Fresh from their own revolution, Egyptian bloggers tried to make sense of the scenes of looting and burning buildings coming out of the United Kingdom Monday. Violence initially sparked by the shooting death of a 29-year-old man in London spread to other parts of the nation Monday night, with dramatic scenes of blazing buildings and confrontations between police and hooded youths. The news of London's riots -- along with the ongoing violence in Syria -- has captivated many Egyptians, with some saying that the revolution is spreading to the United Kingdom, according one CNN stringer in Cairo. It is just over six months since former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak stepped down following 18 days of protests by hundreds of thousands of Egyptians gathered in Tahrir Square in Cairo. Egyptian bloggers watched the action on Al Jazeera and CNN Monday evening, tweeting their thoughts and analyses of the situation in London. Egyptian blogger Zeinobia, watching CNN live Monday tweeted of correspondent Dan Rivers' report Video from the south London neighborhood of Peckham that: "The CNN reporter in London is acting as if he is in a war zone." Moments later, Rivers ran down the road to avoid bottles that were being thrown at him and Zeinobia tweeted "Oh God they are attacking the CNN crew in London and it was a live action." Then Zeinobia, who participated in the February 2011 revolution in Egypt, went on to share her confusion about the methods employed by the rioters: "To be honest I do not understand why protesters would set shops and houses on fire by all measures." Mosa'ab Elshamy, another blogger from Cairo who took part in the revolution, condemned the widespread looting, writing: "Egyptians and Tunisians took revenge for Khaled Said and Bouazizi by peacefully toppling their murdering regimes, not stealing DVD players." Noor Noor, an Egyptian activist and son of presidential candidate Ayman Noor reflected on events Tuesday, saying: "Politically speaking, marginalized people and injustice is everywhere and when it happens in more developed countries like England, people are more likely to react more violently to injustice. He added: "I hear people flirting with the word revolution in London but this is premature. The January 25 revolution started with certain demands that later resulted into controlled aggression. London started with aggression. "In Egypt, corruption and oppression was part of the polluted air we breathed. In England its not necessarily the norm, so injustice may hurt even more." While Sarah Abdel Rahman, an Egyptian student and activist who participated in the revolution from the start, added: "Violence is not justified but there must (be a cause) behind all this destruction. "The government should analyze it because if the kids felt like they owned their neighborhoods or related to to them, they would not have destroyed them." Tuesday, as London started to clean up the mess left by Monday's riots, many Egyptians on Twitter likened it to efforts made by them to clear up Tahrir Square after the revolution. Amr Tarek Gayed, a student at university in Cairo likens the London cleanup to the cleanup of Tahrir Square post-revolution: "While Cleaning the Streets of #London ... Exactly as we cleaned the streets of #Tahrir Square ... British or Egyptian we are all the same :D" Blogger The Big Pharaoh wrote: "#Tahrir spirit in #London. Brits in #cleanlondon, marching with brushes exactly like what we did. http://yfrog.com/kj5oewj"

Syria regime blunders toward self-destruction

 

Editor's note: Christopher Phillips is Syria analyst in the Economist Intelligence Unit's Middle East team. He holds a PhD in International Relations from the London School of Economics specializing in identity politics in Syria and Jordan and has lived for several years in Syria. His first book, "Contemporary Arab Identity: The daily reproduction of the Arab World," will be published by Routledge in early 2012. This has limited Western calls for the kind of urgent intervention seen in Libya, itself becoming a quagmire that few wished to replicate in Syria, and was grudgingly accepted by Syria's neighbors, who feared sectarian instability were Assad to fall. Assad, however, miscalculated and his heavy assault on the rebellious cities of Hama and Deir Ezzor at the beginning of Ramadan has proven too much to bear. (CNN) -- The harsh criticism leveled at the Syrian regime by Saudi Arabia and Turkey last week could prove a turning point in the popular uprising against President Bashar al-Assad. Until now Western sanctions have been ineffective in preventing Assad's violent crackdown on protestors in the last six months. However, the influence of neighboring Turkey and Saudi Arabia is greater than the West, and opens the possibility of damaging diplomatic, economic and even military action. Yet Assad's increasing international and regional isolation was far from inevitable, and is one of a growing list of miscalculations by his regime that is bringing about its own destruction. For months Syria's security forces, under the command of Assad's relentless brother, Maher has cracked down with relative impunity while the Arab states and Turkey have said little or remained silent. Assad's strategy appeared to be to suppress demonstrations while cynically keeping casualties to a "manageable" level, rarely crossing 100 deaths on the worst days. Such miscalculations have characterized Assad's response to a crisis that looks increasingly likely to end his decade-long rule over Syria. It need not have been. When the Arab Spring began in Tunisia, Syria appeared well placed to avoid unrest. Yet ever since demonstrations eventually broke out Assad has shown poor judgment and a lack of political skill, perhaps becoming someone who inherited power. One by one he and his regime have undone nearly all of their initial advantages. Arguably the regime's greatest asset when unrest first broke out was Assad's personal popularity. Despite the security apparatus, the ruling Baath party and corrupt regime cronies being widely disliked, many Syrians placed their faith in Assad as a modernizing reformer. Yet his response to the unrest has shattered this carefully constructed image. He rambled in speeches about external conspiracies rather than delivering real change, and the few reforms he belatedly offered have been undermined by continuing regime violence. Although some core supporters still hope he will deliver, most accept that in reality he is either too weak, being overawed by hardliners such as Maher, or is himself actually as ruthless a dictator as his father, Hafez. A second factor in the regime's favor was the weakness of its opponents. Syria's opposition had been systematically crushed or forced into exile during 40 years of Baathist rule. The first protestors wanted reform rather than regime change. Yet the regime swelled opposition ranks by repeatedly overreacting with brutal force. From the arrest and alleged torture of 15 Deraa teenagers for writing anti-regime graffiti in March to the 1,600 civilians reportedly killed since then, regime brutality has galvanized the previously passive population against it. Even after unrest broke out in Syria, the regime was offered ample room to maneuver by the international community. Western states have been reluctant to call for Assad's departure. Even after initiating sanctions, EU and U.S. diplomats held off demanding that Assad step down, a move that Barack Obama will reportedly be making in the coming days Russia and China have similarly been staunch supporters, defending Syria from Western condemnation at the U.N.. Yet the regime has shown little willingness to use this time to find a non-military solution to its unrest and has wrongly assumed that such acquiescence will last indefinitely. Yet despite its self-destructive efforts, the Assad regime still retains some advantages that could prolong its survival. The security forces remain loyal and have shown few signs of fracturing. The Sunni merchant class, whose support is crucial, also remains loyal or at least neutral. The major cities of Aleppo and central Damascus, which between them host half of Syria's population, remain relatively quiet. Many ordinary Syrians still give the regime the benefit of the doubt, fearing the possibility of a sectarian civil war. The opposition is growing in size, but lacks leaders that could replace Assad. Furthermore, Syria still retains key diplomatic and economic support from Iran and its key trading partner Iraq and, despite the increased criticism seen this week, is not yet facing anything more than rhetoric, such as organized diplomatic or economic isolation. However, given its record in the crisis so far, few would bet on the Assad regime maximizing these advantages. If anything, the regime has shown a bewildering ability to make matters worse as it slowly implodes. The great fear is that, in its forlorn struggle for survival, it drags the Syrian people into the void alongside it.

How Arab youth found their voice

 

Ibrahim Mothana is a 22-year-old activist, writer and a community worker from Yemen. He is a youth ambassador for the Arab Thought Foundation. Follow him on Twitter: @imothanaYemen. When Mohamed Bouazizi set himself on fire in Tunisia in January, he did not only ignite a series of unpredicted revolts but also heralded the first appearance of Arab you on the stage of modern history. Young people in the Arab world, who had been undermined and perceived as a development burden on the region, became a promise of progress in a new era. Young people suddenly felt as if a new dimension was discovered through which they could mobilize. They finally exercised their rights and, more importantly, said "never again" to the era of absolute domination and authoritarian regimes. Their ambitions led them to sacrifice their lives while calling for the replacement of the humiliation and dehumanization they have long experienced with human rights, democracy, equality and legitimate governance. Millions of youth like me who lived an entire life under one autocratic ruler suddenly changed from being subjects in a society where public opinion didn't matter to being citizens reconfiguring the political, cultural and media spheres. With these movements, a few months of the Arab Spring created a sense of Arab solidarity that decades of political rhetoric and ideological slogans failed to achieve. I was lucky to visit Tunisia, Libya, Egypt and other Arab countries a few months before the uprising and then witness after that how those historical moments reshaped the identity of young people living in these countries. Visiting Cairo again in July during the renewed protests was a completely new experience and I could not feel this sense of solidarity anywhere more than in Tahrir Square. I received exceptional greetings and a warm welcome every time protesters found out I was from Yemen, and many of them insisted on inviting me for a "freedom tea" during which we had endless discussions about the situation in Yemen and the progress of the revolution. Everyone was surprisingly well-informed and up-to-date with the events in every Arab country going through a process of profound changes and reform. I felt as if Cairo's Tahrir was the headquarters of the Arab uprising. The dramatic shift in how young people in different countries recognize each other is astonishing. In the past our ties were shallow and negatively affected by numerous crises and conflicts we witnessed in the past decades, offering youth more reasons to disagree and even demonize each other in many cases. But now a strong sense of mutual struggle and shared noble goals emerged. It is a feeling spontaneously arising from sharing similar grievances and from the need to address them through peaceful and democratic reform. These fostered mutual concerns and ambitions were present in all the youth I met in Cairo, Amman, Beirut and other Arab cities I visited recently. In addition to strengthening their ties and asserting their commonalities, the Arab Spring created a new identity for young people living in the region. It gave them a dose of self-confidence and changed their attitudes; instead of simply blaming the status quo, they have come to strive to change it. Even in monarchies, the number of social and political taboos that were broken is outstanding. The women driving campaign in Saudi Arabia and the hashtag debates in Jordan are examples of the outreach of Arab Spring influence in countries that did not experience revolts. Young people now are more willing to express their opinions and to be proactive in influencing their societies in whatever context they are living in and are clearly showing support for their fellow Arabs struggling in other countries. Marches, events and online campaigns supporting the freedom of people in Syria, Libya, Yemen have been continuous in the past months. Moreover, citizen journalists throughout the region played an important role in spreading the word and exposing human right violations through Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and other social media. And it is not only bread and material needs, as has been commonly portrayed, that caused the youth awakening and brought about change in these societies that were long denied freedom and opportunities; but rather more importantly, it is the indignities that ordinary citizens have experienced and their inability to exercise their political and social rights. Thus the slogans of all the protests in the region were all about constitutional changes, rule of law and equality. Arab citizens are working to define themselves rather than be defined by authoritarian regimes or oversimplified Orientalist views. Such a process will definitely take time and require sacrifices, but the outcome on the long term will indisputably be a more prosperous region and empowered nations. For me, as someone who had the blessing of living through such remarkable moments, the Arab Spring seems to be a resurrection of the Arab youth from the grave of marginalization and repression into an era of a homegrown renaissance. When our lives seemed to be going towards a dead-end of frustration and video games, the Arab Spring offered the possibility for the first time of a life we could look forward to living. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Ibrahim Mothana.

Arab Spring casts a shadow over Ramadan TV

The filming of the Syrian drama "Jalasat Nesaiya" and many other Ramadan series were uninterrupted by unrest, but the Egyptian revolution affected production there.

  

(CNN) -- Egyptian Gabriel Khoury's first foray into television drama "Dawaran Chobra" is being watched by millions on four channels every night during the holy month of Ramadan. A time of fasting and prayer for Muslims, Ramadan is also peak television viewing season, much like Christmas in the U.S., and Egypt has long been the region's leading producer. Movie producer Khoury had planned to make two series for this Ramadan, but the other had to be postponed until next year because several members of his team were too busy participating in the revolution to work on it. It was not the only production to be be dropped because of the revolution: The number of drama series produced for Ramadan this year dropped from more than 50 last year to 32 this year, according to Egyptian newspaper AlMasry AlYoum. A tradition has developed in recent years for families to watch television dramas together each evening after breaking fast. According to figures for the first two weeks of Ramadan 2011 from market researchers IPSOS, TV viewership jumped up across the Middle East -- a significant proportion of that increase coming from Ramadan series. In Egypt, so far, for example, viewership increased by 30% -- also affected by big audiences for the televised appearances of former president Hosni Mubarak and his sons in court on criminal charges following the January revolution. "Television production companies work throughout the year to put out their best drama during that period," said Nabil Dajani, professor of media studies at the American University of Beirut. "There will be 30 episodes covering every night of the month of Ramadan. It is a tradition that has developed over the last five or six years," he added. Khoury's series "Dawaran Chobra" is about the co-existence of Coptic Christians and Muslims, and is currently being shown on three channels in Egypt and one in the Gulf. "It's about ordinary Egyptians with ordinary problems done in a subdued and realistic way," said Khoury. "It doesn't shout over the roofs, but just shows some of the things they do together." Khoury said in post-revolution Egypt there already seemed to be a backlash about big money paid to big stars. "This year we have tried to break the mold with a good quality series without the big names," he said. The other series planned by Khoury and his company Misr International Films -- an adaptation of the book "Zaat" by Egyptian author Sonallah Ibrahim -- will be produced for Ramadan next year. The series follows the life of a woman from the Egyptian revolution of 1952 to the events of this year. "It follows the family, but with all the political events of the last 60 years as a backdrop," said Khoury. "Our scriptwriter Mariam Naoum and director Kamla Abu Zekri were both involved in the revolution so didn't have time to do it this year." Dajani said the drop in production in Egypt was also caused by difficulty in gaining funding during the revolution. Another big producer of Ramadan television dramas is Syria. Despite violence and political uncertainty sweeping the country, Syria's production of Ramadan drama continued largely undisturbed in the capital Damascus. Around 35 Syrian-made drama series are currently being shown across the Arab world. Dajani said: "The Syrian unrest started much later, so by that time the programs were ready." Muthana Subh, a prominent Syrian television director, currently has his drama series, "Jalasat Nesaiya," or Women Meet, being shown every night on six television channels across the Arab world. "Some things are normal, some things are worrying," Subh said of the current situation in Damascus. "There are many moods, you can't know every mood." Dajani said that Lebanon and the Gulf countries were also emerging as large producers of Ramadan drama, commonly known as "Ramadan soaps," but did not yet challenge the dominance of Syria and Egypt. Badih Fattouh, Group Director of Content at MBC, a major broadcaster across the Arab world, said its top-rated flagship Ramadan program was a Saudi comedy "Tash18," the most successful ever to come out of the kingdom. Fattouh agreed that Syria's prolific drama production had been largely unaffected by the unrest sweeping the country. "The major events are still until now taking place outside the capital Damascus where most of the drama productions are currently taking place," he said. Because most dramas take at least a year to produce, their content this year is largely unaffected by the political changes sweeping the region. Fattouh said: "A few production companies introduced certain changes in their scripts to make them more relevant to (Egypt's) current post-revolution situation, while a few others chose topics dealing with nationalistic or patriotic matters." However, the events of the past six months are likely to be reflected in next year's crop of Ramadan drama. "I expect by next year we will see a completely different type of drama from Egypt," said Dajani. "I think they will be much bolder in their criticism of the government and in dealing with the Palestinian problem. There is already a drama on Jerusalem that was delayed this year, but will be on air for next year." Fattouh added that the emergence after the revolution of Egyptian private channels in search of new content would provide a good source of income for production companies.