Arab Bloggers Meeting

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The first Arab Bloggers Meeting was Tweet this

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private and low key. Not this year's reddit this
New spheres of expression, long closed to us, are now open. We
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met in Tunis with a very different set of priorities to 2008
Yazan Badran
guardian.co.uk, Saturday 8 October 2011 06.00 EDT
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What you probably haven't read about though is the history of the 13 Jun 2011
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painstaking online activism that paved the way for the revolutions that
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toppled dictators. To hear that story, you needed to be in Tunis this anonymous bloggers 28 Nov 2011
week, where a group of leading bloggers from more than 20 countries Rolling Stone Releasing Beatles' Guide For iPad;
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There's no doubting the Third Arab Bloggers Meeting was a special 28 Nov 2011
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event. This was not a conference about the revolutionaries; this was a A gay girl in Damascus
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Three years ago, in 2008, the first Arab Bloggers Meeting brought 28 Nov 2011
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Many of the bloggers at this year's meeting were in Beirut three years
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ago for that first event, and remember a very different kind of meeting.
Whereas we met this week in jubilation, with our cameras on throughout, More paidContent
that first meeting was private, small and low-key.
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URL: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/oct/08/arab-bloggers-meeting?fb=native&CMP=FBCNETTXT9038
Almost a full year after the first protests broke out here in Tunis, they
On Comment is free
continue to shake the Arab world. We meet now with a completely
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8 October 2011 11:06AM
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I heard the Palestinian blogger were refused a visa by the Tunisian authorities .
This week's bestsellers

Ernekid Responses (0)
1. Send Up the Clowns
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I thought all arab bloggers were fat scottish blokes in their bedrooms pretending to
be lesbians
2. History of the World in 100 Objects

RichJames Responses (0) by Neil MacGregor 20.00
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3. Quantum Universe
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Ignore the cynicism, Yazan. Young people throughout the middle east have led the 4. Bedside Guardian 2011
world in peaceful protest - and the courage of those in Syria is without equal. by Rory Foster & Paul Johnson 14.99
It's not complete - and it will never be perfect; but it is an incredible achievement. And 5. Christmas Truce
it's striking that those who participated in it seem too modest to take the acclaim. by Carol Ann Duffy 5.99
Best wishes for the future.
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usini Responses (0) Search
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You people have been brilliant. I only started reading your blogs after things Bestsellers from the Guardian shop
exploded in Egypt and I am limited by not speaking Arabic so obviously I miss a lot.
Having said that without you I would never have learned about how things looked
from a non western perspective and what your priorities were. Here's a Health to the
Thanks a lot. Barley Mow
A fascinating BFI DVD
about ancient folk
customs, rural games,
alexoman Responses (0) songs and dances of
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From: 18.99
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A friend of mine was invited to Tunis for the event - a couple of interesting things See all offers and services from the Guardian
came out of it for me.
The first was the distrust still present between bloggers in Syria and a lack of
consensus in the country regarding the desire to overthrow the regime - especially
as rival civilian groups are apparently beginning to attack each other.
comment is free
The second was the issue of language, especially the different dialects of Arabic
(the Tunisian dialect needed translation). So if the meanings are being lost in
translation between Arabic-speaking countries, how can bloggers/activists in the Latest posts
region be sure to get the correct message across to non-Arabic speakers?
8min ago
Britain's economy needs a big push
but the Tories can only nudge
usini Responses (0)
John Harris: Osborne's grand plan to
Report abuse boost growth is a dogma-ridden hybrid that will
squeeze the low-paid and rebound on the economy
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@alexoman I am not an expert but I have talked to a lot of Arabic speaking frieds 38min ago
about the problem that you mention. We're all paying for Europe's gift to
They make the point that while the spoken dialects are different the written forms are our aristocrats and utility companies
very similar apart from a few dialect words, so online they can understand what George Monbiot: Dukes, water
others are writing. companies and wildlife charities will be relieved to
Apparently Al Jazeera uses a classical form of Arabic that most people can know their plunder of farm subsidies under the
understand while they would not speak it. common agricultural policy can last until at least
On the question of the Syrain bloggers I think we must not forget that appalling 2020
fraudster "The Gay Girl in Damascus", and anyway why should they all agree? Comment from the paper
Ulrich Beck: Europe's crisis is an opportunity for
Mrdaydream democracy
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8 October 2011 11:59AM Max Mosley: Rules for the press are there. They just
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need enforcement
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Len McCluskey: Wednesday's strike is just the start
This is the future of political action. You are going to change the world.
alexoman Responses (0)

8 October 2011 12:25PM
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@usini both good points. I was wondering, though, if there is any difference in Arabic
text slang? I see a lot of people using phrases such as y3ni and so on as a way of Charities Marketing & PR
trying to get the right sounds across. Would they be different from country to country?
And you're right - why should everybody in Syria agree. Education Media
On a slightly different topic, it's amazing just how important - and widespread - the Environment Sales
internet is becoming as a medium of communication. At a recent event I heard there
Government Senior executive
are 3,000 forums in Oman alone. A guy I know tweeted that - and somebody replied
that in Saudi Arabia there are 9,000. Graduate Social care
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usini Responses (0)
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@alexoman The Arab kids I teach also use Facebook a lot in both Arabic and Sales Executive;
English. Exhibitions and
Incidentally I first got into following Arab bloggers through Brian Whitaker's links. Magazines
Each of them leads you to others. London | Negotiable
I find it very useful way of getting a different perspective. + bonus
SQUARE PEG MEDIA
Clunie Responses (0)

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Yazan: Excellent article - your and your colleagues' blogging made it possible for
people outside the Middle East to get news and see things from a first-hand
viewpoint, not faraway ''experts'' pontificating.
alexoman: From what I know, the spelling differences in text are fairly minor - it might Generated by www.PDFonFly.com at 11/28/2011 1:11:37 PM
be spelt yaani, yanni, y3ni, as there are different casual forms of keef halak - kefk,
kefak, kefo, etc and thousands of other phrases, but everyone knows what it means,
especially in text. As usini points out, written Arabic is much the same wherever you
are. The closest analogy I can think of is Mandarin Chinese - people speak in many,
many different dialects, some of them unintelligible to others from other parts of the
country, but understand the written form across the board.
Sorcey Responses (0)

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The first blog I read from an Arab blogger was Baghdad Burning -
http://riverbendblog.blogspot.com/ - a very moving blog about Iraq and the aftermath
of the US/UK invasion. (I'm talking about the real blog, not the copy cat blog by those
two American gits.) Her blogs were eventually published in two books. Like 1.5
million other Iraqis, eventually it got too much and she fled to Syria.
I think she deserves an honorable mention here. Unless she was at the meeting?
SpeaktotheHand Responses (0)

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White Western liberals seem to be enjoying these different identity groups around
the world getting together to blog, even though the same white liberals have
absolutely no idea what they are saying, unless it's written in English.
Where does this fascination come from? Why does there have to be a white Western
peanut gallery attached to every one of these events clapping and singing empty
hallelujahs when there is absolutely no evidence as of yet that the rise of the New
Syria, Libya, Egypt etc is going to do a damn bit of good for the west?
Hurrah they used facebook. Hurrah they used Twitter.
Hurray, at least they used Western social networking sites so our governments can
keep track of them more easily in the future and demand companies hand over info
about their dealings if they ever need it.
This kind of empty praise for non-Westerners sitting around Indian-style using
technology without regard to the ramifications just shows the complete
condescension towards these people that most Western liberals have.
alexoman Responses (0)

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@speaktothehand
OK, I'll rise. Why not...
1. Are people from the west only allowed to see this as a good thing if it benefits the
west? Why can't it be good even if it doesn't benefit the west? What, even, does the
west have to do with it at all? What makes this so interesting is that it is change
coming from within - instead of change forced upon it from the outside, like Iraq.
Which went well, if I remember rightly.
2. So what if they used western social networking sites? They also used local
forums. The only reason the majority of people in English-speaking parts of the
world knew what was going on at street level was because of what was being
posted on Facebook and Twitter.
3. How does "sitting around Indian-style" affect how you use a laptop? Actually, what
does "sitting around Indian-style" even mean?
4. Many white liberals speak Arabic fluently. Just because the three people on this
thread who have been discussing the use of Arabic on blogs/social media do not
speak fluent Arabic (I'm guessing) doesn't mean nobody can.
CruiskeenLawn Responses (0)

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"Arab bloggers meeting".
Sounds fascinating.
Is it any more informative than,say, an "Essex" or "Dudley, West Midlands" bloggers

meeting.
Sounds to me like a coming-together of knobs who are using a happy (for them)
coincidence of geography, technology, political circumstance and egomania in order
to get their fifteen minutes of public masturbation.
There is no reason to believe that Arabs are more strupid than any other people.
On that basis, there is no reason to suspect that Arabs take bloggers more seriously
than others do.
Just because The Guardian can't tell the difference between a blog and the truth Generated by www.PDFonFly.com at 11/28/2011 1:11:37 PM
doesn't mean everybody else is similarly URL:
intellectually "different".
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/oct/08/arab-bloggers-meeting?fb=native&CMP=FBCNETTXT9038
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We are hopeful that when we leave Tunis and go back to our
respective bases, we'll bring with us not only the sense of solidarity
and comradeship that we've seen in every corner of the Arab world,
but also a workable vision that we can all set upon.
Too bad such explicit calls for solidarity only apply to people of non-European origin.
They certainly aren't including us in their party.
Now, if a group of Western white bloggers got together and talked about issues
affecting them and called for solidarity in every corner of the world, would that be
acceptable?
Or would it simply be banned by every media outlet imaginable? Probably so.
So what is it about this group of Arab bloggers, who are calling for the solidarity
among themselves to our exclusion, that makes white western liberals want to
celebrate?
It's not that whatever they do in Tunisia has to be good for us, it's just that we don't
know what will come of this.
So my question is why are they able to articulate their interests in such a closed
group and not us? What about our characteristics? Does anyone get warm and fuzzy
about our identities anymore?
usini Responses (0)

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@speaktotheHand Firstly you are choosing to ignore the events of the last few
months which are the reason that this meeting is so significant.
The bloggers are Arab in the sense that they come from Arab countries that have
suffered from restrictions on free speech. It is not about their ethnic origins.
Corrections Responses (0)

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SpeaktotheHand, there are plenty of forums and groups for people sharing your
'identity'. Just google Eeyore forums. (btw - many of us use Google Translate to
follow blogs and tweets from those who write in Arabic, such as ElBaradei. We also
follow Brian Whitaker who's fluent in Arabic. So what's your problem?)
sheffpixie Responses (0)

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Yazan
Thank for this piece and more power to your collective elbows....!!
Usini
speaktothehand obviously knows zilch about the Arab world and the conditions
people have endured here for so long but that doesn't prevent him/her from having
very fixed opinions - it was ever thus.
sakib10 Responses (0)

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yah, people from the west are allowed this to do ? the bloggers from arabs are not
right to give free speech . its is against humanity ........

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But there are still Europeans who, ahem, can't say what they want, have no freedom
of speech and who have been living in a police state for a long, long time.
Belarus- a stones throw away from the average arm-chaired European

Guardianista, a bridge too far in a world of fashion conscious causes.

MuzzydeMontfort Responses (0)
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Clunie
As usini points out, written Arabic is much the same wherever you
are. The closest analogy I can think of is Mandarin Chinese - people
speak in many, many different dialects, some of them unintelligible to
others from other parts of the country, but understand the written form
across the board.
An analogy closer to home is our use of Hindu-Arabic numerals, which sound

different (but often similar) in various European languages, but are clearly
understood by all when written down.
futurehuman Responses (0)

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The perception and the promotion of the idea that the (technology savvy) elitist Arab
Bloggers (how many in the Arab world can afford a laptop?) have brought in the Arab
Spring, is pure romanticism.
The fact 1) that the objective condition for the Arab Spring matured through the harsh
and long experience of the everyday life of the Arab population living under
oppressive neo-colonial existence, 2) that the ongoing colonization, evictions,
demolition, transfer etc. of the Palestinians, and the terrorisation and humiliation of
the Arab nations by the agents of Western imperialism that has wounded the Arab
pride, 3) that the long, extremely difficult, heroic and (ultimately) effective armed
resistance by Hezbollah and Hamas (inspired and helped by Iran and Syria) has
cumulatively created the background and the conditions for the Arab Spring are now
being washed away under the tide of the romanticism of the "Arab Bloggers".
Yazan Badran, the way forward is not the celebratory get-togethers of Arab Bloggers
to impress an audience in the West, but to get involved in hard, very difficult, real,
practical and self-reliant struggles on the ground in the Arab lands. The main task
remains to be done. If you do that, you do not have to blogg to spread the message.
Your action will speak for itself just as Hamas and Hejbollah do. Sorry to bring this
cold shower on the Arab Bloggers' Spring!!

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futurehuman: I think your post is far more romantic than anyone else's, depicting all
Arabs as techno-illiterate sayeedi fieldhands or techno-illiterate and politically pure
Noble Warriors of Hamas and Hezbollah (friends and in-laws in Gaza - where
internet access is around 30 percent, though some say it's more - would differ with
you on the greatness of Hamas, but they probably lack your vast first-hand
knowledge). BTW, Hamas is an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood, the same body
that Assad is attempting, like his father, to demonise in order to quash all dissent
(as Mubarak did) - but you knew that, right? As you knew that Assad's regime, just
like Mubarak's, attempted to blame Palestinians for the uprising.
And I think it's up to Arabs to decide what the way forward is for Arabs, no? Sorry to
bring this cold shower on your ideas for the Arab Spring.
someoneionceknew Responses (0)

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Hmmmmm, I for one would like to know about any sponsors you may have. The
NED and their various 'think tanks' etc are hardly prodemocracy or economic justice.
usini Responses (0)

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@futurehuman
the celebratory get-togethers of Arab Bloggers to impress an

audience in the West
If you read the article this is the third meeting and the two previous ones were not
even reported.
It is being held in Tunis and not in "the West".
I actually wrote to the Guardian when I read about the meeting on Arab blogs and
suggested that they should ask for an article from somebody who was attending, so
if you want to have a go at somebody, have a go at me and not Mr Badran.
deludedemocrat Responses (0) Generated by www.PDFonFly.com at 11/28/2011 1:11:37 PM

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What is childishly niaive is that revolution is borne out of common bitterness at ones
predicament at the hands of another, facebook et al were just vehicles for that
dissent to be disseminated far and wide, facebook and IT in general did not cause
the Arab spring it merely facilitated the logistics needed in order to bring their
desires into actions.
futurehuman Responses (0)

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@ Clunie
Western imperialism (and its on going colonization of Arab lands) is the primary
enemy of the Arab world and the people of the Third and the First worlds in general.
Any progressive/revolutionary opposition, struggle, action (even if inconsistent,
temporary, and no matter who they are) must be judged by whether these are
directed against or strategically oriented against the main enemy or not and also
which one is relatively more effective.
This is the correct strategy for the Arab revolution or any revolutionary change in the
modern world; whether it is practised by a Marxist-Leninist, a Mullah or anybody else.
The rest of what you said about Hamas, Mubarak, Asad , Muslim Brotherhood etc.
has to be judged by the above criteria also.
@ usini
If you want to take credit and feel self-importance of your success in commissioning
this piece in Guardian, you are very welcome. I have no inclination to go at
somebody. Like "CruiskeenLawn" and "somoneionceknew" above, I just refuse to
patronize any particular group of the Arab revolution, but try to restrict myself to
understand (from far away) and to point out the objective reality on the ground, as
best as I know, and the best I can do. Cheers!
lostalex Responses (0)

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If you think arab bloggers represent the arab people they claim to speak for, you are
very naive.
The squeaky wheel get's the grease.

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futurehuman: You may not have noticed, but Western nations created most current
Arab nations in their imperial carve-up of the region, which is amongst the reasons
for many of the problems there, much as they did in south Asia and elsewhere. On
colonialism, you're around a century behind. The uprisings are the first step in a long
road towards finally freeing themselves of Western governments' influence (helped
greatly by Western economic meltdown) - who do you think backed those satrap-
dictators and maintained them in power or tacitly accepting them as ''preferable to
the alternative''? Why do you think there has been no action beyond finger-wagging
on Syria? Saudi and Israel really don't fancy the alternative - Assad's a vicious goon
to Syrian people, but he's not going to do anything but spout hot air elsewhere, he
''keeps things under control.''
Why do you think our governments were using Assad's and Gadaffi's torture facilities
along with those of Mubarak, Abdullah of Jordan, Karimov and all the other useful
autocrats in the War On Turr? Our governments and others have long installed, used
and armed the rulers in the region and still rely on the remaining autocrats - that is
realpolitik. Gadaffi, whilst genuinely useful in the War On Turr in recent years, was
seen as expendable, being unpopular with both the peoples and other in the Middle
East, and our governments wanted to give the impression that they were supportive
of a move towards more freedom, especially after spectacularly missing the boat in
Tunisia and Egypt, and continuing to support other dictators. Perhaps they believe
that Arab people are stupid enough to fall for the 'humanitarian' line too. They're not.
lostalex: Yes, we should listen to Lizzie Phelan or Thierry Meyssan - we need to find
out about the Middle East from Europeans who visited for a couple of weeks, or
possibly Americans like Alex Jones or those at information clearing house or
mathaba.net, or maybe Canadians like those at globalresearch.ca - they're far more
representative of what Arabs think and in touch with events in the Middle East, eh?

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*Gadaffi, whilst genuinely useful in the War On Turr in recent years, was seen as
expendable, being unpopular with both the peoples and leaders in the Middle East Generated by www.PDFonFly.com at 11/28/2011 1:11:37 PM
waynewhincup Responses (0)
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The fact that democorcy is on the horizons.The opperturnity to demonstraight the the
future of the people is bright.I found that understanding a good demonstration was
threw a 12 step program called A-A. May the Great Mystery make the sunrise in your
heart.
usini Responses (0)

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@futurehuman You misundestood my point. The article is here after a request from
the Guardian. It is not Mr Badran blowing his own trumpet and saying look how
wonderful we are.
Incidentally a five minute round up of papers and other media in MENA quickly
shows that the Hamas and Hizbollah and their support from Syria and Iran are not
the main priority of people in the area. It is your obsession not theirs.
pretzelberg Responses (0)

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You clearly have good intents, Yazan - but how representative are you of opinion on
the street?
p.s. Can you confirm that this blogging revolution was not dependent on Apple
Macs?
;-)
kabuki Responses (0)

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Ernekid
I totally agree with you but whenever I leave anything near as outrages as you they
pull the rug.What moderator do you give a back hander to, and if so how much.?
Yes no joke not one of my comments was allowed,maybe I could send them to you
and you could leave them,do you except Pay-Pal
kabuki Responses (0)

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"If you've been following the so-called Arab spring you've also probably read an
article asking whether Facebook was behind it all. In Washington, in New York, in
London and around the world, technologists and sociologists, web developers and
foreign policy wonks have deliberated and debated the role of social media in
bringing about these momentous events."
I do expect a much higher standerd of proof reading from the aguardian news paper
before they publish(wankers is not spelled wonks}.
My best regards Kabuki (watch this space Ernekid)
mehdihassani Responses (0)

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Good luck and best wishes to you and all your comrades from all arab countries
inyour noble endeavors; let's wish the syrian people too achieve their goal to topple
the bashar assad regime; i say this first for the sake of syrian people then because
Syrian regime is tightly linked with my birthcountry's totally illigitimate and theocratic
regime Iran that via Syria only sows fire and mayhem in Lebanon and among
palestinians when Palestinians certainly don't need at all iranian evil regime; you
know we weren't as lucky as you when people's vote were thrown away to put a
pawn as "president" over iranian people's head; we of course protested most
peacefully and suppressed most savegely; and iranian regime is just as capable as
ghaddafi or bashar assad to bomb their own very people because they don't belong
to people; they robbed iranian people's hope to reach freedom in their revolution 32
years ago and eversince they've been killing or torturing to death people's sons and
daughters;
Thus your success will be ours too as it will boost the movement, the uprising in Iran
against monsters on power.
again good luck and best regards to you and all your comrades

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Lebanon Middle East 6 Jul 2011 Anas Qtiesh: We're
Account linked to band 16 Aug 2011 witnessing that the old
and North Africa
has attracted 65,000 Amnesty calls on Egypt to media can still be
followers in five days, but drop charges against censored, but that the
could be shut down if activist for Twitter people are now always a
used to discuss politics comments step ahead of the tyrants
5 Jun 2009
@DW Global Media
Forum: Net censors are
'on the wrong side of
history', say bloggers
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Arab Bloggers Meeting

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The first Arab Bloggers Meeting was Tweet this

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LukeRijnhurt All today's stories

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2. History of the World in 100 Objects

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Browse all jobs

Clunie Responses (0)

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Hurrah they used facebook. Hurrah they used Twitter.

alexoman Responses (0)

OK, I'll rise. Why not...

CruiskeenLawn Responses (0)

Is it any more informative than,say, an "Essex" or "Dudley, West Midlands" bloggers

Or would it simply be banned by every media outlet imaginable? Probably so.

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Belarus- a stones throw away from the average arm-chaired European

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An analogy closer to home is our use of Hindu-Arabic numerals, which sound

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the celebratory get-togethers of Arab Bloggers to impress an

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The squeaky wheel get's the grease.

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My best regards Kabuki (watch this space Ernekid)

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Media 5 May 2011

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