sábado, 7 de enero de 2012
"Lo primero era tener libertad de expresión"
Entrevista al juez Mokhtar Yahyaoui, Túnez, diciembre de 2011
domingo, 20 de marzo de 2011
miércoles, 2 de marzo de 2011
Guerreros, en La Vanguardia.es
El periódico La Vanguardia ha acogido "Guerreros del teclado" en su edición digital. Ayer publiqué la primera entrada. La idea es continuar ahí el trabajo que inicié cuando llegué a Egipto en 2004 y seguir investigando la importancia de las nuevas tecnologías para la disidencia y el cambio social, un tema que me apasiona. A la vez, quiero actualizar este blog e insertar toda la información que he ido acumulando a lo largo de este tiempo y que nunca he llegado a colgar.
¡Finalmente! :-)
¡Finalmente! :-)
domingo, 20 de febrero de 2011
Horror en Bahrein
Estoy siguiendo lo que pasa estos días en Bahrein gracias a Mohammed Al-Maskati, jovencísimo activista y fundador de la Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights, a quien conocí en Manama en 2007. Manda unas noticias y unas fotos espeluzantes. Ayer gravó este video. Es muy duro: muestra como las balas convierten una marcha pacífica y tranquila en un baño de sangre.
sábado, 19 de febrero de 2011
Guerreros del teclado, de nuevo
Publicat a l'Ara el 29 de febrer
Guerrers del teclat
Lali Sandiumenge
Dijous, 22.28 hores: els principals proveïdors egipcis bloquegen el tràfic a internet, cosa que deixa offline prop del 90% dels egipcis amb accés a la xarxa, al voltant de 23 milions de persones. Divendres, cap a les 07.00 hores: els mòbils deixen de funcionar. Només queda en peu la telefonia terrestre. L’objectiu és clar: impedir que la gent s’organitzi per protestar.
Ni els activistes, ni els manifestants, ni la gent farta de misèria i de Hosni Mubàrak, però tampoc les empreses, bancs, cibercafès, universitats o institucions clients dels quatre principals operadors (que operen amb llicència de l’autoritat de regulació de les telecomunicacions egípcies) van poder accedir ahir a internet. La tallada va ser tan brutal que va marcar un punt d’inflexió en la història de la xarxa: hi havia precedents, a Birmània, el 2007, i a l’Iran, el 2009, però allà la repressió va ser parcial i temporal. Egipte, que forma part dels tretze països “enemics d’internet” de Reporters Sense Fronteres, s‘havia dedicat fins ara a controlar i filtrar la xarxa a través de la Unitat de Crims a Internet, creada el 2002 per perseguir primer l’activitat dels chats rooms homosexuals i, més endavant, la ciberdissidència.
Tunísia ho ha canviat tot. La revolta del gessamí ha inspirat molts egipcis i els ha fet perdre la por a la repressió. Mai abans durant les tres dècades de Mubàrak tanta gent havia sortit al carrer. Però les arrels del que passa avui vénen en gran part de més lluny, es remunten a mitjan d’aquesta dècada, quan els joves egipcis –nascuts i criats la majoria sota el règim- van descobrir que internet era una font d’informació alternativa i una plataforma ideal per dissentir.
Tot i la seva força, els Germans Musulmans ja no són el jugador clau a l’arena política. Tampoc ho és encara Mohamed El Baradai. Qui és clau avui a Egipte i al món àrab són els joves –siguin educats o no, de classes mitjanes o desfavorides- que saben utilitzar Facebook i Twitter i enregistrar vídeos amb els mòbils i penjar-los a Youtube. Internet és des de fa anys una eina essencial per a l’activisme i per donar veu a les minories marginades, siguin de gènere, raça, religió o opció política o sexual. No és només un mitjà eficaç per organitzar mobilitzacions, que també, sinó que ha estat imprescindible per enderrocar el mur informatiu i el temor a opinar, denunciar i reclamar.
Els joves egipcis han estat pioners en l’ús de les noves tecnologies i un model a seguir per als seus companys àrabs, valents a l’hora de jugar-se-la i passar del món virtual al real i brillants per esquivar la censura, sigui a la xarxa o al carrer. L’activisme virtual va néixer en els fòrums i webs, va madurar en els blogs i es va graduar a les xarxes socials. Cap al 2004, els bloguers laics i d’esquerra ja organitzaven manifestacions contra Hosni Mubàrak i penjaven mapes per guiar la gent. Dos anys més tard, els joves Germans Musulmans envaïen també la xarxa per mostrar que no eren tan fanàtics com els pintaven. Des del 2007, Facebook serveix per convocar causes i protestes i Twitter per alertar durant les manifestacions dels moviments de la policia i per seguir la pista als detinguts.
. Els blogs van donar llum a tres tipus d’activistes: els que fan la guerra a Mubàrak en línia; els que van començar virtualment i van acabar sortint també al carrer, i els que combatien al carrer i van trobar suport al ciberespai. Molts d’ells n’han pagat el preu: un bon nombre, laics i islamistes, han estat assetjats, pegats, detinguts i empresonats. També a d’altres països àrabs i especialment a Tunísia, on Ben Ali va reprimir amb mà de ferro la ciberdissidència i va convertir en rutina bloquejar l’accés a qualsevol web incòmode.
Internet ha estat més útil per mobilitzar i polititzar els joves egipcis que els partits d’oposició i més eficaç per denunciar les violacions del règim i les forces de seguretat que la lluita plena d’obstacles de les organitzacions de drets humans. La primera gran victòria dels guerrers del teclat egipcis va ser el 2007, quan per primer cop dos agents de les forces de seguretat van ser condemnats a penes de presó per haver torturat dos anys abans un conductor de microbús que havia gosat discutir-s’hi (se’l van endur a comissaria i el van sodomitzar amb un pal). Per humiliar-lo encara més, van enregistrar les tortures amb el mòbil i el van distribuir via SMS... fins que va caure a mans d’un bloguer i el va penjar a Youtube.
Quatre anys després, Facebook i Twitter s’han convertit en armes de destrucció massiva per als tirans autocràtics del Magrib i el Pròxim Orient. Darrera de les manifestacions d’aquests dies hi ha la plataforma We are all Khaled Said (Tots sóm Khaled Said), nascuda a Facebook també per denunciar un cas de tortura. Però la revolta és descentralitzada, no hi ha un líder clar, és ningú en concret i tothom alhora, és un moviment col·lectiu i col·laboratiu i té una capacitat de contagi instantània.
Tancar a aquestes altures l’aixeta d’internet sembla una maniobra inútil i a la desesperada. Ni el boca a boca ni la ira es poden desactivar. Com escrivia ahir un jove activista egipci: “Bones notícies, la moral al Caire és encara alta. Activistes veterans dels 60 i els 70 estan ensenyant maneres predigitals de coordinació. Per dir-ho d’una altra manera: ens proposem carregar-nos Mubàrak de forma medieval”.
martes, 4 de mayo de 2010
Haitham Sabbah
email 12 oct 2005
Q. When and why did you start writing a blog?
A. I started blogging late 90's. However, that time blogs where not known as they are today. I used to focus on technology and IT security issues. Early 2002 I became more and more focused on Middle East issue. The reason was my disappointment of what I used to read about what and how the Middle East is presented to the world online. It was (and maybe still) an image drawn with black painting on a black background. I felt that I have a duty to do. At least try to erase one line from that dark painting and replace it with a white one that represent some of the unknown shiny facts about this part of the world. That's when I decided to focus my own blog (http://sabbah.biz) on Mideast. Slowly the blog topics encouraged healthy discussions, which encouraged me to write more on political, cultural, religious and life of Arabs.
Q. Can you define your blog?
A. I'm interested in everything, but my chief interest is in the intersection between politics and individual liberty in the Middle East and Muslims world. My blog tries to dispel the rough and ugly image that we suffer from the rest of the world, specially from the west. The vast majority of my blog posts touches on this in one way or another, and try to create a better understanding that we are not as bad as the western media painted us for decades.
Q. What role does the blog play in your life now? (where do you write, how time a day, is a kind of addiction? it has changed you in some way..???)
A. Well, I run and participate in several Internet website projects that are geared to spread freedom of speech and enable everyone who wants to speak to have the means to speak -- and everyone who wants to hear that speech, the means to listen to it. Writing from home and sometimes while in office, at least I spend 10 hours on daily bases. It has changed the way I live and has become an addiction. My family understand that, and even support me to do more.
Q. How many visitors do you have? What kind of people?
A. Last few months average is half a million hit that comes from over 40000 unique visitors. Sorted by percentage of numbers of visitors, they come from USA, Australia, Europe, China then Arab countries such as Saudi, Jordan, Bahrain, etc...
Mostly open minded, moderate and people searching for alternative views and news.
Q. I know that you are working to organize a Middle East Bloggers Meetup. Could you explain me something about that?
A. The idea started last year. I organized the first blogger Meetup early 2004 in Bahrain. We even had one blogger coming from Qatar to join us. The Meetup was very successful and most of the bloggers who attended shared their experience online. Later the news of our meetup encouraged more bloggers from few Arab countries to start such a meetups and they liked the idea. Now I know that on regular bases, meetups are held on Kuwait, Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt, Tunisia and of course Bahrain. Needless to say that these countries have the most active bloggers in the Arab world, and more is coming.
In the coming future, I'm coordinating with few Middle East bloggers to hold an annual regional bloggers conference. This should give us a forum to discuss tools and strategies to develop blogging in the Arab world.
Q. How widely read do you think are the blogs in the region? Which are the main problems? (languages, internet access, restrictions, freedom...?????)
A. All of what you said. Due to some cultural restrictions in the Middle East, majority of the surfers are usually go searching for material that is censored or restricted or banned to distribute in the Middle East. Starting with books, political articles, art, MSM, tools and ending up with adult material, most (if not all) of which are not available through other resources.
On the other hand, due to low level of education in some countries, and high cost of Internet access in others, language and censorship, Internet is still not so publicly used resource. In fact it is very much under utilized in so many parts of the Middle East.
When it comes to blogging, we are witnessing now a huge increase in the numbers of blogs, both in Arabic as well English. Earlier, it was difficult for Arabic blogs to take off due to limitation of tools online. Now that many open source projects, volunteers and tutorials exist to assist and help spreading the use of blogs, both in English and Arabic, the number and quality of blogs are improving.
Q. You are one of a few bloggers that is not afraid to show his identity and photo. Why?
A. Why should I? Identity plays a major role in establishing credibility to what a blogger says. Beside that, I believe and practice my right in freedom of expression.
I'm not an enemy to my society, nor I'm a missionary. Having said that, we have to lead by example. Not only in the Arab world, but in front of the whole world as well. If I criticize any, that's because I like to find a solution to it, or to dispel the myth that surrounds all the taboos around us. Now, that is not a crime, so why should I hide behind a anon ID?
Beside that, moderate Arabs and Muslims are in fact majority of the Middle East public now. Unlike what is said about Arabs and Muslims in the MSM and the tags and labels that were stick to us. Therefore, speaking without hiding faces is in fact a reflection of what we live these days. It is very important for me to be transparent, so that visitors to my blog are encouraged to practice the same. This makes it easy to break ice and establish bridges of communication.
Having said all that, I don't believe one should hide his ID when blogging. The world is becoming even smaller than a global village, and one should not fear that he will be accused for something he said or thinks as far as what he says is objective and does not break rules. One has to remember that a big mass of supports and NGO's will jump in if a blogger is detained or accused unfairly by any local authorities. Unlike the old days, authorities can not hide this. I believe one of the best ways to fairly protest and express his freedom of expression can be online, and with original ID. This way he will establish support, beside get interaction and maybe form or reform his ideas for best, yet not fall in the trap of negative criticism.
On the other hand, if blogging anonymously is extremely important due to personal security reasons, then that's welcome. But one has to keep in mind that blogging anonymously opens the doors for intruders to spread lies and rumors claiming an ID of a local or a country that he might never even visited or knew. Organized propaganda is a serious tool that is cleverly used by extremists of all parts of the world as well to spread poisoned theories among bloggers thus society. So, one has to be careful to what he reads and whom he believes and support.
Q. I need also some help, if it is possible. 1) Can you send me a photo (of you)? 2) Do you have some kind of statistics about bloggers, internet access, etc, in the Middle East?
A. You can a photo here: http://sabbah.biz/mt/about/
as for statistics, I don't have much, sorry, but I can tell you of some aggregators which list many (but not all) of the best Middle east blogs. here are they:
Bahrain: http://bahrainblogs.com/Another Bahrain: http://ping.bahblog.com/Saudi: http://saudiblogs.blogspot.com/Tunisia: http://www.tn-blogs.com/blogsMaghreb: http://www.maghreblog.net/Palestine: http://palestineblogs.net/Kuwait: http://safat.kuwaitblogs.com/Arab: http://arablog.net/Iraq: http://iraqblogcount.blogspot.com/Arabic: http://arabblogcount.blogspot.com/
Q. When and why did you start writing a blog?
A. I started blogging late 90's. However, that time blogs where not known as they are today. I used to focus on technology and IT security issues. Early 2002 I became more and more focused on Middle East issue. The reason was my disappointment of what I used to read about what and how the Middle East is presented to the world online. It was (and maybe still) an image drawn with black painting on a black background. I felt that I have a duty to do. At least try to erase one line from that dark painting and replace it with a white one that represent some of the unknown shiny facts about this part of the world. That's when I decided to focus my own blog (http://sabbah.biz) on Mideast. Slowly the blog topics encouraged healthy discussions, which encouraged me to write more on political, cultural, religious and life of Arabs.
Q. Can you define your blog?
A. I'm interested in everything, but my chief interest is in the intersection between politics and individual liberty in the Middle East and Muslims world. My blog tries to dispel the rough and ugly image that we suffer from the rest of the world, specially from the west. The vast majority of my blog posts touches on this in one way or another, and try to create a better understanding that we are not as bad as the western media painted us for decades.
Q. What role does the blog play in your life now? (where do you write, how time a day, is a kind of addiction? it has changed you in some way..???)
A. Well, I run and participate in several Internet website projects that are geared to spread freedom of speech and enable everyone who wants to speak to have the means to speak -- and everyone who wants to hear that speech, the means to listen to it. Writing from home and sometimes while in office, at least I spend 10 hours on daily bases. It has changed the way I live and has become an addiction. My family understand that, and even support me to do more.
Q. How many visitors do you have? What kind of people?
A. Last few months average is half a million hit that comes from over 40000 unique visitors. Sorted by percentage of numbers of visitors, they come from USA, Australia, Europe, China then Arab countries such as Saudi, Jordan, Bahrain, etc...
Mostly open minded, moderate and people searching for alternative views and news.
Q. I know that you are working to organize a Middle East Bloggers Meetup. Could you explain me something about that?
A. The idea started last year. I organized the first blogger Meetup early 2004 in Bahrain. We even had one blogger coming from Qatar to join us. The Meetup was very successful and most of the bloggers who attended shared their experience online. Later the news of our meetup encouraged more bloggers from few Arab countries to start such a meetups and they liked the idea. Now I know that on regular bases, meetups are held on Kuwait, Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt, Tunisia and of course Bahrain. Needless to say that these countries have the most active bloggers in the Arab world, and more is coming.
In the coming future, I'm coordinating with few Middle East bloggers to hold an annual regional bloggers conference. This should give us a forum to discuss tools and strategies to develop blogging in the Arab world.
Q. How widely read do you think are the blogs in the region? Which are the main problems? (languages, internet access, restrictions, freedom...?????)
A. All of what you said. Due to some cultural restrictions in the Middle East, majority of the surfers are usually go searching for material that is censored or restricted or banned to distribute in the Middle East. Starting with books, political articles, art, MSM, tools and ending up with adult material, most (if not all) of which are not available through other resources.
On the other hand, due to low level of education in some countries, and high cost of Internet access in others, language and censorship, Internet is still not so publicly used resource. In fact it is very much under utilized in so many parts of the Middle East.
When it comes to blogging, we are witnessing now a huge increase in the numbers of blogs, both in Arabic as well English. Earlier, it was difficult for Arabic blogs to take off due to limitation of tools online. Now that many open source projects, volunteers and tutorials exist to assist and help spreading the use of blogs, both in English and Arabic, the number and quality of blogs are improving.
Q. You are one of a few bloggers that is not afraid to show his identity and photo. Why?
A. Why should I? Identity plays a major role in establishing credibility to what a blogger says. Beside that, I believe and practice my right in freedom of expression.
I'm not an enemy to my society, nor I'm a missionary. Having said that, we have to lead by example. Not only in the Arab world, but in front of the whole world as well. If I criticize any, that's because I like to find a solution to it, or to dispel the myth that surrounds all the taboos around us. Now, that is not a crime, so why should I hide behind a anon ID?
Beside that, moderate Arabs and Muslims are in fact majority of the Middle East public now. Unlike what is said about Arabs and Muslims in the MSM and the tags and labels that were stick to us. Therefore, speaking without hiding faces is in fact a reflection of what we live these days. It is very important for me to be transparent, so that visitors to my blog are encouraged to practice the same. This makes it easy to break ice and establish bridges of communication.
Having said all that, I don't believe one should hide his ID when blogging. The world is becoming even smaller than a global village, and one should not fear that he will be accused for something he said or thinks as far as what he says is objective and does not break rules. One has to remember that a big mass of supports and NGO's will jump in if a blogger is detained or accused unfairly by any local authorities. Unlike the old days, authorities can not hide this. I believe one of the best ways to fairly protest and express his freedom of expression can be online, and with original ID. This way he will establish support, beside get interaction and maybe form or reform his ideas for best, yet not fall in the trap of negative criticism.
On the other hand, if blogging anonymously is extremely important due to personal security reasons, then that's welcome. But one has to keep in mind that blogging anonymously opens the doors for intruders to spread lies and rumors claiming an ID of a local or a country that he might never even visited or knew. Organized propaganda is a serious tool that is cleverly used by extremists of all parts of the world as well to spread poisoned theories among bloggers thus society. So, one has to be careful to what he reads and whom he believes and support.
Q. I need also some help, if it is possible. 1) Can you send me a photo (of you)? 2) Do you have some kind of statistics about bloggers, internet access, etc, in the Middle East?
A. You can a photo here: http://sabbah.biz/mt/about/
as for statistics, I don't have much, sorry, but I can tell you of some aggregators which list many (but not all) of the best Middle east blogs. here are they:
Bahrain: http://bahrainblogs.com/Another Bahrain: http://ping.bahblog.com/Saudi: http://saudiblogs.blogspot.com/Tunisia: http://www.tn-blogs.com/blogsMaghreb: http://www.maghreblog.net/Palestine: http://palestineblogs.net/Kuwait: http://safat.kuwaitblogs.com/Arab: http://arablog.net/Iraq: http://iraqblogcount.blogspot.com/Arabic: http://arabblogcount.blogspot.com/
Omar, Iraq the Model
email, 12 octubre 2005
Why did you start writing a blog?
Well, after long years of being not allowed to hear or read what people outside Iraq say, let alone speaking, it was great to know that I could have a way to communicate directly with the rest of the world through my own web page where no one can tell me how to think or what to write.
Moreover, in blogging I saw a way to bridge the gap of information and culture between different communities that usually learn about each other only through the papers and news networks.
Freedom of speech is one of the greatest aspects of freedom and it is one right I am not willing to give up.
Could you tell me about the way that writing it has changed you?
The biggest change I think is that I became more interested in getting the accurate information about any given topic, writing is a big responsibility that requires the writer to go deeper in his readings and to always verify the information he gets to hear or read.
Writing on a blog puts the writer in direct contact with the readers from whom he can learn a lot about subjects he knew nil about.
In general, I believe that blogging can boost knowledge on both ends; the writer’s and the readers’.
Can you define your blog? How many people are reading it? Do you know what kind of visitors are them?
Iraq the Model is basically a page where we write about our daily life in Iraq, along with commentary and analysis on political issues related to the situation in our country. We also try to bring underreported news to the attention of the readers trying to show them the closest image to what is actually happening in Iraq.
- The number of readers who read my blog varies from one month to another but right now the average is a little over 4,000 hits/day, something I am proud of and didn’t expect to see when I started the blog two years ago. Those readers come from almost everywhere, from Australia to Singapore, Egypt, UK, Germany, France and North and South America as well as from Iraq; they come from different backgrounds, some are military, others are fellow bloggers, journalists but ordinary people make the main bulk.
What role does the blog play in your life now? (you answered me so fast that I thought that you are all the time in the net!) Can you explain me how and where do you do it?
Honestly the blog takes a good deal of my time; not necessarily doing posts but also answering e mails, following news and posts on other blogs as well as taking care of the technical part of the blog.
I usually blog from home, at an earlier time before I had my connection at home I used to blog from internet cafés. When I have the chance, I also blog from my clinic.
You talk about liberation and you have said that you want to show the good progress in Iraq and not only bad news. Which progress and which bad news are more important for you?
The media focuses on the bad news only so people tend to think that bombings and murders are the only things taking place in Iraq but in fact, Iraq is a big country and life keeps going on in spite of the hardships.
Economy and politics in Iraq have bee making very good progress, actually faster than any other country in the region but people only get to hear about stories of violence. I am not trying to paint a pink image of Iraq, all I want to is offer the world a balanced image of what’s going on with it’s positive and negative sides.
What are your hopes for the future of Iraq?
To see Iraq live in peace, to get rid of terror and violence and to establish a democratic, secular governing system where law rules and human rights are respected.
Why did you start writing a blog?
Well, after long years of being not allowed to hear or read what people outside Iraq say, let alone speaking, it was great to know that I could have a way to communicate directly with the rest of the world through my own web page where no one can tell me how to think or what to write.
Moreover, in blogging I saw a way to bridge the gap of information and culture between different communities that usually learn about each other only through the papers and news networks.
Freedom of speech is one of the greatest aspects of freedom and it is one right I am not willing to give up.
Could you tell me about the way that writing it has changed you?
The biggest change I think is that I became more interested in getting the accurate information about any given topic, writing is a big responsibility that requires the writer to go deeper in his readings and to always verify the information he gets to hear or read.
Writing on a blog puts the writer in direct contact with the readers from whom he can learn a lot about subjects he knew nil about.
In general, I believe that blogging can boost knowledge on both ends; the writer’s and the readers’.
Can you define your blog? How many people are reading it? Do you know what kind of visitors are them?
Iraq the Model is basically a page where we write about our daily life in Iraq, along with commentary and analysis on political issues related to the situation in our country. We also try to bring underreported news to the attention of the readers trying to show them the closest image to what is actually happening in Iraq.
- The number of readers who read my blog varies from one month to another but right now the average is a little over 4,000 hits/day, something I am proud of and didn’t expect to see when I started the blog two years ago. Those readers come from almost everywhere, from Australia to Singapore, Egypt, UK, Germany, France and North and South America as well as from Iraq; they come from different backgrounds, some are military, others are fellow bloggers, journalists but ordinary people make the main bulk.
What role does the blog play in your life now? (you answered me so fast that I thought that you are all the time in the net!) Can you explain me how and where do you do it?
Honestly the blog takes a good deal of my time; not necessarily doing posts but also answering e mails, following news and posts on other blogs as well as taking care of the technical part of the blog.
I usually blog from home, at an earlier time before I had my connection at home I used to blog from internet cafés. When I have the chance, I also blog from my clinic.
You talk about liberation and you have said that you want to show the good progress in Iraq and not only bad news. Which progress and which bad news are more important for you?
The media focuses on the bad news only so people tend to think that bombings and murders are the only things taking place in Iraq but in fact, Iraq is a big country and life keeps going on in spite of the hardships.
Economy and politics in Iraq have bee making very good progress, actually faster than any other country in the region but people only get to hear about stories of violence. I am not trying to paint a pink image of Iraq, all I want to is offer the world a balanced image of what’s going on with it’s positive and negative sides.
What are your hopes for the future of Iraq?
To see Iraq live in peace, to get rid of terror and violence and to establish a democratic, secular governing system where law rules and human rights are respected.
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