Posted by Nabil Echchaibi on Wednesday, March 30, 2011,
The OpenNet Inititiative has just released an interesting report about how Arab censors use Western technologies to control the flow of information in their countries, particularly information they deem incriminating for their governments. Filtering technology is not new and is not used only by undemocratic regimes. Some interesting findings for at least 9 countries who are using this technology to block all kinds of content.
Posted by Nabil Echchaibi on Monday, March 21, 2011,
Thousands of Moroccans peacefully protested in 60 cities today, reviving the pro-democracy campaign despite the king's promises of a constitutional overhaul. Here are some very telling pictures.
Posted by Nabil Echchaibi on Saturday, March 19, 2011,
As Morocco braces for another wave
of demonstrations on March 20, many analysts underscore the singularity of its
king's reaction to similar unrelenting protests currently plaguing many Arab
countries. In a rare televised speech, King Mohammed VI called for
comprehensive constitutional reform which could strip him of the bulk of his
executive powers turning his monarchy into the first real constitutional
monarchy in the Arab world. Concretely, this implies the king will no l...
Posted by Nabil Echchaibi on Sunday, March 13, 2011,
Al Jazeera organized an interesting forum yesterday on the historic transitions in Arab countries. Here is the video of Turkey's foreign minister where he speaks about the necessity of change in the region. Some important quotes from his speech: "There should be regional ownership. No foreign intervention. This is our region." "No leader should think that they will be there forever, we must trust our nations."
Posted by Nabil Echchaibi on Wednesday, March 9, 2011,
The New York Times had a very informative article on Peter King's long sympathy and alleged collaboration with the Irish terrorist group IRA. The point here is not to waste time comparing whether the IRA and Al Qaeda are equally morally reprehensible (to me they both are), but that King, who apparently struggled with ancestral ties to a foreign land, believes he's well positioned to lead these hearings. The IRA, he says, never targeted Americans. True, but what Mr. King is implying is that te... Continue reading ...
Posted by Nabil Echchaibi on Monday, March 7, 2011,
I'm greatly confused about how amidst the social (not religious) revolutions in the Arab world, some Western countries are calling for a debate about the place of Islam in their societies. U.S. Republican Congressman from New York, Peter King is hosting a public hearing on radical Islam this week, French President, Nicholas Sarkozy is calling for a "debat sur l'islam en France", and German interior minister is asking if Muslims can be true Germans because "Islam in Germany is not something su... Continue reading ...
I was born and raised in Morocco. My research focuses on the intersections between Islam, Arab popular culture and the media. I'm currently an assistant professor in the School of Journalism at the University of Colorado-Boulder.
I was born and raised in Morocco. My research focuses on the intersections between Islam, Arab popular culture and the media. I'm currently an assistant professor in the School of Journalism at the University of Colorado-Boulder.
