Meedan and the concept of collaborative live translation
Once again, the events surrounding the Israeli raid on the Gaza aid flotilla shows the importance of the web in the flow of news and images between citizens around the world. Certainly, this is a fresh reminder of the important role of twitter in providing realtime news and regardless of the technical problems, #FreedomFlotilla did trend on Twitter. In Meedan, we gained an important experience reporting live on developments surrounding this story, adding a new component to traditional reporting: “live translation” – one of our key areas of expertise that... Read The Rest →
How you can help spark east-west dialogue with a delicious tag
If you’ve ever tagged a bookmark on delicious, you can help us. What? Yes, we want you to help us track, aggregate and translate the stories and sources you care about, using a popular bookmarking service on the web. All it takes is a simple tag: for_meedan. How? Imagine you’ve just read a brilliant article about Gaza that you feel needs to be seen more widely. You might share it with your close friends on facebook, or send it to a mailing list. But you can also pretty easily share... Read The Rest →
'This is international politics – ever evolving, artistically cunning' – Fadil Yula on Erdogan's WEF outburst
Read the Arabic original on Iraq of Tomorrow here. Translated into English by Ghaydaa. Can Erdogan’s Stance be Deemed Heroic and Revolutionary? One can only suspect that a case whose people have failed to take ownership over (at least from a historical perspective), will easily be targeted by those who would use and market it to serve their personal interests and agendas. It has become increasingly difficult to speculate the true intentions of today’s political activists, especially those who are seeking to fulfill their agendas in pretence of defending other... Read The Rest →
'Passengers of Lebanese aid boat returned after being held by Israel' – Al Jazeera translated
Read the Arabic original here. Translated into English by Deena. Al-Jazeera correspondent in Lebanon, Bushra Abdul Samad, reported that eight Lebanese including Al-Jazeera correspondent Salam Khidr, and photographer Muhammad Aliq, were on board of the Lebanese boat, al-Ukhwah, to break the siege imposed on Gaza. They arrived at the Lebanese territories through al-Naqurah crossing, one of the checkpoints on the Lebanon’s borders with Israel. The passengers of boat were attacked by the Israeli soldiers who smashed their equipment and confiscated their communication devices, before they redirected the boat to the... Read The Rest →
Wanted: Thousands of shoes for Palestinian-British play about civilian suffering in Gaza
After a week of heavy snow, Londoners may well be reaching for those old sneakers long since discarded at the bottom of the cupboard. But now a theater group has come up with another use for them – as the backdrop to a play highlighting the civilian suffering in Gaza. A joint Palestinian-British troupe this week launched an appeal for thousands of pairs of second hand shoes to form part of the set design for a its production, ‘Go to Gaza – Drink the Sea’. Zeitgeist and Passion Pit Theatre... Read The Rest →
'Beyond the Gaza earthquake': Rival Palestinian factions debate future as uncertainty hangs over reconciliation
Here are extracts from two articles written by Palestinians with very different perspectives on how to create the ‘independent and viable’ Palestinian state which US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has promised to work towards. If you want to discuss them more, join the conversation on Meedan or become a fan of our Facebook page. For more information on the outlets featured, see Meedan delicious account. Beyond the Gaza Earthquake, in Al Majd 2 February 2009 By Ibrahim Ghosheh. Translated by Deena for Meedan. Read the Arabic original here. On... Read The Rest →
UK press debates BBC decision to block Gaza aid appeal
Council for Arab-British Understanding London press review Tuesday 27 January. The Daily Telegraph Home News Minister unhappy at BBC decision on Gaza appeal Rosa Prince “The BBC’s refusal to screen a humanitarian appeal for Gaza has been criticised by Douglas Alexander, the International Development Secretary.” Gordon’s plea for a rescue from Khartoum to be sold at auction News Digest “This 125-year-old plea for rescue written in Arabic on a scrap of paper by General Gordon of Khartoum is to be sold.” World News We will not take any more Guantánamo... Read The Rest →
Obama in the Arab Press – the view from Syria
Whither America’s Stances? – Al-Thawra, 22/1/2009, by Ghalib Hasan Muhammad So many have fallen in Gaza but Obama said nothing, with the excuse that there is “one current president,” meaning of course that Bush is still the leader of monstrousness and neo-Nazism in the White House. No one should be surprised by Obama’s stance, despite the high hopes that he will stop American bias towards Israel. It seems that the liberal elite that is coming to power will constitute a huge hindrance for the struggle for peace and justice in... Read The Rest →
Why Israel can't make peace with Hamas – Jeffrey Goldberg in NY Times translated to Arabic
Read English original here. Translated by Hiba Traifeh. ترجمة هبة طريفة 14 كانون الثاني 2009 لماذا لا يمكن لإسرائيل أن تحقق السلام مع حماس؟ بقلم جيفري غولد بيرغ نشر في الثالث عشر من شهر كانون الثاني 2009 واشنطن في صيف عام 2006, و في اللحظة التي كانت فيها صواريخ حزب الله تسقط من دون مهلة محددة على شمالي إسرائيل, كان نزار ريان – زوج لأربعة نساء, و أب لاثني عشر ولدا, وعالم في الإسلام و منفذ لعمليات الإعدام – يعترف لي بواحدة من إحدى خيبات أمله. كنا نلتقي في المسجد... Read The Rest →
Gaza in focus – Karima Kamal questions MidEast unity in El Badeel
Where is the battle?! Karima kamal in the independent Egyptian daily Al Badeel. Translated by Osama. The way the Arabs politically use the issue of Gaza is the worst. They use it against themselves but against Israel. The worst is that Arabs used all the bloodshed, bodies and pain to attack and accuse each other. Despite the volume of the massacre, they did not forget their rivalries and did not let away their accounts. Despite the continuation and escalation of the massacre the Arabs did not hesitate to use it... Read The Rest →