Common Ground News Service

Tunisian Media – It’s ‘Not Up to the Mark’

Tunisian Media – It’s ‘Not Up to the Mark’

MOURAD TEYEB, CGNEWS: ‘With freedom comes responsibility’ goes the saying. The Tunisian media need to start taking their’s seriously.

 The Moor Next Door

Algeria & Libya: The Big Questions To Answer

Algeria & Libya: The Big Questions To Answer

TMND: It’s becoming clearer by the day that Algeria played a key role in supporting the Qadhafi regime, particularly in its dark, late days. The Algerians face some very uncomfortable questions

 mai abdul rahman

Palestinians Chart Own Path to Self Determination

Palestinians Chart Own Path to Self Determination

MAI ABDUL RAHMAN: The consistent failure of American intervention to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli issue has led Palestinians to take matters into their own hands. This strategy is paying off.

 James M. Dorsey

Damage limitation: China and Russia’s Options

Damage limitation: China and Russia’s Options

JAMES M. DORSEY: China and Russia could quietly establish relations with Syrian protesters if and when Mr. Assad is forced to relinquish power.

 Common Ground News Service

Semites Unite! You’ve Nothing to Lose but Conflict

Semites Unite! You’ve Nothing to Lose but Conflict

ROI BEN-YEHUDA, AZIZ ABU SARAH, CGNEWS: Are you pro-solution or pro-conflict? Pro-solution Palestinians and Israelis launch a new movement.

 Abu Muhammed

A Promise Deferred: Special Needs in Saudi

A Promise Deferred: Special Needs in Saudi

ABU MUHAMMED: As a rule, Gulf Arab countries talk big when it comes to doing something about its disabled population, but very little materializes

 Mondoweiss

Larry David & The ‘Palestinian Chicken’ Affair

Larry David & The ‘Palestinian Chicken’ Affair

JESSE BENJAMIN, MONDOWEISS: When Larry David turned his attention to the Palestinian issue it provoked a veritable fire-storm.

 Juan Cole

Ten Real Reasons To Attack the Bigoted Weiner

Ten Real Reasons To Attack the Bigoted Weiner

JUAN COLE: Forget about the ‘sexting scandal’, Anthony Weiner has a lot more to answer for than some private peccadilloes. His blind allegiance to Israel means that he’s played a uniformly sinister role on Middle East matters.

 Steve Royston

How Blogging Can Be Your Company’s Voice

How Blogging Can Be Your Company’s Voice

STEVE ROYSTON: “If you manage to persuade your CEO to write a blog, you’d better make sure he or she writes lively content. Otherwise their blog will have the opposite effect…”

 Common Ground News Service

‘Bacha Khan’: An Example for the Arab Spring

‘Bacha Khan’: An Example for the Arab Spring

ALI GOHAR, LISA SCHIRCH, CGNEWS: Drawing on Islamic and tribal teachings Bacha Khan headed a non-violent ‘army’ in India in the 1920s.

 Sultan Al Qassemi

A Compelling Case for a UAE State of the Union Address

A Compelling Case for a UAE State of the Union Address

SULTAN AL QASSEMI: This year is an ideal time for the UAE, the only successful union in the Arab world, to institutionalise a State of the Federation address.

 James M. Dorsey

Strauss-Kahn Arrest puts European control of IMF at risk

Strauss-Kahn Arrest puts European control of IMF at risk

JAMES M. DORSEY: Emerging markets are demanding that the heads of major international institutions be chosen on the basis of merit…

 SlimGulfie

Bahrain: Five Burning Questions Needing Answers

Bahrain: Five Burning Questions Needing Answers

SLIMGULFIE: Over half a million Bahrainis who share the same religion are now thoroughly divided by their two sects. It’s heartbreaking.

 Mondoweiss

An Inconvenient Truth: Ehud Barak Off Message

An Inconvenient Truth: Ehud Barak Off Message

MONDOWEISS: If Iran ever acquired nuclear weapons would it launch an attack on Israel? “Not on us and not on any neighbor.” The speaker? Ehud Barak…

 Steve Royston

Is it the Right Time For a New Bahraini Flag?

Is it the Right Time For a New Bahraini Flag?

STEVE ROYSTON: It may not seem a high priority item at this particularly sensitive point in Bahrain’s history but flags play a pivotal role in defining a nation’s sense of identity.

 James M. Dorsey

Soccer vs. Islam: The Battle for Egypt’s Future

Soccer vs. Islam: The Battle for Egypt’s Future

JAMES M. DORSEY: The calm with which Egyptians accepted defeat, contrasts starkly with riots that erupted on two continents in late 2009 when Algeria stopped Egypt making it to the 2010 World Cup.

 12345

Comment on The Reasons Why Saudi Arabia Will Not Fall by 12345

“Saudi Arabia doesn’t come close to the crimes perpetrated by Hosni Mubarak, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and Qaddafi on their people.”

Actually, it does. In fact, they’ve done and continue to do much, much worse. They continually oppress half of the population to an unthinkable degree, treating them as lower than dirt. That alone is worse than anything the aforementioned have done. I cannot understand why the world sits by and lets this policy continue in Saudi Arabia, when the apartheid regime in South Africa was so widely condemned. Gender apartheid is even worse than the apartheid of a race.

Meanwhile they enforce the death penalty for a number of “offences” including nonsense like witchcraft and have public executions. They’re also the world’s largest supplier of terrorists, and just about ever Islamist insurgency worldwide has ties with Saudi Arabia. Let’s not forget that the majority of the 9/11 suicide hijackers were from Saudi Arabia. Coincidence? I think not. The youth are indoctrinated with extremist Wahhabi values through their appalling education system which produces terrorists, anti-westernism, discrimination and plain ignorance.

Of course, greedy western nations are also at fault for legitimising this tyrannical regime.

 Mondoweiss

Frustration with U.S on Palestine Catalysing More Direct Measures

Frustration with U.S on Palestine Catalysing More Direct Measures

DAVID SCHWARTZMAN, MAI ABDUL, MONDOWEISS: The Middle East peace process is going nowhere fast and interested parties are giving up on the U.S.

 James M. Dorsey

Dismal Saudi Play in Asian Cup Sparks Debate

Dismal Saudi Play in Asian Cup Sparks Debate

JAMES M. DORSEY: A three-time Asian champion and finalist in six of the last seven Asian Cup tournaments, Saudi Arabia failed to advance in Qatar, losing all three matches it played.

 James M. Dorsey

Qatar 2022 World Cup A PR Boon, But Little Else

Qatar 2022 World Cup A PR Boon, But Little Else

JAMES M. DORSEY: Qatar will become the face of an Arab world that projects itself as rich, bold and futuristic – a dramatic contrast with current perceptions of conflict and conservatism.