The Palestinian Women Who Dared to Dream
NORA MURAD, CGNEWS: How do you encourage women afflicted by a ‘can’t do’ mentality to build a park? By challenging them with one simple word: ‘Dream’
Libya: MidEast Model or Revolution To Go Awry?
JAMES M. DORSEY: Libyans unlike Egyptians and Tunisians will be in a position to dismantle the former regime’s apparatus.
Should There Be A ‘Standard Ramadan Time’?
IBN WARRAQ, THE VIEW FROM FEZ: With Ramadan times varying hugely around the world is it time, for the sake of individuals’ health, to adopt a standard time?
Aqaba: To Boldly Go Where No King Has Gone Before
JUAN COLE: Klingons and Romulans wandering through the souk in Aqaba? Could be sooner than you think if King Abdullah’s ambitious plans come to fruition.
Reasons to be Cheerful: A Poem entitled ‘Smile’
THE MOOR NEXT DOOR: Elia Abu Madi was a very well-respected Syro-Lebanese poet in the early twentieth century.
Pigeon Rocks: Re-Discovering the Beauty of Beirut
MICH CAFE: Many places were out of bounds during the Civil War so it came as an enormous pleasure to wander freely during my recent trip.
Living in My Jordanian ‘Bubble’: Lessons Learned
NASEEM TARAWNAH: So Jordan’s Independence Day has come and gone. It’s a good time perhaps to reflect on some of the lessons I’ve learned.
Obama’s Speech: The Key Points Made
THE MOOR NEXT DOOR: There was little new in Obama’s ‘Arab Spring’ speech. Nervous light criticism of Bahrain, no reference to Gulf allies and a minor poke of Israel.
Protecting Arabic In Digital Communications
CROSSROADS ARABIA: No language—not even ‘dead’ languages like Latin—are immune to change. Latin is constantly developing to deal with new technology and social developments.
Opportunity Knocks in the Saudi Oil Conundrum
MISHAAL AL GERGAWI: Unlike an Emirati or Qatari, a Saudi doesn’t have delusional expectations of financial entitlement and pre-deserved stature at the marketplace. A Saudi is glad to find a job at all.
Strange Timing: Saudi Announces Nuclear Deal
CROSSROADS ARABIA: With demand for energy soaring in the Kingdom it’s no surprise that the authorities are looking at nuclear energy. In the wake of the Fukushima catastrophe they will, though, face questions from an uneasy public.
Dismal Education System Threatens GCC Future
MISHAAL AL GERGAWI: We seem to be in a constant state of ‘re-assessment’ or ‘re-evaluation’ of education in the region. Bottom line: We’re still not delivering.
The Saudi Time Machine – Only Goes Backwards
EMAN AL NAFJAN: These past couple of weeks have convinced me the government has made a huge scientific discovery, the time machine.
Among the People of Benghazi: A Westerner’s View
MICHAEL J. TOTTEN: Very little seems to be known about the rebels who are fighting Qaddafi. When I found out that a trusted source was effectively ’embedded’ with them I had a few questions to put to her.
An Inflection Point for Arab Entrepreneurialism
ALEXANDER MCNABB: Seeing this level of digital entrepreneurialism in the region is a delight and, rightly or wrongly, I see ArabNet as an inflection point.
Why the West Supports Autocracy & Democracy
TMND: The dominant official American attitude toward democratic reform in Egypt is concerned with the possibility that the Muslim Brothers might sweep the polls.
A Message for Davos – Waste Not, Want Not
STEVE ROYSTON: Taxpayers’ money that could have been spent on new hospitals, refurbished schools, or improved public transport – down the drain.
Tunisia: How We Got Here and the Task Ahead
RAMZY BAROUD: In Tunisia that ‘unprecedented anger” has reaped unprecedented results, leaving Tunisia with the great task of rebuilding a civil society.
Saudi Arabia – Why Western Consultants Fail
STEVE ROYSTON: If they are to be lasting, appropriate and sustainable, the solutions themselves must come from within, not from the West.
Demographics, Expats, Rights – & Hope in Football
JAMES M. DORSEY: Just 13% of the UAE’s population has citizenship. In Qatar it’s 26% and Kuwait 34%. And those percentages are dropping.
