There are almost 40,000 Arabic blogs out of the 37 million on the internet (1), (2). Although most of them were created in 2006, there influence and popularity has exceeded all expectations. The blogs act as a pain in the tooth for many Arab governments which fear citizens gaining the means to reveal their illegal and anti-democratic practices. The Egyptian bloggers, in particular, are pioneers who have guided other Arab bloggers. Some bloggers have suffered harassment and even imprisonment because of their online activities.
Despite the novelty of blogging in Arab world, it has become an effective tool for Arab bloggers to express themselves and reveal both public and personal grievances.
Many groups use this method to revealing issues normally taboo and passed over in silence in the Arab world. To give but a few examples, private details are discussed on blogs like " http://benkerishan.blogspot.com / " from the UAE, " http://bahai-egypt.blogspot.com / " discusses the Egyptian Bahaists, Mohamed Al-Hanfi's blog from Morocco is full of information about Marxism and syndicate issues, the Baheyya blog " http://baheyya.blogspot.com / " gives political analysis of Egyptian affairs, Al-Wa'e Al-Mesry's " http://misrdigital.blogspirit.com / " news from Egypt, and Mahmoud Yousef's Blog " http://mahmood.tv / " news and information from Bahrain.
Arab governments and information technology companies are highly disturbed by this powerful new tool. They have worked on blocking blogs (such as Ibn Krishan blog in the UAE), removing some posts (Rabah El-Que'y blogs in Jordanian from Blogs Aggregator), controlling blogs (such as the OCSAB blog aggregator in Saudi Arabia " http://www.ocsab.com / "), arresting and detaining some bloggers (Kareem Amer from Egypt ), and preventing some bloggers from travel (Hala Al-Masry).
Arab Blogs Rise in Tandem with Important Events
Arab blogs started to appear almost three years ago with blogs like Hawliat Saheb Al-Ashgar ( http://gharbeia.net / ), Serdal ( http://www.serdal.com / ), Tay El-Motasel ( http://zamakan.gharbeia.org / ), Tak Hanak ( http://digressing.blogspot.com / ), and Lenta'ada El-Tabi'ey ( http://beyondnormal.blogspot.com / ). Certain major events that took place participated in spreading this new media and encouraged many youths to create their own blogs. These were:
• A series of articles written by the renowned columnist Jihad Khazan in 2006, in Al-Hayat newspaper of London , on blogging and the internet in the world in general and in the Arab region in particular
• The reference by Egyptian columnist Mohamed Hassanien Hiekal in his interview with Al-Jazeera TV that he is extremely interested in the issues posted on the Baheyya blog
• The campaign launched in October 2005 to defend the Egyptian blogger Kareem Amer who was illegally arrested by Security Forces for what he wrote.
• Manalaa blog won Best Blog Prize from Reporters Without Borders and Al-Jazeera TV broadcasted this fact in a TV show on blogs
• Many Egyptian bloggers participated in the reform movement in Egypt, whether by online blogging or street activism, including the strike in Tahrir Square to support judges in their struggle against the state, and a demonstration titled "sweeping [urging] Al-Sayedda Zeinab to take action against Ministry of Interior" in Egypt
• The arrests of some Egyptian bloggers during the Egyptian judicial independence upheaval, and the sever torture of one of them - Mohamed Al-Sharkawy in May 2006
These major events participated in promoting blogs and bloggers all over the Arab world and encouraged many Arabs to create their own blogs. Internet users in general and youth in particular are extremely interested in practicing their right to freedom of expression via this tool.
Blogs - Freedom of Expression without the Usual "Buts"
Arab governments used to announce their support to freedom of expression and then qualify this with the word "but", which is normally followed by "according to: public security, religious morals and ethics…". In this way, the word "but" has formed a huge hole in citizens right to freedom of expression which religious extremists and police forces use to justify the confiscation of newspapers, the blocking of websites, and a host of other forms of harassment.
Bloggers often ignore the "but" and practice their right to freedom of expression without fear of harassment or any other restrictions. Eventually, since they embody freedom of expression and therefore say what others dare not to, they are able to reach an audience with trusts their more honest coverage (3).
One of the reasons why blogs have become so popular all over the Arab world is their use of Arabic colloquial language (as opposed to the more formal Arabic normally used in the media which is different to the everyday spoken language that people use to communicate with each other in their homes and on the street), they also use the same expressions that are used in the streets and cafes in their writing. This encouraged the youth to use their own spoken language in writing (which is normally discouraged in favor of the more formal language used in written Arabic).
The post titled "Masturbate, Masturbate … in Every Place" written by Manal is the best proof of the use of bold and free language in blog writing (4). The post narrates an incident that happened to Manal while traveling to Milan in Italy , while a man was masturbating in the seat just beside her. This aroused a discussion between Manalaa readers concerning the use of such bold expressions. Some supported this as a proof on credibility and the honest rendering of the event. More than 40,000 people read this post. Most comments posted encouraged the use of plain, direct language in the blog. Many blogs use bold titles like Tafayat Sagaer (An Ashtray) ( http://tafaya.blogspot.com / ), La Wahad Iftiraadi Wala 9eezi (He/ She is not all that) ( http://lawahadiftiraadiwala6eezi.blogspot.com / ), Ya Akhi Aha (Pisss Off) ( http://yakhya7a.blogspot.com / ), Harat Abeih Afandy (Filthy Mouthed Boss Man) ( http://abei7afandy.blogspot.com / ). Even BBC used the title "Malh and Felfel" (Hot and Spicy) for the Arabic blogs section ( http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/arabic / ).
Arabic Blogs: Troubling those long used to monopolizing power
While reviewing Arabic blogs, one can see the wide range of issues that they deal with, including - literary writings, personal issues, or technical tips. There are also a huge amount of political issues discussed and this is part of the reason of blogs' popularity particularly there relationships with political movements supporting Democracy in the Arab world.
As previously mentioned, the activity of the Arab bloggers in the political field has resulted in the arrest of many of them. The oppression practiced by the government against bloggers (. detention in Egypt , blocking in Saudi Arabia , Tunisia , and UAE) does not stop the bloggers' call for Democracy and reform.
For example, the first person who dared to post the photo of the officer infamous for torture in Egypt was Alaa Abdul Fattah. He posted the photo of State Security officer Walid Al-Dosuky who is famous for torturing people in police stations. The title of the post was "The Head of State Security Torturers Walid El-Dosuky" (5). The blog also has some stories relating to the tyranny of this officer who stood in the street during demonstrations to take photos of demonstrators with his mobile phone camera. It is noteworthy that many human rights organizations have published the name of this officer before as a violator of human rights for torturing detainees.
The most famous blog is that of Mahmoud Yousef in Bahrain ( http://mahmood.tv / ), which was blocked. Mahmoud launched a campaign to eliminate discrimination according to religion. The campaign was titled "Not Sunni, not Shiite, only Bahraini". His blog very respectful and makes excellent us of his right to freedom of expression. Mahmoud' commented on the blocking his weblog – a decision made by the Minister of information - by saying that "I did not insult or defame any person, and if I proved to do so I will bear the consequences" (6).
In addition, the Egyptian blogger and student Abdul Kareem Nabiel Soliman was expelled from Al-Azhar University and kidnapped by state security forces because of his writings, in October 2005 (7). The same blogger is detained by the public prosecutor as a result of a complaint made by Al-Azhar University against him. He is accused of insulting religion and defaming President Mubarak, in addition to announcing himself as a secularist. Kareem wrote a post entitled "No God but Human". It is this that the Public Prosecutor and Al-Azhar considered contempt of religion.
Arabic Blogging and the Future
A constant struggle – governments will try to blocking internet user and bloggers will try to dodge round the blocks!
With the increasing number of bloggers, the suppression by Arab governments against freedom of expression will also increase. "Oppression is practiced in the Middle East . Yet, we might see more mechanism to punish these bloggers in the future," the Executive Director of the Committee to Protect Bloggers, Kurt Hearts, said (8).
The campaigns launched by international organizations interested in human rights issues (Reporters without Borders and Amnesty International), the technical developments which helped to hide the real identity of bloggers, and the fact the web cannot be controlled, will not eliminate oppression. However, this will clearly reveal the true face of these governments. On the other hand, the internet and bloggers will succeed in revealing the governments' illegitimate practices.
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1-Interview with Malik Mustpher, Amro Garbiyya, Egyptian Bloggers, Cairo 2006.
2-Le Monde Diplomatique, August 2006, Arabic version by Manwel Casters.
3-For example the sexual harassment on the streets of Cairo that the government denied but was clear covered by the blogging community.
4-Alaa and Manal Blog, October 5 2005, http://www.manalaa.net/a7a_department/airplane_wanker visited September 12 2006.
5-"The Head of State Security Torturers Walid El-Dosuky" 30 April 2006, http://www.manalaa.net/master_torturer_walid_el_desoky visited July 14 2006.
6-http://mahmood.tv/?page_id=2867
7-http://karam903.blogspot.com /
8-http://www.kitab.nl/2006/01/08/modawwana-misriyya translated by Sami ben Garbiyya
