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This article offers a more lighthearted perspective on media and freedom of speech in the middle east. It focuses on the idea that comedy and satire can be used as a form of free speech through platforms such as youtube. People can relate to comedic forms of entertainment, so it can often be a great way to spread important messages to people who wouldn't see them otherwise.

This article offers a more lighthearted perspective on media and freedom of speech in the middle east. It focuses on the idea that comedy and satire can be used as a form of free speech through platforms such as youtube. People can relate to comedic forms of entertainment, so it can often be a great way to spread important messages to people who wouldn't see them otherwise.

The author of this article strongly opposes Social Media companies, specifically Twitter censoring ISIS related materials on their website. The author argues it violates free speech and the democratic principles associated with the website, arguing censoring a beheading video would be a slippery slope for future content.

The lack of freedom of speech is Saudi Arabia is incredibly apparent. This article talks about Saudi Arabia and the apparent that the country has a number of problems dealing with free speech and free press

On Sunday, Sept. 28, President Sisi made a speech at Cairo University, declaring his affection and support for the Egyptian youth. He also warned the students against "malicious" activities and that universities were "solely for education." The speech followed the draft of a new controversial law allowing for the arbitrary firing of faculty members. Sisi pledged to dedicate state resources like special councils and scholarship funds to the cause of the youth demographic.

This is an article for Hurriyet Daily News, an online newspaper based in Istanbul.On October 5, many neighborhoods on Turkey's border with Syria were evacuated. I thought this news article was interesting because it quotes a speech by Turkey's president in which he addresses his viewpoint on the PKK. The organization has been banned in Turkey and is considered a terrorist organization. He says that ISIS/ISIL and the PKK are equivalent groups, and that the PKK is using the current conflict with ISIS to manipulate public opinion.

This is an article for Hurriyet Daily News, an online newspaper based in Istanbul.On October 5, many neighborhoods on Turkey's border with Syria were evacuated. I thought this news article was interesting because it quotes a speech by Turkey's president in which he addresses his viewpoint on the PKK. The organization has been banned in Turkey and is considered a terrorist organization. He says that ISIS/ISIL and the PKK are equivalent groups, and that the PKK is using the current conflict with ISIS to manipulate public opinion.

The news today says that ISIS has all but taken a Syrian Kurdish border city with Turkey, called Kobane. Not surprised that Erdogan would conflate the two groups, while the US is trying to activate Kurdish militants to resist ISIS. I was chatting with another student in my office today and we were wondering if the duty and suffering that have devolved onto the Kurds in this crisis might reinvigorate their push for a nation-state of their own.

This is an opinion piece written by Cegniz Aktar, Senior Scholar at the Istanbul Policy Center, a director at the UN, and one of the leading advocates of Turkey's integration into the EU. In this piece, Aktar argues that Turkish politician "fearing the birth of a Kurdish nation-state more than anything but eager on the other hand to assert their regional supremacy, are ending up by alienating all three Kurdish communities" in Iraq, Syria, and Turkey. He is referring specifically to President Ankara making a speech comparing the PKK to ISIL, a few days after stating that the PKK should be fighting ISIL rather than Turkey. Even though the Turkish government has been an economic partner of the Iraqi Kurds, they have offered them no military support, and have also preventing Turkish Kurds from joining the fight against ISIL. The Turkish government's fear of a sovereign Kurdish state is leading to extremely poor diplomatic outcomes.

The Turkish President was subject to international criticism after his remarks at a gathering in Istanbul aimed at discussing women's rights and freedoms, in which he said that gender equality is "against nature". In his speech, Ergodan stated that Islam has defined a role for women in society, and that that role is motherhood. He also offered a strong admonishment to Turkish feminists, whom he says have rejected motherhood. Women's and human's rights activists have consistently criticized Ergodan and the AKP party since they came into power in 2003, claiming that Turkey has increasingly become authoritarian and politically conservative.

In this Bloomberg article, the details of President Obama's speech on an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal were examined. Discussing the issues presenting on both sides (including the highly controversial Israeli settlements), President Obama pushed for a deal based upon the 1967 delineated lines.

This is an article from ahramonline that discusses how newspapers are supporting the government and censoring certain topics. This article briefly illustrates the restrictions on freedom of speech in Egypt. 

This is another cartoon from Oum Cartoon of a cartoon illustrating the current issue of censorship in Egypt. The cartoon is a reaction of how the media is now supporting the government and how it will not demean them.  

November 10, 2014 : By Drew Menard/Liberty University News Service Rick Santorum, the one-time presidential candidate, took the stage at Liberty University's Convocation on Monday to emphasize the important role that America plays in shaping the world. In order for this influence to continue, he added, it is imperative that Americans remain grounded in morality. How weird is that?? ^^^ So I was going to post the article that criticizes how Rick Santorum blatantly links Islam straight to violence and talks about how different they are from Christians, but its interesting to see how reframing happens in media so shamelessly. The above description is about how Santorum's speech (which took place at a conservative college) was so enlightening... even though it was totally just a political stunt because he's running for Prez in 2016 (lol other article: http://thinkprogress.org/world/2014/09/29/3573218/rick-santorum-baptist-ministers-jihad/)

Israeli media reports that Obama administration would cease providing Israel with updates on the West's negotiations with Iran.

In 2011 when Ben Ali decided to leave the country, Tunisia, went into an uproar. Corruption, Jobs and freedom of speech were some of the main reasons for this uproar. This article briefly touches on these 3 reasons.

With social media being such an open platform, it can lead to some issues. At the same time, people want to keep rights such as freedom of speech in place. This article discusses a conference held to uphold cyber safety in the Middle East. It discussed how important it is to protect this global platform because it connects the society around the globe in a way that the world has never seen

This article from The Guardian describes what happened when Mubarak tried to shut down social media in the Egypt in 2011. It touches on many issues such as the protests following this event and the relation to censorship and freedom of speech.

This report discusses the conditions of the media in Saudi Arabia. It claims that in 2012 Saudi Arabia media environment "remained among the most repressive the the world." It also talked about the fact that their government justified this repression by saying that it violated the Islamic Sharia law. This brought up and interesting point, because I had never thought about freedom of speech and religious freedom being linked in this regard.