Group items tagged

Egyptian art historian and graffiti artist, Bahia Shehab, discusses how she was first commissioned for an art piece in 2010 called "A Thousand Times No" that consisted of the way the word "no" had been represented in history over different continents in different art works. This later translated into her graffitiing the word all over Egypt as a way to speak out again the dictators and the violence that she witnessed.

This article is about how Egypt has implemented laws for sexual harassment in Egypt. Although it has been implemented there are still problems with it. These problems range from enforcing the law to the wording and excluding of words.

Rising tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia were given fresh fuel Monday with both sides issuing tit-for-tat verbal volleys. Regional rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran have been trading blows in an escalating war of words since Saturday following the former's move to execute prominent Shiite opposition cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr. Iran's Shiite leaders blasted the Sunni kingdom verbally, while protesters in Tehran stormed the Saudi Arabian embassy.

"The Poetry of Revolution" discusses the ideas behind the street chants shouted out by the Egyptian people in their times of revolution. It focuses on the history of Egypt's uprisings and how they have changed before. This article was written a few days after the initial January 25th uprisings and attempts to explain how the chants take on a greater meaning to the protesters. Because they are given words to yell and shout, they are able to bind together and announce the same goals. Colla discusses how if the people did not have these chants, they would be too afraid to stand for their revolutions.

This is a response by several groups about Obamas adress regarding the attacks on ISIS within Syria. Damascus and the Assad regime and the Coalition of Syria are fighting for control of Syria and are at odds with the Presidents words. Also a Russian minister accused these proposed atatcks of being "an act of agression" and would violate international law. Yes, because Russia ALWAYS abides by international law

This article explores the idea that the Constitution with Ba'ath Party intentions and ideology, intertwined in every word, allows for unlimited actions that Assad could take. It is at the point where the president could constitutionally change the Constitution simply if all of his demands are not met.

This link is to a video created by a Saudi Arabian man. It is a sarcastic video frequently singing the words "no woman, no drive". In the video a man and his friends sing about women staying in the backseat and not touching the steering wheel. It is sarcastic, the men in the video are for women's rights, particularly the right to drive.

This article also discusses the two sides of the issue, those for equality and those against it. At the end of the article, there is an interesting perspective I have not seen yet. The perspective of a man. He claims that men are slaves to women every day. When it is worded like that it seems to some men the issue of inequality is not just an issue for women but also for men.

After mounting domestic and international political pressure, the Foreign Minister of Turkey Mevlut Cavusoglu announced that Turkey will allow some Kurdish forces to cross the border into Syria to fight the Islamic State in the Syrian town of Kobane. Turkey will not allow all Kurdish forces to fight, and will only allow the Peshmerga, rather than the PKK, to cross the border. "Peshmerga" is a Kurdish word for armed fighters, but more specifically refers to nationalist soldiers for an independent Kurdish state.

This is a repost to learn how this works.

Like many in Beirut this summer, I found out about one of the recent bombings from a WhatsApp message on my mobile phone. I received a single word text from a friend: infijar (explosion). A second later the image below popped up on my phone screen. ...

This article talks about how poetry is similar to the revolution because of the way it has transformed the people; the revolution has changed common moments and common people into inspiring times the way poetry changes common words into something extraordinary. It talks about how both poetry and revolution have been able to seek justice and tear down symbols of powers. For these revolution, poetry has been able to keep the needs and wants of the people alive and real.

An article from the International Business Times discussing the involvement of Russian troops in the Syrian Civil War and a video of Russian troops "training" in Syria. I've put the word "training" because I believe that as much is I believe that as much as I believe Pres. Kennedy when he said we sent "advisers" to Vietnam.

Today, countries across the world are being terrorised and ravaged by extremism; both territory and minds conquered by a militant and ideological crusade. Right or wrong, the mere mention of the word "terrorism" conjures up images of bearded Muslim men - kalashnikovs in hand - intent on eradicating any thought, person or object which runs contrary to their narrow fundamentalist ideology.

Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah has died. The health of Abdullah bin Abdulaziz al-Saud had previously been the subject of rumors; word emerged earlier this month that he was indeed ill with a lung infection. Abdullah was 90 years old. He ruled Saudi Arabia for nearly 10 years, having assumed the throne after his brother King Fahd died in 2005.

This artifact focuses on Aya Tarek, a 24 year old Egyptian graffiti artist, who discusses how she began her journey into the art scene and what she believes in. An avid supporter of the revolution, Tarek also talks about how important it is to fight not only for the causes you believe in, but also for who you are.

This artifact is from Syrian writer, Mohamed Raouf Bachir, and discusses the the feelings a refugee experiences when fleeing from the hellish Middle East into a place where there is uncertainty of acceptance, but somewhere that still feels like freedom.