Syrian Media Project

“International organizations have described the human rights status in Syria as being one of the worst in the world, with security forces having a long history of harassing and imprisoning rights activists and critics of the government.” ---Al Jazeera


When our group chose Syria, it was really because most of us knew very little about their media system. Now I understand why. Although protests and death tolls in Syria have been flooding the international news as of late, media within the country is very difficult to follow.


This is because censorship in the Syrian media is one of the most severe in the world. The government imposes serious restrictions on the state press. Journalists have to apply for licenses from the government in order to write anything, and even then, that license can be revoked at anytime due to controversy in its content. This is allowed under emergency laws that have been in since 1963. If any information is deemed 'a threat to public safety and security' it will be removed at the will of government officials such as the Minister of Information or Minister of Culture.


Not only does state-imposed censorship occur, but cultural and social censorship as well. Many independent TV stations will not show programs which they find unfit for the public. This may be due to fear or a strong feeling of responsibility to protect social, cultural and religious integrity.


The problem with the movement in Syria right now (despite social media and access to information being severely restricted) is that, unlike Egypt and Tunisia, the movement is highly fractured. The entire populace is not in support of the protests, in fact there are Assad loyalists that are working to undermine the effectiveness of social media. For example, loyalists are flooding Twitter with the common hashtags #Syria, #Daraa and #Mar15 that have been used by protestors, in order to draw attention away from the protestor's point of view and get more of the loyalist perspective out there.


I find it really interesting that since Twitter and Facebook have come to represent a great tool for dissenters and protestors now the opposition is adjusting to combat this. Since censorship and restrictions can only go so far, now enemies of the revolution are working within social media to gain support for their cause. 


It's amazing how quickly people have learned to adapt to such a situation. This project has truly opened my eyes about Syria specifically and I really can't wait to compare our findings with the other group's findings about their countries in the same region.


Big things to look out for. Things are not always as they seem. We used to think we could get an accurate perspective of people just by reading Twitter, now we must look deeper in what we thought was so honest to stuff below the surface, such as flooding Twitter to manipulate hashtag searches and represent a small loyalist group on a larger scale so they appear bigger than they are.


Not to sound like a conspiracy theorist, but if the common public is blocked from Twitter, how do you think these loyalists are getting their Tweets out? 


Food for thought.

The Gay Identity in the Middle East

Video about Gay Palestinians in Israel:

We were presented with this really interesting video in class which explores how young homosexual Palestinians living in and around Israel are trying to find their place in society. The challenge to their identity is multi-faceted. Not only do these people feel condemned by the Islamic religion which is predominant in most Arab countries for being gay, but they also feel condemned in Israel for being Palestinians. Their many identities seem to contradict each other which leaves many people feeling lost. The issue of sexuality aside, I'm sure any Arab who is also Israeli or any Jewish person in parts of the Arab world feel uncomfortable and as though the everyday identity they display does not reflect who they truly are. This is because one feels they must hold back truths, whether they are religious, political or sexual.

The idea of exploring a more progressive approach to sexuality in the Middle East sadly seems to be a long-shot. Although America prides itself on equality, I'm sure every American homosexual has still experienced social injustice or prejudice and that is in a place where individual rights and preferences are not outlawed. In much of the Middle East any homosexual PDA is actually illegal. It has taken us a long time to come to a place of better understanding and acceptance and even we have a long way to go. I can't imagine how must young people feel if their entire society actually outlaws what they feel in their hearts. This can be true for any difficult identity one tries to accept about themselves, but I really sympathize for those who could never imagine a life without keeping that part of you a secret. This will be an interesting issue to watch develop and hopefully videos like this will at the very least raise awareness about the issue itself. Thoughts?

Libya and International Support

This is a video posted by another student in my MENA class which I wanted to share with any readers outside of my Dickinson classmates. It's really interesting and good at displaying the kind of support the rebels have been given as well as giving the situation of politicians and newspapers a face on the ground. So many people are continuing to die, but the spirits of the people still seem fairly high.

U.S. and Libyan Relations

I just finished a briefing paper for my American Foreign Policy class which chronicled the history of U.S. relations with Libya under both King Idris I and now leader Muammar Gadhafi. The paper called for a policy recommendation section at the end which really forced me to look at what the U.S. should do/continue doing. The U.S's past with Gadhafi has been extremely tumultuous, and the more research I did, reading interviews given by Gadhafi himself from the 1980s through 2002, the more I realized what a great opportunity this is for Libya as well as a great opportunity to redeem better relations between the two countries.

After imposing economic sanctions, bombing Tripoli and Benghazi under Reagan and enduring situations like the Libyan bombing of flight Pan Am 103 which killed nearly 200 Americans, the U.S. completely isolated Libya, isolating practices which was later endorsed by UNSC resolutions. The country has gone through a lot and now with the gross human rights violations committed by Gadhafi, this revolution offers great hope for future generations of both Libyans and Americans and their relationship together.

So there is good news and bad news to this situation:

The good news is that the U.S. has played it smart in offering technical assistance, training and air support but has kept their objectives limited without deploying ground troops and on March 30th relinquished the responsibility of leading the international coalition to NATO. The fact that such multi-lateral efforts are being employed on the behalf of the Libyan rebels is very encouraging. A sense of Arab unity over this conflict has swept the region as the Arab League and many individual Arab countries have actively come out in support of the Rebels. Among these main supporters are Egypt, who have supplied arms, and Qatar and the UAE who have both taking leading roles in enforcing the UN sanctioned "no-fly" zone. Just recently Abdul-Ati al-Obeidi, former Libyan prime minister is rumored to be in talks with the UN and the West in order to put an end to air strikes.

Now for the bad news.
Gadhafi has adapted his military tactics now, bringing his strikes to the ground since the "no-fly" zone has made air strikes more difficult. In this way, it is almost as if he is daring the U.S. and UN to send in ground troops, which was rejected as a possibility even before these parties engaged. The struggle between the rebels, who are based out of Benghazi (a city that has undergone heavy bombing of civilians), and Gadhafi military and loyalists is constantly in flux. It is hard to tell who has the upper hand from one day to the next. Unfortunately, despite U.S. efforts to offer support, the Libyan rebels have criticized the U.S. NATO, and the UN for not being active enough in their fight. Just 3 days ago Obama released an Op-Ed with other Western leaders reiterating the objectives of their support but more strongly emphasizing the necessity for Gadhafi to disappear.

So here we are. We are presented with a challenge. My personal feeling is that no ground troops should be deployed because the integrity of the revolution being a Libyan "bottom-up" revolution must be preserved. That being said, I would hope other countries who are a part of the international coalition might step up in more of a leading role as the U.S. is unable to offer that at this time due to involvement in two other costly conflicts. Interests are there, and I'm not just talking about oil. Interests in the people being able to take back their country and instill a democracy that may endure independent from U.S. construction. I think that is the only way democracy can endure. I would urge Israel, who has offered some support to the rebels to continue to support them as not only is it the right thing to do, but it improves Israel's image in the region and may open the door for a future alliance with Libyan leaders who will be decided after this conflict if Gadhafi is ousted.

One things for sure, Gadhafi must go, and the entire international community, the Arab world and Libyan people are in agreement on that.

Now what happens next to ensure this outcome? I wish I knew.

Virtual Reality As A Tool For Diverse Dialogue

Today in class we had a Skype conversation with two people who had conducted a study on how the virtual world "second life" (SL) offered a great forum for dialogue and expression in the Middle East. It is a fascinating subject. Exploring the virtual world as a way of connecting with people of different beliefs transcending challenges like geography, finances (to an extent), and opportunity is something very valuable and has been looked into as a tool by the CIA as well. While all of this is good stuff, I tend to be skeptical of the reach it has as of now.

For one thing, virtual reality has a bad connotation with many people who think about others pretending to be something other than themselves. Now with all the fears of internet predation, obsessive users and a closer connection to fantasy than reality many are left with a bad taste in their mouth. This is not my main problem. Using virtual reality as a tool is limited. One of the conductors of the study mentioned how on a virtual hajj (pilgrimage to the holy site of Mecca) she spoke with a man and was able to converse with him and ask questions about Islam, a dialogue that would not have taken place had she actually been there. While this is great for that experience, I am forced to question if it is truly a representation of the Middle Eastern and a way of reaching out to those who don't understand each other? And what about a language barrier for an average user?

In many places, internet is unreliable (let alone not containing the bandwidth necessary for such virtual forums), having the technology can be expensive and anyone who chooses to go on something like SL is thus volunteering for such a dialogue and must be open-minded to begin with. If the goal is to reach the masses, than we are not there yet. There are many open minded people in the ME as there are in the US. Those people are not the problem. It is the ones who refuse to put themselves out there to learn and clarify misunderstandings in places all over the world that present the problem of not seeing eye to eye. As of now, I cannot imagine these people are using forums like SL as a tool for dialogue. Those who currently use it must be of an elite group, be it education, financial, or political. This elite does not represent the masses for either Westerners or Arabs.

I will say this, the idea is good and should definitely be pursued, but through our conversation with these specialists, I did not feel they understood the reality of the limitations in their virtual reality. I felt the value of the project was trying to be sold to me rather than presenting the information to be taken as it is. Certain examples were too played up in importance and I felt necessary questions and doubts were being excluded from mention.

This will be a really interesting tool to watch develop as the potential may be great, but as of now there are too many limitations in place to make it accessible and widespread to achieve the intended result. Of course, who knew blogging, Twitter and Facebook could become such an influential tool?

Glenn Beck's Rant on Jared Cohen (Cont. of last post)

Clip I refer to in my former post before this one...

For reference.

Just found the exact clip that I had read about and now I'm even more irate.

Just look how he attempts to frame these events and make connections between Cohen and radical groups. With his poster and screen and pointer, he is making it seem so academic but they are such vague and misconstrued connections. This is a certified conspiracy theorist spinning his wheels and injuring the hard work of others as well as putting them at risk for things they have no conscious connection with. Oh and Beck says "who is Jared Cohen" well sir, in 2007 you had him as a guest on your show and praised him for his book Children of Jihad. Could you really have forgotten him that fast or just need someone's head on a stick? Plus a couple of the groups he links with Cohen's organization in questioning its ties to terrorism are charities that stand for social justice like Invisible Children which works to abolish the use of child soldiers in Uganda, to name but one which I know to be honorable. Yes Mr. Beck, I have done my research, have you?

One other thing, I was in Egypt, and before all of the internet was cut out by a dictator tyrant (Mubarak), Google was fully accessible. In fact I'm fairly sure you can get it in most countries, especially ones that foster democracy which is something you have always spoken for isn't it Mr. Beck. Good ol' American values of Democracy, Freedom and God's granted rights.

I am sickened...

YouTube of Beck's Interview with Cohen back in 2007

 

Transcript of Beck's interview with Cohen

http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/196/2725/

Instigators of the Revolutions?

So now, as if it is important to look for abstract people to blame for the "facebook" revolutions in Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, Yemen and other areas of the greater Middle East, Glenn Beck has pointed his ever so "self-righteous" finger at a one, Jared Cohen. Jared Cohen is one of the youngest members of the State Department who worked under both Secretary Rice and Clinton. He is a graduate of Stanford and a Rhodes Scholar and author of the book Children of Jihad in which he illuminates the processes that turn some of the Muslim youth to radicalism. He recently left the State Department to work for Google, and has been credited (and blamed) for bringing social media into politics and governments. Obviously this is one smart guy and brought fresh technological ideas to the State Department. He utilized Twitter as a resource for spreading information more quickly and bringing people together over commonalities.

Much as he should be credited for the spread of such a valuable resource, Glenn Beck, who calls him out as someone to be blamed for the spreading revolutions is completely off the mark. The scary thing is, people LISTEN to this man. Now, I am a moderate and not biased against conservatives but this is not the first completely out of the world of reason comment that Mr. Beck has made. He makes republicans look bad. In a former post I mentioned how he criticized Hilary Clinton for promoting Al Jazeera as a legitimate news source and urging our news networks to step up our game in the information wars.

It truly saddens and angers me that Glenn Beck is such a influential figure to a substantial American audience. He seems to be completely bent on US supremacy. While we must continue to protect our interests and maintain our personal sovereignty and security, it is really important to realize that this is a new era for the Middle East in which they have a chance at everything our values stand for. Constitutions, human rights, democracy, etc. The idea that this is about us is so selfish. We must play it carefully and monitor where threats could be, but it is insulting and angering for a figure like Mr. Beck to accuse a US civil servant who has worked tirelessly for this country and peace in others of conspiring against his own country. Beck has always been out for blood it seems, and I am ashamed to have his words broadcasted around the world as an "American" opinion. I am so thankful even that Glenn Beck and I can freely express what it is we believe. Give others a chance for that, be it Twitter, Facebook, Blogs and any other type of media!

One last point, then I promise, I'm done.

Revolutions, though aided by social media, are not invented by them. It is the modern version of underground newspapers and publicly distributed fliers. This is nothing new, just faster and more accessible now. Its the next logical step towards using these tools.

Jared Cohen's Blog/Twitter

Old Blog
http://jaredcohen.wordpress.com/
New Blog
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jared-cohen
Twitter
http://twitter.com/jaredcohen


It was Mr. Cohen who asked Twitter to stay up foregoing scheduled maintenance so Iranians could continue to utilize it during their public uprisings.


"On Monday afternoon, a 27-year-old State Department official, Jared Cohen, e-mailed the social-networking site Twitter with an unusual request: delay scheduled maintenance of its global network, which would have cut off service while Iranians were using Twitter to swap information and inform the outside world about the mushrooming protests around Tehran.

The request, made to a Twitter co-founder, Jack Dorsey, is yet another new-media milestone: the recognition by the United States government that an Internet blogging service that did not exist four years ago has the potential to change history in an ancient Islamic country. ...

Twitter complied with the request, saying in a blog post on Monday that it put off the upgrade until late Tuesday afternoon — 1:30 a.m. Wednesday in Tehran — because its partners recognized “the role Twitter is currently playing as an important communication tool in Iran.” The network was working normally again by Tuesday evening."
- Taken from JTA Blogs