Monthly Archives: February 2007

Let’s Meet and Talk

I think some readers of this blog still remember the sorry incidents that happened during last year’s Riyadh International Book Fair. You can find some of the posts I have written on the occasion on the sidebar. The 2nd edition of RIBF will open on Tuesday at the same location: Riyadh Exhibitions Center in the northern area of the capital, and it will remain open until March 9.

During a press conference last week, Abdul-Aziz al-Sabeel, deputy minister of information for cultural affairs, announced there will be some changes from regarding the entrance arrangements. There will not be any days for families only. The book fair will be open to everybody, men and women, except for the evening period of three days which will be only open to men. I have to admit that such change is unusual and was not expected, not from my part anyway. The new arrangement was the fruit of a deal between the ministry and the Committee for Promoting of Virtue and Prevention of Vince, al-Sabeel said. “There is going to be a large number of CPVPV members present in the fair carrying their ID cards,” he added.

Similar to last year, there will be a number of cultural events on the sidelines of RIBF. However, as I can see from the program, the organizers have decided to avoid the controversies that occurred last year by choosing a certain kind of topics and speakers. Even though the program is not as interesting as last year’s, I will be attending some events. Here is a list of the evens I intend to attend:

– The Arabic Culture and the Ottoman State. 28/2/07 @ 18:15
– Electronic Publishing: a Battle with Paper. 28/2/07 @ 20:00
– Between Culture and Politics. 2/3/07 @ 18:15
– Intellectual Property. 2/3/07 @ 20:00
– Human Rights: a Dialogue from a Distance. 4/3/07 @ 18:15
– Western Books on Islam after September 11. 5/3/07 @ 20:00
– The Road to the Kingdom: Readings in Travel Books. 6/3/07 @ 20:00
– The Arab World and Reading. 7/3/07 @ 20:00
– Book Covers. 8/3/07 @ 18:15

I hope it would be a good assortment of brain food, and hey, if you are going to be there, let’s meet and talk! You know how do I look like, so if you see me you can just stop by and say hi. Actually, I would love to see some bloggers there, namely MagicKingdom, Riyadhawi, Al Failsoof, and a bunch of others. I think it would be really nice :-)

Switched!


Although I have been a fanboy of Apple for a very long time, I never purchased any of their products until yesterday. The product is a white MacBook that I purchased from iMachines in Rashid Mall, Khobar (special thanks to my friend Mahmood who helped me with the whole thing). This is the first post I’m writing using the new machine. It is a very good-looking laptop with a bright screen and a keyboard that is not ordinary at all. The Mac OS X needs some time to get used to it, but so far almost everything has been straightforward. More on that later.

Eating Bitter Lemons

Well, not really, but I just felt like saying it :-) Now let’s get serious: Bitter Lemons International, a Middle East roundtable, have invited me to contribute to their weekly issue, which features four different writers providing their own perspectives on a particular topic. This week’s issue focuses on blogging in the Arab World, featuring Esra’a al-Shafei, Mona Eltahawy, Ammar Abdulhamid, and myself. Read, and please let me know what you think.

Blogging…

Blogging makes us more oriented toward an intellectual bottom line, more interested in the directly empirical, more tolerant of human differences, more analytical in the course of daily life, more interested in people who are interesting, and less patient with Continental philosophy.

I believe blogging can do all of that and more. What do you think? (via k)

Responsibility and Consequences

I have been following with much concern what is going on with my Bahraini friend Mahmood Al-Yousef over the past few days. Mahmood was facing a libel case in connection with a blog post where he criticized a minister in the government. Mahmood said this morning that the case is “coming to an amicable conclusion due to sincere efforts of intermediaries,” which is a good thing, but what happened here should be a lesson for bloggers in the region on how they can practice their right to express their opinions without going to jail.

Like Mahmood, I believe in working within the system, but I’m afraid that things can be quite different on the other side of the causeway. Just last week, ten reform activists and academics were arrested for allegations that no one, except for some hypocrites in our mainstream media, believes. Of course it is always much easier and safer to go underground, but I for one can’t see myself doing that. I believe that being known and out the in the public is more effective when it comes to the cause I’m working in.

This case reminds me with a similar case that happened to a fellow blogger here in Saudi Arabia. The difference is, when our fellow blogger criticized some minister he did not face a lawsuit, but he was taken for a scary ride with some officials who told him to shut down his blog without giving much explanation, or else face the consequences. Since this blogger owned a business that dealt directly with the government and keeping the blog would directly affect his business negatively he stopped all activities related to blogging. It is a shame, because he was one of my favorite bloggers, and his blog was absolutely one of the best in the Saudi blogosphere.

I wonder what bloggers can do to avoid situations like these. Mahmood’s suggestion to arrange a workshop run by professional journalists to teach us how to criticize, but not get legally caught for their efforts is a good start, but I think there is more to do here, although I don’t know exactly what to do. More suggestions?

Human Rights Course

Shabab Forum in Qatif are organizing a 2-day course titled “Principles of Human Rights”. The intensive course will take place in Qatif on March 15-16, 2007. The registration fee is SR 700 (SR 500 for early registration). The course is the first of its kind here, and the seats are limited. For more information, please contact: info@shababforum.com