mideastmessenger.com

PHOTO: Internet Cafe in Cairo. Paul Nendick, flickr. 
Facebook could be an Arab leader’s worst nightmare. An open forum for discussion, networking and planning that’s not easily controlled? The prospect would make the most ruthless dictator shudder.
That’s what Egyptian officials did recently when they detained Esraa Abdel-Fattah, a Facebook user and founder of the site’s group “6 […]

PHOTO: Abu Ghraib torture stencil, Duncan C, flickr 
Abu Ghraib sticks out as one of the most shocking moments of the Iraq War. When pictures of the torture and humiliation that took place at the prison were released in 2004, the world was dumbfounded.
A new film by American filmmaker Errol Morris revisits the incident in a film he has […]

PHOTO: Young women in head scarves in Cairo, Angela Rutherford, flickr.
The use of the head scarf in the Middle East has gotten a lot of press lately, especially with the recent constitutional amendment in Turkey that would allow women to wear head scarves, commonly called hijab, on public university campuses.
A salon in Egypt that caters to […]

PHOTO: Haifa Wehbe, Esam Altuhafi,flickr. 
The Arab League is trying to tighten its control on what is broadcast on TVs across the Arab world. Check out my previous post for more details.
Some notable statements in the charter are that satellite broadcast stations should not transmit  “erotic or obscene material” nor should they damage “traditional values.”
Many, if not most, homes in Arab cities […]

 PHOTO: Satellites in Jerusalem, Jordan Chark, flickr
Al Jazeera has reported that most Arab states have endorsed a charter that would allow states to have more control over satellite broadcasting. That would include Al Jazeera’s channels.
All 22 members of the Arab League were in favor of the charter except Lebanon, which has a rich history in […]

For whatever reason, the entry on the Lebanese movie Caramel, set to start showing February 1 in some cities, was very popular.
Part of the curiosity was in the method of waxing. This particular way, called “sukkar” or “halawa” in Arabic, is common across the Middle East. Women can do it on their own, or like in the movie, they frequently […]

 Brazilians and revelers celebrating carnival this year in Rio de Janeiro might be perplexed by the sight of something that belongs anywhere but the raucous bacchanalia that is carnival.
A float depicting the Holocaust is set to parade down the streets of Rio de Janeiro during Brazil’s infamously raunchy annual festivities.
Whose idea was this? The Unidos da Viradouro samba […]

PHOTO: Marjane Satrapi. flickr creative commons.
On Saturday I went to see Persepolis, a movie based on a graphic novel by a French-Iranian woman by the name of Marjane Satrapi. The book and the film are her autobiographical accounts of her departure from Iran after the Islamic Revolution.
It is up for an Oscar in the animated […]

During previews while I waited to watch Persepolis with some friends, one preview caught my eye.
It began with a woman I recognized as Nadine Labaki, a well-known Lebanese Arabic music video producer and stunningly beautiful woman dabbling in acting recently.
Sugar, water and lemon juice are thrown together into a pot and boiled. I knew immediately this was no recipe […]