mideastmessenger.com

PHOTO: Cairo at sunset, Selva Morales, flickr 
The issue of homosexuality in the Middle East is a very sensitive one. It is widely considered taboo and sinful, to say the least, and is therefore not discussed. A crackdown in Egypt on men suspected to have HIV and assumed to be homosexuals has forced people in the […]

PHOTO: Palestinians march in Tulkarem in support of prisoners, International Solidarity Movement-North Carolina, flickr.
Al Jazeera reported that Palestinian prisoners have complained of torture by the Palestinian Authority after the death of a Hamas religious leader, Majd al Barghouthi. PA authorities deny this claim, but four men who were arrested with al Barghouthi say they were […]

PHOTO: People dressed as Guantanamo Bay prisoners protest in Washington D.C. on January 11, 2008, Keith Ivey, flickr. 
Sami Al Hajj is a “household name” in the Arab world according to New York Times columnist Nicholas D. Kristoff. 
A cameraman for the Arabic news network Al Jazeera, he was captured by American forces in Afghanistan while trying to cover the war. He […]

 PHOTO: Israelis protest the deportation of Liberian refugees, Shachaf Polakow, flickr.
Israel has detained about 200 asylum seekers after a raid in Tel Aviv. Many of them are from Darfur, an area of Sudan that has been in the grips of war and a situation many have labeled genocide. The raid followed a statement made by […]

PHOTO: Jerusalem, Premasagar, flickr
Even board games can’t escape the contentious Arab-Israel conflict. Hasbro recently found that out  the hard way. An employee reacted to complaints from people who said the “Jerusalem, Israel” label unfairly omitted Palestinian rights to the city. The removal of Israel made Jerusalem the only city on the board without a country.
Soon thereafter, people […]

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: A mother and child at Muqdadiyah Hospital in Iraq, JamesDale10, flickr. 
The Iraqi Interior Ministry said it is going to start rounding up beggars and the mentally ill off the streets. Their reason is they want to prevent these vulnerable people from being lured into militant groups.
The ministry has pledged to place those rounded up in “governmental institutions that […]

PHOTO: Egyptian Kids, E. Zarwan, flickr. 
Egypt is the most populous country in the Arab world. Movies sometimes comment humorously, or not so humorously, about the fact that Cairo has become so populated that some Egyptians have resorted to living in graveyards. Check out this thoughtful post on graveyards in Egypt.
A recent report from the Cabinet’s Information and […]

PHOTO: Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum, World Economic Forum, flickr. 
George W. Bush can’t be too happy about this. The prime minister of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum, held talks with Iran in Tehran. The Al Jazeera article says he is “the most senior UAE official to make a bilateral […]

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 […]