“Jasmine Revolution”
Symbol of peace: Flowers placed on the barrel of a tank
in very much calmer protests than in recent days in Tunisia

'The Protester' - Time Person of the Year 2011

'The Protester' - Time Person of the Year 2011
Mannoubia Bouazizi, the mother of Tunisian street vendor Mohammed Bouazizi. "Mohammed suffered a lot. He worked hard. but when he set fire to himself, it wasn’t about his scales being confiscated. It was about his dignity." (Peter Hapak for TIME)

1 - TUNISIA Democratic Change / Freedom of Speech (In Transition)


How eyepatches became a symbol of Egypt's revolution - Graffiti depicting a high ranking army officer with an eye patch Photograph: Nasser Nasser/ASSOCIATED PRESS

2 - EGYPT Democratic Change / Freedom of Speech (In Transition)


''17 February Revolution"

3 - LIBYA Democratic Change / Freedom of Speech (In Transition)

5 - SYRIA Democratic Change / Freedom of Speech (In Transition)

"25 January Youth Revolution"
Muslim and Christian shoulder-to-shoulder in Tahrir Square
"A Summary" – Apr 2, 2011 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Religion, Shift of Human Consciousness, 2012, Intelligent/Benevolent Design, EU, South America, 5 Currencies, Water Cycle (Heat up, Mini Ice Ace, Oceans, Fish, Earthquakes ..), Middle East, Internet, Israel, Dictators, Palestine, US, Japan (Quake/Tsunami Disasters , People, Society ...), Nuclear Power Revealed, Hydro Power, Geothermal Power, Moon, Financial Institutes (Recession, Realign integrity values ..) , China, North Korea, Global Unity,..... etc.) -
(Subjects: Egypt Uprising, Iran/Persia Uprising, Peace in Middle East without Israel actively involved, Muhammad, "Conceptual" Youth Revolution, "Conceptual" (without a manager hierarchy) managed Businesses, Internet, Social Media, News Media, Google, Bankers, Global Unity,..... etc.)
"The End of History" – Nov 20, 2010 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll)
(Subjects:Abraham, Isaac, Ishmael, Muhammad, Jesus, God, Jews, Arabs, EU, US, Israel, Iran, Russia, Africa, South America, Global Unity,..... etc.) (Text version)

"If an Arab and a Jew can look at one another and see the Akashic lineage and see the one family, there is hope. If they can see that their differences no longer require that they kill one another, then there is a beginning of a change in history. And that's what is happening now. All of humanity, no matter what the spiritual belief, has been guilty of falling into the historic trap of separating instead of unifying. Now it's starting to change. There's a shift happening."


“ … Here is another one. A change in what Human nature will allow for government. "Careful, Kryon, don't talk about politics. You'll get in trouble." I won't get in trouble. I'm going to tell you to watch for leadership that cares about you. "You mean politics is going to change?" It already has. It's beginning. Watch for it. You're going to see a total phase-out of old energy dictatorships eventually. The potential is that you're going to see that before 2013.

They're going to fall over, you know, because the energy of the population will not sustain an old energy leader ..."



African Union (AU)

African Union (AU)
African Heads of State pose for a group photo ahead of the start of the 28th African Union summit in Addis Ababa on January 30, 2017 (AFP Photo/ Zacharias ABUBEKER)

Nelson Mandela

Nelson Mandela
Few words can describe Nelson Mandela, so we let him speak for himself. Happy birthday, Madiba.

Friday, August 12, 2011

Saudi Arabia blocks RNW websites

RNW, 12 August 2011, by Willemien Groot

(Collage: RNW/lintmachine)
               
Internet users in Saudi Arabia have been unable to access Radio Netherlands Worldwide websites for the past couple of weeks. People attempting to visit the site are presented with a message stating that the website has been blocked. A possible cause is a video published on the RNW Arabic site which shows a migrant being beaten up in Saudi Arabia.

The Saudi authorities' message says: Sorry, the requested page is unavailable. If you believe the requested page should not be blocked please click here. The link in the message points to the website of the Communication and Information Technology Commission (CITC), where unblocking requests can be made. It is unlikely that many web users click on the link. It could lead to an unwanted 'courtesy call' from the authorities.

Intimidation

The video which is assumed to be the cause of the Saudis' displeasure is part of an article published on the RNW Arabic website on 15 July, describing how migrants are abused in Saudi Arabia. In the video a man of Arab appearance is intimidating a man believed to be an Asian, clubbing him with a stick. The person who posted the original video on YouTube commented that the images were shot in Saudi Arabia, although that is impossible to verify. YouTube has removed the video, but a copy is still available on the RNW website. The article generated a massive response on the RNW site and on Facebook.

Earlier this year Radio Netherlands Worldwide exposed the dismal working conditions of domestic staff at the Saudi Embassy in The Hague.  Saudi Arabia's former ambassador to the Netherlands, Waleed Elkereidhi, was accused of exploiting his Filipino employees. He was reported to the police on accusation of people trafficking.

Web statistics show that the number of unique visitors to RNW's Arabic website began to decrease after the publication, followed by a sharp decline later. This points to the Saudis first blocking a few individual pages and then blocking all RNW websites.

Commenting on this case of unabashed internet censorship, RNW's Deputy Editor-in-Chief Ardi Bouwers says:

"The Arabic desk often reports on human rights abuses and free speech restrictions. The shocking video and the articles about exploitation led to heated discussions on the website involving opponents and proponents of Saudi Arabia's way of dealing with Asian employees. Apparently, the Saudis feel threatened by our exposure of the beastly way in which domestic staff are treated, and as a result they blocked our sites."

Monitoring

The Saudi blocking of RNW websites has far-reaching consequences for the free flow of information to Saudi Arabia. It's rare for such a government measure to be rescinded.

The Arab world is closely monitoring Radio Netherlands Worldwide. A recent interview with Syrian human rights activist Haitham Maleh, who has been awarded a major Dutch human rights medal (Geuzenpenning), led to many reactions from the Arab world, including many from Syria's secret service. Their reactions were conspicuous because of the remarkable level of praise for President Assad's regime, expressed in identical words and phrases across the messages.

"However balanced our reporting may be, apparently it occasionally touches a raw nerve with the Saudi authorities," commented Ardi Bouwers.

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