Blogs & Ecology

The Syrian blogosphere has been embroiled in a heated debate over the weekend. It is a debate that is quite reflective of some of our modern disagreements as Syrians, over a wide range of basic issues: identity, religion, state and personal freedom.

The casus belli came in the form of a post, by Syrian blogger Ahmad Edilbi, that called for professional hackers to destroy Syrian blogs he deems are “immoral” [Ar]:

“An argument in olden Arab times was like a dance. People wooed each other, rejected or accepted, negotiated, insulted and convinced each other using subtle messages & connotations, all applied courteously,” notes 50% Syrian.

Syrian blogger Rime Allaf says she was misquoted in a Press interview. “I have been misquoted in the past, about more “serious” issues resulting in strange statements, but I think this one takes the lead as the most ridiculous misquote,” she notes.

Feras [AR] comments on the so called “Shia-Sunni conflict” in the region. He says that this conflict is not only due to Zionists and Americans' policies in the region, but also due to Arabs themselves. He asserts that it is Arabs who are enhancing such sectarian divisions. He ends his post by calling for a no more of Sunni-Shia rhetoric in both of our social meetings and media.

Forget politics, Obama or the economic crisis. The new buzz in the Syrian blogosphere is about love.

Mariyah, a Syrian blogger from Damascus, has been playing with the hearts of her readers with the most delicate series of posts about the story of Ghassan and Alexandra.

It all starts on one cold evening in the winter of 1955 in Stuttgart, Germany:

In this post, Omar [AR] tells us that he used the FireFox add-on, Scribefire, to publish his post. He explains how it is easy to add the plug-in in your browser and publish posts without necessarily signing into your blog account. And to those who own several blogs he adds: “you can use this plug-in also to publish posts in your several blogs, and not just one”.

Blogger Anas, shows an excerpt from the top of the front page of Al Watan Daily Syrian Newspaper, with a text saying:

“A New Dawn For Humanity, 70 Days Till Bush Leaves the White House”

The Syrian blogosphere, particularly the contingent that blogs in English, has been somewhat quiet about the U.S. elections, at least in comparison to its neighbors. It's no secret that many bloggers in the Arab world are frustrated with some of Obama's policies, even if they are glad that some change has come. In this post, we will take a look at three different Syrian perspectives on the recent elections in the U.S.

Yaman, who studies in the United States, shares a story of celebrating Obama's victory in Berkeley, California:

Syrian blogger Gardenia shares her opinion on hologram technology.

Here comes the winter, announces Syrian blogger Sasa. After a heat wave, a rain storm took the Syrian capital by surprise. “So do we get those winter clothes out or not?” he asks.

Roads to Iraq notes: “Strange attack from the Egyptian newspaper Al- Gomhuria on Syrian Prime Minister Mohammad Attri and accusing Syria with spreading Shiaism.”

Sasa, from thesyriannewswire, reports on a deadly crash in Damascus.

Antony Loewenstein, a Sydney-based freelance journalist and blogger, has recently published his new book: The Blogging Revolution. This book talks about the impact of blogging on six countries: Iran, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, China and Cuba.

He says:

American Fulbright scholar in Damascus Orientalista brings up the story of her Syrian friend Manar, a 22-year old female from the Druze minority in the country, who ran away from her house to escape a forced marriage.

In the four-post series, Orientalista lays out her friend's story detailing her own personal involvement in the matter. In the post titled “Manar Escapes,” she writes:

With very little information coming out on today's massive explosion in Damascus, Syria, one blogger was on the site and rushed back to his computer to describe to the world the scene of devastation and chaos he has witnessed.

Syrian Medad was minutes away from the explosion and gives us an eyewitness account of what happened: