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Arab Blogs that Fight for Reform

[San Francisco Chronicle] Frida Ghitis - In Arab blogs and web comment pages, some Arab advocates of political and social reform see recent events in the Palestinian territories as ammunition with which to criticize the dictatorial regimes they want to change in their own countries. "They [the Israelis] will turn the world upside down to get that soldier back," wrote "Sandmonkey," a 25-year-old Egyptian living in Cairo. "I kind of envy how much they care about their own." "Isis," at BigPharaoh.com, wished that "our government had half the respect" for its citizens' lives "that the Israelis have for theirs." On the comments page of the satellite news channel Al-Arabiya, an article titled "Where is the Arab Brain?" and signed by "A Wise Muslim" beseeched Arab leaders to stop supporting terrorism and start helping their own people. "Continuing the war with Israel is an advantage for Arab rulers and not their people," the writer argues. After Israeli jets flew low over the home of Syrian President Bashar Assad, Fares wrote at amarji.blogspot.com, a Syrian reformer's blog, "Now even myself for the first time ever I applaud an Israeli action....(It is) time for Syrians to...stop supporting radicals and terrorists."
2006-07-12 01:00:00
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