“I wake up in the middle of the night. I go to his room and smell his clothes. Then, I cry like a baby. I even take his shoes and kiss them. No words can describe the pain I feel about losing my son on that day.” These are the words of a father whose teenage son was one of the 50 killed in the massacre in Change Square in Sana’a on March 18. This grieving father is not alone in his...

We would like to invite all of our student readers to participate in a conference call with a leading Lebanese blogger, and Ahed al Hendi, CyberDissidents.org’s Arabic Programs Coordinator. They will be discussing and answering questions about the ongoing protests across the Middle East and North Africa region, the role of the internet in modern dissent, and the prospect of...

Egypt’s revolt was rooted in freedom and justice - yet women have since been denied their right to participate in the drafting of a new civic constitution. Egypt’s revolutionary momentum theoretically should encourage and foster the advancement of women’s rights and gender-equality. Instead, the violent response to the demonstration in Tahrir Square on International Women’s Day, March 8,...

This article appeared in Arab Times. To access the original piece, click here.  As recent as a few weeks ago a mantle of anxiety, melancholy and, dare I say, fatalism was shrouding the youthful face of the Arab world. Anyone who socialized, worked with or communicated with the young through Twitter, Blogs or other social media sites could sense a gradual erosion of the spirit, albeit one...

A couple of days ago I was asked about the chances of liberal forces in Egypt after the referendum results. My response was negative. The young activists that are often described in the Western media as liberal, democratic, or secular stand no chance in the next parliamentary elections scheduled for next September. My judgment is not only based on the existence or lack thereof of those forces or...