In This Edition:

Keyes Live Interview on Arabic TV
Arab Spring Weekly Update
Syrian Crackdown Continues, Dissidents Go Into Hiding
Saudi Arabia's Degenerate New Law
One Last Time: Blogger Calls Egyptians Back to Tahrir
Saudi Woman Defies Driving Ban
Dissident Compares Syria to Orwell's 1984
Featured CyberDissident: Manal al Sharif

Keyes Live Interview on Arabic TV
On May 20, Executive Director David Keyes was interviewed on Al Hurra, an Arabic-language TV station aired outside the US. Keyes discussed President Barack Obama's speech regarding the Middle East and America's role in shaping the events in the Arab world. To watch the translated video, click on the image below.

















Arab Spring CyberDissidents.org Weekly Update
For the most insightful analysis on issues of Internet activism and online dissent in the Arab world and Iran, check out our Weekly Update. This week, the update focuses on a Saudi woman jailed for defying ban on woman drivers, Egyptian bloggers who have united in criticizing the Security Council of Armed Forces, Syrian unrest spreading, and more. To read this week's update, click here.

Syrian Crackdown Continues, Dissidents Go Into Hiding
Since the start of the uprising, at least 1000 people have been killed, and thousands have been arrested. In Banias and Homs, tanks and snipers were deployed to shoot the protesters and to keep people from joining the revolts. In a bid to censor information within the country, the regime shut down communication tools like the 3G telephone network and satellite phones that would allow activists to spread news to each other and to the outside world. In some towns, all electricity had been cut. As their tools for sharing information are becoming increasingly inaccessible, Syrian cyber-dissidents are going into hiding. Some, like Lina Mansour, have taken new identities and moved into friends' homes. Others have fled to Lebanon's Wadi Khaled region. For more, click here.

Saudi Arabia's Degenerate New Law
David Keyes in The Daily Beast
On April 29, as Arabs throughout the Middle East were dying for greater freedom, the Saudi government passed new amendments to a media law banning all criticism of the country's religious and political leaders. The amendments to Royal Decree No. 32, originally published in 2000, are "binding on all responsible persons in publishing" and demand "objective and constructive criticism aimed at the public interest and based on real facts." ?Anyone who harms the "good reputation and honor" of government officials, the grand mufti, and members of the senior religious council will be imprisoned or fined up to one million riyal. Violating the media law can get one banned from publishing ever again. "The new regulations are unbelievable," prominent Saudi blogger Khaled Yeslam told me. "You can't criticize anymore. That's it. We don't have any journalists anymore. We have advertising companies." A reporter at one of Saudi Arabia's leading newspapers said on condition of anonymity, "We have no rights. The media is regressing. Everything has been destroyed. Saudis need a new 9/11 to have more freedom." For more, click here.

One Last Time: Blogger Calls Egyptians Back to Tahrir
Now, let me tell you why I joined the revolution in the first place: Besides getting rid of our past lovely authoritarian regime, all I wanted out of all this was an Egyptian bill of rights, unalienable and irrevocable no matter who is in Power. I wanted the right to free speech, the right to free expression (artistic and otherwise), the right to peaceful assembly, the right to religious freedom, the right of equality between all citizens in terms of rights & freedoms (irrespective of Gender, religion, race, lineage, language, social origin or political opinion), the right to information and transparency to keep our government always in check, the right not to be subjugated to torture, or cruel or inhumane treatment, the right for equal protection of the law and security, the right not to be arbitrarily arrested, detained, exiled or have your citizenship stripped from you, The right to be considered Innocent until proven guilty and to be tried by a fair and impartial civil tribunal, where everyone has legal representation, and finally the right to education. Those are the rights I risked life and limb for, and they are not new or novel ideas, and you can find them all, and many more, in the Universal Declaration for Human Rights, right here. To read the rest of Sandmonkey's post, click here.

Saudi Woman Defies Driving Ban
Najla Hariri, a Saudi woman living in Jeddah, drove her children to school for four days, defying the ban on women drivers that is currently in effect in the kingdom. She announced her feat on her Twitter account, and was featured in an article by Agence France-Press. Hariri learned to drive while she lived in Lebanon and Egypt. She wanted to start driving in Saudi Arabia, and saw an opportunity to do so when the family chauffeur quit. She believes that she is setting a good example for her daughter and her friends, as the ability to drive is an inalienable right for all individuals. Hariri said that she was not harassed or stopped by the police; in fact, nobody seemed to be surprised when seeing her behind the wheel. Her story received much of attention in the blogosphere and among Saudis. Unfortunately, not all of it was positive. To read the responses to Hariri's driving, click here.

Dissident Compares Syria to Orwell's 1984
George Orwell, the ominous predictions you made in your novel are becoming a reality in our country.

• "I called the security forces to arrest my son. He is against the government and wants to participate in the demonstrations," a woman laments on a government-owned TV station. "I cannot control him, and he is safer with the security forces."
• A young man cries while disowning his father on TV because he runs a website that publicizes the Syrian protests. The news anchor claims that the young man's loyalty to his country has caused him to cry tears of joy.
• State-controlled news outlets report that people in the besieged city of Daraa asked the army to save them from protesters.
• When people ask government officials to send food and medication to children in Daraa, they are accused of treason.

To read the rest, click here.

Featured CyberDissident: Manal al Sharif
Manal al Sharif is becoming known as the "Rosa Parks of Saudi Arabia" because of her campaigning for women's right to drive in the kingdom. A video of her behind the wheel has been used as evidence against al Sharif. To read more about her activism, please click here.