Profile of al-Fatiha's Faisal Alam and overview of related issues and opinions:
Angela Case, The Maneater, Presentation on LGBT Muslims sparks debate, 28 Apr 2010 "Alam said he founded Al-Fatiha when he was a student at Northeastern University in Boston. After coming out to family and friends, he had trouble reconciling his homosexual identity with his identity as a Muslim. Alam began looking on the Internet for resources for LGBT Muslims. Finding none, he started a listserv for LGBT Muslims and promoted it on the listservs of Muslim student organizations worldwide. The listserv grew into what is now the Al-Fatiha organization."
Friday, April 30, 2010
'Cyber infidelity in Egypt’s virtual world'
Ingrid Wassmann, Cyber infidelity in Egypt’s virtual world, Arab Media & Society, Issue 10, Spring 2010 "The popularity of the Internet and other digital technologies is on the rise in Egypt, causing some critics to question whether the digital revolution will lead to a sexual revolution in the traditionally conservative Egyptian society.
"Ghada Lotfi, a training consultant at The Egyptian Center for Women’s Rights, is convinced that there is indeed a connection between the use of cyber technology, infidelity and the rate of divorce in Egypt. “Of course, of course, they are all related,” said Lofti, pointing out though that there are still no official statistics to support this correlation. “We receive many complaints from women who want a divorce because their husbands are meeting other women in chat rooms and cheating on their wives.”"
Very useful article in a controversial area
"Ghada Lotfi, a training consultant at The Egyptian Center for Women’s Rights, is convinced that there is indeed a connection between the use of cyber technology, infidelity and the rate of divorce in Egypt. “Of course, of course, they are all related,” said Lofti, pointing out though that there are still no official statistics to support this correlation. “We receive many complaints from women who want a divorce because their husbands are meeting other women in chat rooms and cheating on their wives.”"
Very useful article in a controversial area
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Bruce Lawrence Online
Office of News & Communications, Duke University, Interactive Webcast on Teaching Islam April 30
"Insights on teaching Islam over the past four decades are the focus of the next “Office Hours” webcast conversation Friday, April 30. Religion professor Bruce Lawrence will take questions from online viewers during the interview beginning at noon on Duke’s Ustream channel.
"To ask Lawrence a question in advance or during the session, send an email to live@duke.edu, tweet with the tag #dukelive or post to the Duke University Facebook page.
"Watch live Friday, April 23, beginning at noon EDT on Duke's Ustream channel"
This is an open 'office session' - sounds like a good idea. It would be something other academics might consider. Note: Bruce Lawrence is series editor (with Carl Ernst) of the Islamic Civilization and Muslim Networks series, of which my own 'iMuslims' volume is a part.
"Insights on teaching Islam over the past four decades are the focus of the next “Office Hours” webcast conversation Friday, April 30. Religion professor Bruce Lawrence will take questions from online viewers during the interview beginning at noon on Duke’s Ustream channel."To ask Lawrence a question in advance or during the session, send an email to live@duke.edu, tweet with the tag #dukelive or post to the Duke University Facebook page.
"Watch live Friday, April 23, beginning at noon EDT on Duke's Ustream channel"
This is an open 'office session' - sounds like a good idea. It would be something other academics might consider. Note: Bruce Lawrence is series editor (with Carl Ernst) of the Islamic Civilization and Muslim Networks series, of which my own 'iMuslims' volume is a part.
Muslim Green Guide
Juan Cole pointed to
Amr Khaled Interview: Muslim Green Guide See the Muslim Green Guide (pdf) more more information.
Amr Khaled Interview: Muslim Green Guide See the Muslim Green Guide (pdf) more more information.
Cyberwar programme
Tim Stevens, ubiwar, Al Jazeera on Cyberwar, 27 Apr 2010 points to and recommends Al Jazeera’s Fault Lines edition on cyberwar:
Hamas
Arutz Sheva, Hamas Accuses Israel of Blackmail by Internet, 28 Apr 2010 "Hamas has accused Israeli intelligence agents of using the telephone and Internet to blackmail Gaza Arabs into cooperating with Israeli efforts to infiltrate the Hamas terrorist network."
Afghanistan net crackdown
Matthew Green, FT.com, Afghanistan to launch internet crackdown, 28 Apr 2010 "Afghanistan’s government is introducing new rules to ban internet users from accessing sites promoting pornography, alcohol and gambling or other activities that conflict with the country’s Islamic culture, a senior official said on Wednesday."
Anwar al-Awlaki
Bill Roggio, The Long War Journal, US-born cleric Awlaki 'proud' to have taught al Qaeda operatives, 27 Apr 2010 "Anwar al Awlaki, an American citizen who is based in Yemen and serves as al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula's mufti, said he was "proud" to have trained Major Nidal Hasan, the US Army doctor who murdered 13 soldiers at a deployment center at Fort Hood, Texas, and Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the Nigerian who failed to detonate a bomb on an airliner over Detroit on Christmas Day."
The screenshot of al-Awlaki has the www.alwasatiyyah.com address; the site itself is still up, with limited open content.
The screenshot of al-Awlaki has the www.alwasatiyyah.com address; the site itself is still up, with limited open content.
South Park v. Revolutionmuslim.com IV
ITP/Right Side News, CAIR's Irresponsible Dismissal of the "South Park" Threat, 28 Apr 2010 opinion piece, with some useful threads
al-Shabaab
Jane Ferguson, CNN, Violent extremists calling fighters to Somalia, 27 Apr 2010 "In Somalia's enduring chaos, militant groups have for years come and gone. Today's most powerful -- Al Shabaab -- are much more menacing, say those in Mogadishu."
'Taliban flogging video'
Alex Rodriguez, LA Times, 'Taliban flogging video may show different girl, but message is the same: The Taliban did beat Chand Bibi publicly, and whether or not her ordeal was the one shown in a notorious video, the footage awakened Pakistan to the extent of the militant group’s reach', 29 Apr 2010.
"That video, made famous in the age of YouTube and cellphone downloads, stunned the country and gave the world a disturbing view of the plight of Pakistanis trapped in Taliban-controlled regions such as the Swat Valley.
"Did the video show another flogging, or was it even staged? And if so, does it matter?"
"That video, made famous in the age of YouTube and cellphone downloads, stunned the country and gave the world a disturbing view of the plight of Pakistanis trapped in Taliban-controlled regions such as the Swat Valley.
"Did the video show another flogging, or was it even staged? And if so, does it matter?"
Dua Khalil Aswad
Patrick Cockburn, Independent, The death sentence that drags Dua back into a bloody feud, 28 Apr 2010
"The Iraqi government's decision to reassert its authority by executing the men who stoned to death Dua Khalil Aswad threatens more sectarian bloodshed...
" ... Dua was accused of converting to Islam so she could marry the Sunni Muslim man she was in love with; the killing took place in public, in the town of Bashika, and a large crowd watched her die.
"But one thing marked Dua's death out: as she struggled against her tormentors, several members of the crowd took footage of the violence on mobile phones. The killing is the only one to have been filmed, and the circulation of a video online prompted a new rise in tensions between the Yazidis and Muslims in northern Iraq."
"The Iraqi government's decision to reassert its authority by executing the men who stoned to death Dua Khalil Aswad threatens more sectarian bloodshed...
" ... Dua was accused of converting to Islam so she could marry the Sunni Muslim man she was in love with; the killing took place in public, in the town of Bashika, and a large crowd watched her die.
"But one thing marked Dua's death out: as she struggled against her tormentors, several members of the crowd took footage of the violence on mobile phones. The killing is the only one to have been filmed, and the circulation of a video online prompted a new rise in tensions between the Yazidis and Muslims in northern Iraq."
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Conference announcement: 'Terrorism and New Media'
Extracted from conference announcement:
Terrorism and New Media
Dublin City University, Ireland, 8 - 9 September 2010
PROGRAMME
This is the first academic conference to subject the relationship between terrorism and new media, particularly the Internet, to truly multi-disciplinary scrutiny. The one-day conference (Wednesday, 8 September) will feature a series of panels and a number of plenary addresses. The conference will be followed on Thursday, 9 September by a workshop devoted to the robust debate and analysis of currently ‘hot’ topics in the realm of terrorism and the Internet, particularly the question of the role of the Internet in processes of radicalisation.
CALL FOR PAPERS
We welcome papers or panels reporting on innovative research into any aspect of terrorism and new media. We particularly welcome papers or panels that report novel results or describe and employ innovative methodological approaches.
Papers or panels on the following topics will be of particular interest:
• Online radicalisation
• The Internet and recruitment
• Old terrorism and new media
• Methodologies for terrorism-related Internet research • Terrorism informatics • Network analysis and online terrorist activity • New Internet tools/platforms and radicalisation/terrorism (for example, online gaming, video-sharing, photo-sharing, social networking, micro-blogging, online payment mechanisms, etc.) • Cyberterrorism • Violent Islamism and the Internet • The content and functioning of jihadi Internet forums • Jihadi video producers and content • Children/youth, terrorism, and new media • Women/gender, terrorism, and new media • Case studies of particular groups’ use of new media (e.g. al-Qaeda, FARC, Hamas, Hizbollah, dissident Irish Republicans, etc.) • Policy/legislative responses to terrorists’ online presence • Critical responses to research on, reporting of, and governmental responses to the conjunction of terrorism and the Internet • Ethical issues surrounding online terrorism-related research
Details: Terrorism and New Media: Building a Research Network
Terrorism and New Media
Dublin City University, Ireland, 8 - 9 September 2010
PROGRAMME
This is the first academic conference to subject the relationship between terrorism and new media, particularly the Internet, to truly multi-disciplinary scrutiny. The one-day conference (Wednesday, 8 September) will feature a series of panels and a number of plenary addresses. The conference will be followed on Thursday, 9 September by a workshop devoted to the robust debate and analysis of currently ‘hot’ topics in the realm of terrorism and the Internet, particularly the question of the role of the Internet in processes of radicalisation.
CALL FOR PAPERS
We welcome papers or panels reporting on innovative research into any aspect of terrorism and new media. We particularly welcome papers or panels that report novel results or describe and employ innovative methodological approaches.
Papers or panels on the following topics will be of particular interest:
• Online radicalisation
• The Internet and recruitment
• Old terrorism and new media
• Methodologies for terrorism-related Internet research • Terrorism informatics • Network analysis and online terrorist activity • New Internet tools/platforms and radicalisation/terrorism (for example, online gaming, video-sharing, photo-sharing, social networking, micro-blogging, online payment mechanisms, etc.) • Cyberterrorism • Violent Islamism and the Internet • The content and functioning of jihadi Internet forums • Jihadi video producers and content • Children/youth, terrorism, and new media • Women/gender, terrorism, and new media • Case studies of particular groups’ use of new media (e.g. al-Qaeda, FARC, Hamas, Hizbollah, dissident Irish Republicans, etc.) • Policy/legislative responses to terrorists’ online presence • Critical responses to research on, reporting of, and governmental responses to the conjunction of terrorism and the Internet • Ethical issues surrounding online terrorism-related research
Details: Terrorism and New Media: Building a Research Network
Marawi City, Philippines and the net
Louise G. Dumas, Business World Online, Long way to go to perk up reading in only Islamic city, 27 Apr 2010 ""If before, the problem was the literacy of the Maranaos since many can only read in Arabic, now digital forms of media have taken the attention of the younger generation. They update themselves through text messages, through the Internet, and other digital devices," she said.
"Aside from the use of electronic devices, the people of Marawi have what they call the Banggolo Congress. It is an area at the public market where one could just stand and listen to discussions going around."
More on Marawi City from Wikipedia
"Aside from the use of electronic devices, the people of Marawi have what they call the Banggolo Congress. It is an area at the public market where one could just stand and listen to discussions going around."
More on Marawi City from Wikipedia
Skype ME
Business Maktoob, Skype eyes strong growth in Mideast, 27 Apr 2010
"Internet telephony firm Skype is close to signing partnerships with Middle East telecom carriers as the lure of a young population offsets operating restrictions in some countries, according to a senior official."
"Internet telephony firm Skype is close to signing partnerships with Middle East telecom carriers as the lure of a young population offsets operating restrictions in some countries, according to a senior official."
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
South Park v. Revolutionmuslim.com III
This story continues: Now Ayaan Hirsi Ali, herself no stranger to controversy, has provided an opinion piece for the Wall Street Journal (with related references to the impact of the web).
Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Wall Street Journal, 'South Park' and the Informal Fatwa, 27 Apr 2010 "By publicizing the supposed sins of Messrs. Stone and Parker, Mr. Amrikee undoubtedly believes he is fulfilling his duty to command right and forbid wrong. His message is not just an opinion. It will appeal to like-minded individuals who, even though they are a minority, are a large and random enough group to carry out the divine punishment."
In a related development, Pedestrian TV mentions that The Simpsons are supporting South Park. I also picked up that Revolution Muslim got hacked (with the hackers using one of the infamous Jyllands Posten cartoons): Jason Linkins, huffingtonpost.com, Revolution Islam, Website Of Group That Threatened Comedy Central, Is Hacked, 23 Apr 2010
Expect this theme to continue to play out in cyberspace and beyond.
Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Wall Street Journal, 'South Park' and the Informal Fatwa, 27 Apr 2010 "By publicizing the supposed sins of Messrs. Stone and Parker, Mr. Amrikee undoubtedly believes he is fulfilling his duty to command right and forbid wrong. His message is not just an opinion. It will appeal to like-minded individuals who, even though they are a minority, are a large and random enough group to carry out the divine punishment."
In a related development, Pedestrian TV mentions that The Simpsons are supporting South Park. I also picked up that Revolution Muslim got hacked (with the hackers using one of the infamous Jyllands Posten cartoons): Jason Linkins, huffingtonpost.com, Revolution Islam, Website Of Group That Threatened Comedy Central, Is Hacked, 23 Apr 2010
Expect this theme to continue to play out in cyberspace and beyond.
Foursquare and Gowalla
Observer, Will Foursquare be the new Twitter?, 25 Apr 2010 "I asked [Robin] Dunbar if he saw anything in the evolution of online networks to suggest that the next stage might extend our social horizons in any meaningful way.
"The question really is," he said, "does the technology open up the quality of your social interaction to any great extent, and the answer to that question is, so far: not really.""
See:
Foursquare
Gowalla
In terms of research relating to this blog, it might be an interesting theme for the future. At present, neither has much 'Islam' related content (admittedly a non-scientific and rapid sweep). I did come up with this on Gowalla:
Darul Aman Mosque which has just been posted.
I'll be looking out for more of these...
"The question really is," he said, "does the technology open up the quality of your social interaction to any great extent, and the answer to that question is, so far: not really.""
See:
Foursquare
Gowalla
In terms of research relating to this blog, it might be an interesting theme for the future. At present, neither has much 'Islam' related content (admittedly a non-scientific and rapid sweep). I did come up with this on Gowalla:
Darul Aman Mosque which has just been posted.
I'll be looking out for more of these...
Fred Halliday
Tributes to Fred Halliday:
Sami Zubaida, Guardian, Fred Halliday obituary, 26 April 2010
OpenDemocracy, Fred Halliday, 1946-2010: a tribute, 26 April 2010 "The death of political analyst and international-relations scholar Fred Halliday extinguishes a voice and a light that have illuminated world politics for more than forty years. David Hayes pays tribute and presents a selection of his work for openDemocracy."
OpenDemocracy, Fred Halliday 1946 – 2010
Many of his books are relevant within the context of this blog, notably Islam and the Myth of Confrontation, I.B. Tauris, 1996. I heard him speak most recently at the Rethinking Jihad conference in Edinburgh, where he gave a paper on "Irregular Warfare and the Modern Middle East: From Mirza Kuchik Khan to Osama bin Laden".
Sami Zubaida, Guardian, Fred Halliday obituary, 26 April 2010
OpenDemocracy, Fred Halliday, 1946-2010: a tribute, 26 April 2010 "The death of political analyst and international-relations scholar Fred Halliday extinguishes a voice and a light that have illuminated world politics for more than forty years. David Hayes pays tribute and presents a selection of his work for openDemocracy."
OpenDemocracy, Fred Halliday 1946 – 2010
Many of his books are relevant within the context of this blog, notably Islam and the Myth of Confrontation, I.B. Tauris, 1996. I heard him speak most recently at the Rethinking Jihad conference in Edinburgh, where he gave a paper on "Irregular Warfare and the Modern Middle East: From Mirza Kuchik Khan to Osama bin Laden".
Monday, April 26, 2010
MENA net growth
Susannah Tarbush, globalarabnetwork.com, Advancing MENA Information and Communications Technology, 22 Apr 2010 "Infrastructure for a multi-generational shift in telecoms applications is being put into place in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. According to telecoms intelligence specialist Informa Telecoms & Media, mobile subscriptions will more than double in the MENA region to 350 million by 2014 compared with 144 million in 2009. And there will be a significant upgrade in the services offered and their market penetration. Informa predicts that by 2014, more than half of subscribers will have access to 3.5G+ (41 per cent) and 3G (18 per cent), while the remainder will be served by 2.5G (9 per cent) and 2G (more than 30 per cent)."
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