Frost over the World in Sudan

Updated: on may-5-2010

     an interesting debate and a good comparison between Congo election and the Sudanese election by Jendayi Frazer. Thank you Sir David Frost and i hope you make more of these debate on Aljazeera. I wish Jendayi Frazer had to chance to talk more about the Congo election’s. while watching the clip i just hoped that Sir David would give her more time to talk more about the election interim of African being able to execute a legitimate election when the tools and mechanism are supported and used. The excuse that this election was done in a country that had not had an election for 24 years is not strong, Congo election is an example, she point out that in this clip too. The excuse that Sudanese people don't know about democracy or democratic change by the Sudanese debater is not strong either. lets just be clear before this government and the one before it that rule for 16 year under a dictatorship rule of numari with his inhumane communist ideas, Sudan was implementing democratic policies at a good speed. Sudan had election in the past, and that election to a large extent was a free and fair election although they wore not covering the all of Sudan which by the way this one also doesn't they served as a mechanism to educate the Sudanese people about the right to vote, the right to voice their opinion and the right to choice their leader, they also helped steer Sudan into democratic change and that intern helped the economy in what we Sudanese people know as the democratic times or party ruling time. which wore unfortunately not for a long. Well I let you watch the clip and tell me what you think.

 

please feel free to comment on your thoughts and opinions.

Folks it is official, YouTube blocked in Sudan Again.

well it is official, the news has been circulating around the net for a while. it is official. what would you expect from the NTC after the fallowing clip has been shown in YouTube?, this is not the first time they blocked YouTube, they blocked it before in 2008. it is normal in state such as Iran, China, Sudan to control there media heavily and that is what we would always expect from such states. when Iran had its long demonstration revolt last year due to it’s election, it was interesting to see how twitter played a major roll as a communication tool between Iranian people themselves and the outside world. but then Iran blocked the website and stop any one from accessing it in Iran. an interesting cartoon that has been circulated on the net is shown below, it is about the usage of twitter in the post Iranian election demonstration and how technology is now empowering people to speak up.

He’s twittering, (who is reading, The world is reading)

the question i would like to ask is Sudan a step ahead of Iran and want to block all these social media sites before announcing the winner of this election?, that could be possible. but that wouldn't stop this clip or even other clip from spreading on the net, these government should know that blocking these social media sites would not stop people from viewing clip on the net or stop them from voicing the thought about it. the video could be circulated even now throughout the net by email or even in Sudan by Bluetooth enabled devices and much, much more. the fact is technology is changing the way we communicate with each other and on the other hand it is empowering people everywhere to speak up against injustice acts around the world and to voice there opinion loud and clear for the world to hear (read).

the news article stated that this action by the NTC is due to the leaking of a clips showing stuffing of electoral ballots, in what the opposition party say a clear evident of how the current election has been rigged. the clip shows electoral ballots being stuffed with ballots forums in what seems to be a polling site located in the red sea state of eastern Sudan.

here are the sources.

Sudan reportedly blocks YouTube over electoral fraud video

Sudan opposition claims video shows election fraud

Power to People + Information Revolution = better future for all ?

     can more information and people to access it change the way we live our lives today, if government are held accountable for every penny they spend, and where they spend it, would that lead to a better for all. i guess so. so far i can see many government through the middle east that if they wore to be questioned to where the budget spending is spend at, they would have trouble answering.so far the internet is giving power to citizen journalist around the world to voice there opinion on many topics including those topic that are viewed controversial or tabooed in there own country.  David Cameron point out that behavioral economics can help us recycle martial and save electricity through comparing our consumption of electricity with our neighbors consumption and the overall average consumption. Transparency, Choice, Accountability are three methods he mentions to increase the wellbeing of a country citizen and to empower them to change there environment for the betterment of all citizen.

 

 

     in this ever changing world of IT and interconnect information technology devices we as citizen are becoming expose to information that none of our grandparent or even parent did. we are empower with tools that enable us to voice our opinions on the net for the whole world to hear, we are empower to voice our opinion and to debate them in a way that has never been given to any of our pervious generation. the question is can we act on these information and point out the wrongdoer or do we keep silent and live another day with the torment of not being the whistle blower who we could have been. at the end it is those who speak out that are remembers not those who keep silent in the midst of oppression, ternary and coercion. feel free to comment and tell me what you think

France:We Invite Sudan but not the president of Sudan.

 

France just started sending out letter of invitation for it Franco-African summit  which is expected to be held may. France has also invited sudan for the summit but it clearly stated that it expects somebody other than Pres. Omar Hassan AlBashir to come to the summit. The interesting thing is that the summit has originally been stated to be held in Egypt but due to the fact that Egypt might allow the president of Sudan to visit the summit, news article say that the summit has been moved to Nice,France. I guess the French do make it clear to everyone their opinion on the situation that the Sudan is facing today. I guess many European Union  states will follow the same action that Pres. Nicolas Sarkozy made to tighten the grip on the Sudanese president.

 

PARIS (Reuters) - French President Nicolas Sarkozy has asked Sudan to take part in a Franco-African summit in May, but has made clear that Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir should not attend, the Elysee said on Monday.

Sarkozy's office said Bashir would not be welcome.

"The president has indeed sent a letter to Omar Hassan al-Bashir to ask him to nominate the person who will represent Sudan at the Franco-African summit," said an official, making clear that the Sudanese leader himself could not come.

The summit had originally been set to take place in Egypt but France was concerned that Cairo would invite Bashir in person so reached a deal to switch the meeting to the French Riviera city of Nice, leaving Paris in charge of invitations.

Sudan's state news agency SUNA said that in his letter to Bashir, Sarkozy had also expressed France's gratitude for the recent release of French hostages in the region.

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE62L2B720100322

Sudan opposition seek poll delay.

delaying the election is still a debatable issue, it is going to be an interesting year.

Please take the moment to participate in the poll found on your right side bar.

Upcoming Sudanese election and The Compressive peace agreement Past, Present and the Future expectation

a debate between SPLM and the NCP ruling parties of the Sudan has been broadcasted in Aljazeera channel Inside story, both are main partner in the CPA Compressive peace agreement. Both agreed to stay in power for the years from 2005 to the upcoming election year in 2010, this in which there would be a democratic election to elect the new government. the debate talks about the result of the census, electoral law and the CPA agreement. i have posted a post about the census previously because i think this might cause a problem in the future because there is no full agreement as to the legitimacy of the census from the SPLM side. keeping in mind that the census effect the future distribution of power and wealth distribution. hence the argument of it legitimacy from the SPLM party.

the debate touches on key points in the CPA agreement but the main point i think is that the need to include other parties that are part of the National alliance to try to resolve the situation for the upcoming next year election. it is clear that both side is trying to get the best of the CPA agreement but there is an important point that is overshadowed by this agreement which is the absent of other political parties in Sudan and the Darfur conflict that is still in need to be resolved.these upcoming month are crucial times for the peace process and for the upcoming election in 2010.

PS: feel free to comment.

Iran 2009 He is twittering !?

     twitter and it effect on the current crisis in Iran is huge, after all a huge percentage of Iran population is under 25 and are well aware of the effect of technology on the netcitizen of the web. in China Tiananmen Square uprising, he was alone,now he has the whole world watching and reading what he wants to say. truly we in a bounder-less world. please feel free to comment and tell me what he is twittering about

Sudan presses new Press Law, What dose it means for journalist

         Finally the Sudanese national Assembly passed Sudan new press law on Monday June 8. but the question is what is the deference between the first draft and the final draft of this press law. is there still remain some restriction to the right of journalist or not in this new press law.I have posted a blog post about this law when it was in the bill stage (proposed Law stage)  in a blog post titled STOP Censorship: Sudan Government tries to issue law on journalism. the bill has finally became a law and it has been passed.  nonetheless as i asked previously what is the deference from the first draft and the final draft of this law. to answer this question lets just go back in time and see what had happened inside Sudan National Assembly Parliament that led to this law bill to change for lesser restriction against journalist. when the bill was suggested in the National Assembly many members of the parliament have abandoned there seat to exit the building in a strong retributive reaction toward the bill. in this post i would like to state what was the restriction that the bill imposed and what wore the reaction of some parliament members toward this law.

for example a spoke personal from the national alliance stated

Parliamentary member Farouk Abu-Issa, head of the National Democratic Alliance,
who calls the bill “unjust, repressive and vague”, says that he and other independent deputies presented a “good democratic draft of [a] press law”, but this was ignored by parliament.

and also for example an editor-in chief of a news paper

Murtada al-Ghali, editor-in chief of the Freedom Bells newspaper, described the draft law as the most “restrictive” media legislation to emerge in Sudan.

“The law insists… on punishment,” he said, “[and] it is aggressive punishment.”

Some of the most controversial issues that circled around this bill was the finical punishment  and banning/suspension punishment toward the newspaper or the Author. The financial punishment  toward the newspaper or the author could reach up to 50,000 Sudanese Pounds or 21,000 US dollar which is a huge sum of money in a developing country such as Sudan for a journalist. in case of the banning/suspension  of the newspaper of the journalist articles the duration is to be decided by the court. the new change in the bill from it first draft is that the payment of 21,000 US has been removed but the court can assign a payment penalty to a journalist or the newspaper. in the banning/suspension case it is still under the court jurisdiction to decide the time and the duration of the suspension. of course what i have just discussed in this post is just the tip of the iceberg in the criteria and requirement that comes with the passing of this law on journalist and newspaper. Nevertheless the good news is that the change toward more freedom of expression and less restriction and punishment has been felt in the final draft of this article more this it first draft. as one of the newpaper editor in chief state that the change to the final version from the first version is almost 80%. this of course after many protest toward the law from outside(by journalist) and and inside the parliament(by parliament Members).

As for my reaction lets just say no comment!!!!!!!. but here is what i can say there still hopes in changing this law and i hope for those parliament members to push more for lesser restriction before the upcoming election in 2010. as for you dear reader i know i cant request you to shear your thought in this case(sorry for the no comment statement) , but wishes that if you have any comment or an issues you wish to state please feel free to do so.

 

article related to this law

Reuters: Sudan gets new press law but restrictions remain

All Africa: Sudan: Press Law Storm

Sudan Tribune: Sudanese parliament pass new press law

Technorati Tags: Africa, Sudan, Press, Mass Media, Newspaper

Do you know who was President Obama talking to in Egypt?

 

      assalaamu alaykum ( peace be Upon you) is how president Obama speech started. a greetings of peace in a region that for long has been and is a region of many conflicts from the Palestine-Israeli conflict to the Darfur crisis. President Obama speech was broadcasted in many channels, it was debated in many online social network sites, it was broadcasted live through the Internet, and it was even send to cell phone users by SMS in four different languages to all of the world. I guess after all we truly live in a ubiquitous world. President Obama speech was magnificent, it was inspiring, uplifting and above all it was for a new start.

     To whom was President Obama directing his speech to? Was this speech to the middle east only, and last but not least, What were the reactions of Arabs in the Middle East toward his speech? I will try to answer these questions but first let's understand the environment of which this speech was giving at. President Obama message to the Middle East wasn't just about peace and democracy in the Middle East . It was more like starting a new chapter between the between the US and the Middle East,i was more like starting a new page and in that speech president Obama stated common grounds that all people from any religion who are in the middle east can understand and related to . his speech was for a fresh start and a new beginning. he pointed out many issues that have been for long tackled and debated in the hearts and minds of people in the middle east and today he opens a dialogue to help and promote new ideas to fix these issue and debate them.I did notice that most of the issues that President Obama was lecturing  on was targeting the youth of the Middle East, the young generation that is growing with new ideas of democracy, development and the mutual understanding between the East and  the West. In a sense president Obama speech was not only directed to the Middle East it was also directed to the Muslim world. Pointing out issues such as extremism, Palestinian Israeli conflict, democracy, and women right to education are all common shared issues founded in the Muslim world. I really was amazed at his knowledge of the Holy Koran when he pointed out this in his speech

“They have killed in many countries. They have killed people of different faiths - more than any other, they have killed Muslims. Their actions are irreconcilable with the rights of human beings, the progress of nations, and with Islam. The Holy Koran teaches that whoever kills an innocent, it is as if he has killed all mankind; and whoever saves a person, it is as if he has saved all mankind. The enduring faith of over a billion people is so much bigger than the narrow hatred of a few. Islam is not part of the problem in combating violent extremism - it is an important part of promoting peace.” President Obama 

"The enduring faith of over a billion people is so much bigger than the narrow hatred of a few," President Obama said. "Islam is not part of the problem in combating violent extremism, it is an important part of promoting peace." President Obama said.

I as a Middle Eastern and as Muslim person know that the issue of extremism does not only encompasses the Middle East but it also expands outward to many parts of the Muslim world I also believe that Islam does not preach extremism but there are some people who believe in violence and they don't represent Islam nor does Islam need to be represented by them. i don't agree with the concepts that the end justify the means nor do i agree that violence solves conflicts.I believe President Obama's message for the youth of the Middle East and the Muslim world to know that we are with you, that together we can combat ignorance, prejudice, poverty and most of all hatreds toward one another.

i underlined what i am going to talk about in the next paragraph.

“Finally, the Arab States must recognize that the Arab Peace Initiative was an important beginning, but not the end of their responsibilities. The Arab-Israeli conflict should no longer be used to distract the people of Arab nations from other problems. Instead, it must be a cause for action to help the Palestinian people develop the institutions that will sustain their state; to recognize Israel's legitimacy; and to choose progress over a self-defeating focus on the past.”President Obama

Way to go on this one president Obama, i always say that we need to not blame other for our shortcoming, to not look outward for our mistakes.we need not to blame the world for our short coming, we need to blame ourselves and only in that we can stop blaming the world and start getting in control of our world, our own development and most of all ending the seemingly everlasting conflict that raging all around us. looking inward for solutions to our problems and outward for way to mitigate them.we need to not look at problems that are crucial for our development such as improvement of standards of education,human right violation and violent extremism. most of all the straight to accepts constructive criticism even if it is towards a nation’s core system.

As to the final question that I have stated in the beginning of this post, there have been lots of comments and news interviews about president Obama speech, some of them were optimistic and some of the pessimistic and some of them leaned to the aspect of let’s-wait-and-see what will happen in the upcoming days, months or even years of his presidency. And of course they are those who just want action and by doing so they withhold any comment for the time being. And then I need to not forget the extremist who did not believe anything of what he said,O well that the Middle East.

I would like to end this post with a wise and a wonderful joke that I have read in one of THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN New York Times Op-Ed Columnist titled Obama On Obama. I have quoted the joke of his article and here it is.

“There is this very pious Jew named Goldberg who always dreamed of winning the lottery. Every Sabbath, he’d go to synagogue and pray: “God, I have been such a pious Jew all my life. What would be so bad if I won the lottery?” But the lottery would come and Goldberg wouldn’t win. Week after week, Goldberg would pray to win the lottery, but the lottery would come and Goldberg wouldn’t win. Finally, one Sabbath, Goldberg wails to the heavens and says: “God, I have been so pious for so long, what do I have to do to win the lottery?”

And the heavens parted and the voice of God came down: “Goldberg, give me a chance! Buy a ticket!””

From Obama On Obama article by the Famous THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN

I highly recommend reading this article Obama on Obama by THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN. After reading it I hope to ask you a question, are you willing to buy the ticket, are you will to give him President Obama a chance.

Finally, I would like to thank you very much for reading this blog post and hope to see some of your comments and thoughts about this post, the speech, or anything you wish to point out. Please feel free to do so and please don't forget to till me if you are going to buy the ticket.

 

Side Note: Issues Addressed  by President Obama in Egypt.

1. violent extremism in all of its forms.
2. the situation between Israelis, Palestinians and the Arab world.
3. The third source of tension is our shared interest in the rights and responsibilities of nations on nuclear weapons.
4. democracy.
5. religious freedom.
6. women's rights.
7. economic development and opportunity

Technorati Tags: Middle East, Politics Obama Obama Speech

We all can be a role model for the middle east, Can we ?!!

     Yes we all can!!!. I believe that the Middle East is in need of new faces,of new role models and of new ideas. These new role models need to not give up the prospect of changing the Middle East, changing the way we view the world, changing the way we think about the future, changing who we blame for our shortcomings, for not being on the forefront of innovation and development, changing the prospect of remembering the past but also not holding tight to it, changing the prospect of looking at the future and not assuming that it is too late for change. we still have a generation that believes in the past, that believes in all the glories and civilizations and innovations that the Middle East had.

     I believe that one of the problems that we have in the Middle East is that we always tend to look to the past, we always talk about the past civilizations, about how the Middle East contributed to science and innovation. We always talk about how algebra origins comes from  Middle Eastern. We always talk about our contributions to science in the past, but all of this stops when we want to talk about the present, when we want to talk about the future when we want to talk about change. Yes we were, yes we were in the past .

     Now we are not, now we are not at the forefront of innovation, now we are not at the forefront of science & education and definitely now we are not at the forefront of civilization. We need to start looking at facts, we need to start looking at the present, and in fact the present draws an ugly picture of itself for the middle east. In the present some countries in the Middle East have some of the highest illiteracy rates around the world. We have some countries in the Middle East who have some of the lowest GDP and income per capita. we have some countries with the a very low educational level.We have some of the highest number of conflict zone in the world or i guess we are holding the title of having the highest number of conflict zone in the world. from Palestine and Israel conflict, to the current conflict in Darfur, Sudan and the list goes on. But that's not all of it, that's just the tip of the iceberg. Yes we need role models in the Middle East but we need them to look at the present not the past we need them to accept that there is this ugly picture of the Middle East that requires new perspective, new ideas, and foremost new mindset. We need them to look for our similarities and accept our differences.that requires us to accepts it and work with it and to find solution to mitigate it. Because it seems that whenever we look at the middle east, we always look for our differences.Tell me what you think, do we really need new role models or do we already have them???

here are some opinions please shear yours by a comment.

 

 

what are you waiting for till me what you think!!!! :)

Technorati Tags: Middle East, Politics