Citizen bloggers 'white-anting' the Mubarak regime

It does appear that those around Mubarak have grown suddenly fearful of a band of enthusiastic bloggers who are busy white-anting his regime. 

That was the message that Mona Eltahawy brought to the lively discussion at the SAIS session. The talk ranged from the grim fate of Iranian reporters, under the mullah's crackdown - with the acclaimed cartoonist/reporter Nik Kowsar describing how he interviewed Iranian protesters last year - by calling the mobile of friend in the country who then handed it to people in the metro system. His friend was subsequently arrested, although the authorities did not realize quite what he had been doing. 

The  writer Azar Nafisi (Reading Lolita in Tehran) described how the hard won freedoms snatched away from Iranians are not only at risk in Iran, but in the US as well, where she fears an erosion of rights in an increasingly militarized culture.
 But it was Mona Eltahawy's vivid account of the bravery and energy of Egypt's citizen bloggers that stayed in the mind as I wandered back towards Dupont Circle. The idea that individual Egyptians, with no overt political agenda, but to ask for accountability and freedom of expression, should be making the regime quake at the knees speaks volumes about the sham representative government which the US props up with over $3 bn a year in subsidies. 
She described how a brave band of bloggers traveled five hours by train to stand witness at the church where Christian copts were gunned down over Christmas only to be arrested. Numerous bloggers have been jailed and suffered abuse for expressing the mildest criticism of the regime. She described the launch of a new weekly magazine Wasla, which is deriving over 90 per cent of its content from blogs. Indeed the launch of Wasla was met with a barrage of headlines claiming that it was being funded "by the billionaire George Soros." Its all about code in Egypt and nobody will have mistaken the message that Wasla is somehow part of an anti-Arab conspiracy. 
The magazine (16 pages (14 in Arabic and 2 in English) includes articles written by Arab bloggers. A thousand copies are being distributed free in Egypt in the political, academic, media or literary figures. An electronic version is also available for the rest of the Arab world.
Wasla aims to link Arab bloggers with politicians and it was in fact launched at the initiative of a women's group backed by Soros. Wasla -- or "The Link" -- is being touted as a first for the Arab world, with plans for articles by bloggers as a way of giving them a wider readership. It is published by the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information and financially supported by the Open Society Institute created by Soros, said ANHRI director Gamal Eid. "We want to challenge our audience, and open its eyes to the changes society is experiencing, particularly through youths and blogs in which they appear," he said. "The goal is to show the older generation that certain things exist," he said, adding as an example: "Whether we agree or not, gay communities are a reality in Egyptian and Arab societies." The 16-page weekly will include two pages in English and will have an initial print run of 1,000 copies for distribution to political, academic, and literary circles. An electronic version will also be available. What really worries the regime is that the bloggers are rallying around Mohammed ElBaradei, the former head of the IAEA who is seeking to run for the presidency, although the Egyptian constitution prevents an independent candidate from doing so. Not surprisingly Wasla's first edition is devoted to the Baradei campaign and the enthusiasm of his blogging netizen supporters.

For background this is an account of the launch of WASLA

CAIRO: Recognizing the importance of citizen journalism, the Arab Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI) launched its first issue of its monthly Wasla Thursday, Egypt's first newspaper with 90 percent content derived from blog entries. The newspaper "mirrors what happens on the blogs ... We want to transfer what is discussed online to an audience that does not read blogs," said head of ANHRI Gamal Eid at a press conference at the organization's headquarters downtown. The newspaper will include entries by Egyptian bloggers alongside Arab-related entries by online activists from around the world. In addition to transferring blogs from digital to print format, the newspaper hopes to bridge two generations of journalists: the old school, professional journalists and citizen journalists. The word "wasla" in Arabic means "connection". In printing the content of blogospheres, ANHRI is bringing the opinions of the active, younger generation to the professional journalists and old school political thinkers in a package that is familiar to them. "There's a general interest in what's happening online," said Mohamed Gaber, prominent blogger and artistic director of Wasla. Gaber added that the world's older generations are developing an interest in bloggers and online activists because they view them as a group of individuals genuinely interested in world affairs without seeking money or fame. "It's not a commercial paper," added Eid. Journalists and bloggers gathered Thursday around the founders of Wasla, an idea Eid says was spurred sometime in 2008 after the outbreak of the Mahallah riots on April 6, which drew attention to social networking website Facebook and the pivotal online youth movements. The editorial team, comprised of Ahmed Nagui, Ibtisam Taalab, Salma El-Wardany and Mohamed Gaber, emphasized that the blog entries chosen for print will not be censored prior to printing. "We speak the language of the street," said Gaber. "Some of the language used on blogs is more acceptable than that used in Al-Dostour and Rosa Al-Youssef," added Nagui, quelling concerns from attendees that the content may include foul language which is characteristic of some blogs. Breaking the straitjacketed approach of traditional newspapers, Gaber used an image by digital artist Moufa of Mohamed ElBaradei, former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency and current reform activist, for the front page of Wasla's pilot issue. "All front pages [of traditional newspapers] have a lead story with one big picture and a few other stories with smaller pictures," said Gaber, adding that he feels that by resizing the images he is being "unfair" to the art work. The last page of the 16-page tabloid-size publication will be dedicated to digital art work. Meanwhile, two pages will include blog entries about Egypt or the Arab world written in English. Comments on the chosen blogs will be published according to the value they add to the original entry, explained Nagui. The first issue of Wasla includes entries published on tahyyes.blogspot.com, and demaghmak.blogspot.com on the "ElBaradei fever". While an entry by kashfun.blogspot.com chronicles the story of the journalist herself who was fired for publishing an article about the Chinese-made artificial hymens that hit the Egyptian market last year, editor El-Taalab writes about bloggers who are arrested for publishing their views on blogs. The English section includes entries by arablit.wordpress.com and Inanities (allthegoodnameshadgone.blogspot.com). Wasla is kicking off as a monthly publication, but will soon be printed bi-monthly until it becomes a weekly issue. Content is also available online in PDF format at http://wasla.anhri.net/.

At Unfreemedia.org we wish Wasla lots of luck. Judging by yesterday's heavyhanded events in Cairo it has a tough road ahead: The following is  flavour of the Associated Press report of the police crackdown on a few dissidents.

Egyptian police on Tuesday beat and dragged off protesters to disperse a gathering of a few dozen in downtown Cairo calling for constitutional reforms and fairer presidential elections.

Protesters managed to briefly assemble in front of the upper house of parliament chanting "freedom" and calling for changes in the constitution before plainclothes police and anti-riot squads attacked them.

Plainclothes officers dragged demonstrators out of the crowd and threw them into waiting trucks. Young women among the protesters collapsed on the ground, weeping after their friends were taken away.

Police later pursued smaller groups of protesters through Cairo streets, knocking them down and arresting them if they attempted to chant. Demonstrations are illegal under Egypt's three-decade old emergency law. Media crews were also attacked and photographers' cameras were confiscated.

"It is an insulting image for Egypt," opposition politician Ayman Nour said about the heavy security presence ahead of the rally. "Hundreds of soldiers are denying the right of a few dozen citizens trying to express their desire to amend the constitution."

The protest was organized by the April 6 youth movement that calls for political reforms and backs the unofficial candidacy of former U.N. nuclear watchdog chief and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Mohammed ElBaradei. He did not attend Tuesday's protest.

Protesters managed to briefly assemble in front of the upper house of parliament chanting "freedom" and calling for changes in the constitution before plainclothes police and anti-riot squads attacked them.

Egypt is to hold parliamentary elections this year and presidential elections in 2011. Amendments to the constitution passed in 2007 restricting presidential candidacy to only a few members of approved political parties.

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