In Lebanon, where divisions dominate both the political and media spectrum, a new and independent youth newspaper, is shaking up the status-quo.

Sawt Ashabab, which translates to "Youth Voice" in Arabic, began as part of a media literacy project, but has evolved into the successful launch of an independent media organization challenging the country's polarized media landscape.

Watch video of the launch of Sawt Ashabab here

The newspaper was founded by Dima Saber, a professor of media studies at Lebanon's Notre Dame University, and David Munir Nabti, CEO of RootSpace, an organization that works towards a sustainable, knowledge-based economy and society in Lebanon.

The first edition was launched to coincide with Lebanon's recent highly anticipated elections, pitting the US and Saudi backed March 14 bloc which won against the Hezbollah-led March 8 alliance backed by Syria and Iran.

In a matter of a just a few weeks, Saber had gathered dozens of young volunteers from across Lebanon - many under Lebanon's 21-year-old voting age - who represent Lebanon's political, ethnic and religious divided.

The paper offers a sometimes cynical, though, informed commentary on Lebanese politics and society and the first edition was distributed in more than 50,000 copies of the two leading dailies, Al Akhbar and [Read More]

As former President Carter ended his trip to Lebanon where he spoke to a crowd of students about peace and was only interrupted by generous applause, a soon to be former President was speaking to a crowd of journalists in Iraq when he was interrupted with a kick thrown at him, twice.

Considering the current state of the world, there are probably quite a few people in the Middle East, America and across the world who want to throw their shoes at President Bush, or at least chew him out (for the non-violent types). But Muntadhir al-Zeidi was cocky enough to actually do it.

Sunday evening's spectacle has made the 28-year-old Iraqi shoe-thrower, journalist and Shiite a hero. He has not become the "freedom-hating" Arab the Bush administration has declared a war against.

At the American University of Beirut students exchanged text messages mocking the incident and expressing their support for the al-Zaidi, who is now facing jail after being beaten by Iraqi security. Karim Makdisi, Assistant Professor of Political Studies, gave his perspective on the incident, the serious distrust and frustration of the Bush administration's policies in the Middle East, and the prospect of change under President-elect Obama.

"It is not a question of not liking American values or being anti-American, which is what is presented in U.S. media. It's anti-American foreign policy and I think there is a very credible and legitimate reason to be distrustful and angry with policy in the region for the last few years."

On the contrary, Makdisi said that in cultural and educational terms, American is more present than it has... [Read More]

Sipping çay koyu in the lobby of my brilliantly located, straightforward hotel just off of Istiklal Caddesi in the heart of Istanbul, I had a Biden moment - or what was once known as a Hillary moment. It was long enough (and perhaps audible enough) a moment that the two Bulgarian tourists sitting across from me shifted their gaze from their guidebooks to me several times. But I wasn't recalling the tragic loss of my loved ones like Biden, or answering a question about perseverance like Hillary - I was overwhelmed by Colin Powell's sincere and poignant response to the same questions and rumors that leaders of his own party have been circulating for months on end:

Is Barack Obama a Muslim?

Powell's response:

"Well, the correct answer is, he is not a Muslim, he's a Christian. He's always been a Christian."

He continued with a few questions of his own: (Click here to watch Powell)

"But the really right answer is, what if he is? Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country?The answer's no, that's not America. Is there something wrong with some seven-year-old Muslim-American kid believing that he or she could be president? Yet, I have heard senior members of my own party drop the suggestion, "He's a Muslim and he might be associated terrorists." This is not the way we should be doing it in America."

It needs to be said, but Powell didn't have to say it, which makes it all the more admirable. He had already disappointed his party by endorsing Barack Obama - he didn't have to speak truth to justice, but he did. Then he told a story that he said deeply impacted him. It didn't seem political, thought surely might have political ramifications, in fact it seemed quite personal.

"I feel strongly about this particular point because of a picture I saw ... [Read More]

Finally Campbell Brown from CNN has raised a question that must be addressed by the media and instead has been muffled:

So what if Barack Obama (or John McCain for that matter) was an Arab? When did being Arab-American become a disqualifier for seeking the highest office in the land?



Many Arab-Americans following the elections have expressed excitement, as have other Americans, about the prospect of an African-American President because of the profound effect it will have on the hopes and aspirations of their children.

Now they will have to explain this to inquisitive children, or they should.

If we were still waiting for something to convince us that the terms Muslim and Arab are being used as slurs, surely this is it. For many months Arab-Americans and other Americans have warned against the institutionalization of racism against Arabs (and Blacks) in America and as recently as a month ago I dismissed a comment by a famous Arab-American comedian that "the word Arab and Muslim has become a slur and soon will become one of those words you can't say - only Arabs or Muslims themselves will say it, like 'What up my Muslim?'".

Brown puts it simply, "We've all been too quick to accept the idea that calling someone Muslim is a slur."

The incident at the McCain rally has set off a series of retorts among which, the following one is quite direct, addressing the serious threat of mulling over comments like the one made at the rally.

"This exploitation of bigotry and the stoking of racist fires to forward... [Read More]

A New Way to Watch Al Jazeera English in America

I'm petrified to think that people are frightened of information. Especially when it is misinformation that has taken Americans from prosperity to panic in just under a decade.

Vermonters are known to be proud, independent and opinionated. So it is hardly a coincidence that Vermont, one of very few states that actually airs the Al Jazeera English channel on local cable, is also the only state legislative body that has approved a resolution asking Congress to initiate impeachment hearings against President Bush and Vice President Cheney, those responsible for orchestrating much of the misinformation.

But I remain puzzled that Americans are not so interested in learning more about the rest of the world? The world is big, but it is getting smaller and Al Jazeera English offers both a regional voice and global perspective to world events, emphasizing news from the developing world.

I could tell you why I watch it, how much I learn from watching it, how compelling their programming is, the length and depth of their reports on Africa, Latin America and The Middle East. I could tell you that it fills a glaring gap in the mainstream media's lack of coverage of these regions.

Or I could simply tell you that it sells itself and give you a link to watch it for free in High Quality.

Here is the link to watch Al Jazeera English live and for free on the web. Just Click Here. (You can also watch other programs like BBC World Service, France 24 and Russia Today).

When Al Jazeera English was added to the unlimited bandwidth of Burlington Telecom, the broadband service provided in Vermont, it was only a matter of time before the decision was challenged. Ultimately, the city council voted 7-0 to urge the company to keep the channel and they recently signed a new carriage deal.

But the deafening gap in the ai... [Read More]

Are we ready to lean in as we prepare to kiss our civil liberties goodbye?

If the Justice Department has a say, they might answer with a slightly adjusted version of  2008's most popular political catch phrase: "Yes, we are".

The Justice Department is considering plans to change the rules that permit the Federal Bureau of Investigation to investigate citizens and legal residents.

As it stands now, an FBI agent has to have evidence in order to investigate a U.S. citizen.

But the new rules would give FBI agents the authority to create profiles of suspected terrorists based on behavior patterns and physical attributes. Anybody who fits that ambiguous description could become a suspect.

The soon-to-be-implemented rules would include a person's travel plans, race and ethnicity as qualifications to open a national security investigation on the given individual.

The ambiguity and open-ended nature of the rule not only infringes civil liberties, it directly denies it.

In an article in Salon.com, James Zogby, president of the Arab-American Institute, said, "There are millions of Americans who, under the reported new parameters, could become subject to arbitrary and subjective ethnic and religious profiling."

Just three weeks ago, a congressional panel denied an attempt by the FBI to fortify its role as an intelligence gathering organization when it asked for $11 million in an effort to expand a controversial data-mining program.

How would legalizing prejudice and overt racism help unite and protect America?

Is the new American standard, "guilty (based on looks and ethnicity ) until proven innocent?"

The plans are slated to go into effect later this summer. What is most troubling is what this says about the American mentality when it comes to our safety and security. The institutionalization of racial profiling is alrea... [Read More]

Religious battles are all too common in the Middle East. Some might assume that Lebanon is home to the largest Christian community in the Middle East - but they would be wrong.

It's Egypt, where Christianity was introduced in the 1st century when The Apostle Mark arrived.

The divide between Egypt's Coptic Christian community and the Muslim majority is deepening across Egypt as social constructs begin to create separations in an increasingly Sunni Muslim-dominated society.

Since the Coptic Pope Shenouda III began installing programs to increase the role the Church played in people's everyday lives, tensions seem to be on the rise. Some say Coptics are isolated within their communities. Shenouda, whose papacy is 36 years old, is now 85.

Ninety percent of Egypt's citizens are Muslims. If Coptics want to build a church, they must seek presidential approval whereas Muslims can build mosques without any prior approval.

Like in other Arab nations, there was a time (for centuries in fact) when Muslims and Christians lived peacefully together. But according to members of both communities, Christians are slowly disengaging from mainstream society causing both suspicion and disappointment on both sides.

Just from watching an old Egyptian movie, it is clear how much more tolerant the nation was a few decades ago, both socially and with regards to religion.

Over the past four decades Islamist values and politics has grown more prominent in the country and the ratio of Christians to Muslims continues to widen.

Just two weeks ago hundreds of Egyptian Muslims attacked Coptic Christian property when they received word that a woman and her 10-month old baby had gone missing. The villagers accused her Christian family of abducting her only to find that  she had been visiting relatives in Cairo.

Adel Imam, one of Egypt's most famous actors, recently offered an 8 minute report on... [Read More]

A few days after millions of Americans celebrate with fireworks the day we declared our independence from Britain, a new congressional resolution will likely be introduced to the floor for a vote that may be the first step towards a fireworks display of a different form above Iran.

Sorry to be a party pooper. But is it possible that Congress has learned nothing from the Bush Administration's disastrous decision to go to war with Iraq?

By passing the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution in 2002 the Congress (perhaps unintentionally, for some) gave the Bush administration enough leverage to carry out a pre-planned war with a misleading premise. And look at where we are now.

The non-binding resolution, H. Res 362, requires a stop on all shipments of refined petroleum products from reaching Iran. It “demands” that President Bush impose "stringent inspection requirements on all persons, vehicles, ships, planes, trains and cargo entering or departing Iran.”

Yes, this includes the Strait of Hormuz where a tense confrontation with Iran almost led to an order by a Navy commander to fire on one of five small armed Iranian speedboats threatening the American ship.

The Senate's sister resolution, S. Res 580, was introduced by Senator Evan Bayh on June, and already has 26 cosponsors.

The same day, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee held its annual policy conference, which included thousands of members traveling to Capitol Hill to push for tougher measures against Iran. After the bill was introduced AIPAC released a memo echoing almost every point mentioned by the bill.

The bill cites a series of reasons for its passing:

- Iran using its... [Read More]