Middle East

the Web Editors 3-04-2011
In the strength of your spirit and inspired by your compassion, we make this promise to work for change which empowers the forgotten.
Becky Garrison 3-02-2011
In contemplating next weekend's National Day of Unplugging, I'm reminded of the Facebook Fast I embarked on back in 2008.
Gary M. Burge 3-01-2011

I've been fascinated watching an earlier blog hunker down into a strong debate about Israel and the Palestinians (February 22, "

2-28-2011

In recent weeks, Facebook and other social media have clearly demonstrated their capacity to do far more than just allow us to keep in touch with our family and friends. They have proven to be powerful organizing tools, capable of assisting in the creation of broad international movements for social change. Social media has proven to be a particularly powerful tool in countries in which basic democratic rights such as a free press and the right to assembly are severely restricted. At the same time, Facebook and YouTube are increasingly rendering international borders as meaningless. Western media coverage of the recent popular uprising in Egypt consistently emphasized the catalytic role of Facebook in galvanizing youth and young adults to take action against an entrenched regime that had long been viewed as impenetrable. In the days after Mubarak's departure, both the New York Times and The Los Angeles Times published lead stories describing the role of certain Facebook pages in not only serving as a call to action, but as a space in which emerging activists in Tunisia and Egypt were able to share lessons with each other. These young activists had not only managed to evade the reach of both nations' security police, they had also sidelined older opposition parties such as the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt.

Gary M. Burge 2-22-2011

I must confess I was dumbfounded. It was bad enough this winter when Israel refused to call a moratorium on settlements in the West Bank, even after the United States urged it to do so (and sent our latest $3 billion check).

Jake Olzen 2-21-2011
A week after a shocked world reveled in Egypt's incredible moment of freedom and people power, Wisconsin is reviving its own unique tradition of people power and creative protest.
Daoud Kuttab 2-18-2011
Ten years ago, I established AmmanNet, the Arab world's first Internet radio that used technology to create audio and text content freely.
Nathan Schneider 2-11-2011
Throughout the coverage of the uprising in Egypt, we've been repeatedly told that Egyptians trust their military more than any other pa
Reza Aslan 2-07-2011

While much of the prognostication about Egypt's future has focused on the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood and the threat that it could pose to Egypt's Christian minority, one need only view the massive demonstrations that have roiled the streets of Cairo, Suez, and Alexandria to recognize th

Heather Wilson 2-07-2011

While watching live footage from Egypt over the past few weeks, over and over my question has been, so what can I do?

2-03-2011
Within the American news cycle, the front-and-center story about Egypt has three areas of interest: What will it mean for Egypt?
Aaron Taylor 2-02-2011

I love going to the gym in the mornings. It gives me a chance to watch the news. It also gives me a chance to compare the differences between the major networks and how they cover the events of the day.

Gary M. Burge 2-02-2011

For an entire week now we've watched tens of thousands of Egyptians march demanding a change in government. The police force has collapsed. The army is out in force. Residents are policing their own neighborhoods. President Mubarak is weighing his options. And the West is wondering what will happen next.

Nathan Schneider 2-01-2011
The excitement in Cairo -- including the biggest crowd yet today in Tahrir Square -- has made it difficult to follow the development of protests elsewhere in the Arab world.
Jim Wallis 2-01-2011
It's time to be a little more honest about Egypt. President Hosni Mubarak is a dictator, and has run a brutal and corrupt police state for three decades.
Vanessa Ortiz 1-31-2011
"All men recognize the right of revolution; that is, the right to refuse allegiance to, and to resist, the government, when its tyranny or its inefficiency are great and unendurable." -- Henr
Kiran Thadhani 1-26-2011
"To win the future" was a catch phrase for President Obama during his State of the Union address Tuesday night.
Duane Shank 1-03-2011
Every day as I review the news, I'm conscious of stories relating to religious faith.
Brian McLaren 1-03-2011

I recently received a note from a pastor and missionary we'll call Pete.