Showing posts with label blogging. Show all posts
Showing posts with label blogging. Show all posts

Thursday, December 15, 2011

Aliaa's Nudity: A Different Form of Protest

ALMASRY ALYOUM (‘EGYPT TODAY’): How many Egyptians have appreciated the message behind Aliaa Magda Al Mahdy's naked photo? We only know that few have actually expressed admiration or support, and they did so by posting words of encouragement on her blog, her Facebook page and on Twitter, leaving the pages of printed media to reactions that ranged from the lack of sympathy to outrage. Her boyfriend Karim Amer — though he has nothing to do with the photo — was not spared.

The issue today seems to belong to the past, but we are reminded of Aliaa's action by scattered allusions in the press to the legal charges filed against her: spreading vice, encouraging lewdness and license, and contempt for religion. We are also reminded from material circulating on the net showing a girl resembling her being attacked in Tahrir or slaughtered — supposedly by Islamic fundamentalists.

More now than ever before, Egyptians from all walks of life are talking about liberty. The chants for freedom have united the revolting masses beyond — and regardless of — ideological affiliation. But why has the call for a freer society limited itself to the political sphere: liberties stated in the constitution, parliamentary elections, management of state institutions and — to a lesser extent — media freedoms? Can one espouse democracy as a political system without extending its logic to gender relations, sexuality and issues of personal privacy?

Most important, why have the self-proclaimed "liberals" forsaken Aliaa and exerted all their efforts to excommunicate her from their liberal ideal? Most of those who reiterate the slogans of freedom and democracy have politely denounced Aliaa's move, but not from the point of view of rejecting permissiveness and debauchery — for that would equate them with the same forces "of darkness" against which they have come to define their raison d'être.

Instead of discussing Aliaa’s fundamental right to undress as she pleases, post whatever she likes on her blog — in short to exercise freedom of thought and expression and do what she sees fit as long as she doesn't directly harm anyone — those who tend to view themselves as being opposed to all forms of oppression have nevertheless abstained from uncompromising support for Aliaa's freedom of expression. Instead, they slammed her from the point of view of aesthetics, depth, timing and "cultural sensitivity.

Instead of supporting her, they pitied her; they made statements about her "confused" state of mind, and the fact that she is one year below the age of legal adulthood. The sympathy they expressed is that which one feels for a human being who is "messing up her life" (as some noted worriedly), and who is naïve and unaware of the consequences of her act, that she is not aware of the risks (i.e. getting killed by the forces of evil: the Salafis). Underneath this patronizing tone, there’s a reluctance to either support Aliaa's courageous venture or attack it as immoral. » | Rime Naguib | Sunday, December 11, 2011

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Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Aliaa Magda Elmahdy, Egypt's Nude Blogger, Defiant: 'I Stand By Everything'

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS TIMES: Aliaa Magda Elmahdy, the Egyptian blogger who shocked the Arab world with her nude pictures posted on Twitter, has broken cover to issue a defiant rebuttal on Facebook to accusations of insulting Islam, saying she does not "acknowledge any discriminatory law".

In a status update on Facebook, the 20-year-old activist reiterated her commitment to defend freedom of expression and civil rights, asserting it was her undeniable personal choice to publish naked pictures of herself on Twitter.

"I stand by every letter I wrote and every photo I published and will say that I don't acknowledge any laws that limit freedoms or are discriminatory if I was called for investigation," she wrote.
The Egyptian Coalition of Islamic Law Graduates filed a suit against Aliaa Elmahdy and her boyfriend, the blogger Kareem Amer, under charges of "violating morals, inciting indecency and insulting Islam."

The coalition's Facebook page called for Elmahdy and Amer to be punished according to Islamic law.
"The old constitution and the new declarations of the new one says Islamic law is the source of governing, therefore we asked for Islamic law penalties to be executed on the two bloggers," Ahmed Yehia, coordinator of the coalition, told Bikyamasr.com.

"It is an insult to the revolution as these two persons who pretend to be one of the revolutionists and asking for sexual freedoms. They are giving the uprising a bad name," he continued.

"It is our duty to fight corruption and this is a corruption case, people who are trying to corrupt society with foreign and unacceptable customs like the sexual freedom they ask for," continued Yehia. » | Gianluca Mezzofiore | Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Related here and here

Monday, November 21, 2011

'It Doesn't Matter If You're Jewish, Arab Straight or Lesbian': Israeli Women Strip In Support of Nude Egyptian Blogger

MAIL ONLINE: When an Egyptian activist posted a nude picture of herself online in protest at the lack of freedom of expression, it sparked outrage in her country.

Now, a group of women in Israel have also stripped off in a show of solidarity.

Inspired by 20-year-old Aliaa Elmahdy's bold move, the 40 Israelis posed naked for a 'copycat' shot - holding a banner to cover their modesty.

The sign read 'Homage to Aliaa El Mahdi. Sisters in Israel' with the slogan 'Love without Limits', written in Arabic and Hebrew.

Led by 28-year-old Or Templar, who set up a group on a social networking website inviting women to join her, the girls put their political differences aside to express their support.

On the Facebook group, Templar wrote: 'Girls, let's give the world a good reason to see the unique beauty of Israeli women.

'Regardless of whether they are Jewish, Arab, straight or lesbian – because here, as of now, it doesn't matter.

'Let us show the doubters that our international discourse doesn't depend on governments.'

Templar's plan came as a response to Elmahdy, who posted the image of herself wearing only stockings and red flat shoes on her blog last week. Read on and comment » | Maysa Rawi | Monday, November 21, 2011

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Sunday, November 20, 2011

Nackter Protest in Ägypten: Nur mit einer roten Schleife im Haar

FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE: 20.11.2011 · Eine ägyptische Studentin fordert die sexuelle Revolution. Mit ihren Nacktbildern im Internet protestiert Alia Magda al Mahdi kurz vor der Wahl gegen die Unterdrückung der Frauen in Ägypten.

Mit roten Lackschuhen, einer roten Schleife im Haar, Nylonstrümpfen und sonst nichts: So präsentiert sich die zwanzig Jahre alte Studentin der Kunst und Medienwissenschaften Alia Magda al Mahdi in ihrem Internetblog, per Twitter und auf Facebook. Das heizt die Stimmung in Ägypten, eine Woche vor der Parlamentswahl, zusätzlich an. Wie nicht anders zu erwarten, reagieren konservative Kräfte auf die Aktion der Studentin mit Drohungen. Liberale distanzieren sich von der Aktion, um nicht in den Ruch zu kommen, Nacktheit zu propagieren. Die Jugendbewegung 6. April, die zum Sturz des Mubarak-Regimes beigetragen hat, teilte mit, dass Alia al Mahdi der Gruppe nicht angehöre, wie es etwa der Sender Al Arabija berichtet hatte. » | Von Michael Hanfeld | Sonntag 20. November 2011

Related articles here, here, here, here, and here
Egyptian Blogger Aliaa Elmahdy: Why I Posed Naked

CNN: Cairo, Egypt -- Egyptian blogger Aliaa Magda Elmahdy has become a household name in the Middle East and sparked a global uproar after a friend posted a photo of her naked on Twitter.

The photo, which the 20-year-old former student first posted on her blog, shows her naked apart from a pair of thigh-high stockings and some red patent leather shoes.

It was later posted on Twitter with the hashtag #nudephotorevolutionary. The tweet was viewed over a million times, while Elmahdy's followers jumped from a few hundred to more than 14,000.

Her actions have received global media coverage and provoked outrage in Egypt, a conservative Muslim country where most women wear the veil. Many liberals fear that Elmahdy's actions will hurt their prospects in the parliamentary election next week.

Elmahdy describes herself as an atheist. She has been living for the past five months with her boyfriend, blogger Kareem Amer, who, in 2006 was sentenced to four years in a maximum security prison for criticizing Islam and defaming former president Hosni Mubarak.

Here she talks exclusively to CNN in Cairo about why she posed nude.

CNN: Why did you post a photo of yourself nude photo on Twitter, and why the red high heels and black stockings?

Elmahdy:
After my photo was removed from Facebook, a male friend of mine asked me if he may post it on Twitter. I accepted because I am not shy of being a woman in a society where women are nothing but sex objects harassed on a daily basis by men who know nothing about sex or the importance of a woman.

The photo is an expression of my being and I see the human body as the best artistic representation of that. I took the photo myself using a timer on my personal camera. The powerful colors black and red inspire me. » | Mohamed Fadel Fahmy for CNN | Sunday, November 20, 2011

Saturday, November 19, 2011

Egypt’s “Nude Photo Revolutionary” Just That, Revolutionary

BIKYAMASR: CAIRO: Despise Aliya Mahdy or not, she has done what few revolutionaries in Egypt have been able to do: take revolutionary action. Her public display of her naked body in a blog post has seen attacks from the conservative Islamists and the liberals alike. Nudity, especially female nudity, leaves people queasy. Had she been a man, would the reaction have been so virulent against her? Doubtful. The man would likely have been praised for his use of his body as expression. Mahdy, unfortunately, is a woman living in Egypt.

Women are objects in many conservatives’ views. Things that can be owned and used for a man’s pleasure when he desires and when he wants. This is why we have seen the growth of polygamy, the shoving aside of a woman’s ability to choose her life’s goals, and the unending “debate” over the causes of sexual harassment and sexual assault.

Whether we agree that one’s body should be a form of protest – which so many of Egypt’s liberals disagree with – is irrelevant. The reality is that Mahdy has been able, with her body, [to] debunk all myths of Egyptian liberalism. Her naked image, which has seen over one million hits, has shown that Egypt is not ready for free expression.

Liberal activists online lamented that the 20-year-old university student has “ruined” her life, is “young and doesn’t know what she has done.” But in an inherently conservative society, Mahdy has created something only the truly revolutionary in today’s world can do: showing the hypocrisy of the so-called freedom fighters for expression.

In the ultra-male dominated society of Egypt, women are too often told what they should put on their bodies. Wear the veil, wear loose clothes, don’t wear this, don’t wear that, and so on. Mahdy has shown that nobody has a right to tell her, or other women for that matter, what is appropriate for a woman. Her body is her own and she can do what she likes with it, and that includes putting nothing over top it and publishing it online. It’s her right. Read on and comment » | Joseph Mayton | Thursday, November 17, 2011

Friday, November 18, 2011

Egypt's Naked Blogger Is a Bomb Aimed at the Patriarchs in Our Minds

THE GUARDIAN: By posing naked, Aliaa Mahdy has brilliantly challenged the misogyny and sexual hypocrisy of Egypt's leaders

When a woman is the sum total of her headscarf and hymen – that is, what's on her head and what is between her legs – then nakedness and sex become weapons of political resistance. You can witness how nudity sears through layers of hypocrisy and repression by following Aliaa Mahdy, a 20-year-old Egyptian who lit the fuse of that double-H bombwhen she posted a nude photograph of herself on her blog last week.

It was in Egypt, after all, that the ruling military junta stripped women of both headscarves (detained female activists were made to strip) and hymens when it subjected them to "virginity tests" last March, by which a soldier inserted two fingers into their vaginal opening. What are the military's "virginity tests", but a cheap tactic to humiliate and silence? When sexual assault parades as a test of the "honour" of virginity, then posing in your parents' home in nothing but stockings, red shoes and a red hair clip is an attack towards all patriarchs out there.

Supporters and detractors quickly lined up to comment on her blog, where the counter for pageviews outpaces a pendulum many times over. Far from the immature naïf some have tried to paint her as being, Mahdy knows exactly where it hurts – and kicks. She wrote:
"Put on trial the artists' models who posed nude for art schools until the early 70s, hide the art books and destroy the nude statues of antiquity, then undress and stand before a mirror and burn your bodies that you despise to forever rid yourselves of your sexual hangups before you direct your humiliation and chauvinism and dare to try to deny me my freedom of expression".
She might have been born 10 years into Hosni Mubarak's rule, but Mahdy understands the way personal freedoms have steadily shrunk in Egypt. The double whammy of military rule – in place since 1952 – along with the growing influence of Islamism, ensured that. Mubarak would fill jails with Islamists, but would fight their ideas not by giving civil and personal liberties room to express themselves, but through conservative clerics employed by the state. When the only two sides fighting are conservative – even if one of them is just conservative in appearance – then everyone loses. And women don't just lose; they're also used as cheap ammunition.

Witness the ultra-conservative Salafi party's use of female candidates on their list: it looks good when you have female candidates; you can tell the feminists who decry your misogynistic ideology to shut up. But the said candidates have no face, and no voice. On election pamphlets, a rose represented one Salafi female candidate – and soon after, the rose was replaced by a picture of the candidate's husband. There are reports that if Salafi women win parliamentary seats, their husbands or a male guardians will speak on their behalf because Salafis consider a woman's voice to be sinful. » | Mona Eltahawy | Friday, November 18, 2011

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Politischer Akt: Nackte Studentin erzürnt Ägypter

SPIEGEL ONLINE: Mut oder Leichtsinn? Eine ägyptische Kunststudentin versetzt ihr Land in Aufruhr, weil sie aus politischem Protest nackt im Netz posiert. Kurz vor den Parlamentswahlen gehen jetzt selbst liberale Kräfte auf Distanz zu ihr - und Freunde fürchten um ihre Sicherheit.

Rote Lackschuhe, Nylonstrümpfe, eine Schleife im Haar. Mehr trägt Alia Magda al-Mahdi, 20, Studentin der Kunst- und Medienwissenschaften, nicht auf dem Foto, das in ihrem Heimatland Ägypten ein Tabu gebrochen hat. Ihre provokante Aktion hat ihr Drohungen, aber auch Solidaritätsbekundungen beschert - und die ohnehin gereizte politische Stimmung gut eine Woche vor dem Start der Parlamentswahlen weiter angeheizt.

Das Foto hat die Studentin der Amerikanischen Universität in Kairo in ihrem Blog veröffentlicht, gemeinsam mit weiteren Aktbildern. Eines zeigt einen nackten Mann mit Gitarre und dann wieder Mahdi mit gelben Balken vor Augen, Mund und Scham. Die Rechtecke stünden für "die Zensur unseres Wissens, Ausdrucks und Sexualität", kommentiert sie in dem Blog, das sie mit "Tagebuch einer Rebellin" betitelt hat. Sie wehre sich "gegen eine Gesellschaft von Gewalt, Rassismus, Sexismus, sexueller Belästigung und Heuchelei" - mit einem Aktporträt, das sie nach eigenen Angaben vor Monaten im Haus ihrer Eltern aufgenommen hat.

Für europäische Verhältnisse wirkt das eher altmodisch als revolutionär. Doch in der konservativen ägyptischen Gesellschaft, wo sich Paare in der Öffentlichkeit nicht küssen dürfen und Frauen auf der Straße nicht einmal ihre nackten Arme zeigen, hat die Aufnahme eine Lawine der Entrüstung losgetreten. » | son/dop/AP | Freitag 18. November 2011

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Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Fury Over Young Activist Publishing Nude Self-portrait

AL-MASRY AL-YOUM: In an unprecedented move, a young Egyptian female on Sunday dared to publish a nude self-portrait, along with other nude photos, on her blog as an expression of personal freedom.

Aliaa Magda Elmahdy said on Twitter that she posted the photo under her real name. She added that she took the photo by herself in her parents’ home.

Her blog, which has only one entry so far, has received nearly 30,000 hits.

Under the title “fan a’ry” (nude art), Elmahdy posted eight pictures, two of herself and one showing a nude man holding a guitar, in addition to other photos.

In one photo, yellow rectangles cover parts of her body. “The yellow rectangles on my eyes, mouth and sex organ resemble the censoring of our knowledge, expression and sexuality,” Elmahdy said. » | EE staff | Sunday, November 13, 2011

THE WASHINGTON POST: Egyptian activist’s nude self-portrait causes online fury » | Maura Judkis | Monday, November 14, 2011

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS: Muslim artist defies Islamic prudes by baring all on the web: Strips despite her country's conservative culture » | Corky Siemaszko | Tuesday, November 15, 2011

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Wednesday, October 05, 2011

Egypt: Court Delay Is 'Death Sentence' for Blogger

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The family of a jailed Egyptian blogger who has been on a 43-day hunger strike to demand his release from prison yesterday accused a military court in Cairo of effectively sentencing him to death by delaying his appeal.

Maikel Nabil, who is serving a three-year prison sentence for "insulting" the Egyptian military, had been due to appear before a tribunal that was to consider his conviction. But a judge postponed the case until next week because he did not have the necessary documents with him.

Mr Nabil, described by Amnesty International as a prisoner of conscience, has refused all food since August 23rd. According to rights groups, he is suffering from renal problems, anaemia and scabies as a result of his hunger strike.

The blogger has also told his family that he would refuse water if he was not released yesterday.

"Maikel is not going to make it to next week's hearing," his brother Mark was quoted as saying. "Every doctor we have spoken to has said no one can last more than 43 days without food."

"This is a death sentence for Maikel because he said if he weren't released on 4th October he'd refuse water." » | Adrian Blomfield, Middle East Correspondent | Tuesday, October 04, 2011

Monday, June 13, 2011

US Man Admits He Is 'Syrian Gay Girl' Blogger

Human rights campaigners have reacted furiously after a US student based in Scotland unmasked himself as the author of the "Gay Girl in Damascus" blogs, which charted the security crackdown in Syria.

Tom MacMaster, a 40 year-old Edinburgh University masters student, admitted that he was "Amina Abdallah Arraf", who had described herself as a Syrian political blogger.

Al Jazeera's Jonah Hull reports.


Tuesday, May 17, 2011

A Difficult Blogging Day!

Today has been a very difficult blogging day: Posts have suddely appeared from nowhere; blogs have suddenly disappeared to somewhere. Fact is, someone is hacking my website. Unfortunately, it is difficult to tell exactly who it is. What is easy to tell is this: It is most unpleasant. It causes work without need; it causes too much disruption. I therefore ask the SOB to cease and disist. Ultimately, he will gain nothing from his small-minded endeavours.

Meanwhile, you, dear reader, if you find something strange going on, please bear in mind that this site is being hacked. Therefore, strange things can happened at any time, anywhere. I’ll keep you posted. – © Mark

Saturday, January 23, 2010

Pope Tells Priests to Get Blogging

THE TELEGRAPH: Pope Benedict XVI urged priests to use the internet "astutely" and make the most of opportunities offered by modern technology.

The Pope had told priests that they should write blogs and use the internet more, saying they must learn to use new forms of communication to spread the gospel message.

In his message for the Roman Catholic Church's World Day of Communications on Saturday, the Pope, who is 82 and known not to love computers or the internet, acknowledged priests must make the most of the "rich menu of options" offered by new technology.

"Priests are thus challenged to proclaim the Gospel by employing the latest generation of audio-visual resources – images, videos, animated features, blogs, websites – which, alongside traditional means, can open up broad new vistas for dialogue, evangelisation and catechesis," he said.

Priests, he said, had to respond to the challenge of "today's cultural shifts" if they wanted to reach young people.

But Benedict warned priests not to strive to become stars of new media. "Priests present in the world of digital communications should be less notable for their media savvy than for their priestly heart," he said.

After decades of being wary of new media, the Vatican has decided to dive in head first. >>> |Saturday, January 23, 2010

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

'Decision to Blog Is Risky But Neccessary'

BBC: Wael Abbas is an Egyptian Journalist and a highly influential political blogger. His blog, Misr Digital (Egyptian Awareness), regularly covers political protests, corruption, and police brutality - subjects generally avoided by the mainstream media.

Egypt has the most developed political blogosphere in the Arab world but just how much truth is there in a blog?

Wael Abbas tells Zeinab Badawi that bloggers in Egypt are a vital, independent voice, constantly pushing the limits of freedom of speech. Watch BBC video >>> | Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Thursday, October 08, 2009

Keywords: Update

Some days ago, I reported that I was having a problem placing keywords at the end of my blog postings. The problem has been only partially resolved.

It seems that Google has changed the rules of the game. Henceforward, bloggers are allowed to place no more than ten keywords at the end of each blog posting, and in all there should be no more than 2000 keywords per blog!

As all my visitors know, I blog not only in English, but in other languages too, especially French and German. From time to time, I have also placed keywords in Arabic. Having such restrictions will make it very difficult for me, and other bloggers, to place the appropriate keywords when posting an article. Why? Because now, unless the keyword I want to use has already been used in the past, i.e. it is in my 'bank' of keywords, I am no longer able to use that keyword. Let me illustrate my difficulty, please…

This afternoon, I put up Enya’s song ‘Anywhere Is’. It was impossible for me to use the keywords ‘Anywhere Is’, because it had not been used before, so it was no in my keyword ‘bank’. I could therefore place the song up only under Enya. And even for this explanatory post, I am unable to use the keyword 'keywords', because that keyword had never been used before the 'bank' was frozen.

If this continues, it is going to make my posts far more difficult to find; so, naturally, I am going to continue to resolve this problem. It will take some time. I therefore ask you all for your understanding. May I also request that you be so kind as to contact Google by emailing them at help@google.com, asking them to rescind this recent, ludicrous decision. Clearly, there must be thousands of bloggers suffering from these arbitrary restrictions. – Mark

Tuesday, October 06, 2009

American Bloggers Forced to Declare Interests

TIMES ONLINE: American bloggers will be forced to declare any interest in products reviewed or discussed in their blogs under new rules announced on Monday by the Federal Trade Commission.

The FTC’s revisions to its existing guidance are intended as an aid to advertisers to keep their work within the FTC Act, part of which covers endorsements by consumers, experts, organisations, and celebrities, as well as the disclosure of important connections between advertisers and endorsers. They will come into force on December 1 this year.

In a statement, the FTC said that its revised rules “also add new examples to illustrate the long standing principle that ‘material connections’ (sometimes payments or free products) between advertisers and endorsers – connections that consumers would not expect – must be disclosed… while decisions will be reached on a case-by-case basis, the post of a blogger who receives cash or in-kind payment to review a product is considered an endorsement. Thus, bloggers who make an endorsement must disclose the material connections they share with the seller of the product or service.” >>> Nigel Kendall, Technology Editor | Tuesday, October 06, 2009

Wednesday, October 01, 2008

Saudi Blogging Round-up

BBC: Blogging in Saudia Arabia can carry risks. The Saudi authorities detained one blogger, Fouad al-Farhan, for four months this year after he called for political reform.

But people are still speaking their minds online. Topics in this selection of posts include a fatwa, repressive Arab regimes, religion as empowerment, and menswear with a twist. Saudi Blogging Round-up >>> | October 1, 2008

The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Paperback (US) Barnes & Noble >>>
The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Hardcover (US) Barnes & Noble >>>

Monday, May 19, 2008

Hadeel Alhodaif, Leading Female Saudi Blogger, Dies Aged 25

“I would like to educate Saudi women about the importance of blogging as an efficient medium that can greatly influence public opinion” - the late Hadeel Alhodaif, Saudi blogger

TIMES ONLINE: The Saudi blogosphere is in mourning after the sudden death of a young female web-diarist and author who battled for a freer media in the restrictive kingdom.

Hadeel Alhodaif died last Friday after failing to emerge from a coma she fell unexpectedly into last month, just two days after her 25th birthday.

Her death made news in Saudi dailies today, while many distraught online admirers offered prayers for her soul and condolences to her family.

“Saudis from all ages and backgrounds – liberals and conservatives alike, those who knew her closely or from a distance, and even those who did not know her at all – are mourning the bright, skinny girl with high dreams and hopes of better future for all Saudis,” Arab News, an English-language Saudi daily, said today. Hadeel Alhodaif, leading female Saudi blogger, dies aged 25 >>> By Michael Theodoulou, Nicosia | May 19, 2008

Hadeel’s Blog: Heaven’s Steps

ARAB NEWS:
Leading Saudi Woman Blogger Alhodaif Passes Away at 25 >>> By Ebtihal Mubarak | May 19, 2008

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback - UK)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Hardback - UK)

Thursday, January 31, 2008

Lionheart: Homeless, and to Be Arrested for Blogging?

Hat tip to Always On Watch for alerting me to this short article:

SAVANNAH MORNING NEWS: Paul Ray is homeless. (No, not that Paul Rea.)

He’s got a home country, Britian [sic], but if he goes back there he’s facing arrest on suspicion of an offense dubbed “Stir up Racial Hatred by displaying written material” on his blog lionheartuk.blogspot.com. He could get seven years in prison just for stating his views.

They’ve got no First Amendment in Britian [sic]. So the 31-year-old is in the United States contemplating a bid for asylum after being run out of his home of Luton. He was here when he first found out about the charge.

For more than a year he’s been documenting what he alleges is drug dealing by Muslim immigrants in Luton. He’s dropped dimes on these dealers and they’ve in turn threatened his life.

I met him at last week’s blogging unconference. To me he straddles that line dividing legitimate criticism of a minority group and unreasonable vilification. He’s in that gray area where we find many in the United States who decry illegal immigrants.

At one point he said there is good and bad in everything. But later he says about the Koran: “It’s a hate book against non-believers.” He said the Muslims in Luton sell heroin as part of a jihad. Arresting a blogger (with audio) >>>

Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)