Tayseer Allouni, Al Jazeera’s former Kabul bureau chief who has been under detention in Spain for some seven years, is finally free and back in Qatar.
He arrived in Doha this evening, and was received at the airport by Al Jazeera’s director general Ahmed bin Jassim Al Thani, former DG Wadah Khanfar, the Arabic channel’s managing director Ibrahim Helal, former Guantanamo detainee Sami Al-Haj and a crowd of his colleagues.
In the above video, Allouni breaks down on air while being interviewed by Al Jazeera about his detention.
As Al Jazeera’s then Kabul bureau chief, Allouni interviewed Osama bin Laden in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks. A citizen of Spain, he was subsequently arrested three times by Spanish authorities for suspected links to al-Qaeda and sentenced to seven years in jail by the Spanish National Court in 2005. Six years of that sentence were served under house arrest, due to health concerns.
On January 17 of this year, the European Court of Human Rights ruled out the Spanish court’s decision, calling the trial unfair and illegal. However, Spanish authorities made Allouni complete his sentenced through February 25, and continued to withhold his passport until now.
Kony 2012
Last week, a video titled “Kony 2012” went viral on many social media networks, especially Facebook. Its purpose is to make people aware of Joseph Kony, a war criminal who kidnapped over 30,000 children and forced the boys to become child soldiers and the girls to become sex slaves. Many of my friends were touched by the video and supported Kony 2012 by sharing it…
Others were heavily skeptical of whether or not raising awareness would actually help…
and of whether or not the U.S. really wanted to help…
The video is also the center of many jokes!
To watch the video and learn more, go to http://www.kony2012.com/
Third Doha Tweetup of 2012
People can change the world with technology, said Claire Ortiz, manager of social innovation at Twitter, in a question and answer session at Al Sharq Village on Sunday.
Approximately 50 people attended the session, which was held as a follow-up to her “Tweetup for Good” speech given on Saturday in the same venue.
“Yesterday, Claire gave a really good speech. Today, we wanted to have a more informal discussion, which is exactly what happened. Hopefully, she inspired someone to use Twitter for a good cause,” said South African journalist Bilal Randeree.
The questions asked by the audience revolved around Twitter’s potential to catalyze positive change in developing countries. Ortiz said that increased access, particularly through mobiles and SMS, is the key to changing the world via Twitter.
The audience gathered around Ortiz as they passed the microphone from member to member and asked her for specific examples of how Twitter has been used for good in the past.
Ortiz said the world saw what Twitter could do on Jan. 25, 2011, in the Egyptian revolution, but Ahmed Hassabu, an Egyptian civil engineer at the Consolidated Contractor International Company in Doha, said he was skeptical about whether or not Twitter could do this again “if push came to shove.”
From this point, more questions became focused on censorship than using Twitter for Good, a result of Twitter’s recent censorship policy. Simply put, the policy allows governments the right to censor messages. Countries that have already adopted this policy include Thailand and China.
Ortiz said she would not answer any questions regarding censorship because she feared losing her job. However, many audience members were interested in the policy and pressed for answers nonetheless.
“I was expecting more,” said Sherief Salah, another Egyptian civil engineer at CCIC. “The organizers should have made this event more informal and friendly so that people could be more comfortable asking and answering questions, especially regarding censorship and its role in hindering developing countries like Egypt.”
The audience represented a wide range of nationalities and ages.
“Everything is under a shroud in this country,” said Rubina Singh, an Australian freelance journalist. “I think Qatar is ready to open up, but how will it do that if key social media networks are going to censor?”
“I understand that governments have the right to implement certain policies but I am uncertain as to whether or not this particular policy is a good one,” said Shiva Singh, the community outreach coordinator at Q-Tel and former social media intern at Doha Tweetups.
“Twitter really helped the Egyptian people,” said Hassabu. “It was the perfect example of using Twitter for good. However, what will happen if a situation like this arises after the censorship policy is put into action? Will they help again, or will censorship act?”
Dee Dee Dewar: Artist, Teacher and Friend
A common misconception held about art is that it is all about fun. Dee Dee Dewar is an artist who said that, “1 percent of it is indeed fun, while the remaining 99 percent is sheer dogged determination, hard work and commitment.”
Dewar has been an art enthusiast ever since she was a teenager living in Scotland. As a 17-year-old, she considered pursuing her passion at university. Despite her parents’ warning that an art degree might not enable her to earn a good living, she followed her heart and went on to complete a bachelor’s degree in silversmithing metalwork, a master’s degree in fine art and a postgraduate degree in art education.
The now successful 47-year-old art educator said she has never been out of work and is happy with the choice she made thirty years ago. “Art has given me opportunities that I never could have envisaged when I was 17,” said Dewar, whose flamboyant, black outfit matched her spiky hair. “It enabled me to do what I want and learn new skills.”
During her time in London, Dewar did several art demonstrations in various schools, which led her to teaching and, eventually, to Doha. Initially, she worked in both the primary and secondary school at Qatar Academy. However, she said she loved that the younger children were so “pliable and full of energy,” so she became head of the primary school’s art department, as well as an inspiration to many of her students.
Tariq Hussein, a 21-year-old Palestinian student at the American University of Cairo and a former student of Dewar’s, can still remember his first impression of her. “Mrs. Dee Dee struck me as wild and outspoken,” Hussein said. “Her personality reflected in her appearance, especially her spiky hair! All of the students loved her. She was like a friend.”
Nasser Al Thani, 19, another former student of Dewar’s, agreed. “She was a teacher when she had to be and a friend always,” said Al Thani. “I remember I once decided to slack off during an art project and, for the first time, she yelled at me. I now realize she had to do it but, after that, I was still crazy old Nasser to her and she was still crazy old Mrs. Dee Dee to me.”
This opinion is also common among her co-workers. Dewar left Qatar Academy to work at Doha’s Museum of Islamic Art where she met Amel Saadi-Cherif, the museum’s head of education. After having worked together for four years, the two women established a beautiful friendship. “Dee Dee is a brilliant artist and is very serious when it comes to her job,” Saadi-Cherif said. “But she is also very funny. We can always laugh together. I never get bored when I’m with her.”
“For me, the greatest reward that being an art educator can yield is witnessing a child have a little artistic breakthrough or helping an adult find the meaning in art,” Dewar said in her heavy Scottish accent. “I love this job because it is so multi-stranded and I just never know what’s coming next.”
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Khalid Al-Attiyah, Qatar’s minister of state for foreign affairs, speaking about the blocking of a United Nation resolution against violence in Syria.
Al-Attiyah said the veto by Russian and China at the UN Security Council gave Syrian President Bashar al-Assad a “license to kill,” Bloomberg reports.
Qatar has been a vocal opponent of al-Assad’s crackdown on pro-democracy protests in Syria that now threatens to turn into a civil war.
Earlier in the week, Qatar’s prime minister urged the UN to take “decisive action” to halt Syria’s “killing machine” and the Qatari emir has previously spoken in favor of sending Arab troops into the country.
That stance, combined with constance coverage of the crackdown by Doha-based news network Al Jazeera, has led to strained relations between the once-close countries.
Credit: Photo of UN headquarters by Ashitakka on Flickr
(via dohanews)
(via dohanews)
