The Real Net Effect: Can Social Media Make A Difference in Yemen? (Alwazir)

Yemeni Activist Tawakkul KarmanSocial media is not a silent witness, nor is the cause of the mass people’s movement. Twitter and Facebook do not cause revolutions, people do. These people, fueled by years of injustice and wide grievances, are the true agents of change.

The power of these revolutions lies in the people’s strength to collaborate together. While the bulk of mobilization efforts in Yemen happen through word of mouth, radio, brochures and SMS services; sites such as Facebook helped people meet each other with one click, without having to travel great distances between cities.

Click to read more ...

Bahrain, Syria (and Beyond) LiveBlog: A Teenager's Death for the New Year

Claimed footage of the moment that Bahraini security forces opened fire today on the funeral procession of 16-year-old Sayed Hashim (see 1530 GMT)

See also Bahrain (and Beyond) Opinion: Does Sayed Hashim's Death Matter?
Happy New Year: 10 Predictions for 2012 --- From US Election to Syria to No War With Iran to EA WorldView
A Resolution for a 2012 WorldView: A Global Community Built On Communication, Not Conflict
Saturday's Syria, Bahrain (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Protesting, Filming, Dying

---

2115 GMT: Video from Bahrain today of security forces chasing a young man and finally shooting at him:

2100 GMT: 1954 GMT: A mass demonstration in the Qosour section of Homs in Syria denounces the "Tyrant who murders his own people":

Click to read more ...

Syria (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Mr Al-Dabi, Can You See the Violence Now?

A woman paints her message on a street in Deir Ez Zor in northeast Syria: "Down with Bashar"

See also Syria Special: Observing the Observers --- Evidence of The Abuses in Homs
Egypt Video: Alaa Abd-El Fattah Speaks Out After Release from Prison
Egypt Feature: "The One Citizen" --- Political Prisoner Maikel Nabil's Powerful Critique
Egypt Special: Are Writing and Walking Really Such a Threat to the Regime?
Wednesday's Syria (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Will Arab League Observers Make a Difference?

---

1815 GMT: Egypt. With reports that the march swelled to 1000 demonstrators, protesters on the Free Maikel Nabil are now rallying outside the Supreme Court. On twitter, Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi relays some of the chants:

Bring Maikal from the cell!' "Maikal Maikal you hero, your imprisonment sets the nation free.

O freedom where are you? Scaf is standing between us.

Continuing a strategy increasingly being seen in Egypt, activists are projecting footage of crimes and beatings committed by SCAF onto the Supreme Court walls:

Click to read more ...

Syria (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Pounding Homs

1955 GMT: One of the conditions of the Arab League observers was supposed to be the withdrawal of tanks from the cities they were visiting. Well, those appear to the the observers, that is absolutely a tank, and this appears to be Baba Amr, Homs:

1927 GMT: An activist describes this video, reportedly taken today in Hama:

Demonstrators in the al-Baroudiyeh neighborhood, trying to reach Assi square, and in the video they [gather] behind buildings because of the presence of snipers; among the chants - "we don't bow down except to God," and, "oh Homs, we are with you till death."

Click to read more ...

Yemen and Media Opinion: Does a Life March Take Place If No One Covers It?

Yemen's Life Watch reaches Dhamar, halfway from Taiz to Sana'a

---

Last week, tens of thousands of Yemenis marched 264 kilometres (160 miles) from Taiz to the capital Sana'a to demand justice for fallen protesters. To demand that President Ali Abdullah Saleh be brought to trial over his actions in suppressing peaceful demonstrators. To demand that the wishes, hopes and dreams of millions of Yemenis who brought their lives to a standstill for the past year to get rid of a despotic dictatorship will be honoured.

When the marchers reached Sana'a, they did not get justice or honour. Instead, they were gifted bullets from their current rulers, condemnation from the US Ambassador, and something akin to a deafening silence in most of the international media.

The protesters called their walk through the rugged terrain of Yemen the Life March --- but does a march for life take place if no one is covers it?

Click to read more ...

Syria, Bahrain (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Peace on Earth?

An anti-regime demonstration on Saturday outside the Constantino Church in the Damascus suburb of Yabroud

---

0645 GMT: We open this morning with a separate video/picture feature of clashes in Bahrain last night, including the visual evidence that police are allying with armed plainclothes men in operations against villages.

Earlier, State media said charges relating to freedom of expression would be dropped in 34 cases involving 343 individuals linked to protests, although some of the accused would be tried on other allegations "including acts of violence and sabotage".

Matar Matar, a senior official with the opposition society Al Wefaq and a former MP, responded, "It's a media show, not linked to the application of the recommendations of the [Bahrain] Independent Commission of Inquiry." Protesters have called for the immediate release of all political detainees. 

In Yemen, President Saleh has personally repeated the declaration, issued by his office earlier this week, that he will leave for the United States during the transition of power. He did not say when he would depart.

Meanwhile, the hope of the Life March, a 250-kilometre (155-mile) walk by thousands from Taiz to the capital Sana'a was soon overtaken by the gunfire, tear gas, and water cannon of the regime. Firing on protesters who wanted to go to the Presidential Palace and demand Saleh's trial for crimes against his people, the security forces killed nine people.

Syria, Bahrain (and Beyond) LiveBlog: The Violence Continues Through the Night...

In Bayada, Homs, protesters run through the trash to escape sniper fire.

See also Friday 23 December LiveBlog: Syria, Bahrain (and Beyond) LiveBlog: The Damascus Bombs
Bahrain Special: Last Night It Rained Tear Gas

---

1710 GMT: The "Strike of Dignity", shutting down shops and schools in support of protests against the regime, continues across Syria. Footage from Kisweh outside Damascus:

1635 GMT: Upsetting scenes continue to unfold across the Middle East today, whilst the suffering wrought by yesterdays events comes to us through videos and reports. None of this violence has stopped the spirit of protest, with demonstrations taking place in Syria, Bahrain, Yemen and beyond.

Click to read more ...

Syria, Egypt, Bahrain (and Beyond) LiveBlog: The Women March

A women's march in Yemen on Tuesday

See also Bahrain Feature: Protests and Clashes Across the Kingdom Tonight
Middle East/North Africa Special: Policing the Female Body...and the Women Who Resist
Tuesday's Syria, Egypt, Bahrain (and Beyond): Uncertainty of Death, Certainty of Conflict

---

2025 GMT: Students from Ain Shams University in Cairo marched today to the Ministry of Defence. Click the image for a full gallery.

Click to read more ...

Middle East/North Africa Special: Policing the Female Body...and the Women Who Resist

The "Million Woman" march in Egypt on Tuesday

---

In Egypt, Bahrain, Yemen, and beyond, women have continued to exert their agency against the grain of regimes which would otherwise stamp their anger as troublesome or hysterical. In recent days, they have --- as they have for months --- made their presence felt, striking out against the patriarchal systems of governance which threaten to cripple the progressive development of the region. Doing, these women voice a clear and necessary message to the "West": Get your own house in order whilst we deal with the policing of ours.

Click to read more ...

Syria, Egypt, Bahrain (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Beyond a "Return" to Protest

Egyptian military drag, and disrobe a female protester

See also Bahrain Video Special: The Police Attack Protesters at Budaiya
Friday's Bahrain, Syria (and Beyond) LiveBlog: The Beat Goes On --- Anticipating Friday's Protests

---

2100 GMT: One Egyptian soldier beats a protester while another soldier wields a handgun:

2005 GMT: An EA source is reporting another death from the activities of the security forces in Bahrain. Abdali Al Mawaly, a 58-year-old man, suffered the effects of tear gas inhalation in Mugsha village on Friday and died this evening. People are now gathered around his house.

Click to read more ...