One Arab World

I have got to say (with a bit of a self pat on the back here) that there have been some great dialogues going on here. What makes them so great, in my opinion, is the extremities in the polarization of opinion represented; done so, by and large, with meticulous calculation, support, professionalism, levelness of thought, and very little bullshit (relative to politics of course) on behalf of the people that comment here.

I would like to bring particular attention to a couple of readers/commenters/regulars as an illustration of what I am talking about.

These two guys are at fairly solid ends of the spectrum; at least in the context of the kinds of discussions carried out here. I read both of them with an approach that ranges from extreme interest to fatigue. Depending on how my day is going I will open up their newest comment with an excitement that cable internet cant cope with to “damn it not this guy again.”

It’s obvious that one is a Jew and one a Muslim; hardcore at that.

So here it is; two commenters profiled:

Abd ul-Rahman Hilmi:

“I cannot disclose any personal information as I worry for my safety when considering what I say. Abd ul-Rahman is not even my real name. I do apologize for this if it causes any inconvenience. I can tell you that I am a male Arab and part of the Islamic Liberation Party. My views are the views of Hizb ut-Tahrir al Islami, you can scan through one of our sites to get a more in depth understanding."

Previously profiled here.

Andrew Brehm:

“I have few things to hide. :-)

I am 28 years old, work as a system engineer for a multi-national software company (the name of which I fear I should not make public as I am a consultant and not an employee), was born and grew up in West-Berlin, and live in Dublin, Ireland. My non-spam-trap email address is ajbrehm @ gmail.com. My home page is at http://www.netneurotic.net and on http://www.netneurotic.net/me/ you will find a picture (it's five years or so old but it's me all right). I have a blog at http://citizenleauki.joeuser.com.

Apart from computers and the Internet I am interested in linguistics, evolutionary biology, religion, politics, old/classic movies, humor, British television shows, French comic books, and food.

I attend shul (synagogue) services every Friday (very strictly so) and sometimes Saturday mornings as well. And I am well known as a good customer in the local Subway's, the Chinese restaurant across the road, and several Arab fast food places! :-) Think somebody who starts eating as soon as left alone and who complains a lot about minor things when asked how his day went, and you have me in a nut shell. And the shell fits.”

We also have our eye on a couple of other regulars; Alien Kain, Strange Attractor, a few Danes we picked up since the cartoon fiasco, and the up and coming Raccoon (shoot me out some emails with a little personal info). You people have taught me so much while almost continuously annoying the hell out of me, so to both of you and the rest of you; hats off and thank you for making this thing readable.

-Karim Elsahy

Came across this pic I took (well set-up) at a club in Savannah. I thought I'd introduce you guys to my brothers. 

-Karim Elsahy

The best of the blogs awards are in and I couldn’t have been happier with the results. Our very own Global Voices has taken The Best Journalistic Blog in English. A special “bravo” to all our authors and two to cofounders Ethan and Rebecca and editor Haitham.

That’s not all. Manal and Alaa received the SPECIAL REPORTERS WITHOUT BORDERS AWARD. Believe me that award was very much deserved.

“Manal and Alaa are a landmark in the Egyptian political and bloggin movement. They support free speech, advocate human rights and political reform in their blog, they offer linux training, free hosting and open source programming, but they also gather all Egyptian blog posts in an aggregator that has been the place to go to know what is going on in . All opinions are welcomed and bloggers from all parts of the political spectrum are there. In their blog, you can see demonstrations in action and you can follow the hottest political discussions.”

Egyptians won and dominated in The Best Journalistic Blog in Arabic section. Through this I have also discovered a very interesting Moroccan site that is defiantly worth a read. Go Egyoshere!