Program Manager at Meedan.net. Interested in social media, combating internet censorship, and creating Arabic content on the Internet. @anasqtiesh on twitter.
Latest posts by Anas Qtiesh
Syria: Regime Affiliates Try to Frame Muslim Brotherhood for Damascus Car Bombs
Syrian official media outlets yesterday published a statement allegedly issued by the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood taking responsibility for the twin car-bomb attacks that caused heavy casualties in Damascus on Friday. Several irregularities and inconsistencies in the regime's story prompted a few Syrian netizens to investigate the matter further.
Syria: Reactions to President Assad's Speech
President Bashar Al Assad finally made a speech Wednesday 30 March, 2011, at the Syrian Parliament after days of postponement and anticipation. The president's arrival at the Parliament was met with thundering applause and chanting by the Members of Parliament, and his speech was often interrupted by an MP reciting poems of praise. Twitter users did not receive this well.
Syria: ‘Friday of Dignity’ Protests Erupt Countrywide
Massive protests broke in several cities in Syria today in response to calls for a “Friday of Dignity” after a brutal governmental crackdown left dozens of protesters dead in the Southern city of Daraa and nearby villages. Videos emerging from across Syria show enormous protests in multiple cities.
Syria: Reports of Mass Killings, and a Blogger and a Journalist Disappear
The crackdown on protesters in Daraa, Syria continues. At dawn, a special army unit reportedly killed at least six people during an attack on Al Omari Mosque to disperse protesters using the mosque as a gathering place. At least one blogger has been arrested, while another is missing. Anas Qtiesh has the story.
Syria: Implementing Ushahidi to track protests
Syrian Revolution Map is a new Ushahidi instance launched in Syria to track ongoing protests in several cities based on citizen reports of protests, security patrols, dangerous locations, clashes, and...
Syria: Protests Across the Country, 6 Reported Killed in Dara'a
Syria is the latest country to join the wave of erupting protests across the Middle East. While previous calls for protests on 5 February failed, a renewed call to take to the streets on 15 March managed to bring several hundred people to the streets in multiple cities including the capital, Damascus, and Aleppo. Today, in the southern city of Dara'a, 6 protesters have reportedly been killed.
Syria: Facebook and YouTube Unblocked, Among Others
Internet in Syria has been heavily censored for years. Seemingly harmless sites like Facebook, YouTube, and Wikipedia Arabic have only been accessible through proxies and various circumvention software. Today, that seems to have changed. Anas Qtiesh explains.
Syria: Internet Users Race to Support Egyptian Protesters
As protests to take down the Mubarak regime in Egypt rage on, Syrians are rushing to aid the protesters in every way they can.
Syria: State Media Propaganda In Regards To Tunisia and Egypt
Syrian Blogger Maurice Aaek found[ar] that state-run media in Syria is publishing false information and half-truths about the protests in Tunisia and Egypt. He found that Tishreen daily left out...
Egypt: Utilizing Technology to Demand Accountability on Torture, Police Brutality
Bloggers and activists in Egypt are using freely available online tools to expose torture and police brutality and to hold the government accountable for these human rights abuses.
Tech and Transparency in MENA: A Long Way to Go
Technology for transparency activists are making headway in the Middle East and North Africa, but greater access to both technology tools and skills and legal assistance is needed in order to maximize their potential.
Syria: Lash Out Continues Against Israel's Raid on Gaza Aid Convoy
The deadly Israeli raid on the aid convoy headed to Gaza to break the blockade has once again brought the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza into the limelight. The political and public outcry has been remarkable and has generated a heated global debate on what had happened. Syrian and Palestinian bloggers speak up.
Levant: Bloggers start warming up for World Cup 2010
The World Cup will kick off in about three weeks and bloggers across the Levant have already been busy using their keyboards and camera shutters trying to capture the hysteria that engulfs the world once every four years. Anas Qtiesh brings us the reactions of Syrian and Lebanese bloggers in this post.
Syria: Commemorating Martyrs’ Day
Traveling towards God (الرحيل إلى الله)[ar] blog writes about a Syrian village's annual tradition of putting flowers on martyrs’ graves on Martyrs’ Day that's commemorated in Syria and Lebanon on...
Lebanon: ArabNet discussed the future of Arabic web in English
Arabnet 2010 is a tech conference that was held in Beirut recently. While many of the participants considered it a success, there was a major criticism that kept people talking and writing about it days after the conference was concluded. The problem was that while the conference supposedly focuses on Arabic web it adopted English as its official language and the website, discussions, and presentations were all in English.
Syria: Youth Rally in Support of Syrian Air
The US is imposing a series of trade and financial sanctions which are affecting the daily lives of Syrian citizens in several areas. Syrian youth use the Internet to protest the grounding of Syrian Air's fleet, thanks to the ban on buying new commercial jets or even spare parts.
Syria: A Short Story
Medad blog published a sarcastic short story [ar] depicting a Muslim cleric and a Christian cleric passionately discussing virtue and interfaith understanding as each of them tries to claim a...
Syria: Journalist Maen Akel Still Detained
Maen Akel, a Syrian journalist, was arrested on November 11, 2009, by the Syrian Intelligence Department (State Security) in Damascus. Within 48 hours of his arrest he was also dismissed from his work at Al-Thawra, a state owned newspaper. The reason for his arrest remains unknown.
Syria: Internet Woes Continue
Syrian blogger Rami wrote [ar] a post comparing internet speeds and costs in Syria with those in Romania. He was frustrated with having to struggle to obtain a 256Kbps connection...
Syria: Magazine Suspends Work in Protest of Censorship
Man of Paper reports [ar] on his blog that Shabablek, a Syrian magazine, has suspended all work indefinitely in protest of the pervasive censorship from the side of the Syrian...
Syria: Hyperlink Podcast Caters to the Arabic Tech Crave
Hyperlink Podcast is received with enthusiasm among Syrian bloggers as one of the best technology podcasts available in Arabic. Created weekly by two Syrian blogging brothers, Mohammad and Beshr Kayyali, the podcast features a wide variety of technology topics and interviews with influential IT professionals. Syrian bloggers react to the site.
