This Blog is intended for use by students in the Islamic Middle East course at Northfield Mount Hermon School and guest students and teachers from other participating schools.
The most senior judicial figure in Saudi Arabia has declared it permissible to kill those who allow the broadcast of “immoral” television programs.
Story at BBC
This isn’t the first time there has been controversy in the Saudi kingdom over television programming. On March 25, 1975, Saudi Arabia’s King Faisal was assassinated by a nephew who was avenging the killing [...]
Ramadan has become a big month for television in the Muslim Middle East! The Economist notes:
“Satellite television has taken off in the region like nowhere else. In wealthy Gulf states, some 95% of households own digital receivers; even in poorer countries, such as Jordan and Morocco, the satellite penetration rate now tops 75%. Not surprisingly, [...]
In an article in today’s New York Times, Lawrence Pintak, Jeremy Ginges, and Nicholas Felton quote President Bush’s criticism of coverage by the Arab media and then evaluate it:
“’ARABIC TV does not do our country justice,’ President Bush complained in early 2006, calling it a purveyor of “propaganda” that “just isn’t right, it isn’t fair, and [...]
Currently, there is serious labor unrest in Egypt, a country where strikes are against the law.
Story from the BBC
See also: Michael Slackman, “In Egypt, Technology Helps Spread Discontent of Workers,” New York Times, April 7, 2008, A6
See related story on rising prices in Egypt.
The BBC surveys recent opinion pieces on Iraq from the Arabic Press.
Go to article
Go to the story from the BBC.
Two stories - one from The Economist, the other from the BBC - tell of efforts by some Arab governments to rein in media outlets deemed offensive to the ruling regimes:
BBC, 12 Feb, 2008
The Economist, Feb. 9-15
Follow this link to the Arab Media and Society Newsletter.
BBC Middle East