...Or Does It Explode?

New York Times Profiles Jane Novak

Cool story about a mom in New Jersey who is freaking out the Yemeni regime:

Jane Novak, a 46-year-old stay-at-home mother of two in New Jersey, has never been to Yemen. She speaks no Arabic, and freely admits that until a few years ago, she knew nothing about that strife-torn south Arabian country.

And yet Ms. Novak has become so well known in Yemen that newspaper editors say they sell more copies if her photograph — blond and smiling — is on the cover. Her blog, an outspoken news bulletin on Yemeni affairs, is banned there. The government’s allies routinely vilify her in print as an American agent, a Shiite monarchist, a member of Al Qaeda, or “the Zionist Novak.”

The worst of her many offenses is her dogged campaign on behalf of a Yemeni journalist, Abdul Karim al-Khaiwani, who incurred his government’s wrath by writing about a bloody rebellion in the far north of the country. He is on trial on sedition charges that could bring the death penalty, with a verdict expected Wednesday.

Ms. Novak, working from a laptop in her Monmouth County living room “while the kids are at school,” has started an Internet petition to free Mr. Khaiwani. She has enlisted Yemeni politicians, journalists, human rights activists and others around the globe. Her blog goes well beyond the Khaiwani case and has become a crucial outlet for opposition journalists and political figures, who feed her tips on Yemeni political intrigue by e-mail or text message.

She says her campaign is a matter of basic principle. “This is a country that lets Al Qaeda people go free, and they’re putting a journalist on trial for doing his job?” she said. “It’s just completely crazy.”

Crazy, indeed!

Celebrate World Music Freedom Day

A timely reminder from the Daily Aztec that March 3 is "Music Freedom Day" - an occasion to "Keep on Rockin' in the Free World":

To most people in the United States, censorship in music brings to mind cases like the Dixie Chicks. Sure, musicians might see their album pulled from stores or some lyrics rewritten, but how bad can it really be? In reality, censorship takes many forms: A musician in Algeria is assassinated...

On March 3, the World Forum On Music and Censorship, also known as Freemuse, will hold its second annual Music Freedom Day.  In addition to events promoting awareness of censorship for the world media, Music Freedom Day 2008 will actually feature music, surprisingly enough.

As an advocate for freedom of expression, Freemuse focuses specifically on the human rights of musicians and composers worldwide. More information about Freemuse and Music Freedom Day can be found at www.freemuse.org.

The Algerian musician referred to in the story is Cheb Hasni - but also don't miss the story of Souad Massi (above). And then don't forget all the frustrated underground musicians in Iran, Saudi Arabia, and beyond.

Meet Cyberactivist Dmitri Vitaliev

A nice profile on a young Australian helping activists on the frontlines around the world:

IN THE bustle of a Melbourne cafe strip, Dmitri Vitaliev's eyes glaze as he remembers a very different crowd. In 2004, the then 24-year-old travelled to the East Congo to hide an internet connection in a church...

In Tunisia — where he and fellow workers were intimidated by gangs of police-sponsored thugs — he looked at an activist's computer and found secret software that was disconnecting the computer from the internet.

He fixed the problem. "I only had an hour and then they said I should leave — there were 20 cops outside and two people were beaten that evening from my training.

"As Westerners, we are usually not the ones who cop it in the end, it's usually our colleagues. I haven't been physically threatened or attacked. But two people from my past trainings have been killed … because of the type of work they do.

"It's hard, but my conclusion is to be more effective, to use my time with them to understand exactly what they need. It's a formidable opponent these people are facing."

Amazing. Read the whole story to see how this young man happened into his job.

Bigmouth Strikes Again: Listening to Morrissey in Tehran?

Could the Moz himself be planning a show in Iran? That's the report from the Times of London:

The singer, whose songs include Bigmouth Strikes Again and Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now, is in talks with the Iranian government and the Foreign Office about staging a performance in Tehran later this year.

Morrissey, 48, who has been outspoken in attacking the allied invasion of Iraq, says he wants to link the visit to other planned concerts on a tour of the Middle East. His management team is in contact with the music office at the Islamic culture and guidance ministry in Tehran.

Rock groups are allowed to perform only with a licence from the ministry and there are strict guidelines about conduct under Iran’s sharia (Islamic law). Violators can receive imprisonment, fines or the lash.

“I would love to sing in Tehran,” said the former Smiths front man, whose most recent album, Ringleader of the Tormentors, opened with the song I Will See You in Far-off Places...

Iran is still suspicious of pop music. Last summer police raided an underground festival in an orchard near the town of Karaj to stop what they called a “provocative, satanic concert”. More than 200 people were arrested.

If the event does go ahead, Morrissey will have to play to an audience segregated by gender. Women would be allowed only if they stayed in roped-off areas and wore modest clothing, including headscarves. All song lyrics would be vetted. Female backing vocalists and mixed dancing in the aisles would be outlawed and beer, of course, would be banned.

So basically it's no longer a rock concert but an event controlled by Tehran's thought-police. Still, Morrissey could get good mileage out of his lyric from the old Smiths' hit "Ask": "If it's not love, then it's the bomb that will bring us together..."

Wrangling over Damascus Declaration Detainees

The latest reports are that Rashed Sattuf has been released by Syrian authorities, a few days after he was initially detained. The whole catch-and-release surrounding the advocates of the recent Damascus Declaration is getting interesting:

"The security services in Damascus on Thursday arrested writer Fayez Sara who attended a meeting of the National Council of the Damascus Declaration," the National Organisation for Human Rights in Syria said in a statement.

On Wednesday Rashed Sattuf, a member of the National Council of the Damascus Declaration was arrested in Raqqa, northern Syria, and taken to Damascus, the rights group said. The Damascus Declaration, which calls for radical change, has united communist, nationalist, liberal and Kurdish parties.

Sara, 58, writes regularly for several Arabic-language daily newspapers, while Sattuf served a 15-year jail term for being in the banned communist party.Seven other opposition activists, including Damascus Declaration leader gynaecologist Fidaa Horani, have been arrested in a swoop launched by the authorities on December 9. All were signatories of the declaration.

The crackdown followed the creation at the start of last month of the National Council charged with implementing the Damascus Declaration.

Friday's statement said the rights organisation "expresses its deep concern at the arrests in Syria carried out under the state of emergency imposed on the country 44 years ago, and urges the authorities to immediately release Sara and Sattuf and to stop making such arrests."

After a visit to Damascus on December 29 and 30, two US Congressmen said they had secured a pledge after talks with Syrian leaders that jailed dissidents would be freed. But on Tuesday official media poured scorn on comments by House of Representatives member Patrick Kennedy that he had secured an undertaking from President Bashar al-Assad to release the dissidents. The state SANA news agency cited an "official source" as denying that the issue had even been raised.

Yet Sattuf has been released. A small victory.

Coalition Presses Wall Street to Press Sudan

Trying to leverage financial clout to pressure good ol' genocidal Omar:

A coalition of leading human rights organizations and socially responsible investment companies have jointly announced the filing of shareholder resolutions with six major banks and financial firms with the goal of engaging Wall Street to push Sudan to end the violence in Darfur and accept full deployment of U.N. peacekeepers...

Ninety percent of Sudan's export income is derived from oil, with Khartoum funneling the majority of this revenue into military expenditures. Sudan lacks the capital and expertise to efficiently extract its own oil, and relies almost entirely on foreign companies to operate this lucrative industry, which provided the government with over $4 billion in export revenue last year...

The coalition has filed shareholder resolutions with six firms so far: Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch, T. Rowe Price, Wells Fargo and JP Morgan Chase.

In total, the coalition is calling on more than 40 top firms with holdings in these Sudan-linked companies to use their influence as major investors to pressure the Sudanese government to stop obstructing the deployment of the 26,000-member U.N. peacekeeping force.

Let's see if this makes an impact.

Photos of the Day: Qaddafi in Paris

You can totally feel the love in this photo:

And here are Libyan opposition protesters getting arrested by French police. More on the protester's unusual flag below:

"A Libyan demonstrator, wearing the first national flag of modern Libya around his neck, is being searched by a policemen before being taken away, during a protest with other Libyan protesters near the Trocadero plaza in Paris, Monday, Dec. 10, 2007. The group of Libyan protesters from the 'Libyan Working Group', were protesting the visit of Libyan leader Col. Moammar Gadhafi, and his alleged discriminating policy against the Berber ethnic group in Libya. Gadhafi starts Monday a three-day state visit in France. The flag worn by the protester was adopted when Libya gained independence from Italy in 1951, as the current Libyan flag, adopted in 1977, consists of a simple green field with no other characteristics."

Green Book, Green Flag - who knew the Q-Man was such an environmentalist?

Bypassing Internet Censorship & Filters

In the past, we have asked readers to help ban this blog in Saudi Arabia. But if you are a reader in Saudi Arabia (or other censoring states) and are having trouble checking out our daily dose of civil rights punditry, here's a comprehensive guide on How to Bypass Internet Censorship and Filters. The technology has come a long way. Enjoy!

Tatchell on Saudi Arabia: Should Gordon Brown Meet King Abdallah?

18DoughtyStreet runs a show by noted radical activist Peter Tatchell: Talking with Tatchell. One recent episode anticipated the upcoming visit of Saudi King Abdallah to England. Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Tatchell observed, has declared he will not meet with Robert Mugabe to make a moral statement. But he was ready to offer a high-profile state visit to Abdallah.

Tatchell and his human rights expert guests sit down to discuss the state of civil rights in Saudi Arabia. Join them on the couch for an informative discussion.

King Abdullah Greeted in England with Darth Vader Theme Music (and Protests)

Cheers to all the Brits who showed up outside the Queen's palace to protest the visit of King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia. Here's one cheeky protestor:

But even more awesome is that the Queen's royal band welcomed the Saudi dictator by playing... no... yes!... the Darth Vader theme song from Star Wars. The King was likely not in on the joke about his "evil empire," but the video below captures the moment (along with an interesting debate over charming Saudi-funded books sold in England).