[antimedia] antimedia: Protests are breaking out all over....

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Posted by antimedia:
Protests are breaking out all over....
http://www.antimedia.us/posts/1180996821.shtml


   ....in the MidEast, but not against the Iraq war. [1]In Bahrain,
   artists, journalists and civic organizations have risen up to protest
   the government's insistence on "investigating" an artistic performance
   that one MP called "immoral".

     Protests against restriction of freedom of expression have recently
     emerged in Bahrain, following a dance performance titled Majnoun
     Lilah that was held as part of the country's annual Spring Cultural
     Festival. Islamist circles in Bahrain claimed that the dance
     contained "immoral acts" that they said were against religion,
     against morality, and against societal custom. As a result, the
     Bahraini parliament decided by a majority vote to establish a
     committee to investigate the matter.

   In May, the Arab media [2]protested the lack of press freedom in the
   MidEast.

     To mark World Press Freedom Day, May 3, 2007, the Arab press
     published numerous cartoons dealing with the state of freedom of
     expression in the Arab media.
     The cartoons protested the lack of freedom of the press, the
     pressures and restrictions on journalists, the press censorship and
     the arrest and detention of journalists.

   In Saudi Arabia, [3]women are speaking out, complaining about the
   restrictions that repress them daily.

     "There Are Five Types of Shackles, or Jails, For the Woman - if She
     Manages to Escape One, She Might Enter Another"
     Wajeha Al-Huwaidar: "Saudi society is based on masters and slaves,
     or, to be more precise, masters and maids, because the masters are
     the men, and the slaves are the women."
     [...]
     "The ownership of a woman is passed from one man to another.
     Ownership of the woman is passed from the father or the brother to
     another man, the husband. The woman is merely a piece of
     merchandise, which is passed over to someone else - her guardian.
     How do you recognize a maid or a slave? The decision making is out
     of her hands. All the decisions are made by the master. Women today
     are not allowed to make any kind of decision - not about marriage,
     work, studies, medical treatment, leaving the house, or traveling."

   Encouraging news from an area of the world that generates very little
   good news.

References

   1. http://memri.org/bin/latestnews.cgi?ID=IA36007
   2. http://memri.org/bin/latestnews.cgi?ID=IA35807
   3. http://memri.org/bin/latestnews.cgi?ID=SD160407