It is with great sadness that I read today's farewell column by Ahmed Al-Diyain in Rai Al-Aam. In apparent bullying by our esteemed leadership the fiery columnist was asked by his usually supportive editors to tone down the tough rhetoric against the government's latest assaults on the constitution. So instead of bowing down to pressure, he will simply stop writing for Rai Al-Aam and hopefully find another outlet for his writings. I hear a website is in the works.
It is outrageous and unacceptable for our leaders to ask the press to control their columnists just because they can't stand the criticism, when the easier route and the most logical would be for them to simply clean up their acts and not give the columnists anything to criticize!!
Hello,
ReplyDeleteSah lsanek.. well said (which goes for your latest two posts and not for the madonna one since it only made me envy you).
So, there will be an empty column space in ra'i el-aam, maybe you should fill it up. seriously.. ever though about writing for a daily local paper?
I hate to see ahmed dyeen leave, he's one of the few outspoken leftists left.. but i wouldn't mind reading a liberal like yourself in stead. On second thought, maybe you should give him space on you blog :). Oh well, i'm gonna go watch holland beat portugal. Keep us posted. your blog is fun.
(and i'm not anonymous, my name is Shurouq)
Too bad Portugal creamed Hollan :-P
ReplyDeleteSalam,
ReplyDeleteYou are right, it is truly aggravating that Ahmed Al-Dyain had to leave his column beacause of the pressure, and it is such a loss, but if the column space went to one of those forces of darkness, the loss would be even greater.
Zaydoun, it seems that your resume has to fly back from NY to Al Rai El 3am! At least do it for Shurouq's sake, she must be disappointed by now for Holland's defeat and she needs something to cheer her up :)
Thanks but my Arabic, as good as it is, isn't sufficiently creative for a daily column. Besides, who wants to deal with editors and all that nonsense when I can say whatever the hell I want right here?
ReplyDeleteI too am glad for the internet. I have 1 blog, 2 websites, and a forum coming. It should be up in a few days. I was kinda disappointed to hear you say that he was a leftist. The lefties in our country try to destroy us and silence us. I suffered for more than a year until I discovered that the internet allows my story to be heard.
ReplyDeleteYeah well you're Canadian.. over here, "leftist" applies to anyone who dares to look to the future rather than the past, anyone who dares to call for reform rathen than accept the corrupt status quo..Kind of like your neighbors to the south ;-P
ReplyDelete