Palestine’s ‘Atheist blogger’ behind bars

15 Nov 10 | Middle East and North Africa, Uncategorized

Waleed Al-Husseini has been making waves and offending religious sensibilities in the Middle East for years. A committed atheist, the 26 year-old resident of the occupied West Bank is known for a prolific online presence — much of which centres on criticisms of all major religions.

Here’s a good example of his writing from his blog The Light of Reason. The headline loosely translates as “The personification of God and the lack of logic in his creation of the universe.” Al-Husseini even created a Facebook page claiming to speak in the name of God, and used his excellent command of Arabic to write altered versions of verses from the Koran.

So perhaps it was no surprise that Al-Husseini’s work infuriated both Muslims and Christians, and only a matter time before he ran afoul of the authorities. He disappeared at the end of October, and finally last week came the official confirmation that Al-Husseini had been arrested. Palestine’s semi-official Maan News Agency reported that security services had “pursued the man for more than two months” before catching up with him in an internet cafe in the West Bank of Qualqiya.

Numerous online defences of Al-Husseini have sprung up, in Arabic and English, demanding his release, and lobbying foreign governments to offer him asylum. Prominent regional blogger Marwa Rakha, who has met Al-Husseini, issued a passionate defence of his right to express himself regardless of whether anyone agrees or disagrees with his beliefs, writing

Waleed did not record his ideas on tapes and force you to listen to them in public transportation… Waleed did not stop you in the street for wearing a veil or for having a beard and force-feed you his arguments. Why are you afraid of him? Is your faith that fragile? Are your religious beliefs that vulnerable?

Israel: West Bank protester sentenced to prison

13 Oct 10 | Index Index, Middle East and North Africa, minipost

Palestinian activist Abdullah Abu Rahma has been sentenced to a year in prison for incitement by an Israeli military court. He is a leading organiser of the weekly protests against the separation barrier that Israel has built in the West Bank village of Bil’in. The protests started over five years ago and the activist has already served 10 months of his sentence on remand. The events are normally non-violent, but occasionally confrontations occur. Supporters claim the barrier is necessary to keep out suicide bombers. Protesters view it as an attempted land grab. The International Court of Justice and the Israeli Supreme Court have both declared parts of the wall unlawful.

Israel: History textbook banned

27 Sep 10 | Index Index, Middle East and North Africa, minipost

The Education Ministry has banned a history textbook that includes both the Israeli and Palestinian narrative of the Middle East conflict. The principal of a high school in Sderot was summoned to the ministry after his school was found to be using the book, entitled Learning the Historical Narrative of the Other. The school’s history syllabus, which aims to encourage understanding between the two peoples, was rejected by the head of the ministry’s pedagogic secretariat, Zvi Zamaret.