Middle East and the Gulf

Little blue bird, zindabad

A note on Turkey’s attempt to block Twitter backfiring as users circumvented the ban, amid suspicion that Erdogan was suppressing corruption allegations.

Brown Pundits Archive21 March 20140 comments
Saudia bans Rama and Maya (also Linda, Lauren,..)

A comment on Saudi Arabia’s ban of names such as Rama and Maya, with jokes about workarounds and the question of whether Taliban might copy it in South Asia.

Brown Pundits Archive14 March 20140 comments
PKR World Champion

A note on the Pakistani rupee’s 5.2 per cent surge after a $1.5 billion Saudi and Gulf gift, with the poster dismissing talk of hidden strings as a token of…

Brown Pundits Archive14 March 20140 comments
Qatar

A comment on Qatar’s new emir and the country’s habit of playing many sides at once, from hosting US troops to Al Jazeera, suggesting it invest in science instead.

Brown Pundits Archive13 March 20140 comments
Saudi worse than Modi

A report that Lucknow’s Nadwatul Ulema cancelled a Saudi delegation’s visit over the kingdom’s ban on the Muslim Brotherhood, with the poster’s comment that it shows Indian Muslim elites sharing…

Brown Pundits Archive11 March 20140 comments
Saudi and Qatar file for separation

A report that Saudi Arabia and Bahrain accuse Qatar of backing Islamic terrorists, with the poster’s hope that the divine right of Sunni kings may be nearing its end.

Brown Pundits Archive10 March 20140 comments
Belly Dancing, Clickbait and Censorship on Salon.com

The poster discusses Randa Jarrar’s Salon piece arguing that white women appropriate belly dancing from Arab women, quoting her conclusion and questioning the clickbait and censorship around it.

Brown Pundits Archive8 March 20143 comments
Youtube ban proposed for Turkey

A report that Turkey’s prime minister threatens to block YouTube and Facebook over leaked recordings, with the poster noting that Pakistan, China, Iran and Turkmenistan already ban YouTube.

Brown Pundits Archive7 March 20140 comments
Shia/Sunni = Catholic/Protestant

A report that the Aga Khan compares the Sunni-Shia conflict to Ireland’s and urges the West to mediate, followed by the poster’s questions on Ismaili numbers, theology and notable members.

Brown Pundits Archive2 March 20141 comment
Understanding the geographic context for Islam

The poster says an article’s geographic account fits his long view of Islam as a mercantile, arid faith whose borders track the pork line, and that Russia is a North…

Brown Pundits Archive28 February 20140 comments