"The new Arab conversation"-Gal Beckerman

I think this article brings forth the changing world at hand! Now blogging is a regular seen way for people to express themselves, even people in Arab countries! (gasp) Our American media rarely reports any news-let alone GOOD news- from the Arab world besides the war on terrorism. People in the Arab world are portrayed so negatively by American media. Although I am aware of how different their culture and lifestyle is from the Western way of life, I was suprised to read that only 10 % of the Arab world has internet access. The internet definetly is a medium of freedom, just the fact that I am writing this blog right now shows that I am free to express my thoughts and put it on the web for anyone in the world to read. I like what the one blogger Salem Pax said about how all you hear about Arab people talking about is God and Allah. At least in my case that rings true because when I hear anything about the Arab world I automatically think about religion. And I can't think of any Arab personalities in movies or on TV besides political figures and terrorists you see on the news. So I think its really cool to hear about all the different opinions of the Arab people who are blogging. Even if it is a small number, and the elitest of their countries, to me it's a step forward. I really like the last paragraph of this article-

"The young insider-outsiders of the Middle East, blogging openly about their frustrations with the Arab world, about its persistent prejudices and limitations, as a way of liberalizing their societies, are doing what the front line of any social movement does — they say the unspeakable, they form the bonds that were previously unthinkable, they stand in the places that they are not supposed to stand. The Arab world will reform only when mindsets begin to change and a culture of dissent burgeons where it has never been allowed to exist openly before. If there is a way to kick-start this process, it is surely in the post of a twentysomething blogger wondering out loud why things can’t be more open, more transparent — more different."