Today's 4...Tweets, tourism, talkies & titles



Twitter Arabic hails a new era in Middle East social media

 The BBC reported that Twitter is now available in 4 right-to-left languages, including Arabic. Obviously this impacts more than just the countries of the Arabian peninsula, but seeing as the countries of the Arabian Peninsula have dubious records at best when it comes to freedom of speech I imagine that this latest development is causing some concern amongst the peninsula's various corridors of power. It was one thing monitoring the tweets of those members of the population who could speak English or another European Language. It will be a much greater challenge now that twitter, a channel which arguably promotes free speech, is open to all those who can access a computer/smartphone. Globally, we have seen how powerful social media tools such as twitter can be as a call to arms (take the London riots of 2011 which took the Metropolitan Police completely by surprise: Twitter was a key tool in spreading the "riot" word.) The governments of the Arabian Peninsula and wider Arab world should not underestimate the potential impact of this latest twitter development. I think they'll regret it if they do.

The Times of Oman revealed that Oman's leading tourism related investment company declared that it's tourism-related portfolio of projects is currently worth $2billion. This tells us two things. First, considering this is the first news story I have quoted concerning Oman for at least a fortnight and considering that this was the best I could find today, it is clear that Oman's presence on the pages of the international press is still notable in its absence (I wonder if we'll start to read more now that Twitter Arabic is up and running?!). Secondly it tells us how seriously Oman is taking its tourism ambitions. There is clearly a strong sense throughout both the Omani private and public sectors that there is a sound future for tourism in the country. I think they may be right.

The Times of India reported that for the second time in 30 years a film has been shown publicly in Saudi Arabia. The film was called "Journey to Mecca" and was funded by the state. It was aired in the Hilton in Jeddah. The first film to be shown in 30 years took place in 2008, and whilst it was not a religious film, it was produced by Saudi billionaire, Prince Al-Waleed Bin Talal. I somehow think the showing of "Journey to Mecca" does not hail the start of the beginning of Saudi's cinema age. Instead, I think today's lesson is that the only way for films to be aired publicly in the closed Kingdom is for them to be funded  by the House of Saud, preferably with a religious focus. I don't think Sex and the City will make onto the Jeddah Hilton's projector screen anytime soon.

And finally

First it was Kuwait...now it's Bahrain. Today Gulf News reported that the Bahraini parliament's lower chamber is pushing for the island's government to ditch Asad and recognise Asad's opposition, the Syrian National Council, as the official representatives of the Syrian People. The debate is yet to reach a conclusion and I would urge Bahrain to avoid taking such a step. Whilst I fully acknowledge that Asad's regime is currently responsible for one of the greatest acts of tyranny in Syria's short history and that it should be stopped without delay, I take issue with foreign parties deciding on behalf of another country's people who their official representatives should be. Regretfully, Asad is still the Syrian leader. I am keen for him to be replaced by a new regime, but it is for the Syrian people to decide who that regime is. It is not up to Kuwait; it is not up to the lower house of the Bahraini parliament; it is not up to any government in the Arabian Peninsula, Arab World or globally. We should concentrate on stopping Asad, rather than adding a title which is essentially meaningless in the current Syrian context to Asad's opposition.