Social Media Faux Pas: When Hariri Tweeted 'Good Morning' to the Enemy

In a true Twitter snafu, former Lebanese PM Saad Hariri accidentally bid infamous Israeli Ministry of Defense spokesperson Avichay Adraee, "Good Morning"; Lebanese rape victims: Society's "secret" people; Israeli students may become their government's new propaganda weavers; One Palestinian blogger says "no" to Israeli negotiations.

Beirut Spring [2]

Hariri’s Serious Twitter Gaffe

Saad Hariri will have to think again to whom he says, "Good Morning" to from now on, as he is officially in a PR nightmare. He faced massive criticism when he unwittingly twitted those two simple words that to renowned Arabic-speaking Israeli ministry of defense spokesperson, Avichay Adraee. Hariri had to do some serious back-peddling, tweeting, "If it is true, I want to clearly say I wouldn’t have answered if I had known, because Israel is our enemy." Looking at Aradee's Twitter page, it's hard to believe Hariri would have missed it.

Life with Subtitles [3]

Keep it secret, keep it safe

Reposting his original blog entry for LBC Blogs, Lebanese blogger Fadi Bitar discusses the cruel realities that rape victims have to suffer. No matter the creed, religion or political affiliation, every woman is a potential rape victim. Yet, actual rape victims are either fully overlooked or are expected to live in "shame" and possibly a lifetime of self-blame. "At first glance, it would seem as if Lebanon is a beacon of gender equality in the middle-east, and it’s easy to get fooled by this image, after all women are free to dress as they please and party as long as their feet would carry them… What could be more modern and European-like, right ?"

The Next Web [4]

Israeli students paid $2,000 to use social media for pro-government messages

Linking back to the National Union for Israeli Students's (NUIS) grant from the Israeli government to promote pro-Israel commentary on the Internet, The Next Web looks at the issue in greater details. Promoting the idea as a job or a government grant, the Israeli government is giving money to some of its students to promote pro-Israel statements on social networks such as Twitter and Facebook. "Social media is, and will continue to be, a battle ground in the Middle East, and beyond. We’ve even witnessed surreal sparring matches on Twitter between NATO’s ISAF account and the Taliban. But when money trades hands for a pro-government message, can it be seen in any other light than paid-propaganda?"

Occupied Palestine [5]

#No2Negotiations – Did they ask Jews in WWII deathcamps to negotiate with Nazis while genocide went on? – in pictures

It is difficult to withhold one's passions when it seems that negotiations with Israel are not going very far. In fact, one Palestinian blogger is saying "no" to negotiations. This is part of the reasoning that negotiating is part of the oppression. "Human Rights are supposed to be valid for all humans. For Palestinians as well."