Born in Dec 1987. Two published poetry collections. Grad student at SUNY Binghamton Comparative Literature program. B.A in English and Comparative Literature from the American University of Kuwait. Freelance writer/journalist and contributor for Globalvoicesonline.org, Jadaliyya.com & Migrant-rights.com – Blogging at http://monakareem.blogspot.com
Latest posts by Mona Kareem
Saudi Arabia Jails Palestinian Poet for ‘Atheism and Long Hair’
Palestinian poet Ashraf Fayadh is in a Saudi prison, allegedly for spreading atheism - and having long hair. Online networks are calling for his release.
My Friend is Getting Tortured for Blogging
Safy is a regular guy who has worked as an IT officer until he saw his friend get shot by riot police during the first weeks of the revolution. He could not be the ‘regular guy’ after this.
Fifty Bloggers Demand the Release of Bahrain's Mohammed Hassan
On 31 July, blogger Mohammed Hassan was arrested from his parents' house in the Bahraini town of Sitra without an arrest warrant. Hassan is accused of “promoting a forced change of the regime.”
Kuwaiti Twitter User Jailed for Two Years for Insulting Emir
Kuwait slapped a two year prison sentence to yet another Twitter user for using the microblogging site to insult its ruler. Netizens react.
Anonymous Twitter Account Leads Major Protests in Kuwait
Tens of thousands showed up in the areas of Mishref and Sabah Al-Salem protesting the Kuwaiti Amir's amendment of the voting law which allows a citizen to vote for one candidate instead of four. What is interesting though is that an anonymous Twitter account is the one deciding dates of marches and meeting points. Mona Kareem shares Twitter reactions to the march, in addition to photographs and videos.
Kuwait: Three Netizens Sentenced to Prison
Since the Arab Spring first sparked, Kuwaiti authorities have been following internet users closely and summoning them to interrogation and then sending them to courts for prosecution over different cases that are mostly sectarian or political.
Kuwait: Tortured for Someone Else's Tweets
Throughout the year of 2011, Kuwait has had many cases of arrests of twitter users. It started with two tweeps getting arrested for insulting a religious sect. Other cases had...
UAE: Activist Arrested for his Tweets
With the birth of the Arab Spring, the United Arab Emirates’ authorities seem to be intimidated by any voice asking for reforms and change. The start was with the arbitrary...
Kuwait: Ahmad Mansoor, a UAE blogger denied entry
Ahmad Mansoor, UAE's most famous blogger who was detained last year for several months with four other activists for signing an online petition calling for reforms in his country, was...
Bahrain: Blogger Zainab Al-Khawaja Brutally Arrested
Bahraini blogger Zainab Al-Khawaja, whose tweets @angryarabiya are keeping the world up-to-date with atrocities committed by the Bahraini regime against protesters, was brutally arrested on Friday. The mother of a two-year-old, whose father and husband are in jail, has been detained for seven days pending investigation. Netizens were on the ground and documented her arrest.
UAE: Jail Sentences for Five Activists
Update 1 [28 Nov 2011/1 PM GMT]: The day after the court decisions were made, Attorney Mohammed al-Roken told The Associated Press the public prosecutor’s office confirmed President Khalifa...
Remembering Ali Abdulemam
To know the Arab blogosphere, you need to know Ali Abdulemam, the Bahraini blogger who spent more time in jail than in blogging in the past year. He is one of the fathers of Arab blogging and solely called the godfather of blogging in Bahrain as he was the founder of Bahrain Online, a forum that the regime blocked in 2002.
Kuwait: More Twitter Users Arrested
2011 has been the year of defeat for online free speech in Kuwait as netizens have never been harassed as often as they have been in the past few months....
UAE Activists Face Trials for an Online Petition
An online petition is the only common factor between five detained activists in the United Arab Emirates. Ahmed Mansour, Nasser Bin Ghaith, Fahad Al-Sihhi, Hassan Ali Al Khamis, and Ahmed Abdulhaleq Ahmed are the names. Mansour is a well known blogger and an outspoken activist who is believed to have Muslim Brotherhood ties, while Bin Ghaith comes from a wealthy family and has served as a consultant for the army beside being a war veteran, a decorated pilot, a columnist, and a lecturer.
Kuwait: Three Netizens Detained
Kuwait does not have a history of detaining citizens for expressing their views online; the first arrest case in relevance to the internet happened to Bashar Al-Sayegh (@balsayegh) a Kuwaiti...
