the synthetic jungle

Covering a war in Gaza

Israel’s is continuing to wage war in Gaza, but due to a lock down of the Palestinian territory’s borders, almost no international journalists have been able to get in to cover it. The case has been appealed to the Israeli supreme court, but things don’t look likely to change anytime soon. Al Jazeera is considered [...]

“The Working Man”

Building Doha is hard work. Migrant labourers are the driving force behind this and other oil & gas rich economies, often toiling under poor conditions for little pay. Friend/colleague Omar Khalifa shot an audio slideshow focusing on these labourers, set to the music of Burial|UK. Watch more of Omar K’s works on Vimeo.

The ‘essence’ of Qatar

A short film made by a couple of friends/colleagues of mine. One man’s journey of self-discovery becomes an introspective look at a burgeoning desert city’s crossed cultures. Shot on location in Doha, Qatar for the Disposable Film Festival on a Nokia N95 mobile phone. Essence from Omar Khalifa on Vimeo.

AJE’s new digital backside

If you’ve been wondering why (older) links to Al Jazeera English stories are depositing you on the frontpage of the site, scroll all the way down and you’ll find tell-tale indicators — specifically, the replacement of the iHorizons logo w/ that of Aljazeera IT. AJE has, over the past two days, rolled out a new, [...]

Sami back at Al Jazeera

Sami al-Hajj, the Al Jazeera’s journalist held for 6 1/2 years at Guantanamo Bay, has returned to Doha – headquarters of the channel – to a hero’s welcome. A throng of about 200 supporters greeted him at the airport, waving flags and launching white doves in the air. Back at the Al Jazeera compound, a [...]

Al Jazeera’s Sami al-Hajj freed from Guantanamo

Sami al-Hajj, an Al Jazeera camerman held for more than six years without charge in Guantanamo Bay prison, has been released. The Sudanese national was flown to Khartoum, where he was met by family and friends, and underwent a medical examination. UPDATE: Upon release, he said “rats are treated with more humanity” in the US [...]

Sami Yusuf debuts in Doha

‘Citizen Media’ as part of online journalism

ONA’s annual conference is underway in Toronto. In a pre-conference workshop on Wednesday, J-Lab, the Institute for Interactive Journalism, explored “why and how citizen news ventures are launching, how the public is participating, what’s working in the Pro/Am world – and when does journalism not have to be ‘journalism’ to get the job done.” Bottom [...]

Muslim American Journalists Web Site Online

The Muslim American Journalists Association (MAJA) website launched Tuesday, July 13, ahead of the South Asian Journalists Association Convention in New York this weekend. MAJA is an organization of professionals seeking to address the need for a Muslim voice in the mainstream media. Our goal is to encourage Muslim Americans to enter the ranks of [...]

AsadRahbar.com, BelalHibri.com belated wishes

A late post, AsadRahbar.com launched on Shard Media a couple weeks ago, with intro by awakeyet. The website serves as a resume & portfolio site. Meanwhile, BelalHibri.com, with frequently updated artwork, continues design evolution; now sporting a deep blue motif.