Abdelkareem is scheduled to be sentenced on February 22.
With my co-author Raja Kamal of the Harris School at the University of Chicago, I’ve published two op-eds on his case:
“Freedom for an Egyptian blogger and freethinker,” in the Daily Star of Beirut (which is widely distributed in the Middle East);
“The ‘Crime’ Of Blogging In Egypt,” in today’s Washington Post, which I presume is widely read in the Egyptian Embassy.
I have also been in touch over the past two days with political figures in several other countries who are quietly approaching the Egyptian government. And we may have some other articles in newspapers over the next few days.
UPDATE: I did an interview with Washington Post radio today and I’m scheduled to be interviewed this evening by BBC Radio. Also, here are some of the blog posts I wrote for the Cato Institute Blog, “Cato@Liberty.”
Dr Palmer I’ve read your piece for Daily Star, but really the newspaper is not widely read in the country. It is mainly read by expats living in Beirut, and thats pretty much it. If you want to address the Arab Muslims/Christians in Lebanon try to publish in As Safir and An Nahar. I think a TV interview will be much helpful. Most ppl watch TV in the region, regardless of the country.
Maha, Thanks for the opportunity to clarify. I should have been more precise. It’s widely read by diplomats in the region, and not only in Lebanon. Arabic essays are also being distributed by Arab friends and colleagues. The Washington Post will, I hope, get the attention of the international human rights community, as well as of various diplomatic circles.
As I do not speak Arabic, I am doing interviews with the English media in the US and the UK. Again, Arab friends are working the Arab media (with more effect, I’m sure, than I could muster).
Defending Free Speech and Free Trade
Cato Institute scholars have important op-eds in Washington’s daily newspapers. The first appeared in yesterday’s edition of the Washington Post; it is by Raja Kamal and Cato’s Tom Palmer. They defend the right to free speech in Egypt — where