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May 3rd, 2007
A new project – Free Activist!
May 2nd, 2007
Mideast Youth, an independent student network that is largely in charge of the Free Kareem campaign, has partnered up with the Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights in a new project called Free Activist!, and our aim is to serve as a tightly knit support network for human rights activists in the region. We will lead campaigns such as this one for those in need and also offer advice and support in order to ensure each other’s safety.
We want to make sure that the other innocent individuals in this region remain safe, free, and empowered. In the process we will also come up with better strategies in order to strengthen this campaign beyond belief. Much thanks to Mohammed Al Maskati, Nasser, Dalia, Mary Joyce, Siham, and all our other friends who have joined us in this struggle for basic human rights.
Free Kareem Donation Money
April 30th, 2007
We would like to ensure our readers and supporters that we are in the process of writing an effective strategy on how to use the donated money so far in order to help Kareem as much as possible, at least through clothing, proper food, etc. Before we take any action however, we would like to discuss this further through direct collaboration with Kareem and his lawyers. We also wanted to collect enough money in order to act productively.
There have been complaints about us not making our donation process visible – this is because we have not put the money we collected in use, however all of the money is there and will be wired to Kareem somehow once we fully understand the logistics and once we figure out a way to do this as reliably as possible. Once we start doing this, we will document the process and put a financial log for tracking the money transfer, which we will make viewable through a spreadsheet on this website.
Rumors of the Free Kareem Coalition taking advantage of this campaign to make money is not true, and quite frankly we are surprised at these attempts to distract and discourage us.
Kareem is our friend – we would never betray or use him. We wouldn’t have done this much work for this campaign if we didn’t care about him, so please stop spreading rumors about how this campaign is being managed. Keep your criticisms clean of lies or rumors for the sake of Kareem himself. This is a fight for human rights. Let’s keep it that way.
Technical updates
April 27th, 2007
Please stand by while we perform an upgrade and a few updates to our website. If you face problems with the website for now, we are working on fixing it as soon as possible.
Stay tuned for pictures of the rallies!
Alliance for Essential Liberties in the Middle East
March 31st, 2007
Some good friends of ours are leading this excellent initiative, and since they have been very supportive of Kareem we feel the need to make more people aware of their important work. It is also relevant to those who want to help more people than just Kareem, and those who feel that others deserve just as much attention. The website is designed to function interactively, anyone can start and edit a page, much like Wikipedia. The theme of this is to gather as much information as possible about political prisoners in the region, so if there is no profile set up for a person you are concerned about, please register on this website and start compiling information about others in similar, or even worse, positions. More than that, it offers a list of contacts per case which you can use to take further action. We found their tools to be very useful.
Kareem has a profile there, as well.
If you would like to be more actively involved in this very productive and worthwhile project, please contact its founders.
If you have a blog or a website, and this interests you, you are strongly encouraged to help out by including a banner:
Bridget Johnson Joins the Coalition
March 27th, 2007
We are happy to announce that Bridget Johnson, a nation/world news columnist at the Los Angeles Daily News, has kindly accepted our offer to join the Free Kareem Coalition as our team’s Consultant.
In her job as an opinion columnist (along with being a freelance contributor to USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, National Review Online and The Politico), Bridget has addressed the case of Kareem and other violations of press freedom and human rights around the globe, and will continue to pressure world bodies on the need to act in such cases. As a member of the coalition, Bridget will be giving advice on press releases and media matters, and will contribute occasional reports to the Free Kareem Web site.
You can read some of Bridget’s past articles on Kareem here:
- Imperiled bloggers best hope for free speech in Arab world.
- Egyptian blogger gets four years in prison.
- C’mon, Ambassador, help Kareem!
Please join us in welcoming Bridget Johnson to our growing Free Kareem Coalition staff members. We are honored to have her on board.
Here’s What You Can Do To Help Kareem!
March 11th, 2007
This is long overdue, but it’s finally here! We have compiled a comprehensive list of ways you can help Kareem Amer here: What You Can Do. You can also access it at the sidebar.
The list includes a letter writing campaign, with addresses of the Egyptian President, Prime Minister, Minister of Justice, and Ambassadors from more than 50 countries worldwide! We are also providing sample letters and a press kit over the next few days.
Many thanks to everyone who has been sending in suggestions and sample letters. I would also like to extend my personal thanks to Bridget Johnson, a brilliant journalist who has contributed greatly to that list and to the campaign in general.
What are you waiting for? Let’s help Kareem!
Free Kareem Store
February 26th, 2007
Much thanks to our treasurer, Chris Kilmer, we managed to launch a Free Kareem store. This store is a great way to help spread awareness on Kareem’s case. We’ll add more products soon, but for now, please check it out and help out by financially supporting the Free Kareem campaign. If you would not like a product, but still want to support this campaign financially, you may donate to our cause through PayPal (located on our sidebar.)
Sample shirts:
Technical difficulties
February 25th, 2007
Due to an unexpected power outage from our host, this website has been down for the last couple of hours and we apologize for any inconvenience it may have caused. We are now back up and running, hopefully without facing any technical problems in the future. Please come back for more information regarding Kareem. We welcome any suggestions you may have to help strengthen our campaign.
Note on comments
February 22nd, 2007
Our comment policy will be more strict. It appears to be that many people are taking the chance to bash Kareem rather than express concern for him. This site is not meant to serve as a message board. It’s an informative source about Kareem, and a place for people to receive his constant updates.
I’d like to make it clear that the creators and main supporters of the Free Kareem campaign are Muslim, and we are doing this despite what Kareem said about our religion. Free speech doesn’t mean “speech that you approve of.” It includes criticism.
You may be disgusted at what he said, even angered. That’s okay, so are we! But we will defend with all our might his right to express such opinions, because it is his basic human right that none of you have the right to justify and take away.
Kareem is a good man. Some of us know him personally, and thus we know that he is harmless. If you want to express your dislike for Kareem, please go elsewhere. We have no time to put up with hate mail or disgusted rantings, but we will address the remarks of those who e-mailed us respectfully without insulting any of us or Kareem.
We are preparing a new section on the site to address Muslims who think that Kareem deserves imprisonment merely because of his stance against Islam. That is not the right mentality to have. We should not fear criticism, we should welcome and refute it respectfully. We love our religion and we do not like what Kareem had to say about it, and we also dislike the manner in which he said it in. But as Muslims, it is our duty to make sure that others understand that this isn’t Islam. Islam did not put Kareem behind bars, the Egyptian government did. And Muslims should not approve of the fact that the Egyptian government, and a lot of Arab governments for that matter, are using Islam to hide behind their own faults.
If you truly want to help Kareem, don’t target Islam. Target the Egyptian authorities, and the mentality that Kareem “deserves” this treatment merely for disagreeing with us and our beliefs.
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RT @MEYArabic: اختفاء المدون المصري كريم عامر في ظروف غامضة فجر الإثنين وصديقه سمير عشرة بعد مغادرتهما ميدان التحرير.
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