Stories Diaspora

Armenia: Oil, Genocide and Obama

  August 8, 2008

Writing for Voices Without Votes in June, Jillian York introduced readers to Facebook's Armenians for Obama and some of what was being said on the social networking site. Since then, however, other Facebook Groups have sprung up which seem to identify a strong backing from Armenians, both inside and outside the republic, for the Democratic candidate in the November 4 U.S. Presidential Election.

Iranian Jewish Immigrant Community Likes McCain

  July 25, 2008

Immigrant communities in the US, whether able to vote or not, have so far played a public role in this year's elections. Many, fed up with US foreign policy, are looking to the incoming president, whomever it may be, for change. One such community is the large Iranian-American Jewish community, the majority of whom live in California. A recent article and podcast, in the The Jewish Journal, focuses on the opinions of that community and their concerns with foreign policy.

Rosa Clemente as Green Party running mate

  July 12, 2008

Former Representative (D-Georgia) Cynthia McKinney is running for president on the Green Party ticket. On July 9, she announced Rosa Clemente, hip-hop activist and journalist, as her running mate. The blogosphere is abuzz with reactions to the announcement.

USA: Al Jazeera Blackout?

  July 7, 2008

When Al Jazeera announced its plans to release English-language channel in 2005, the announcement was met with both support and protest in the United States. And so, although the US government doesn't prevent access to the channel, many cable companies are reluctant to carry it; after all, Donald Rumsfeld had...

Facebook's Armenians for Obama

  June 29, 2008

Just as there are Canadians for Obama, South Asians for Obama, and even Madagascar for Obama, there are Armenians for Obama.  This group consists of both diasporic Armenians and those in Armenia, and the group's members are quite active in their support of Barack Obama. Berdj Orange, speaking in April,...

Morocco: Dreaming of a Muslim President?

  June 18, 2008

Despite what the U.S. (and some foreign) media might say, it seems that, rather than call Obama an apostate from Islam, some Muslims would prefer to call Obama a fellow Muslim. Such is the case in Morocco, where American expat North Africa Notes says that “most Moroccans know more about...

Palestine: Obama on Jerusalem as Undivided

Barack Obama's pledge on June 11th to AIPAC that Jerusalem should be Israel's undivided capital has angered Palestinian officials. President Mahmoud Abbas made a statement that Obama's pledge is “totally rejected,” while Saeb Erekat, an Abbas aide, said that Palestinian negotiators would continue to insist upon East Jerusalem as the...

What About Obama's Race? The Turkish (and Other) Perception of Obama

  June 16, 2008

On June 6, 2008, Michael Rubin, a scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, wrote an opinion piece for the Wall Street Journal in which he referred to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan as “Turkey's Putin” and a dictator. The piece, re-posted on the Middle East Forum, refers to the...

Obamanation: The World Rejoices at Obama's Nomination

  June 5, 2008

A cursory glance at the foreign blogosphere would seem to indicate that Senator Barack Obama is the favored candidate abroad. Today's rejoicing in the blogosphere over securing the Democratic Party's ticket in the race to the White House only serves to back up that hypothesis, with bloggers celebrating Obama's potential nomination.