For more than a year, Google has been supporting the Hay Literary Festival , as it grew from its origins in Wales into an international organisation. The Hay brings together writers and thinkers, inspiring dialogue around freedom of expression. It recently came to Beirut, its first time ever in the Middle East and North Africa.Sondos Shabayek who was at the forefront of the Egyptian revolution and Beirut-based Moe Ali Nayel discussed how an open and free web has empowered citizens. Citizens turned to the internet to verify the news when the state media on the ground failed to offer the full picture. John Kampfner moderated a debate around how to ensure respect for human rights. The eclectic panel included Óscar Guardiola-Rivera , International Professor of Law and International Affairs, and Nizar Saghieh , a leading Lebanese lawyer, legal researcher and human rights activist. Both speakers argued that freedom of expression and human rights were too often framed in Western terms. Saghieh suggested policy makers refer to local and regional cultural norms as much as universal ones, citing the Koran. Guardiola-Rivera said Western governments ignored the clamour for economic rights even though they were regarded as perhaps the most important in developing nations.slam contest. Posted by Hind Rasheed, Communications Manager, Middle East and North Africa
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