Al-Hudood (website)

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Al-Hudood
الحدود
شعار شبكة الحدود.svg
TypeSatirical newspaper
FormatWebsite
Founder(s)Isam Uraiqat
FoundedJuly 1, 2013; 10 years ago (2013-07-01)
Amman, Jordan
HeadquartersAmman, Jordan
Websitealhudood.net

Al-Hudood (Arabic: الحدود the limits) is an Arabic satirical news website founded July 2013.[1][2][3] It originally focused on satirical journalism in Jordan, and came to encompass news of the Arab world and from around the world, working with Arab writers and cartoonists from different parts of the Middle East and North Africa.

History

Isam Uraiqat, a Jordanian journalist of Palestinian heritage, founded Al-Hudood in Jordan in 2013.[4][5]

Though Al-Hudood is based in Jordan, its focus has expanded to include the Middle East and North Africa and the Arab world in general.

Organization

The website's team is composed of 7 full-time and 2 part-time employees, and about 20 freelance writers and 10 interns.[6]

Controversy

Even though it's an explicitly satirical network, Al-Hudood creates a substantial amount of controversy, particularly when the article crosses the three red lines: politics, religion, and sex. Some of its most controversial articles include:

Santa Claus arrested in Jabal Amman; all gifts confiscated

A number of major Jordanian news sources believed Al-Hudood's satirical story of Santa Claus's arrest,[7] copying the article and publishing it as their own. Ad-Dustour printed the story in its newspapers such as Iram[8] and Al-Watan[9], which led the Jordanian Public Security Directorate to release a statement renouncing the story, confirming that the security forces did not arrest "Santa Claus."[10]

Discovery of Brotherhood plot to drown Egypt using prayers for rain

As was the case with the story about the arrest of Santa Claus, Al-Hudood's story about the Brotherhood plot to drown Egypt with prayers for rain[11] was treated as a real news story; there was an outpour of accusations from supporters of the Egyptian president Abdelfattah Es-Sisi against the Muslim Brotherhood, accusing them of actually plotting to drown Egypt. A number of news sites and channels accused Sisi supporters of fabricating fake news stories to defame the Muslim Brotherhood.

Drug Enforcement Agency lists Jameed as a controlled substance

A number of news sites copied Al-Hudood's satirical report that the Jordanian Drug Enforcement Agency had listed jameed—a hard, dry yogurt and the key ingredient in mansaf—as a schedule I controlled substance because it allegedly "impairs focus."[12] The news spread among Jordanians before the news sites discovered that the decision was not actually passed and deleted their articles, and before the Jordanian Fact-Checking Organization announced that the news was false.

Additionally, the website refrains from including the author's name in the byline in order to avoid danger.

Sources

  1. "Jordanian website turns to satire to combat heavy news" (in en). http://www.middleeasteye.net/features/jordanian-website-turns-satire-combat-heavy-news. 
  2. Welle (www.dw.com), Deutsche. ""موقع الحدود"..عالم من الكوميديا العربية الساخرة يصنعه شباب | DW | 07.05.2017" (in ar-AE). https://www.dw.com/ar/%D9%85%D9%88%D9%82%D8%B9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AD%D8%AF%D9%88%D8%AF%D8%B9%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85-%D9%85%D9%86-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%83%D9%88%D9%85%D9%8A%D8%AF%D9%8A%D8%A7-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%B1%D8%A8%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B3%D8%A7%D8%AE%D8%B1%D8%A9-%D9%8A%D8%B5%D9%86%D8%B9%D9%87-%D8%B4%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%A8/a-38632085. 
  3. "موقع "الحدود".. السخرية هي ما نحتاجه في عالمنا العربي" (in en). https://www.ultrasawt.com/%D9%85%D9%88%D9%82%D8%B9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AD%D8%AF%D9%88%D8%AF-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B3%D8%AE%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D9%87%D9%8A-%D9%85%D8%A7-%D9%86%D8%AD%D8%AA%D8%A7%D8%AC%D9%87-%D9%81%D9%8A-%D8%B9%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D9%86%D8%A7-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%B1%D8%A8%D9%8A/%D8%B9%D9%84%D8%A7-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%B5%D9%8A%D8%A7%D8%AA%D9%8A/%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%B5%D8%AF/%D8%B9%D8%B4%D9%88%D8%A7%D8%A6%D9%8A%D8%A7%D8%AA. 
  4. "مُؤسِّس موقع "الحدود" الساخر للجارديان: هكذا نصنع الضحكة مِن الجنون" (in ar). 2018-02-11. https://zahma.cairolive.com/%d9%85%d8%a4%d8%b3%d8%b3-%d9%85%d9%88%d9%82%d8%b9-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%ad%d8%af%d9%88%d8%af-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%b3%d8%a7%d8%ae%d8%b1-%d9%84%d9%84%d8%ac%d8%a7%d8%b1%d8%af%d9%8a%d8%a7%d9%86-%d9%87%d9%83%d8%b0/. 
  5. Shaheen, Kareem (2018-02-09). "Al-Hudood: the Onion-style website poking fun at the Middle East" (in en-GB). The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/feb/09/al-hudood-onion-style-website-poking-fun-middle-east-isam-uraiqat. 
  6. "How the Middle East’s Al-Hudood eases even its haters into reading its irreverent satire". https://www.niemanlab.org/2018/05/how-the-middle-easts-al-hudood-eases-even-its-haters-into-reading-its-irreverent-satire/. 
  7. "اعتقال بابا نويل في جبل عمّان ومصادرة جميع هداياه" (in ar). https://alhudood.net/2444/%d8%a7%d8%b9%d8%aa%d9%82%d8%a7%d9%84-%d8%a8%d8%a7%d8%a8%d8%a7-%d9%86%d9%88%d9%8a%d9%84-%d9%81%d9%8a-%d8%ac%d8%a8%d9%84-%d8%b9%d9%85%d9%91%d8%a7%d9%86-%d9%88%d9%85%d8%b5%d8%a7%d8%af%d8%b1%d8%a9-%d8%ac/. 
  8. eremnews (2014-12-24). "اعتقال ”بابا نويل“ في الأردن ومصادرة جميع هداياه" (in ar). https://www.eremnews.com/news/arab-world/egypt/178656. Retrieved 2019-03-16. 
  9. عماد, محمد (2014-12-24). "اعتقال". https://www.elwatannews.com/news/details/626583. Retrieved 2019-03-16. 
  10. "الامن العام : لم نلقي القبض على "بابا نويل" - الوكيل الاخباري" (in ar). 2014-12-25. https://www.alwakeelnews.com/Section_1/%D8%A7%D8%AE%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%B1-%D9%85%D8%AD%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%A9/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A7%D9%85%D9%86-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%A7%D9%85-%D9%84%D9%85-%D9%86%D9%84%D9%82%D9%8A-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%82%D8%A8%D8%B6-%D8%B9%D9%84%D9%89-%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%A8%D8%A7-%D9%86%D9%88%D9%8A%D9%84_121778. Retrieved 2019-03-16. 
  11. "الكشف عن مخطط للأخوان لإغراق مصر باستخدام صلوات الاستسقاء" (in ar). https://alhudood.net/3885/%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%83%d8%b4%d9%81-%d8%b9%d9%86-%d9%85%d8%ae%d8%b7%d8%b7-%d9%84%d9%84%d8%a3%d8%ae%d9%88%d8%a7%d9%86-%d9%84%d8%a5%d8%ba%d8%b1%d8%a7%d9%82-%d9%85%d8%b5%d8%b1-%d8%a8%d8%a7%d8%b3%d8%aa%d8%ae/. 
  12. "دائرة المكافحة تدرج الجميد تحت قائمة الممنوعات" (in ar). https://alhudood.net/2899/%d8%af%d8%a7%d8%a6%d8%b1%d8%a9-%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%85%d9%83%d8%a7%d9%81%d8%ad%d8%a9-%d8%aa%d8%af%d8%b1%d8%ac-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%ac%d9%85%d9%8a%d8%af-%d8%aa%d8%ad%d8%aa-%d9%82%d8%a7%d8%a6%d9%85%d8%a9-%d8%a7/.