Syrian dissident Ammar Abdulhamid is a visiting fellow with the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution. He says that while growing up in Syria in the ’70s and ’80s, it wasn’t fears of an Israeli attack that kept him up at night. His concern was the dreaded Syrian security apparatus and certain government officials.
Category: Activism & Advocacy
Interview on Fresh Air with Terry Gross
Broadcast Date: August 1, 2006
The New York Times Foreign Affairs columnist Thomas Friedman and Syrian dissident Ammar Abdulhamid on this edition of Fresh Air. Friedman’s just returned from Syria. He is a three-time recipient of the Pulitzer Prize. In 2002 he won for his “clarity of vision, based on extensive reporting, in commenting on the worldwide impact of the terrorist threat”. Friedman was awarded the 1983 Pulitzer Prize for his international reporting from Lebanon and the 1988 Pulitzer Prize for international reporting from Isreal. His most recent book is The World is Flat: A Brief History of the 21st Century. He’s also the author of From Beirut to Jerusalem and The Lexus and the Olive Tree: Understanding Globalization. Ammar Abdulhamid is a visiting fellow with the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution.
Blogging and the Future of Democracy in the Arab World!
The following is a summary of a talk I recently gave at a State Department conference on Blogging and Democracy. I thought it would e of some interest here.
Many people across the world are still dubious of the possible avenues and channels for communications and expression that blogging can pave. But that is not surprising really. People have given a similar lukewarm response to the Internet itself at one point, not too long ago. But who can dispute the power and impact of the internet now? Continue reading “Blogging and the Future of Democracy in the Arab World!”
Shutting Down Guantanamo
First posted on my short-lived blog Tharwalizations.
Guantanamo is a disgrace. No one can deny that, and the recent ruling to the effect that the Bush administration had violated both American military law and the Geneva Convention in ordering the military tribunals comes as an official endorsement of point of view. Indeed, and due to the fact that such a glaring abuse of human rights is being perpetrated by the very administration that is supposed to champion the cause of democracy and human rights around the world should naturally be noted and condemned by people from around the world. Continue reading “Shutting Down Guantanamo”
The Ammar Abdulhamid Archive 