Syrian Expats Lend Support to Protests From Abroad

Quoted by Jeff Swicord, VOA

For many Syrian dissidents scattered around the world, the anti-government backlash in Syria is bittersweet. They support political change at home, but they are horrified by the government’s brutal crackdown.

From the basement office of his home in the U.S., Ammar Abdulhamid does his part to support what he calls the Syrian revolution. Like many Syrian expatriates, Abdulhamid keeps in regular contact with people inside the country, following events and forwarding what he learns through his blog: Syrian Revolution Digest. Continue reading “Syrian Expats Lend Support to Protests From Abroad” →

Lord of Curation Series: Ammar Abdulhamid

Our Lord of Curation series presents to you some of the great curators on Scoop.it. They are here to share their insights and advice with you.

Ammar Abdulhamid is a liberal democracy activist whose anti-regime activities led to his exile from Syria on September 7, 2005. He now lives in Silver Spring, Maryland, with his supporting family: his wife Khawla, and their two children: Oula (b. 1986) and Mouhanad (b. 1990). Ammar is the founder and director of the Tharwa Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to democracy promotion in the Greater Middle East and North Africa region. Continue reading “Lord of Curation Series: Ammar Abdulhamid” →

Media and Policy Makers Need to Connect to Online “Influentials”

Glad that my twitter activity was helpful in this very important study:

Building on such insights, Jorge Faytong Real and Nishant Patel, two graduate students at the University of Maryland working on a project in Prof. Ben Shneiderman course on Information Visualization, took a look at three slices of the Twitter universe to determine who have been “influentials” during the Middle East unrest. Faytong and Patel looked at the Twitter network of an extraordinarily-well linked U.S-based Syrian and Middle East activist who tweets in both English and Arabic: Ammar Abdulhamid—known to Twitter users as @tharwacolamus.[3] Continue reading “Media and Policy Makers Need to Connect to Online “Influentials”” →

Revolution Uploaded

BBC Arabic sets out to explore the global information and communication revolution that has helped ferment real revolts, and pull down regimes across the Arab World. I make an appearance in Part Three of the 4-part series, with discussion on my work on the Syrian Revolution Digest.