I Am Syrian

American Public media – The Story

Today Dick talks with Ammar Abdulhamid and his family. Dick first talked to Ammar three years ago. At the time, Ammar was living in Damascus, running a small publishing house and writing and doing whatever he could to push along the process of reform in Syria. It was dangerous work. Now Ammar is living and writing in the United States. He moved his entire family here, and they all continue to write about Syria, even the teens. Each family member has a blog. They find blogging a way to communicate to the world, and each other.

Leaving Syria: Ammar Abdulhamid

Interview with NPR

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.

Aref Dying?

Sources are reporting that Aref Dalilah’s health is failing quickly and that he is liable to collapse at any given moment. Prison doctors have reportedly recommended that he be subjected to a variety of tests and scans,but, so far, prison authorities have not responded to their demands. Judging from the recalcitrance and indifference of the international community with regard to cases of unlawful imprisonment, torture and crackdowns that are currently taking place in Syria, Egypt, Tunisia and elsewhere in the region,Aref Dalilah might as well die of some brain clot or heart attack, or even under torture, and no one will do anything about it, beyond issuing some worn out and meaningless condemnation. Continue reading →

Dissent Within the NSF?

Let me take some time to clarify this issue of alleged schisms within the NSF:

There were, in fact, two participants in the foundational conference who opted at the last minute not to join the Front. That’s about it really. Now, I leave it up to you to decide whether the two figures opted out because they were not selected as members of the 11-member General Secretariat, or whether they had some lofty moral principle that was somehow violated in the process. Albeit, I have to admit that the other guy who opted out, Abdulhamid Haj Khodr, is actually a very decent fellow armed with an explosive temperament. Continue reading “Dissent Within the NSF?” →