A letter from Syria to the World

A very moving letter being shared via Facebook from Syria to the world:

Letter from Khaled Khalifa to his friends around of the world 

My friends, writers and journalists from all over the world, in China and Russia, I would like to inform you that my people is being subjected to a genocide. 

A week ago the forces of the Syrian regime stepped up its attacks on the rebellious cities, especially in the cities of Homs, Zabadani, the suburbs of Damascus, Rastan, Madaya, Wadi Barada, Figeh, Idlib and villages of the Zawiya mountain. In the past week, up until the moment in which I am writing these lines, more than a thousand martyrs fell, many of them children, and hundreds of homes were destroyed on top of their inhabitants. 

The world's blindness encouraged the regime's attempt to eliminate the peaceful revolution in Syria, with an unrivaled repressive force. The support of Russia, China, Iran and the silence of the world in the face of the crimes committed in broad daylight, has allowed the regime's killing of my people for the past eleven months. But in the last week, since February 2cd, the features of the massacre were made clear. The scene of hundreds of thousands of Syrians who took to the streets of their towns and villages on the night of the massacre of Khalidiya, the night of last Friday to Saturday, raising their hands in prayer and in tears, is heart breaking and puts the humanitarian tragedy of Syria in the center of the world. It is a clear expression of our feeling of orphanhood, resulting from our abandonment by the world, which is content by political and economic sanctions that do not stop murderers or restrain blood bathed tanks.  

My people who faced death with bear chests and songs is being, in these very moments, subjected to a cleansing campaign. Our rebellious cities face sieges unprecedented in the history of world revolutions, preventing medical personnel to attend to the wounded, as field hospitals are being bombed in cold blood and destroyed. The entry of relief organizations is also prevented, phone lines are cut, and food and medicine are blocked to the extent that the smuggling of blood bags or Satamol tablets into the affected areas is considered a crime worthy of imprisonment in detention camps, the details of which will shock you one day.

In its modern history, the world has not yet seen valor and courage such as those displayed by the revolutionary Syrians in all our towns and villages, as the world has not yet seen such a silence, that is now considered a complicity in the murder and extermination of my people. 

My people is the people of peace, coffee and music, that I wish you will taste one day, roses the fragrances of which I hope you will breathe one day, so that you know that the center of the world is today exposed to a genocide, and that the whole world is an accomplice to the spilling of our blood. 

I can not say more in these difficult moments, but I hope you will take action in solidarity with my people, through whatever means you deem appropriate. I know that writing stands helpless and naked in front of the Russian guns, tanks and missiles bombing cities and civilians, but I have no wish for your silence to be an accomplice of the killings as well. 

Khaled Khalifa
Damascus, Syria

BBC Panorama: Syria Inside the Secret Revolution

Apologies for being MIA. Have been taking on a few projects these past few weeks and life has been a little hectic. Need to catch up with news and reading!

This BBC report is brought to you via The Revolting Syrian:

Story Highlights: Arab Revolutions & More

This month's issue of National Geographic has published some pretty fabulous features worth sharing:

Baghdad After the Storm: a former U.S. Army sergeant returns to Baghdad to reflect on how much has changed since the 2003 invasion. Despite the continued hardships and sectarian divisions facing the city's residents development and daily life go on. A mixture of illustrative emotion, flashbacks, and photography.

Middle East Youth Rising - Young, Angry, and Wired: A brief feature with an overview of a budding tech-savvy Arab generation, political and economic dissatisfactions, and revolt. "Some 60 percent of the people in the Middle East are under 30 years old, and many of them are angry. Like young people everywhere, they have ambitions. They want, they need, they crave. They feel constrained—especially, perhaps, when they watch satellite television or surf the Internet. There they can see how the rest of the world lives. Social media (including personal blogs, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and more) allow young men and women to share their frustrations in ways they couldn't in the past."

The Search for Cleopatra: She is infamous because she is illusive. A woman of a thousand faces, National Geographic follows archaelogists on a quest to uncover the real Cleopatra dissecting myth and legend from reality.

And, finally, recent clippings of interest:

Coalition of Factions From the Streets Fuels a New Opposition in Syria: NYT's Anthony Shadid reports on the swiftly changing political landscape in Syria.

'Saudi Arabia is simply a very different society from Egypt, Tunisia or Syria': Why isn't revolution occurring in Saudi Arabia? The Guardian's Jason Burke examines the social and political factors that have kept Saudi citizens from revolting.

Yanar Mohammed—Iraqi Women’s Vigilant Champion: An interview by Marcia G. Yerman of the Women's Media Center of Yanar Mohammed, founder of the Organisation of Women's Freedom in Iraq (OWFI), in lieu of the recent harassment and violence against women's rights protesters in Baghdad's Tahrir Square.

The Birth of 'Free Media' in Eastern Libya: a report in PDF available via Reporters Without Borders.  

Silenced: the choice between dissidence or living a 'normal' life

Here's a thought worth reflecting on: if you had the choice to make a decent wage, live a 'normal' untroubled life in exchange for silence and lack of political expression, would you do it? Is it worth fighting for a cause if it means the end of your livelihood, the harassment and blackmail of your family members, possible detention, torture, or even your death? This is the choice many people face every day living under repressive regimes and many choose the security of a maintaining a 'normal' life to openly challenging government malpractices, abuses, and corruption.

The New York Times published two stories recently illustrative of the costs of the choices dissidents face. In one story Azeri blogger and opposition activist Emin Milli was freed from prison only to find that his entire life had been robbed from him. Those who feared government retaliation for association to Milli cut off ties with anyone remotely linked with him. "His wife’s father had been fired from his government job because of Mr. Milli’s political activities. His own father had died while he was in prison. His wife, her own future in turmoil, had asked for a divorce. Mr. Milli spent much of this spring in his apartment, free time gaping before him like a chasm." More recently, the release of Chinese artist Ai Wei Wei appears to be a victory, however, the New York Times added that the artist has since "muzzled" himself. The New York Times quoted Nicholas Bequelin, a Human Rights Watch researcher in Hong Kong, as noting that the artist “has a Damocles sword hanging over his head. That means any time he opens his mouth, he puts himself in danger.”

Given the costs of challenging a repressive and corrupt government one would have to weigh when the benefits of posing a public challenge to the status quo outweighs the costs. Everyday, opposition activists, bloggers, and other dissidents in countries with limited freedoms are detained or killed with little outside support and only with a few international NGOs advocating campaigns on their behalf. Burma has a particularly nasty track record on the index of civil liberties according to Freedom House, garnering one of the worse ratings for freedom by the rights' organisation. More recently, in Syria and Bahrain, arbitrary detentions and torture of suspected opposition activists and their associates have become the norm. Yet the mass movements in the Arab world sparked in Tunisia has resulted in a change of popular consciousness whereby people realize that collectively by casting off fear they have power to cast off bad governments, revolution.

In countries where governments create an atmosphere of public fear through secret police mechanisms, arbitrary arrests and the threat of detainment or violence, individuals are careful not to challenge their governments because they don't know whether their neighbors are informants who would turn them in for dissent. On the flip side, what individuals living in such an atmosphere probably don't realize is that many of their neighbors are probably as equally dissatisfied with the current political state of affairs as they are but given that no one voices it that status quo prevails. Furthermore, repressive governments are usually quick to make examples of individual dissidents as seen in the case of Milli and Ai Wei Wei. Dissidents and opposition activists only have force if they're popularly backed, but this requires collective courage from an entire population and the willingness of individuals to put their neck on the line or an individual with such powerful charisma he or she inspires collective action. Such movements are not always successful as seen from the 2007 anti-government protests in Burma, the so-called 'Saffron Revolution' which ended with the military junta willing to talk to the opposition but unwilling to cede any power. A pyrrhic victory. More recently, Libya portrays the potentially heavy costs of challenging a dictator, all out bloody civil war.

We hail individual courage and martyrdom for a cause. In Burma, Aung San Suu Kyi has become an international hero for wanting to bring democracy to her country and having paid the price with nearly 15 years of house arrest until her release in 2010. The more iconic image of Buddhist monk, Thích Quảng Đức, committing an act of self-immolation in protest of the persecution of Buddhist monks in Vietnam back in the 1960s is also very telling of the sympathy popular consciousness has for those dying for an idea, a human sacrifice in the name of protest. The public reveres those who can and will sacrifice their lives and livelihood if it means saying 'No' to a system which does not acknowledge the uniqueness of human individuality and giving us a life worth living.  It is the choice of defining what type of life is worth living and what gives us meaning through the recreation of our political systems and the right to express our beliefs openly.

Not everyone is willing to take the risks. When the choice is between your life, the life of your family and friends, keeping the roof over your head and having the job which will feed your children, most of us would pick survival over challenging a repressive regime or they would challenge the status quo but only from the apparent safety of exile. The question all dissidents must ask themselves is if what they believe in is worth the costs and, if it is, whether they have the courage, tenacity, and creativity to inspire others to join them.

Thrashing Media Freedoms & Arbitrary Arrests: Eye on Syria and Bahrain

The Trump v. Obama bonanza and the recent death of Osama bin Laden (carefully timed to be announced in the middle of The Apprentice) has been drowning out a lot of more important ongoing news. World Press Freedom Day has gone by this May 3rd and, lest we forget, journalists in Syria and Bahrain are facing rough odds. Paris-based Reporters Without Borders issued this year's list of press freedom "predators" this past Tuesday. Who's new to the list this year? The King of Bahrain.

Yesterday, Toby C. Jones published a great piece on the Arab Reform Bulletin, a publication by the Carnegie Endowment for Peace, with an analysis and overview of Bahrain's censorship measures. To name a few, Al Wasat, Bahrain's leading independent paper is expected to close down on May 10 and, according to The Media Line, "the Bahrain Center for Human Rights reported on Tuesday that 68 journalists have been laid-off, arrested and threatened." Even medical personnel and staff are not immune to the repression. The Guardian reported that medics have become targets of retribution simply for helping injured protesters. The Media Line further added that about 50 medics would face military trial for 'subversive acts.'

In Syria, a similar pattern of response against media and opposition supporters has taken place. This past Wednesday, Al Jazeera confirmed that one of its journalists, Dorothy Parvaz, was arrested in Syria. Al Jazeera has launched an online campaign on Twitter with the tag #FreeDorothy as well as a Facebook page. Today, the Neiman Foundation, of which Parvaz is a fellow, has also called for her release. For the past month, arbitrary arrests of journalists and suspected opposition supporters has been the norm in Syria with the addition of violent crackdowns against protesters, especially in Deraa, which some observers are calling a 'massacre.'

If these regimes believe that arbitrary arrests, violent retribution, and thrashing media freedoms will maintain the status quo they really ought to reconsider their tactics. Historically, such actions only result in strengthening the resolve of those who genuinely seek political reform for their countries building up international criticism for the regime and sympathy for the victims of crackdowns. Is there any political sense in detaining journalists, bloggers and medics, shooting at unarmed protesters, and even using torture and blackmail to threaten opposition supporters? Do these tactics ever provide a desired outcome in long-run? While in the private sphere individuals are expected to act with civility towards one another, the same ethics and rules of behavior never apply in the political realm which is a sad sight. If the governments of Syria and Bahrain continue to take "desperate" measures against protesters and media representatives they will surely find themselves committing political suicide.

Crackdowns on Bloggers & Journalists Amidst Protests

Syrian blogger Ahmed Abu Al Khair (http://ahmadblogs.net/) has been arrested in Syria earlier last week. Global Voices Advocacy contributer, Anas Qtiesh, reported that Ahmed was previously arrested in February and has been subsequently re-arrested amidst protests in Daraa last week. Qtiesh also reports that journalist, Khaled Elekhtyar has gone missing.

To read the full story and support these individuals please click here.

Al Jazeera has also covered the status of Arab bloggers amid crackdowns here.

Update: It appears that one of Bahrain's most influential bloggers, Mahmood Al-Yousif (http://mahmood.tv/), has also been arrested last night.

The Cyber War Against Political Oppression & Censorship

In good news, Al Jazeera English reported this past January that Slim Amamou, a Tunisian blogger, was appointed Minister for Youth and Sport in the new Tunisian government. Under the censorship strictures of ex-dictator's Ben Ali's regime, Amamou was an active blogger and a CEO of a Tunisian web development company. According to Al Jazeera, he and several other Tunisian bloggers were circulating news and videos supporting protests in opposition to Ben Ali's government. Their Facebook passwords were hacked, accounts deleted and Amamou, along with another Tunisian blogger, were subsequently arrested and later released with Ben Ali's disgraceful exit from Tunisia.

Although the Internet has brought a tremendous amount of opportunity for the exchange of news, views, and ideas on a global scale it has also proven to be politically ambiguous territory and a more contentious ground for political battles especially in oppressive countries where individual bloggers are transforming into revolutionaries. Bloggers have proven to be a potent political force in countries with stringent censorship policies and state-run media, so much so that they are subject to arrest, threats on their lives, and torture. Amamou is not the first blogger to be arrested in consequence of writing or spreading information criticizing government actions or rallying support for protests. In June 2008, The Guardian reported that that record numbers of bloggers had been arrested by repressive governments, such as China, Burma, Iran and Mubarak-ruled Egypt at the time.

More recently, several Syrian bloggers have been arrested or reported missing in light of the uprisings and protests taking place in the Middle East. They have proven to be courageous and outspoken. According to the International Freedom of Expression Exchange (IFEX) cited in the last link above, one Syrian blogger, 28 year-old Hadifa (http://ahmadblogs.net/) "appealed... for support for recently detained bloggers and for political prisoners in the Golan Heights (a region that Israel occupied in 1967 and annexed in 1981). He had also posted demands to the Syrian authorities, comments about the recent uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt, and advice on how to circumvent online censorship." The Daily Star also recently reported Lebanese bloggers were subjected to unprecedented crackdowns in 2010. In China, blogger and Guardian contributer, Ran Yunfei, has been arrested on the charge of 'subverting state power.'

Author Robert Greene wrote a particularly timely essay on his blog, The Descent of Power: An Interpretation of the Global Economic Crisis. His essay emphasizes that the Information revolution with the advent of the Internet and its ensuing social networks, forums, and news sharing platforms is devolving traditional centers of power by placing information access into the hands of individuals and in the process empowering them politically. A few relevant excerpts from his essay:

"In anthropology there is a concept known as historic fatality. What this means is that occasionally there emerges a certain idea, a certain way of doing things that is so immensely seductive to human beings that eventually it spreads around the globe and forever changes our way of life... We can make three generalizations at this point. When a group of people is given power, it forms a power center. This means, for instance, that a team of military leaders tends to think in two directions–how to promote the interests of the ruler, while also advancing its own agenda. Things now become political, as their interests will clash with other power centers. The ruler must now manage this growing complexity. The power environment becomes increasingly dangerous. 

Second, once people have been given power on this level, they do not want to give it back or return to an older way of governing. They work to keep what they have and extend their power base. And finally, once power becomes diluted and divided this way, it tends to keep on dividing, like a split atom. More and more people must be brought in to keep the whole functioning. And so over the course of centuries, power slowly became less and less concentrated... To a lesser degree we could talk of modern media as another power center that came to prominence in the 20th century, which in turn acted to dissolve and dilute previous concentrations of influence... Of course there remain concentrations of power and wealth in the world today. But on the other hand, there is no denying the remarkable evolution and dilution of power from that time millennia ago when it was mostly in the hands of one man. 

From this position in the present we can project into the future a period of even greater dilution, as more and more people around the globe feel the right and necessity to have more control over their lives... What interests me here is not the technology, but how it changes our relationship to power and authority, altering in so many ways the social dynamic–how people interact with one another. In this instance, the Internet is flattening out relationships that were once hierarchical and funneled through various centers. This tends to eat away at the prestige and authority of traditional sources of information such as newspapers, or expert opinions. It calls into question the need for so many middlemen in the world, and reveals the dubious source of their power."

The Internet is one of those historic fatalities. Individuals no longer have to go through media "middleman" to get their information and therefore politically bias media bureaus and state-run media are no longer the primary source of information. Moreover, younger generations who have been educated outside their countries are more tech savvy and more likely to figure out ways around government censorship programming and firewalls. In the long run, that means even the most oppressive governments will be unable to control the access individuals have to information. Bloggers, "twitterers", Googlers, and Facebookers all now hold a stake on information - its sourcing, framing, and dissemination - and they have power. This makes the Internet a space of serious political impact and influence and that means that the war against political oppression is not just on the streets in protest but in the cyber sphere against censorship.

It will be interesting to see how the cyber war will develop over time in the century and who will ultimately win. It is not just the philosophical and legal ramifications of freedom of information which must be considered but also the political empowerment of individuals in the face of traditional pillars of information control, namely governments and big corporate media outlets.
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Please visit the Committee to Protect Bloggers and the Committee to Protect Journalists to see what you can do to support politically dissenting bloggers around the world.