Syrian blogger ‘Gay Girl’ seized
The brave Syrian blogger, lesbian and dissident Amina Abdallah (aka Amina Arraf) has been seized by armed men. She had become increasingly angered by the fascistic Assad regime’s crackdown on protest, writing on Sunday, “They must go, they must go soon. That is all there is to say.”
It is estimated that over 10,000 people have been detained by the Assad regime since the protests started in mid-March
A cousin of Amina has written on her blog:
“Dear friends of Amina,
“I am Amina Abdallah Araf al Omari’s cousin and have the
following information to share.
”Earlier today, at approximately 6:00 pm Damascus time, Amina
was walking in the area of the Abbasid bus station, near Fares al Khouri
Street. She had gone to meet a person
involved with the Local Coordinating Committee and was accompanied by a
friend.
”Amina told the friend that she would go ahead and they were
separated. Amina had, apparently,
identified the person she was to meet.
However, while her companion was still close by, Amina was seized by
three men in their early 20’s. According to the witness (who does not want her
identity known), the men were armed.
Amina hit one of them and told the
friend to go find her father.
“One of the men then put his hand over Amina’s mouth and they
hustled her into a red Dacia Logan with a window sticker of Basel Assad. The witness did not get the tag number. She promptly went and found Amina’s
father.
”The men are assumed to be members of one of the security
services or the Baath Party militia.
Amina’s present location is unknown and it is unclear if she is in a jail
or being held elsewhere in Damascus.
”I have just spoken with her father who is trying to locate
her. He has asked me to share this
information with her contacts in the hope that someone may know her whereabouts
and so that she might be shortly released.
”If she is now in
custody, he is not worried about being in hiding and says he will do anything he
can to free her. If anyone knows anything
as to her whereabouts, please contact Abdallah al Omari at his home or please
email me, Rania Ismail, at onepathtogod at gmail dot com.
”We are hoping she is simply in jail and nothing worse has
happened to her. Amina had previously
sent me several texts to post should something happen to her and we will wait
until we have definite word before doing so.
”Salamat,
“Rania O. Ismail”
H/t: The Graun
Online petition: http://www.petitionbuzz.com/petitions/freeamina
sackcloth and ashes said,
June 7, 2011 at 3:18 pm
Things are looking pretty serious:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-13678105
I’m wondering what to make of the regime’s claim to have lost 120 of its goons killed in Jisr al-Shughour. I have a nasty feeling that Bashar Assad is trying to justify another Hama in advance.
sackcloth and ashes said,
June 7, 2011 at 4:31 pm
From ‘The Economist’, 4th June 2011. ‘Syria’s turmoil: No end in sight’:
‘A plethora of torture reports is making people angrier still. The case of a 13-year-old, Hamza al-Khatib, has been widely aired, to general disgust. His body, given back by officials to his parents on May 25th, a month after he was arrested, bore multiple marks of abuse, including bullet holes, signs of electric shock, burns, bruises, a broken neck and castration. The state media said it was all faked but people generally believe the parents’.
Vile. Utterly vile.
charliethechulo said,
June 8, 2011 at 8:46 am
From John ‘O’:
A Gay Girl in Damascus
Urgent call for the immediate release of Syrian blogger Amina Arraf
Online petition here:
http://www.petitionbuzz.com/petitions/freeamina
On Monday, at approximately 6:00 pm Damascus time, Amina Arraf, a Syrian-American blogger who has been covering events in Syria on her blog A Gay Girl in Damascus, was walking with a friend when she was abducted by armed men.
Amina’s current location is unknown and it is unclear if she is in a jail or being held elsewhere in Damascus. Her family are desperately trying to locate her.
Her blog has received a great deal of media coverage in recent months and has drawn a wide following from Syria and across the world. Amina has shown a great deal of courage in her outspoken criticism of the regime and its repression and in addressing the situation of gays in Syria.
Syrian authorities have long been cracking down on journalists and bloggers and have arrested many since protests began in mid-March.
Human rights groups say that more than 1,200 people have been killed and at least 10,000 have been detained, included women and children, many of whom report ill-treatment and torture at the hands of security services.
We, the undersigned, call upon the Syrian regime to immediately release Amina. We ask that everyone with influence in this situation increase their efforts to ensure that she is freed quickly and unharmed.
We ask all human rights organizations both in Syria and internationally to advocate for her release and for the release of all political prisoners and dissidents in the country.
We call on the British government to end its support for repressive regimes and for the use of torture in the region and beyond. We stand in solidarity with the Syrian people and their demands and are opposed to military intervention of any kind.
As Amina wrote in a blog post on the day before her kidnapping: “We want a free and independent Syria and we reject foreign intervention.” In a recent interview with the Guardian, Amina sounded hopeful: “I have to believe that, sooner or later, we will prevail.”
Please sign this petition in support of Amina and Syria’s detainees.
Updates on Amina’s situation will be posted here on her blog:(http://damascusgaygirl.blogspot.com/)
SteveH said,
June 8, 2011 at 11:36 am
Not much here about Israels brutality against those brave folk trying to breach the border.
Still, will sign the petition.
sackcloth and ashes said,
June 8, 2011 at 4:36 pm
SteveH can’t resist the anti-Jewish digs, can he?
Wonder what he has to say about this?
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/report-14-palestinians-shot-dead-in-syrian-refugee-camp-1.366496
‘Palestinian security guards reportedly killed 14 Palestinians Monday in the Yarmouk refugee camp in Syria. According to witnesses, an angry crowd of mourners began to charge toward leaders of Palestinian factions, prompting their security guards to open fire.
The mourners accused the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) of endangering their lives during Sunday’s protest on Israel’s border, by encouraging them to put themselves in the line of fire.
The crowd chanted slogans against Maher al-Taher, PFLP spokesman and politburo member, and set fire to the PFLP headquarters. There are additional reports that Khaled Meshal, Hamas political leader in Damascus, arrived at the camp but was forced to leave’.
Argaman said,
June 8, 2011 at 7:11 pm
SteveH and people like him only reluctantly agree that the deaths of Arab demonstrators and protestors are wrong when they are inflicted by their own governments. What really gets him excited is when Israel is involved. Hypocrite!
tyresome points said,
June 9, 2011 at 12:07 pm
‘Gay Girl In Damascus’: Missing Or Mythical?
flyingrodent said,
June 10, 2011 at 9:41 pm
For the record. The pertinent part is “Living in Edinburgh”.
http://lezgetreal.com/2011/06/an-apology-to-our-readers-about-amina-abdallah/
There’s a lesson to be learned here. Note – It’s not “The Syrian government is nice”; “”People are not being horribly oppressed in Syria” or even “Maybe things aren’t that bad in Syria”. It’s “Before we say things, let’s stop and have a bit of a think”.
charliethechulo said,
June 11, 2011 at 5:22 pm
Rodent: if what that link says is true, then it’s an object lesson in not taking everything you read on the internet (or, come to that, anywhere else), as gospel.
On the other hand, even if “Gay Girl” is fraudulent, does that make any difference to what consistent socialist democrats have to say about Syria?
In all fairness, you seem to accept that yourself.
So whilst I’m all in favour of the words “Before we say things, let’s stop and have a bit of a think” as a general proscription on rash and/or generalised comment, I do not think it has any bearing on “‘Shiraz”s comments on Syria.
But if ‘Gay Girl’ is a fraud (which has *not* been conclusively proven), we’ll willingly publicise the fact. Until then, I prefer to give her the benefit of the doubt as against sneering, dishonest tossers like you.
tyresome points said,
June 11, 2011 at 6:36 pm
On the other hand, even if “Gay Girl” is fraudulent, does that make any difference to what consistent socialist democrats have to say about Syria?
In all fairness, you seem to accept that yourself.
Do you accept a question is a question, Rodent ? We demand answers. And not to whether the best response to “I’d like to politely point out that you’ve bee taken for fools again” is “Waah! I hate you.”
flyingrodent said,
June 11, 2011 at 6:09 pm
On the other hand, even if “Gay Girl” is fraudulent, does that make any difference to what consistent socialist democrats have to say about Syria?
Not at all – Bashar’s goons are just as vicious today as they were yesterday. I generally counsel caution on news coming out of warzones, myself, exactly because there’s usually a lot of static and manipulation going on, from all sides.
Gay Girl is now being reported as a fraud on various sources, so barring a sudden revelation, I think we can say she probably was a fraud.
charliethechulo said,
June 11, 2011 at 8:42 pm
Please be assured, Rodent and Tyesome, that ‘Shiraz’ will be monitoring this situation most closely. As and when further information comes to hand, we will publish it without fear or favour.
charliethechulo said,
June 11, 2011 at 9:14 pm
Please be assured, Rodent and Tyesome, that ‘Shiraz’ will be monitoring this situation most closely. As and when further information comes to hand, we will publish it without fear or favour; liked this, for instance:
“It looks like I got taken in here. If she is a phony, I apologize for highlighting passages in this blog. HT to salty Littlemantate for good antenna on this.
“But there may be even more to this story. “I wouldn’t give up on her yet,” cautions Jim Gourley, our chief correspondent for physical and mental fitness. “I’ve dealt with people like this before. She’s obviously in Damascus, and pretty apparently homosexual. Given that, I’d say the real story may still be a sympathetic one. What I’ve found in my experience is that people like this craft these kinds of elaborate personalities for themselves as an escape. I would hypothesize that the incident with her father facing down the security goons is half-true, with the heroic father being the creation of an imagination that wishes her real father was like that. Probably more likely is that she was rejected by her family in the beginning and feels horrible about it.”
Rosie said,
June 12, 2011 at 8:22 pm
Exposed as a hoax:-
http://damascusgaygirl.blogspot.com/2011/06/apology-to-readers.html
What a crappy hoax – what was the point of it?
Rosie said,
June 12, 2011 at 10:18 pm
Good comment on this affair here:-
http://gawker.com/5811169
Hoax or not, what he did was important. See, if he hadn’t done this, journalists might have focused their attention on the real people suffering in Syria. The problem there is that those people just aren’t dramatic enough. He gave us a better story, a better character. He had a great narrative arc going. And since it was fiction, the character wasn’t really in any danger, which makes for a happier ending. Who would journalists have given their attention to if not for this guy? Someone like Hamza al-Khateeb? Ugh. They started to cover him before this hoax, and let’s face it, it was depressing. That’s a little too real for my tastes. Seriously, who would want to watch a movie based on Hamza? Nobody, that’s who. But the Gay Girl in Damascus? There’s your Sundance hit right there. It still could be a Sundance hit. Just add the hoax angle at the end and you’ve got a great Catfish kind of twist to knock people on their asses. That’ll really get them talking about the struggles of the Syrian people. It really brings the story home for Western audiences. Just make sure this guy gets a big check. And a book deal. Yup. I know it’s obvious and I know I’m not the only one thinking this, but let me just say, Tom MacMaster is a hero. And the Syrian people are lucky to have an advocate like him. I wish I had a lying, self-absorbed, egomaniac fuck face publicly advocating for my rights and freedom. Yes. Tom MacMaster, the new face of the Syrian Revolution.
charliethechulo said,
June 12, 2011 at 10:20 pm
Thanks Rosie: as we promised, we’ve followed the story through to its conclusion and told readers the truth. I’m still mystified as to what lay behind the hoax. Even after following the link to Tom MacMaster, though I certainly agree with the ‘gawker”s angry comment.
Jim Denham said,
June 12, 2011 at 11:36 pm
This is really weird:
http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=44129428444&topic=7472&post=38967
modernityblog said,
June 13, 2011 at 12:33 am
Jim,
Best read:
http://modernityblog.wordpress.com/2011/06/13/the-cost-of-orientalism-non-existent-syrian-blogger/
charliethechulo said,
June 13, 2011 at 12:35 am
From That Place:
“Amina Arraf”, Britta Froelicher & the University of St. Andrews
Cross-Post, June 12th 2011, 7:06 pm
by Joseph W
In September 2007, “Amina Arraf” started a blog on Blogspot.
The first post stated:
This blog is … … where I will be posting samples of fiction and literature I am working on. This blog will contain chapters and drafts. This blog will have what may sometimes seem likely deeply personal accounts. And sometimes they will be. But there will also be fiction. And I will not tell you which is which. This blog will sample what I’m writing. This blog is not a diary. This blog is not about politics.
There is no hint here that this novel is, in any sense, autobiographical.
What catches my eye, is the way the author seems to enjoy playing with fact and fiction, and leaving her readers to work out which is which. Amina’s second post revealed:
I am trying to write two novels, a collection of pseudo-historical essays, and a religious manifesto. The first novel is called “A Thousand Sighs and a Sigh: an Arab American Education” and is, often but not always, the story of a young woman quite a bit like me. The second is a time travel story called “1096″. The third is “The What-Ifs of the Arabs” and will be essays on alternate histories of the Middle East. The fourth is my thoughts on religion, ethics, and philosophy and I call it “Why I am Still a Sunni Muslim”.
So the author enjoys writing about religion, politics and gender identity. Two days later, Amina wondered:
I am curious if anyone is actually reading this … and, if so, what you all think of it thus far … and what sorts of theings you’d like for me to post next (ie, long sections of spiritual reflection, steamy sex scenes, historical background, family tales, intellectual journeys, friendships, love, odd customs …). I’ve posted a simple poll (over there to your left) so, if you’ve read this, vote … or post a comment.
Fast forward three years.
Amina is not simply a name, but is now a political blogger living in Damascus, worried about the Assad regime. She has a photo identity that she claims is real, yet belongs to someone else.
Amina’s politics and her writings leave reason to be suspicious.
Laban said,
June 13, 2011 at 9:31 pm
I guess that while it may have been fake, it illustrated a wider truth, so that’s OK.
charliethechulo said,
June 14, 2011 at 7:53 am
No it’s not OK at all Laban. It’s damaged the cause of genuine Syrian rebels, not to mention gay people in the Middle East (possibly even endangering lies).
And us at Shiraz are in favour of truth and exposing flashood, as a matter of principle.
What it does *not* do is change the need to support the Syrian rebellion and to support the rights of gay people in Syria and the Middle East as a whole.
Interview with the hoaxer Tom MacMaster on yesterday’s BBC Radio 4 ‘PM’ programme: http://audioboo.fm/boos/384808-tom-macmaster-talks-to-the-bbc-s-pm-programme-about-the-amina-abdullah-affair
Rosie said,
June 14, 2011 at 12:50 pm
Laban what was this “wider truth” illustrated exactly?