Coming to a Place near You!

Two nights ago I set up a virtual collection for winter coats for Syrian refugee children sitting in camps in Gaziantep and around as well. The response has been very positive and has been yet another encouragement that together we can move mountains and get things done and support the cause and rally for freedom - and, very importantly, support the children who are paying such a high price with their childhoods.

This particular collection was a project I had been wanting to do for a while but was finally prompted by the collection Hassan AlMasri did for sponsorships for orphans inside Syria, aslo with Zakat Foundation. He used a platform website called Razoo and after looking around at other platforms including a "free one" (obviously with a catch and very few technical options), then I decided this was the best venue for this particular collection. The money will go directly to Zakat so I don't have to be the middle person; I am merely the facilitator, or whatever you want to call it, along with the dozen or so other hosts I invited to this virtual event.

These are amongst the children we are hoping to provide warm coats for. This is a picture from Gaziantep refugee camp.

Waaaay Alternative Collection for Orphans!!!

In the Facebook world of collecting monies for Syria efforts and humanitarian aid, this beneficial event here called Shave Your Mustache takes the cake! The Revolution in Syria has caused literally thousands of children to become orphans with relatives or friends only to rely on for care. The situation is obviously very dire as most people have no income anymore and can barely eat and live.

A few humanitarian organizations immediately got in the game and set up projects aimed at just helping orphans. A couple of very dedicated organizations with zero overhead - meaning all money collected goes to the aid intended - is Zakat Foundation as well as Syrian Orphans Org. However, as much as they try to get sponsorships and collect, sometimes a little extra effort is what it takes.

A young doctor called Hassan set up a very silly, but as it turned out, very effective campaign on Facebook last week where he offered to shave off his beard as soon as he reached the goal of getting two orphans sponsored. As it turned out, then people loved it and he was able to collect enough to feed and school SEVEN orphans for one year, God Bless him.

Dr. Hassan quickly expanded on the idea and got a few friends with ugly mustaches into the game and now we have a handful of men offering their mustaches as bounty for donations towards helpless Syrian orphans. It is really quite spectacular when you think of it.

In a day and half, then the team and their enthusiasm have been able to collect over $8,000 - can you believe it? That's around 12 orphans and we haven't called it the night yet.

Here are some of the orphaned children you would be helping get some normalcy into their lives:

Helping a kid is not dependent on race or nationality or religion, but on empathy and heart-strings.

Taking the Clue from the Syrian People

This past week saw violent, vicious attacks on Gaza, followed by daily, determined rallies all around the world to stand up for the Palestinians. Almost 50% of the  people killed in Gaza this week alone were children. The Syrian cause has been going on for 20 months at even great casualties daily, but we want everyone to know that each life lost is a life lost. This is not a competition for evil, but a race to do good and achieve that basic human right of freedom - and you can even throw in some dignity as well. 

The Syrian people is being slaughtered inside Syria alongside with their Palestinian fellows, most of whom have been treated like second-rate citizens in Syria under Al-Assad. In Damascus, their rights have always been curbed and they were contained (literally) in a camp there for decades. Inside Syria, Palestinians and Syrians alike are fighting the oppressive regime and together dying and getting wounded. The Syrians never expected this turn of events when they first began rallying, but all citizens in Syria support the need and demand for freedom. The Revolution is united and supported by Syrian Muslims and Christians, Kurds, the Druze, Palestinians and Alawites and they rally and kill and get killed without discrimination.

As the people of Gaza are being violently attacked, then it is encouraging and heartfelt to see that many ex-pat Syrians are walking in those rallies all across the globe, standing together and united for oppression and non-sense killing. Syrians are suffering right now, but still have humanity and the capability to care. Because that is what being free and having choices really mean - to unite and stand together for rightness and peace.

Boston Rally and Walk - One Photo Only

Yesterday was the rally and walk for Syria in Boston. As always, then I found myself to be too busy and too happily occupied to take pictures, so this photo here is the only one I took. It shows the very end of our walk line, crossing a small bridge in the Public Garden, walking towards the sunset and on wards for Freedom.

This picture is special in other ways. I was walking next to one of my most respected fellow activists (well, she is a real activist, I am just improvising), Hiam T. Hiam T. works day and night for Syria, translating and documenting every single atrocity that has been recorded for the time soon to come when the regime is going to be held accountable in International Court. She is amazing. Despite the hate and ugliness she watches and listens to every day, then her heart is full of hope and joy for the goodness in most.

In this photo itself  you see my trusted friend Laura (American and not related to Syria except via me), another Hiam - who is also  my role model and is always the first humanist in any worthy cause - along with her good-hearted son, my super cool Cambrige activist and Connector Extraordinaire to any person I might want to connect to, Blake, and my most respected Syrian protester and survivor of torture (name to be withheld here). Just an amazing shot actually, if I may say so myself (which I may since this is my blog and my voice).

I guess this photo really symbolizes the whole rally and walk. People who may or may not be Syrians, humanitarians for rightness and believers in basic human rights, and the youth that is eager and still innocent. If only I had been in the frame itself, but watching humanity unfold is not too shaggy either....

Getting Ready for Rally and Walk 11/17

Tomorrow Boston is going to see a great rally for Syria and an amazing Walk 4 Children of Syria. Rallies are always intense, uplifting gatherings. They leave you energized and re-focused, meeting so many people who come out and spend a few hours chanting for freedom and peace in Syria.

Tomorrow we hope many Palestinians will join us as well. This week  Gaza saw vicious attacks by Israel so Palestinians and supporters had rallies both yesterday and today. The hope really is that most will join the Syria rally tomorrow. It is common knowledge amongst Syrians that Assad is on par with the Zionist efforts to eradicate Palestine; just go to Syria and see how Palestinians have been living as third-grade citizens for years there and how they are getting killed like flies along with anyone else.

The People United Will Never Be Defeated. Palestine, Syria is here for you despite our bleeding hearts (literally speaking), then we are here.

Wounded Boy, Asking for Forgiveness

I met the Turk brothers online via a local trusted activist who traveled to Turkey this fall to spend a year, working with refugees and the women in particular. The Turk brothers, Hani and Shadi, work tirelessly in their spare time (and even during their school hours) to do their best to alleviate the suffering and pain for as many refugees as they can get to.

 They try to document their stories via video recordings, they spend time with the children and wounded children and try to keep them distracted and entertained, they use donations - sparse as they are - to buy basic clothing (and some dignity) for people who arrived in bloody rags, they give out phone cards to the most depressed situations so people can call their families and let them know they are still alive and they try to get much needed medication for severe cases. Whatever they do, then they do it with very limited donations and in very limited amounts. The main point is that there are people who do care and who are working tirelessly and totally selflessly to help other humans. Shadi and Hani are actually twins and around 20 years of age, college kids who should be studying and having fun with friends instead of dealing with the most traumatic cases imaginable (and not imaginable).

Recently the brothers sent me this most touching video of a 10 year old or so boy who got wounded in shellings during the night as he was at home sleeping. The video footage is almost 6 minutes long and consists of the boy reciting suras, praying and asking for forgiveness, saying shahadah, praying, cursing the perpetrators including the president of his home country and praying and crying. Please explain to me the logic of a kid having to ask forgiveness after he was wounded and almost killed.

Asylum Case and Interpreter

The past few days were spent getting feedback from our local asylum-seeking family and talking with the student lawyer and lawyer representing their case. They have so far been in two meetings with the lawyers and we are still figuring out the logistics of interpretation and avoiding mis-representation. At the first meeting I was interpreting for the father and while my Arabic is far from fluent, then we would go back and forth until I felt confident that I was completely conveying his sentiment and his actual words. It worked really well (and was personally very fulfilling), however, the lawyers were concerned that  was not a neutral party  and that my friendship with the family would invalidate their asylum case.

At last week's meeting the mother was alone at the session and as we had been told then she had an interpreter appointed by the lawyers. The mother left feeling totally violated and not properly represented in addition to the information the interpreter had give to her about her daughter's medical case properly not being ground for human parole (she might feel better and not be seriously ill) as well as relaying that the lawyers indicated the case was very weak and had not real ground. The mother was obviously very shaken up and when I spoke with the father several days later then he was still very nervous and now scared.

I called the student lawyer up and explained to her that the family was terrified and back to feeling mistrust. How could they be continuing to tell the truth if the interpreter was telling them their case was weak unless they had done specific acts or been involved in specific political acts when they had not? It dawned on me that basically the lives of the asylum seekers are in the hand of an interpreter so if that person has a personal or political agenda, then too bad. Not only is there a lot of space of deliberate misrepresentation and misleading, but also scarcity of words and lack of delivering the emotion of the story told can change the whole perspective. It is really scary to consider how a stranger can be set about to represent you and your family and you are at their mercy.

The lawyers thankfully quickly agreed to investigate getting another interpreter as they had also not been comfortable with the situation and the brevity of the interpreter's translations. It was a relief to find that they had had some of the same concerns and wanted the refugee family to feel safe and in good hands. For tomorrow's meeting, then they will try another interpreter and if things don't improve then I will suggest more strongly that we investigate getting a neutral interpreter from our broader community.

It all boils down to trust and delivery of the message. If the messenger can tell the story truthfully, then the asylum-seeking family has nothing to fear or worry about.

Rally and Walk - Let's Unite

Saturday is Walk 4 Children of Syria which will take place all around the States and in dozens of countries internationally as well as in some places inside of Syria and in some refugee camps.Walk 4 Children of Syria is coordinated by Syrian American Alliance which in such an effort has ensured everyone walks on the same day in a unified attempt.  It is empowering to be united about something as well as very positive for the sake of creating more awareness about what is going on in Syria in general and in particular what is happening to the children.

Boston also has a rally before the walk. Rallies are a great way to connect with fellow supporters and activists and really get the enthusiasm and blood in the cheeks flowing. If the weather is even remotely as nice as today, then we should have a grand time and even if it gets chilly, then the reality is that Syria's people have no choice, sunshine or not, but to forge forwards in their strive for freedom.

Unity Amongst Individualism and Discrepancies

We are all individuals with our own tempers and agendas. Sometimes our egos get in the way of the better good, but most often - with the cause and goal in mind - even the most stubborn and self-observed individual can get over themselves in order to achieve their objective. During the recent months, that have now turned to over a year and a half, I have encountered many activists who have clashed over whatever personal disagreement came up and even occasionally deeper rifts were grown with the obvious result in a lack of cooperation and aborted projects.

Today I donated a very modest amount of money to a fellow activist who had set up this wonderfully enthusiastic and innovative orphan sponsorship collection on Facebook where he encouraged folks to donate money towards the sponsorship of five Syrian orphans. Lo and behold, within a couple of days he had reached his minimum goal and was now reaching for even a higher number of orphans that would now be guaranteed food and some sort of financial stability for at least a year.

As it happened, then I wanted to donate because like this activist then I love doing good also and setting up initiatives and - like him - then I know what it means to get support from many people and a pat on the back. I sent off my (honestly shamefully modest) donation and received in return a wonderful thank you email that also brought to my attention the fact that the brother and I had previously had some disagreements which was why he was especially surprised and thrilled over my contribution. I was floored. It had honestly never occurred to me to not support him (nor was I carrying the disagreement in my mind or heart). Yes, we had disagreed over some pro-Revolution project and I had - as a matter of fact-- left the Facebook group as I had not wanted my dissent from the majority to bring down the focus of the group. The reality was that their group and their intentions were wonderful all along, but just had not jibed with my needs (or perhaps even with my ego since I was their senior in age and from my perspective also experience) and I had had different expectations about the activist group than what was the perceived reality. However, it had never occurred  to me to carry a grudge for ages or to abort helping and supporting useful and innovative programs out of pride or arrogance. I replied to this honest brother's pleasure at my support of his project, and he agreed and was enthused that as activists and humans  the cause was bigger than the ego and individual discrepancies.

The People United Will Never Be Defeated. This is the mantra I try to follow and live by (but, of course, I am only human and have temper and an ego, so you never know if those might come in the way one time for uniting and working together for our shared goal).

Quiet Week

The past few days have been quiet and I have felt more like in recovery mode than action mode, unfortunately. It is what it is, though, and what I expected after a super-busy past few weeks with the culmination of last weekend. The art is to propel forward while still in emotional recovery mode in order to not feel placated and too self-satisfied.

We do have a rally and walk for Syria's children coming up next weekend. Rallies are fun and invigorating most of the time. It might be quite chilly, but we'll manage the cold by putting on some extra layers and perhaps sipping on some hot cocoa. We've got it easy here in New England. The mood at our last few rallies have been quite hesitant. When people here in our area began rallying 1 1/2 year ago the mood and spirit were high and people felt by the next rally the regime will have fallen, for sure. That didn't happen. Things got way more complicated or actually more accurately the way of exterminating a nation became more intricate and elaborate and way bloodier than any normal human beings ever expected. I want everyone to know that Syrians inside of Syria are determined to live free or die. They refuse to live like animals and know that Paradise is theirs for the taking at a sooner point than expected for standing up for their basic human right of freedom, but it is their only option. Humanity is the one thing nobody can strip you off, even as they humiliate, rape, and burn you off.

So next weekend Boston will join the voices of Syria and stand shoulder to shoulder as we support the Syrian people's right to live, think and gather freely and with no threat or fear.

Torture Survivor Speaks at Fundraiser

Sunday was the formal fundraiser for Syria. We all needed to feel that sense of community and unite for at least a few hours on a positive note of feeling we were making a difference in hopefully several hundred displaced and hurting Syrians. My friend came over and introduced me to this newly arrived gentleman from Damascus. The man was holding onto a cane and was wearing a sweatshirt with the hood up and his jacket over. He looked very kind, but also scared and exhausted. He had survived recent torture and imprisonment and had now arrived here, more than eager to recover and try to get his soul put back together. I exchanged a few words with some helpful brothers and decided to include him in the fundraising program. What often happens at fundraisers is that people walk up to you and want to be included in your program. They may or may not speak well English and may or may not be public speakers. Many are quite boring presenters and there is nothing to kill an exciting and well-planned program than adding some sleep-inducing presenter(s). 

I was right away taken with this brother's excellent command of English and his eagerness to speak as long as his name was not mentioned. He really wanted to talk and share and help us raise more money for the cause of freedom in Syria and to provide humanitarian help to people now out on the streets or dying from hunger and lack of basic medical care. The program began and I found the brother haltingly walking up to me, asking to speak with me. He was feeling bad and awfully guilty about having to speak about himself and his situation and suggested he talk about the situation he had left behind instead, about the thousands of people on the streets in Damascus now. Proud, independent people who were now out on the streets in the unrelenting cold, with no clothes, belongings, money or food. He mentioned makeshift schools in bombarded buildings where people had tried to hang up plastic bags as protection against the elements, educating their children and future and doing their part to keep up the spirit and insure everyone's future. He wanted to share their misery and not the horrors of his own story. I felt very sympathetic and very little next to this survivor of some of the cruelest human experiences imaginable. I promised this gentleman that I would indeed deal with the problems of Damascus and I would do my part to help those people - and God willing then this blog is one way of helping and eventually creating funds for them - but that tonight was building up to a climax of us needing to help individual people and that his story would fit in perfectly and put a face to the horrors we hear about. He agreed to my request and went ahead an hour later and gave a very moving, to the point presentation of the violence that happened to him in the name of dictatorship and total need for control. His crime was to have been part of a rally for freedom and the damaging evidence was the flag he had hidden up his sleeve, discovered upon violent frisking by the shabeeha when they stopped the rally. There was much to fear from the group of educated, freedom-thirsty crowd of people who no longer wanted to live like sheep, but wanted the freedom and liberty to think and speak openly and with no fear.

The Suffering Grasses and Panel at MIT

Monday was a really interesting event. We had set up a showing of the fascinating and very relevant documentary and work of art The Suffering Grasses, followed by a panel discussion and dinner. Suffering Grasses depicts how the Syrian people originally had had visions of a purely non-violent request for freedom and never in their wildest nightmares saw the hateful and indiscriminate killings and destruction coming. The movie has several different tracks of people talking and gives many varied viewpoints -but thank God for justice and level-headedness then the movie never tries to present the viewpoint of the oppressive regime or pretends that shabeeha are anything other than heartless, robotic killers.

The film is definitely worth watching and the producers actually offer the movie for free if you set up a showing and bring in people to watch it and hopefully start a dialogue and a discussion on what is happening and how we can help with humanitarian needs, long-term and short-term. At our panel we had Omar Offendum, Professor Nasser Rabbat, and brothers Yaman and Bayhas Kana who had made a very short video presentation on a team of dentists who had gone tot he Turkish-Syrian border to help out with dental care. The discussion was interesting and lively and we had questions from many different angles and ethnic sources which made it very interesting. Omar did a very engaging and informative presentation that really put things in perspective and made us all feel the power of individual non-violent activism while holding in high esteem the brave people and fighters of the Free Syrian Army who had to pick up arms in order to defend their women and children at some basic level. Highly recommend the movie which can be requested from www.CuluresofResistance.org.

We also had a Syria souvenir table that evening, a lovely dinner sponsored by the organizers of Walk 4 Children of Syria (Syrian American Alliance) and were able to network and get some really interesting conversations going and met many new friends.

Free Syria Weekend

This past weekend was absolutely amazing, very intense and a result of hundreds of hours of work, but so worth it. All the best and many thanks go to so many of our volunteers, most of whom I won't be mentioning by name. At least I can safely thank Omar Offendum, Amal of Brave New Voices and Dylan Connor, but there were obviously many, many others to thank as well including Zakat Foundation who did an amazing and effortless job with the Sunday fundraiser.

Saturday was our college awareness concert at Wellesley College. Al-Muslimat had put together a wonderful program there that included Offendum, Amal, a Saudi lute player and a very inspiring presentation by Shafi Khan of Muslims Without Borders. We had a bake sale and Syria souvenir table going as well as sale of Offendum's CDs and the income of tickets and raised a decent amount of chunk that was going directly to Muslims Without Borders' efforts in Syria. The event gave enough time for people to hang out and brainstorm and chat after and was a lovely evening overall. That same night UMass Amherst also dedicated their annual Eid dinner to the cause for freedom in Syria and support of the humanitarian efforts there and had the great artist Dylan Connor perform his songs about Syria along with many other presentations. Huda, my daughter,  and her friends set up a Syria table and sold souvenirs for humanitarian aid that brought in over $1,200. I was truly impressed and very encouraged with the interest and support. This amount was separate from other money collected that night and was just an added pat on the back for those of use sending money to sources needing urgent medical care for newly arrived refugees.

Sunday was the formal fundraiser to support the work of Zakat Foundation in Syria and was held in Lowell, MA. I was truly impressed with the venue which was at a former Holiday Inn hotel, had great service and polite staff and very decent pricing and a lovely banquet hall. The food was decent, but not amazing, but that's ok because the sentiment behind the fundraiser was not to cater to people's palates, but to encourage continued support and some monetary giving as well. Evening had a few hiccups as are expected, but overall was a lovely occasion to assemble around a united cause for freedom and prosperity in Syria. Any event is only as good as its guests and we had the best guests and the best sentiment ever.

Sunday the fundraiser began slightly delayed but considering we had to pray maghrib anyways, then it all worked out fine. Everyone was polite and patient and nobody seemed to be annoyed with the delay. The delay was caused by the star performers arriving a bit delayed due to traffic and the brother set to welcome being stuck in traffic as well. We began praying maghrib and were right back on track after salat. The venue had been slightly delayed also in setting up the service and table numbers, something I will have to keep in mind next time and ask them to have everything ready 2 hours before the event and not at the actual time of the start of the event!!

All in all, great evening. Everyone enjoyed the drummer boy for freedom and liberty, had a decent dinner while we saw an informative video on Syria,  listened to our local Sarah present her fascinating poem on Syria,  experienced Amal, were enchanted by Offendum,  mesmerized to the speak of  Hiam,a Syrian American Christian, speak about why we should still support the cause (because people want freedom and simply need our support as they have daily sacrifices). We met a torture victim who had just escaped Syria and then we watched a very touching raw video of a wounded boy from a refugee camp, making istighfar, saying shahadah and letting us all know how his family was attacked with bombs in the night, leaving him an orphan. It was obviously very moving.