Interviews with Ammar Abdulhamid

Many people said, “This is selfish on your part. Because the consequences can be born by your family.”

But I also said to them in reply, “The consequences of their silence have been born by me. And are being born by all of you, also.” So silence has consequences. Not rocking the boat has consequences. And the consequences of not rocking the boat, it may not be the dramatic death that you we see when people take to the street. It may not be arrests. But it´s a death of hope. It´s losing a battle for your spirit.

It´s accepting to live like a nothing, basically, from day to day. Or, except because I coming from privileged family, okay. Everything is good for me and damn the rest, who cares? I didn´t wanna live that kind of a life. So yeah, it requires, perhaps, an element of selfishness to defy authorities. Because you know they´re gonna come after your family and not only yourself.

But I did it. And we are realizing that I´m not the wrong. They´re the one who are making the wrong choices. And if they come after my family, it´s they are the one who are making the crime. I´m not the criminal here. And I´m not gonna accept that reversal of guilt. Because this is one way of putting you down. And making you incapable of acting. So I made that decision.

Ammar Abdulhamid is a Syrian human rights activist who in 2003 founded the Tharwa Foundation, a grassroots organization that enlists local activists and citizen journalists to document conditions in Syria. In response to his activities, the Syrian government subjected Abdulhamid to repeat interrogation and threats. In September 2005, he and his family were forced into exile in the United States. From his home in Maryland, Abdulhamid remains one of the leading bloggers and commentators on events in Syria through the Syrian Revolution Digest.

Follow Ammar Ahbdulhamid on Twitter @Tharwacolamus and on his blog, Syrian Revolution Digest.