Spouse(s) Khawla Yusuf Books Menstruation Parents Muna Wassef | Role Author Name Ammar Abdulhamid | |
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Alma mater University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point Occupation Author, Activist and thinker Website ammarabdulhamid.comSyrian Revolution Digest Similar People Muna Wassef, Randa Kassis, Ammar al‑Qurabi | ||
Ammar abdulhamid technology s impact on the syrian revolution
Ammar Abdulhamid (Arabic عمار عبد الحميد; born 30 May 1966) is a Syrian-born author, human rights activist, former radical Islamist, political dissident, co-founder and president of the Tharwa Foundation. Ammar was featured in the Arabic version of Newsweek Magazine as one of 43 people making a difference in the Arab world in May 2005.
Contents
- Ammar abdulhamid technology s impact on the syrian revolution
- Ammar Abdulhamid Assads Regime Has Fallen
- Early life
- Foreign policy
- Syria
- Foundations
- References
Ammar Abdulhamid: Assad's Regime Has Fallen
Early life
Abdulhamid was born on 30 May 1966, to Syrian actress Muna Wassef and the late Syrian filmmaker Muhammad Shahin in Damascus, Syria.
By mid-1987, Ammar embraced the religion of his father, Islam and was a committed Sunni Muslim. He described himself as a 'radical Islamist' and had the intention of flying to Afghanistan via Pakistan to join the Mujahideen and fight in the Soviet-Afghan War but decided against it once he found out that after the Soviet withdrawal, the Mujahideen were fighting each other.
He spent approximately eight years in the United States (1986–1994), studying astronomy and history. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point in 1992 with a Bachelor of Science in history. He returned to Damascus in September 1994.
Ammar briefly taught social studies at the Pakistan International School of Damascus (PISOD) then located in Mazzeh, Damascus, between 1995-1997. Known to his students as "Mr. Ammar", Abdulhamid was a respected teacher who encouraged creative thinking and was not afraid to objectively discuss the faults of monotheistic religions, in particular Islam, which at times led to discontent among some conservative students and their families, but also drew respect and admiration from students of various backgrounds.
He married author and human-rights activist Khawla Yusuf.
Adbulhamid and Yusuf fled Damascus in September 2005, after calling for the overthrow of the Assad government. They currently live in Washington, D.C.,with their two children Oula (1986) and Mouhanad (1990) awaiting political asylum in the United States. Oula works at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and writes regularly. Mouhanad has recently joined the International Medical Corps team.
Foreign policy
Abdulhamid was a visiting fellow in the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution 2004-2006.
Abdulhamid was a fellow at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies and is member of its Syria Working Group.
Abdulhamid was the first Syrian to ever testify in front of American Congress 2006/2008 against what he viewed as crimes by the Syrian president Bashar al-Assad and briefed presidents of the United States among other world leaders.
Syria
In April 2012, a delegation of Syrian opposition members led by Ammar, visited Pristina, Kosovo with the aim of learning guerilla tactics from the Kosovo Liberation Army. Ammar stressed that the delegation has come to Kosovo to "learn" and that Kosovo had walked the path of civil war which "would be very useful for us."
In 2014, Ammar called for the United States to arm the Syrian opposition, enforce a no-fly zone and expand U.S military action beyond Iraq.
Foundations
Abdulhamid and Yusuf have founded several politically oriented foundations: