Occupation Journalist, activist Website Hadi Al Abdullah | Years active 2011–present | |
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Born May 8, 1987 (age 29) ( 1987-05-08 ) Homs Similar Moussa al‑Omar, Faisal al‑Qassem, Adnan al‑Aroor Profiles | ||
Hadi Al Abdullah (Arabic: هادي العبدالله; born 8 May 1987) is a Syrian citizen journalist and activist who has risen to prominence through his coverage of the Syrian Civil War.
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Personal life
Al Abdullah grew up in Al Qusair, Homs to a lower-middle-class family. He holds a Bachelor's Degree in Nursing from Tishreen University in Lattakia city. When the Syrian revolution started, he was working on his Master's Degree in Emergency Room Nursing, and thus he left his studies to join other activists in their civil activities.
Career
During his masters preparation, Al Abdullah was teaching at Tishreen University. However in 2011, he left teaching in the university and started working first in the distribution of humanitarian aid materials to people, as well as nursing the wounded in field hospitals. Later on, however, he moved to media activism, and due to the pressure it imposed and time it demanded, he had to keep his focus on media and leave all other activities. Currently, Al Abdullah is based in the Idlib Governorate in Syria and is a regular correspondent of television stations and a social media reporter.
In November 2013, Al Abdullah got injured during coverage of battles in Damascus countryside.
In March 2015, Al Abdullah covered for Al Jazeera the celebration of International Women's Day in the Idlib Governorate.
On November 22, 2015, he covered the release of six Syrian nuns from the's regime prison in an exchange for the bodies of soldiers of the regime's army.
In December 2015, he was invited along with few other journalists to interview Abu Mohammad al-Julani, the leader of al-Nusra Front, in a very rare interview.
In January 2016, Hadi Al Abdullah and his colleague journalist and activist Raed Al Fares, were arrested by Jabhat al-Nusra, an al-Qaeda affiliate after a raid on their opposition radio station. Both were later released after spending several hours in the Al-Nusra's custody, the release deal included that Hadi Al Abdullah confess that Al Fares's Facebook post was a violation of Sharia, while Jabhat al-Nusra acknowledged that the raid was wrong and agreed to return all equipment, with compensation for any damage.
On June 14, 2016, Hadi was injured by a Russian bombing in Aleppo.
On June 17, 2016, Al Abdullah and his cameraman Khaled Al-Issa were critically injured by a blast from an improvised explosive device in an assassination attempt at their apartment in Aleppo. Hadi Abdullah suffered fractures to his left leg, jaw and eye, while Khaled Al-Issa was in a coma after injures to his abdomen and head. They were moved to a hospital in Turkey for treatment. Al-Issa succumbed to his injuries on June 24, 2016. He was awarded the Press Freedom Prize by Reporters without Borders in November 2016.