Yesterday, I attended a talk by a Syrian human rights
activist at the ITAT, within the framework of the event “FreiSchreiben. Literatur und Widerstand”. To
be honest, I went there mostly because the talk was going to be held in Arabic
and translated into German by ITAT students – as this is what I hope to be able
to do one far-away day, I was curious to see what it might be like in case I
ever get there. Also, I have to admit that I had never heard of the speaker,
Rosa Yassin Hassan, before and was surprised (maybe a little ashamed) to find
out that she is an internationally respected human rights activist, author and
blogger.
Here's what I found out about her so far: Rosa Yassin Hassan, born in Damascus in 1974, studied architecture in Syria. After graduating in 1998, though, she realized that what she really wanted to be was a journalist. In 2000, she published a collection of short stories, titled “A Sky Tainted with Light”. Two of the novels that followed earned her the Hanna Mina Prize (for “Ebony”, 2004) and the Arabic Booker Prize (for “Guardians of the Air”, 2009). What is more, Rosa has been reporting on the Syrian situation after the Arab Spring with brutal frankness in her blog “Adopt a Revolution”. Extracts from her blog posts were published in newspapers all around the world as Rosa belongs to the few eyewitnesses who managed to convey the situation they experienced in Syria to the outer world. At that time, Rosa had already caught the attention of the Syrian secret service. She sought asylum in Germany and was lucky to be received in Hamburg, where she has been living since December, 2012.
Now back to what I experienced yesterday
When Rosa came to Graz for that panel discussion on the Arab Spring in general and the current situation after the Syrian revolution in particular, for me it felt like she first reported in quite a matter-of-fact way of her own impressions of what she had lived through in her native country. She told us about the difficult political situation and how its cruelty affects especially innocent citizens – children not being able to attend school for several years, men as well as women being arrested and tortured, often even to death, women being raped. To sum it up, all those horrible stories we mostly know from watching the news, not from listening to someone who is only sitting inches away from you. Like, you'd only have to stretch out an arm to touch reality. Even though I was waering layers of tees and sweater (it's just so cold outside!), her words gave me goosebumps. Rosa also called briskly on all Western nations not to watch idly what is going on in Syria because the help that came until now is not nearly enough. That was when I felt kind of caught red-handed because, of course, I had heard about all this atrocity but I had never really thought any further than "This is so horrible!". Rosa, on the other hand, stayed surprisingly tough. Only when the audience was invited to ask questions afterwards, she seemed unable to restrain her emotions any more. At one point, you could see her trying hard to blink away a tear.
When Rosa came to Graz for that panel discussion on the Arab Spring in general and the current situation after the Syrian revolution in particular, for me it felt like she first reported in quite a matter-of-fact way of her own impressions of what she had lived through in her native country. She told us about the difficult political situation and how its cruelty affects especially innocent citizens – children not being able to attend school for several years, men as well as women being arrested and tortured, often even to death, women being raped. To sum it up, all those horrible stories we mostly know from watching the news, not from listening to someone who is only sitting inches away from you. Like, you'd only have to stretch out an arm to touch reality. Even though I was waering layers of tees and sweater (it's just so cold outside!), her words gave me goosebumps. Rosa also called briskly on all Western nations not to watch idly what is going on in Syria because the help that came until now is not nearly enough. That was when I felt kind of caught red-handed because, of course, I had heard about all this atrocity but I had never really thought any further than "This is so horrible!". Rosa, on the other hand, stayed surprisingly tough. Only when the audience was invited to ask questions afterwards, she seemed unable to restrain her emotions any more. At one point, you could see her trying hard to blink away a tear.
Still, or maybe for that very reason, in my
eyes Rosa Yassin Hassan made the impression of being an extraordinarily strong and brave
woman. Even political persecution could not break her spirit, even if she
cannot go back home anymore she keeps on reporting on what is happening in her
home country to open our eyes, even if there seems to be little hope for
people in Syria right now, she keeps on fighting.
Though she will probably never read this, I have to admit: I went into that room blissfully ignorant but when I left an hour and a half later I felt somehow aroused.
Though she will probably never read this, I have to admit: I went into that room blissfully ignorant but when I left an hour and a half later I felt somehow aroused.
If you want to find out more about Rosa and her
work, you can watch a short clip here (unfortunately, it is only available in
German):
Nice summary. I totally agree with you that it was a really touching talk. As you mentioned you mostly attended it because you study Arabic and it was translated into German, I have to admit that I had the same attitude when I entered the room. However, the talk really changed that. It made me kind of feeling guilty that we Europeans just always discuss about it, but shortly thereafter forget what happened and just continue our daily life without giving it much thought.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your feedback! :) What you describe here is exactly the way I felt...somehow guilty for only caring on the surface. I've been trying to change that over the last few months, but when you're busy it's sometimes really hard not to lose track of everything that's happening, isn't it?
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