Who am I to Blog?

I thought long and hard about creating this blog. However, our part of the world is at a pivotal time in its modern history and I felt helpless watching from afar. Expressing my opinions freely is my way, however humbly, to contribute towards the advancement of positive change. What energized me is the discovery of a wonderful parallel world of Syrian and Lebanese bloggers working from within and without, expressing original ideas freely, unhindered by the straight-jacket of cultural and political dogma. What surprised me most were the Syrian bloggers, from courageous known dissidents to anonymous citizen bloggers vividly demonstrating that 40 years of Baathist oppression may have impoverished the people materially but did not dampen their spirit.

I strive to be a citizen blogger looking from a distance. I left Syria at a young age and grew up in Lebanon, and now reside in United States. Before some dismiss me as an outsider with no first hand knowledge of current day Syria, I will shamelessly wave my family credentials. My grandfather was a delegate to the first Syrian Congress in 1920 and advocated to give women the right to vote. My father also served in pre-Baathist Syrian governments only to be rewarded with 3 months in Mazzeh prison during the Baathist era following which he left Syria. None of this gives me any special expertise or knowledge but it does establish my personal and family connections and my interest in the fate of my place of birth. I want to see an end to the oppressive and failed Baathist regime. I want to see the evolution of a representative and responsive government that will allow for the full expression of the cultural and economic potential of the Syrian people. In the end, I want to be able to go back to my hometown, without hindrance or fear, to see my grandfather's old house in which my father delivered me some 47 years ago.