They Took Her
They took Amina. Fuck. [IMPORTANT UPDATE! See in the end.]
It was to be expected, of course. Doesn't make it less horrible. Amina is an out gay blogger in Damascus, out of all places. And, of course, she is against Assad's regiment. If you never heard of her, please read this story. It is amazing. It tells about two armed security service thugs who came into Amina's home, intending to rape and beat her in front of her father, for the things she writes in her blog. The amazing thing is what Amina's father did. If someone asked me, I would not believe that people like these guys could be persuaded with words and reason. But that is exactly what Amina's dad manged to achieve, in that horrible situation. He talked to these guys, after which they apologized and left. Unbelievable.
But, of course, that could only delay the inevitable. Amina and her father soon had to go underground, hiding... and now the fuckers got her. She is probably in prison. I don’t want to think what she is going through...
I read many things in Amina's blog -- it is a fascinating glimpse into life in Syria. While I disagree with her on some issues, I couldn't count the times when I was thinking “Oh, if only more Muslims were like her, the world would be a much better place”. Above all, I am in awe of her decision to stay in her country, in order to fight and make it better. Frankly, I would not do the same. (I am actively not doing the same, to be precise -- I am leaving Israel). People like her amaze me... partially because, at first glance, they are not much of fighters -- comparing to the forces they are against. I mean, come on -- what can they do? Write about freedom? While their opponents shoot, beat, and rape them? What chance does Amina have -- a young spectacle-wearing girl, this flower of liberty, equality and brotherhood -- against forces of medieval darkness, combined with modern weapons?
And yet... in the long run, Amina will win. “ Потому что любовь и здравый смысл хоть и не сразу, но всегда побеждают ненависть и хуету. Так устроен этот мир, и геи тут не при чем.” (“Because love and common sense always, albeit slowly, triumph over hatred and bullshit. That is how the world works, and it has nothing to do with gays.”) These are the words of Elena Kostuchenko, who does in Russia the same thing that Amina does in Syria. I disagree with her second sentence, though. The world does not work this way -- it is people like her and Amina who make it so.
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UPDATE: LOL, you're not going to believe this! Or maybe you are. Now that I look back even at my own post, this surely explains a few things. Huh, sometimes when we say "unbelievable", we actually turn out to be right...
An interesting thing: the first and most prevalent emotion I felt when finding out that Amina never existed was... relief. Thinking about her hurt me, and now this hurt dissapeared. The second emotion was sadness. So there are no out gay women in Damascus after all, eh? It made me think about what this guy did. People all over the world are cursing him now. I don't agree with him either. I'm against lies on principle. I think that he meant well, but failed. Not just because of the lies, but because his fictional character set a pretty high bar. He thought that maybe people will begin to identify more with the plight of the real Syrians now; but I'm afraid they will go more like "Now that we know that no Aminas actually exist there, screw this country". It will be difficult for real people to match Amina.
What do you think?
It was to be expected, of course. Doesn't make it less horrible. Amina is an out gay blogger in Damascus, out of all places. And, of course, she is against Assad's regiment. If you never heard of her, please read this story. It is amazing. It tells about two armed security service thugs who came into Amina's home, intending to rape and beat her in front of her father, for the things she writes in her blog. The amazing thing is what Amina's father did. If someone asked me, I would not believe that people like these guys could be persuaded with words and reason. But that is exactly what Amina's dad manged to achieve, in that horrible situation. He talked to these guys, after which they apologized and left. Unbelievable.
But, of course, that could only delay the inevitable. Amina and her father soon had to go underground, hiding... and now the fuckers got her. She is probably in prison. I don’t want to think what she is going through...
I read many things in Amina's blog -- it is a fascinating glimpse into life in Syria. While I disagree with her on some issues, I couldn't count the times when I was thinking “Oh, if only more Muslims were like her, the world would be a much better place”. Above all, I am in awe of her decision to stay in her country, in order to fight and make it better. Frankly, I would not do the same. (I am actively not doing the same, to be precise -- I am leaving Israel). People like her amaze me... partially because, at first glance, they are not much of fighters -- comparing to the forces they are against. I mean, come on -- what can they do? Write about freedom? While their opponents shoot, beat, and rape them? What chance does Amina have -- a young spectacle-wearing girl, this flower of liberty, equality and brotherhood -- against forces of medieval darkness, combined with modern weapons?
And yet... in the long run, Amina will win. “ Потому что любовь и здравый смысл хоть и не сразу, но всегда побеждают ненависть и хуету. Так устроен этот мир, и геи тут не при чем.” (“Because love and common sense always, albeit slowly, triumph over hatred and bullshit. That is how the world works, and it has nothing to do with gays.”) These are the words of Elena Kostuchenko, who does in Russia the same thing that Amina does in Syria. I disagree with her second sentence, though. The world does not work this way -- it is people like her and Amina who make it so.
-----------------------
UPDATE: LOL, you're not going to believe this! Or maybe you are. Now that I look back even at my own post, this surely explains a few things. Huh, sometimes when we say "unbelievable", we actually turn out to be right...
An interesting thing: the first and most prevalent emotion I felt when finding out that Amina never existed was... relief. Thinking about her hurt me, and now this hurt dissapeared. The second emotion was sadness. So there are no out gay women in Damascus after all, eh? It made me think about what this guy did. People all over the world are cursing him now. I don't agree with him either. I'm against lies on principle. I think that he meant well, but failed. Not just because of the lies, but because his fictional character set a pretty high bar. He thought that maybe people will begin to identify more with the plight of the real Syrians now; but I'm afraid they will go more like "Now that we know that no Aminas actually exist there, screw this country". It will be difficult for real people to match Amina.
What do you think?