Ammar Abdulhamid (born May 30, 1966) is a Syrian-born human rights

Human rights

Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...

 activist, dissident

Dissident

A dissident, broadly defined, is a person who actively challenges an established doctrine, policy, or institution. When dissidents unite for a common cause they often effect a dissident movement....

, and founder of the Tharwa Foundation.

Early life

Abdulhamid was born on May 30, 1966, to Syrian actress Muna Wassef

Muna Wassef

Muna Wassef is a Syrian Stage, Film and Television actress. She was born on February 9, 1942, as . She is also a United Nations Goodwill ambassador...

 and the late Syrian filmmaker Muhammad Shahin in Damascus

Damascus

Damascus , commonly known in Syria as Al Sham , and as the City of Jasmine , is the capital and the second largest city of Syria after Aleppo, both are part of the country's 14 governorates. In addition to being one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Damascus is a major...

, Syria

Syria

Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....

.

He spent approximately eight years in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

(1986–1994), studyingAstronomy

Astronomy

Astronomy is a natural science that deals with the study of celestial objects and phenomena that originate outside the atmosphere of Earth...

 and History

History

History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...

. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point in 1992 with a Bachelor of Science in History

History

History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...

. He returned to Damascus in September 1994.

He married author, fashion designer, and human-rights activist Khawla Yusuf.

Foreign policy

Abdulhamid was a visiting fellow in the Saban Center for Middle East Policy

Saban Center for Middle East Policy

The Saban Center for Middle East Policy is a center within the Brookings Institution focused on the United States' involvement in the Middle East...

 at the Brookings Institution

Brookings Institution

The Brookings Institution is a nonprofit public policy organization based in Washington, D.C., in the United States. One of Washington's oldest think tanks, Brookings conducts research and education in the social sciences, primarily in economics, metropolitan policy, governance, foreign policy, and...

 2004-2006.

Adbulhamid and Yusuf fled from Damascus in September 2005. They currently live in Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

, awaiting political asylum in the United States.

Currently, Abdulhamid is a fellow at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracy and member of its Syria Working Group.

Foundations

Abdulhamid and Yusuf have founded several politically oriented foundations:

• DarEmar: In 2003, they established DarEmar, a publishing house and non-governmental organization dedicated to raising the standards of civic awareness in the Arab World.
• Tharwa Foundation: In 2003, they founded the Tharwa Project while still residing in Syria. After relocating to the U.S. in 2005, they founded the Tharwa Foundation as an offshoot. The foundation is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, grassroots political organization that encourages diversity, development, and democracy in Syria and across Southwest Asia and North Africa. (The foundation's name comes from the Arabic word tharwa or "wealth" while playing on thawra or "revolution.") The foundation works to break the information blockade imposed by the government of Bashar Al-Assad
  Bashar al-Assad
  Bashar al-Assad is the President of Syria and Regional Secretary of the Ba'ath Party. His father Hafez al-Assad ruled Syria for 29 years until his death in 2000. Al-Assad was elected in 2000, re-elected in 2007, unopposed each time.- Early Life :...
  
   with a cadre of local activists and citizen journalists to report on socio-political issues in Syria.
• Hands Across the Mideast Support Alliance (HAMSA): In 2008, Abdulhamid co-founded Hands Across the Mideast Support Alliance (HAMSA), an initiative to mobilize international grassroots support for democracy activists in the Arab world
  Arab world
  The Arab world refers to Arabic-speaking states, territories and populations in North Africa, Western Asia and elsewhere.The standard definition of the Arab world comprises the 22 states and territories of the Arab League stretching from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Arabian Sea in the...
  
  .

External links