Syria Feature: The Arrest of Activist Razan Ghazzawi

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News broke yesterday that Razan Ghazzawi --- prominent Syrian blogger, activist, and Media Officer at the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression --- had been arrested as she was trying to enter Jordan at the Syrian border post of Nassib.

Soon the story was racing across the Internet, with a #FreeRazan hashtag trending on Twitter and people lining up to pay tribute: "Razan inspired me not be afraid of using my real name online when I was in #Syria. Her courage is incredible"; "[She] had pointed opinions & disagreed w/ many folks (including me!) but SHE WAS ALWAYS THERE for whoever was attacked"; "Friends in Egypt, [she] was with us in #Tahrir through the tear-gas on June 28th & other demos".

This is one of her blog entries, from August, "Rumor Has It [That] This Revolution is Faceless":

 I was asked this question:

@KABOBfest: "The hard thing with Syria is we don't have faces/groups to support. WHO do we back?"

I love [the] KABOBfest blog, and I do respect most of its writers, but this tweet above is offensive on two levels.

1- When the Tunisian revolution erupted, everyone here supported it, did it have “faces”? More importantly, must it? Isn’t the most amazing thing about regional revolutions is how it proved “opposition” folks are fucked as well as “intellectuals” and “experts”?

This question @Kabobfest asked kind of missed the whole point of the new era we’re witnessing: it’s people’s time, no leader is needed.

It’s become evident in the Syrian consciousness now that not only the street is leading the revolution, but most importantly, activists and prominent intellectuals that are loved by the revolutionaries cannot contain the people’s movement. For example, Burhan Ghalioun is very loved by the Syrian street, he’s cool and all, but if he went on TV and said “hey guys, I think we should stop and start talking to the regime instead.” Not only no one will listen to him, but pretty much it’ll mean he’s fucked for good....

Who to support? The people. Period.

The person asking this question is living in another continent, politically and historically. Faces are not what people want nor what they’re looking for. They’re rather looking for a political discourse, which is a huge topic right now in Syria.

2. Another reason why this question is offensive: the person asking this question clearly hasn’t done his/her homework.

27 year-old Martyr Adnan Al-Dayem

This revolution has so many faces, you’re just not looking close enough.