What is Freedom?

The problem with being a writer is that I am in mind too much. I sometimes forget to live in the moment; I let the moment live in me.

Here are a couple of thoughts zooming through my mind:

ONE: SYRIA

What do I say to the country that has been riddled, ridiculed and sucked dry by a useless civil war? Shame on you for not having a united voice of freedom- I wish there was a reason to defend a revolution based on an ideology that stems from accomplishment rather than demolishment. You have left me to be pitied by few and rejected by most; I am not a refugee (I can count my many blessings) but I am a nomad- not a single place I can rest my head and call home.

You have left your believers unsheltered in Zaina’s cold and you have stolen the fire, both in their hearts and homes. Was it all really worth it? My grandmother is left worried about her son; my uncle’s hands are bleeding from the ice cold water and an eighteen year old boy is getting ready to join the army reserve, not knowing if he’s going to make it through winter. Winter not only came, it came, it saw and it bloody conquered. When will you relent? When will you start building instead of destroying?!

You have stolen everything- most importantly your youth. You are left with nothing but a handful of murderers slaughtering the weak and thieves looting empty homes and factories. Your capital may be safe, but the rest of your cities are frail. I heard someone say that Aleppo has become a forgotten city- by you and by the world.

Who are your defenders? Your voices of reason? The good ones well they speak with a local tongue yet hold a different nationality- they speak of you with the same respect as they would give their fathers. But I am sorry to say, their words have fallen on deaf ears.

TWO: #JESUISCHARLIE

To the cartoonists and journalists who died because of a stroke of a pen and a creative thought, I gracefully tip my hat to you. You may have always wanted to make people laugh- but little did you know you made the world weep on 7/1/2015 – the irony of life. And to the policemen who died, I honor and salute you for dying just for doing your job.