Today, I sit behind my computer screen on the balcony of my home in a city in southern France where I have now settled. I am writing about my experiences and the challenges I have faced since leaving Egypt nearly three years ago. As I write these lines and reflect on what has happened, I realize that it has not yet become a part of the past. My thoughts drift back to three years ago when I was on the balcony of my home in downtown Cairo, […]

“لم أكتب مقالاً واحداً منذ أن بدأت حرب الإبادة الجماعية على أهلنا في غزّة. لأشهر عدة تجنبت هذا اللقاء مع الكتابة. فعندما بدأت بممارستها في أواخر عشريناتي في عكا، كان ذلك عن قناعة مني بدور الكتابة في فعل شيء أوسع منها، حتى لو كانت كتابةً شخصيةً، وفي أن تؤثر، وتُغيّر. الكتابة عندي فعل مقاومة في وجه الظلم، ومحاولة لرفع صوت المقهورين والمقهورات”.

“This is a glimpse of a story of struggle blended with success and failure, filled with challenges, difficulties, and significant opportunities. I wanted to share these experiences with the esteemed readers of this blog to convey a message to all immigrants on how they can become great ambassadors for their countries, utilizing all spaces and opportunities to enhance themselves and advocate for human rights in their home AND destination countries. […]”

I became visually impaired two years after my birth due to a genetic disorder resulting from consanguineous marriage. This compelled my family to move to Riyadh in hopes of finding a glimmer of hope for my treatment, which unfortunately did not happen. Nevertheless, my father’s work led us to settle in the Saudi capital. In 2011, multiple revolutions erupted in several Arab countries, including Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, Yemen and my homeland, Syria. […]