Amina Abdallah Arraf al Omari
Encyclopedia
Amina Abdallah Arraf al Omari was a fictional character
or hoax
persona
created and maintained by American Tom MacMaster. The identity was presented as a Syrian-American blog
ger, identifying herself as a lesbian
on her weblog A Gay Girl In Damascus and blogging in support of increased civil and political freedom for Syrians. During the 2011 Syrian uprising
, a posting on the blog purportedly by "Amina's" cousin claimed that Amina was abducted on 6 June 2011. This sparked a strong backlash from the LGBT
community and was covered widely in mainstream media.
In the wake of the reports, questions arose regarding the possibility that Arraf al Omari was an elaborate hoax. On 7 June 2011, author/blogger Liz Henry, Andy Carvin
(a journalist with National Public Radio in Washington, D.C.) and others raised doubts about the identity of the blogger. The photos purported to be of her were proven to be a woman residing in Britain with no relation to Syria, the blog, or the ongoing protests in the country. On June 12, Ali Abunimah
and Benjamin Doherty of the website Electronic Intifada
conducted an investigation that pointed to a strong possibility that the identity of "Amina" was MacMaster, an American living in Edinburgh
. Hours later, Tom MacMaster posted on "Amina's" blog and took responsibility for the blog and the false reports of her capture.
group "alternate-history" dating to February 2006. MacMaster said that he created the Amina character so he could more easily participate in discussions about the Middle East
. MacMaster believed that if he used his real name, people would have presumed that he was too closely tied to the United States, but as Amina he would have more credibility.
As Amina, MacMaster posted on various listserv
s and websites. MacMaster fleshed out the character's background, and he said that he began writing a novel based on the character. Eventually, he created various profiles for Amina at various social networking sites. Originally he used the character to discuss politics of the Middle East and science fiction
. In the northern hemisphere fall of 2010, MacMaster moved Amina to Syria. MacMaster said that he was going to stop using the persona by then. Eyder Peralta of NPR said that "But the Arab Spring
called her back."
In February 2011 MacMaster posted as Amina on the website Lez Get Real
, which was operated by Bill Graber, a straight man pretending to be a lesbian woman named Paula Brooks. MacMaster and Graber corresponded, and under the Amina character MacMaster flirted with the Paula character. Graber said that the interaction "was a major sock-puppet hoax crash into a major sock-puppet hoax." As Amina, MacMaster wrote pieces for Lez Get Real.
MacMaster began the blog A Gay Girl in Damascus under the Amina name. The first entry appeared online on February 19, 2011. The publication, known for its witty commentary on politics, gender, sexuality, and Syrian culture, became, in the words of Nidaa Hassan of The Guardian
, "increasingly popular after capturing the imagination of the Syrian opposition as the protest movement struggled in the face of the government crackdown." The blog's tagline was "An out
Syrian lesbian's thoughts on life, the universe and so on ..."
The blog gained popularity after an April 26 post titled "My Father the Hero" about two security agents who came to her home to detain her and were kept away by her father. She and he were described as going into hiding soon after, changing locations in Damascus
.
In May 2011, Katherine Marsh of The Guardian
, then unaware of "Amina"'s true identity, described the blog as "brutally honest, poking at subjects long considered taboo in Arab culture". The character of "Amina" explained, "Blogging is, for me, a way of being fearless, I believe that if I can be 'out' in so many ways, others can take my example and join the movement."
According to American bisexual activist and author Minal Hajratwala
, in May 2011, MacMaster (as Amina) wrote to Hajratwala, asking for advice regarding a book Amina was writing. She said that MacMaster sent a copy of an autobiography of the character and asked Hajratwala to send the text to an agent. Hajratwala said that she, unaware of MacMaster's true identity, did not send the script to an agent because she believed the material was "rambling and in need of a lot of work."
, with an American mother and Syrian father. The Lede Blog (of The New York Times
) noted that Amina's draft of her biography indicated "very deep" American roots. She wrote that she was born in Staunton
, Virginia
, in October 1975 to Abdallah Ismail Arraf and Caroline McClure Arraf. The McClures had emigrated to Virginia from Ulster
in 1742. Four decades later, Ms. Arraf added, her mother’s family fought in the American Revolution at Yorktown
, “earning me the right to be in the DAR [A Daughter of the American Revolution].”
Her family moved to Syria when she was six months old and she grew up between the two countries. She spent a long period in the US after 1982, when an Islamist uprising in Syria was being violently put down. She realized she was gay when she was 15 and it terrified her. After planning to attend Agnes Scott College
in Atlanta, Georgia
, she decided not to attend because she was troubled by the number of open lesbians on campus. She came out at 26 and returned to Syria to enjoy a calm life. There she taught English until the uprising closed classes.
Amina experienced prejudice both in the US and Syria, but said she saw no conflict in being both gay and Muslim and described an experience finding other gay women in Syria.
Amina's position as a dual citizen informed her political and cultural perspective, as well as being a lesbian.
, the character of Amina wrote openly about her sexual orientation, experiences, and aspirations.
In an email interview with CNN, MacMaster wrote as Amina that she believed that political change could improve gay rights.
Her family was well-connected with relatives in the government and the Muslim Brotherhood, and being politically active was a "natural thing". However, she described, "Unfortunately, for most of my life being aware of Syrian politics means simply observing and only commenting privately."
Amina had been increasingly critical of the government in the months of the Syrian uprising. In April, Arraf told how her father confronted two security agents who came to arrest her, threatened to rape her, and accused her of being involved in a salafist plot. When unrest broke out, her character described the protests as if she was there.
) explained on 7 June that Arraf had been hiding in “four or five different apartments in four or five different cities” across Syria since two young men appeared at her home in Damascus several weeks before. “Amina woke up in the middle of the night and saw her father outside talking to two young guys in their early 20s. I think they were there just following orders, they didn’t know what they were doing" Bagaria said. The two men eventually left without arresting Arraf al Omari, but, “Since that day, we agreed they might come back for her. It was only a matter of time."
In April, before fictionally going into hiding she wrote,"The Syria I always hoped was there, but was sleeping, has woken up...I have to believe that, sooner or later, we will prevail."
In May 2011 Arraf wrote that she had gone into hiding after her father reported that men had come looking for her. Two weeks later, she blogged that she had been sent a fake message by someone posing as her partner, inviting her to a meeting at a hotel. She also suspected her email accounts had been hacked.
In the weeks before her reported abduction, Amina had described traveling around Syria, sometimes in disguise and once riding inside a box on a truck, Bagaria said. At one point, "Amina" wore an Islamic head scarf and posed as her father’s wife so that they could slip more easily through government checkpoints. “When she was traveling with her father, she was grabbed by a soldier who said, ‘What is a lovely young girl like you doing with an old man like him?’” Bagaria recalled being told. Although purportedly in hiding and under threats of arrest, the character of Amina continued to write her blog.
Arraf's character wrote that she would not flee Syria, and that activists had to fight for a more open and free country. She also explained her approach to nonviolence.
On the blog, MacMaster posted as "Rania Ismail", Amina's fictional cousin, reporting the event: "Amina was seized by three men in their early 20s. According to the witness (who does not want her identity known), the men were armed...Amina hit one of them and told the friend to go find her father. One of the men then put his hand over Amina's mouth and they hustled her into a red Dacia Logan with a window sticker of Basel Assad." Basel is the brother of president Bashar al-Assad
.
Now Lebanon wrote that Arraf was one of the "ordinary, inspiring heroes of the Syrian revolution", known for "her fearless, blunt accounts of political turmoil in the country, and for her candidness about being gay".
Brooklyn
journalist Andrew Belonsky wrote an article for Death and Taxes magazine saying the "U.S. government should...use its power and influence to call for Arraf's release...Such a statement would of course prove that the U.S. remains committed to freeing citizens held overseas, just as we have in North Korea and Iran, but an official declaration would also send two indispensable messages: international governments must protect free speech, and democratic societies must respect LGBT equality."
The U.S. State Department said 7 June that it was looking into the issue.
saying, "I started having doubts based on some of her patterns of talking about personas and fiction.... I would hate to have my existence doubted and am finding it painful to continue doubting Amina's. If she is real, I am very sorry and will apologize and continue to work for her release and support." This possibility was also part of a discussion on the BBC World Service
programme World Have Your Say including fellow blogger Andy Carvin
, who expressed more confidence that she was real, but admitted the evidence was ambiguous.
Researchers found a prior blog written under the name of Arraf al Omari called Amina's Attempts at Art (And Alliteration) which advertised itself as a mix of fiction and non-fiction: "This blog is ... ... where I will be posting samples of fiction and literature I am working on. This blog will contain chapters and drafts. This blog will have what may sometimes seem likely deeply personal accounts. And sometimes they will be. But there will also be fiction. And I will not tell you which is which. This blog will sample what I'm writing. This blog is not a diary. This blog is not about politics. This blog invites your comments."
to expunge and replace photos that had been from the newspaper's past articles. Lečić, who worked as an administrator at the Royal College of Physicians
in London, was made aware of the issue by a friend, and appeared on the BBC's Newsnight
to clarify that she had never known of the Syrian woman and that the usage of Lečić's personal images had been going on for some period of time.
MacMaster explained in an interview that the kidnapping report was part of a plan to end the blog. He had intended to follow it a few days later with a message saying that Amina "had been released, had left the country and was not going to blog any more".
. He graduated in 1994 from Emory University
, near Atlanta, Georgia
, with a bachelor's degree in History. He is a postgraduate student at Edinburgh University in Scotland
.
Monica Hesse of the Washington Post wrote that upon discovery of the hoax, bloggers, women, gays and lesbians, and Syrians were unhappy, since a blog that claimed to be one of them was written by an American straight male. Hesse explained, "If [MacMaster] had not been so emotionally resonant, so detailed, so seemingly 'real,' nobody would have cared so much when Amina disappeared, and nobody would have worked so hard to figure out what might have happened to her, and nobody would have learned that she was a pale man from Georgia. Which meant that, at least according to a chilling and narrow definition of what it means to be real on the Internet, Tom MacMaster was very good indeed at being Amina."
Liz Henry, a BlogHer web producer who had recommended some of the posts made by MacMaster when he worked under the "Amina" character, said "He’s stealing the voice of a marginalized person. His way of describing what it’s like to be gay in the Middle East goes down smooth with people who have a progressive
bent. Why did I jump to this blog — just because it was a person who shares some of my values?"
Minal Hajratwala
, upon discovering the real identity of Tom MacMaster, re-examined the fictional biography draft he sent her with more scrutiny. Robert Mackey of The New York Times
said that Hajratwala's second assessment of the writing was "scathing". Hajratwala said "The faked lesbian sex scenes turn my stomach. The narcissistic writing, the sprinkling of quotations from the Koran and tidbits from Syrian history, the stock stories compiled from a thousand news clippings — it all seems painfully obvious." Hajratwala posted the manuscript from MacMaster online so readers could look at it. MacMaster asked Hajratwala to take the manuscript down and threatened legal action. Hajratwala refused to remove the writings, posted the e-mails MacMaster sent her, and asked readers to copy and disseminate the Amina story draft. MacMaster later said he had apologized to Hajratwala "for any hurt feelings" in a letter.
Brian Whitaker of The Guardian
said that the blog "was an arrogant fantasy" that "undermines, rather than illuminates, awareness of the realities of being gay in the Middle East." Whitaker added that "Living a fantasy life on your own blog is one thing, but giving an interview to CNN while posing as a representative of the region's gay people appears arrogant and offensive, and surely a prime example of the "liberal Orientalism" that MacMaster claims to decry."
Commenting on MacMaster and Graber, Louise Carolin, deputy editor of the lesbian magazine Diva
, said that they "are unusual in that they chose to operate with such a huge sense of entitlement at such a high level, not just for a brief kick but apparently under the delusion that they were doing something good for lesbians." She called it "absolutely indefensible" and said it reminded her of hoax cancer blogs. She also said that they ignored "the first rule of being an ally
"; "don't try to speak for the people you're trying to support." Iman Qureshi, a Pakistani lesbian writer, called MacMaster's hoax a form of egotism, describing it as the author taking on "a persona in which he felt he could be heard without criticism." British feminist Beatrix Campbell
described both hoaxes as expressions of male dominance, with the authors infiltrating "discussions where they wouldn't otherwise have an obvious, and certainly not an authoritative, place."
On 24th June, Edinburgh University announced they were "very concerned" about the reported activities of Tom MacMaster, and would investigate any misuse of University computing facilities: they would also investigate the matter in the context of Edinburgh University's Dignity and Respect Policy and list of Disciplinary Offences.
General
Character (arts)
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
or hoax
Hoax
A hoax is a deliberately fabricated falsehood made to masquerade as truth. It is distinguishable from errors in observation or judgment, or rumors, urban legends, pseudosciences or April Fools' Day events that are passed along in good faith by believers or as jokes.-Definition:The British...
persona
Persona
A persona, in the word's everyday usage, is a social role or a character played by an actor. The word is derived from Latin, where it originally referred to a theatrical mask. The Latin word probably derived from the Etruscan word "phersu", with the same meaning, and that from the Greek πρόσωπον...
created and maintained by American Tom MacMaster. The identity was presented as a Syrian-American blog
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
ger, identifying herself as a lesbian
Lesbian
Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
on her weblog A Gay Girl In Damascus and blogging in support of increased civil and political freedom for Syrians. During the 2011 Syrian uprising
2011 Syrian uprising
The 2011 Syrian uprising is an ongoing internal conflict occurring in Syria. Protests started on 26 January 2011, and escalated into an uprising by 15 March 2011...
, a posting on the blog purportedly by "Amina's" cousin claimed that Amina was abducted on 6 June 2011. This sparked a strong backlash from the LGBT
LGBT
LGBT is an initialism that collectively refers to "lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender" people. In use since the 1990s, the term "LGBT" is an adaptation of the initialism "LGB", which itself started replacing the phrase "gay community" beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s, which many within the...
community and was covered widely in mainstream media.
In the wake of the reports, questions arose regarding the possibility that Arraf al Omari was an elaborate hoax. On 7 June 2011, author/blogger Liz Henry, Andy Carvin
Andy Carvin
Andy Carvin is National Public Radio's senior product manager for online communities. Carvin was the founding editor and former coordinator of the Digital Divide Network, an online community of more than 10,000 Internet activists in over 140 countries working to bridge the digital divide...
(a journalist with National Public Radio in Washington, D.C.) and others raised doubts about the identity of the blogger. The photos purported to be of her were proven to be a woman residing in Britain with no relation to Syria, the blog, or the ongoing protests in the country. On June 12, Ali Abunimah
Ali Abunimah
Ali Hasan Abunimah is a Palestinian American journalist and co-founder of Electronic Intifada, a not-for-profit, independent online publication about the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. Born in Washington D.C., he spent his early years in the United Kingdom and Belgium before returning to the...
and Benjamin Doherty of the website Electronic Intifada
Electronic Intifada
The Electronic Intifada is a not-for-profit, independent online publication which covers the Israeli-Palestinian conflict from a Palestinian perspective, "aimed at combating the pro-Israeli, pro-American spin" its editors believe exists in mainstream media accounts.-History:EI was founded by Ali...
conducted an investigation that pointed to a strong possibility that the identity of "Amina" was MacMaster, an American living in Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
. Hours later, Tom MacMaster posted on "Amina's" blog and took responsibility for the blog and the false reports of her capture.
Creation and spread
MacMaster created the character Amina Abdallah as a fictional persona or alias; MacMaster said in an interview with National Public Radio (NPR) that he could not recall when he created the character. NPR stated that it found posts from Amina at the Yahoo!Yahoo!
Yahoo! Inc. is an American multinational internet corporation headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, United States. The company is perhaps best known for its web portal, search engine , Yahoo! Directory, Yahoo! Mail, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Groups, Yahoo! Answers, advertising, online mapping ,...
group "alternate-history" dating to February 2006. MacMaster said that he created the Amina character so he could more easily participate in discussions about the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
. MacMaster believed that if he used his real name, people would have presumed that he was too closely tied to the United States, but as Amina he would have more credibility.
As Amina, MacMaster posted on various listserv
LISTSERV
LISTSERV was the first electronic mailing list software application, consisting of a set of email addresses for a group in which the sender can send one email and it will reach a variety of people...
s and websites. MacMaster fleshed out the character's background, and he said that he began writing a novel based on the character. Eventually, he created various profiles for Amina at various social networking sites. Originally he used the character to discuss politics of the Middle East and science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
. In the northern hemisphere fall of 2010, MacMaster moved Amina to Syria. MacMaster said that he was going to stop using the persona by then. Eyder Peralta of NPR said that "But the Arab Spring
Arab Spring
The Arab Spring , otherwise known as the Arab Awakening, is a revolutionary wave of demonstrations and protests occurring in the Arab world that began on Saturday, 18 December 2010...
called her back."
In February 2011 MacMaster posted as Amina on the website Lez Get Real
Lez Get Real
Lez Get Real is a news site for lesbian audiences.The founder operated the website as "Paula Brooks," and pretended to be a lesbian, as well as deaf to deflect suspicion about being unable to use the phone to talk to journalists...
, which was operated by Bill Graber, a straight man pretending to be a lesbian woman named Paula Brooks. MacMaster and Graber corresponded, and under the Amina character MacMaster flirted with the Paula character. Graber said that the interaction "was a major sock-puppet hoax crash into a major sock-puppet hoax." As Amina, MacMaster wrote pieces for Lez Get Real.
MacMaster began the blog A Gay Girl in Damascus under the Amina name. The first entry appeared online on February 19, 2011. The publication, known for its witty commentary on politics, gender, sexuality, and Syrian culture, became, in the words of Nidaa Hassan of The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
, "increasingly popular after capturing the imagination of the Syrian opposition as the protest movement struggled in the face of the government crackdown." The blog's tagline was "An out
Closeted
Closeted and in the closet are metaphors used to describe lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning and intersex people who have not disclosed their sexual orientation or gender identity and aspects thereof, including sexual identity and sexual behavior.-Background:In late 20th...
Syrian lesbian's thoughts on life, the universe and so on ..."
The blog gained popularity after an April 26 post titled "My Father the Hero" about two security agents who came to her home to detain her and were kept away by her father. She and he were described as going into hiding soon after, changing locations 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...
.
In May 2011, Katherine Marsh of The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
, then unaware of "Amina"'s true identity, described the blog as "brutally honest, poking at subjects long considered taboo in Arab culture". The character of "Amina" explained, "Blogging is, for me, a way of being fearless, I believe that if I can be 'out' in so many ways, others can take my example and join the movement."
According to American bisexual activist and author Minal Hajratwala
Minal Hajratwala
Minal Hajratwala is a writer, performer, poet, and queer activist of South Asian descent. She was born in and is currently based in San Francisco, California, US, and was raised in New Zealand and suburban Michigan...
, in May 2011, MacMaster (as Amina) wrote to Hajratwala, asking for advice regarding a book Amina was writing. She said that MacMaster sent a copy of an autobiography of the character and asked Hajratwala to send the text to an agent. Hajratwala said that she, unaware of MacMaster's true identity, did not send the script to an agent because she believed the material was "rambling and in need of a lot of work."
Fictional biography
The character of Amina Abdallah Arraf is a dual Syrian and American citizenSyrian American
Syrian Americans are residents of the United States of Syrian ancestry or nationality. This group includes Americans of Syrian ancestry, Syrian first generation immigrants, or descendants of Syrians who emigrated to the United States. Syrian Americans may be members of a number of differing...
, with an American mother and Syrian father. The Lede Blog (of The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
) noted that Amina's draft of her biography indicated "very deep" American roots. She wrote that she was born in Staunton
Staunton, Virginia
Staunton is an independent city within the confines of Augusta County in the commonwealth of Virginia. The population was 23,746 as of 2010. It is the county seat of Augusta County....
, Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
, in October 1975 to Abdallah Ismail Arraf and Caroline McClure Arraf. The McClures had emigrated to Virginia from Ulster
Ulster
Ulster is one of the four provinces of Ireland, located in the north of the island. In ancient Ireland, it was one of the fifths ruled by a "king of over-kings" . Following the Norman invasion of Ireland, the ancient kingdoms were shired into a number of counties for administrative and judicial...
in 1742. Four decades later, Ms. Arraf added, her mother’s family fought in the American Revolution at Yorktown
Siege of Yorktown
The Siege of Yorktown, Battle of Yorktown, or Surrender of Yorktown in 1781 was a decisive victory by a combined assault of American forces led by General George Washington and French forces led by the Comte de Rochambeau over a British Army commanded by Lieutenant General Lord Cornwallis...
, “earning me the right to be in the DAR [A Daughter of the American Revolution].”
Her family moved to Syria when she was six months old and she grew up between the two countries. She spent a long period in the US after 1982, when an Islamist uprising in Syria was being violently put down. She realized she was gay when she was 15 and it terrified her. After planning to attend Agnes Scott College
Agnes Scott College
Agnes Scott College is a private undergraduate college in the United States. Agnes Scott's campus lies in downtown Decatur, Georgia, nestled inside the perimeter of the bustling metro-Atlanta area....
in Atlanta, Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
, she decided not to attend because she was troubled by the number of open lesbians on campus. She came out at 26 and returned to Syria to enjoy a calm life. There she taught English until the uprising closed classes.
Amina experienced prejudice both in the US and Syria, but said she saw no conflict in being both gay and Muslim and described an experience finding other gay women in Syria.
Amina's position as a dual citizen informed her political and cultural perspective, as well as being a lesbian.
Homosexuality
Homosexual activity is illegal in Syria, and is punishable by at least 3 years in prison, and it is uncommon for gay Arabs to be open about their sexuality. Although Syria's human rights record is among the worst in the world, according to Human Rights WatchHuman Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Its headquarters are in New York City and it has offices in Berlin, Beirut, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Paris, San Francisco, Tokyo,...
, the character of Amina wrote openly about her sexual orientation, experiences, and aspirations.
In an email interview with CNN, MacMaster wrote as Amina that she believed that political change could improve gay rights.
Syrian uprising
The character of Amina was working on a book of her writings when she disappeared. She had gained popularity after her blogging about the Syrian opposition movement in the face of the government's crackdown on protests. The media in Western countries first paid attention to the blog around May 2011.Her family was well-connected with relatives in the government and the Muslim Brotherhood, and being politically active was a "natural thing". However, she described, "Unfortunately, for most of my life being aware of Syrian politics means simply observing and only commenting privately."
Amina had been increasingly critical of the government in the months of the Syrian uprising. In April, Arraf told how her father confronted two security agents who came to arrest her, threatened to rape her, and accused her of being involved in a salafist plot. When unrest broke out, her character described the protests as if she was there.
Fictional account of threats and hiding
One of "Amina's" close online friends, a real person named Sandra Bagaria (who later admitted that she had never actually met "Amina" in person or via SkypeSkype
Skype is a software application that allows users to make voice and video calls and chat over the Internet. Calls to other users within the Skype service are free, while calls to both traditional landline telephones and mobile phones can be made for a fee using a debit-based user account system...
) explained on 7 June that Arraf had been hiding in “four or five different apartments in four or five different cities” across Syria since two young men appeared at her home in Damascus several weeks before. “Amina woke up in the middle of the night and saw her father outside talking to two young guys in their early 20s. I think they were there just following orders, they didn’t know what they were doing" Bagaria said. The two men eventually left without arresting Arraf al Omari, but, “Since that day, we agreed they might come back for her. It was only a matter of time."
In April, before fictionally going into hiding she wrote,"The Syria I always hoped was there, but was sleeping, has woken up...I have to believe that, sooner or later, we will prevail."
In May 2011 Arraf wrote that she had gone into hiding after her father reported that men had come looking for her. Two weeks later, she blogged that she had been sent a fake message by someone posing as her partner, inviting her to a meeting at a hotel. She also suspected her email accounts had been hacked.
In the weeks before her reported abduction, Amina had described traveling around Syria, sometimes in disguise and once riding inside a box on a truck, Bagaria said. At one point, "Amina" wore an Islamic head scarf and posed as her father’s wife so that they could slip more easily through government checkpoints. “When she was traveling with her father, she was grabbed by a soldier who said, ‘What is a lovely young girl like you doing with an old man like him?’” Bagaria recalled being told. Although purportedly in hiding and under threats of arrest, the character of Amina continued to write her blog.
Arraf's character wrote that she would not flee Syria, and that activists had to fight for a more open and free country. She also explained her approach to nonviolence.
Fictional abduction
The character of Amina Arraf was reportedly kidnapped by three armed men when she was on her way with a friend to a meeting in Damascus to meet with protest organizers around 6:00 pm on 6 June 2011. She was described as walking in the area of the Abbasid bus station near Fares al Khouri Street, on her way to meet a person involved with the Local Coordinating Committee, a real opposition planning group.On the blog, MacMaster posted as "Rania Ismail", Amina's fictional cousin, reporting the event: "Amina was seized by three men in their early 20s. According to the witness (who does not want her identity known), the men were armed...Amina hit one of them and told the friend to go find her father. One of the men then put his hand over Amina's mouth and they hustled her into a red Dacia Logan with a window sticker of Basel Assad." Basel is the brother of president 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 :...
.
Response to abduction
The online response in the LGBT community, mainstream media, and social networking websites was rapid and extensive. Facebook pages were set up on 6 June calling for Arraf's release. The Free Amina Arraf Facebook page had already gathered over 10,000 members by the night of 7 June; activists tweeted using the hashtag #FreeAmina. On Arraf's blog, MacMaster, writing as Amina's cousin "Ismail", wrote they did not know whether Arraf was in a jail or held elsewhere.Now Lebanon wrote that Arraf was one of the "ordinary, inspiring heroes of the Syrian revolution", known for "her fearless, blunt accounts of political turmoil in the country, and for her candidness about being gay".
Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
journalist Andrew Belonsky wrote an article for Death and Taxes magazine saying the "U.S. government should...use its power and influence to call for Arraf's release...Such a statement would of course prove that the U.S. remains committed to freeing citizens held overseas, just as we have in North Korea and Iran, but an official declaration would also send two indispensable messages: international governments must protect free speech, and democratic societies must respect LGBT equality."
The U.S. State Department said 7 June that it was looking into the issue.
Hoax revealed
In the wake of the kidnapping reports, questions were raised about the possibility that not only the kidnapping but Arraf al Omari herself were an elaborate ongoing hoax. Writer/editor Liz Henry was quoted in the "Middle East Live" blog run by The GuardianThe Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
saying, "I started having doubts based on some of her patterns of talking about personas and fiction.... I would hate to have my existence doubted and am finding it painful to continue doubting Amina's. If she is real, I am very sorry and will apologize and continue to work for her release and support." This possibility was also part of a discussion on the BBC World Service
BBC World Service
The BBC World Service is the world's largest international broadcaster, broadcasting in 27 languages to many parts of the world via analogue and digital shortwave, internet streaming and podcasting, satellite, FM and MW relays...
programme World Have Your Say including fellow blogger Andy Carvin
Andy Carvin
Andy Carvin is National Public Radio's senior product manager for online communities. Carvin was the founding editor and former coordinator of the Digital Divide Network, an online community of more than 10,000 Internet activists in over 140 countries working to bridge the digital divide...
, who expressed more confidence that she was real, but admitted the evidence was ambiguous.
Researchers found a prior blog written under the name of Arraf al Omari called Amina's Attempts at Art (And Alliteration) which advertised itself as a mix of fiction and non-fiction: "This blog is ... ... where I will be posting samples of fiction and literature I am working on. This blog will contain chapters and drafts. This blog will have what may sometimes seem likely deeply personal accounts. And sometimes they will be. But there will also be fiction. And I will not tell you which is which. This blog will sample what I'm writing. This blog is not a diary. This blog is not about politics. This blog invites your comments."
Stolen photographs
On June 8, Jelena Lečić, a Croatian national and expatriate in the United Kingdom, issued a statement that the pictures claiming to represent Arraf al Omari were actually of herself, forcing The GuardianThe Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
to expunge and replace photos that had been from the newspaper's past articles. Lečić, who worked as an administrator at the Royal College of Physicians
Royal College of Physicians
The Royal College of Physicians of London was founded in 1518 as the College of Physicians by royal charter of King Henry VIII in 1518 - the first medical institution in England to receive a royal charter...
in London, was made aware of the issue by a friend, and appeared on the BBC's Newsnight
Newsnight
Newsnight is a BBC Television current affairs programme noted for its in-depth analysis and often robust cross-examination of senior politicians. Jeremy Paxman has been its main presenter for over two decades....
to clarify that she had never known of the Syrian woman and that the usage of Lečić's personal images had been going on for some period of time.
Admission
On June 12, The Electronic Intifada published evidence for its claims that "Amina" was the product of one or both of husband-wife team Tom MacMaster and Britta Froelicher of Edinburgh, formerly of Atlanta, Georgia. They initially denied this, but later that day the blog was updated with MacMaster's admission that he was the sole author of the blog. The blog post titled "Apology to readers" read:I never expected this level of attention. While the narrative voice may have been fictional, the facts on this blog are true and not misleading as to the situation on the ground. I do not believe that I have harmed anyone – I feel that I have created an important voice for issues that I feel strongly about. I only hope that people pay as much attention to the people of the Middle East and their struggles in this year of revolutions. The events there are being shaped by the people living them on a daily basis. I have only tried to illuminate them for a western audience."
MacMaster explained in an interview that the kidnapping report was part of a plan to end the blog. He had intended to follow it a few days later with a message saying that Amina "had been released, had left the country and was not going to blog any more".
Identity of author
Tom MacMaster, was raised in Bridgewater, VirginiaBridgewater, Virginia
Bridgewater is an incorporated town in Rockingham County, Virginia, United States. The population was 5,644 at the 2010 census. It is included in the Harrisonburg, Virginia Metropolitan Statistical Area. Bridgewater is home to the Reds of the Rockingham County Baseball League...
. He graduated in 1994 from Emory University
Emory University
Emory University is a private research university in metropolitan Atlanta, located in the Druid Hills section of unincorporated DeKalb County, Georgia, United States. The university was founded as Emory College in 1836 in Oxford, Georgia by a small group of Methodists and was named in honor of...
, near Atlanta, Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
, with a bachelor's degree in History. He is a postgraduate student at Edinburgh University in Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
.
Post-revelation reception
MacMaster said that few would have paid attention to the blog if he had started it in 2010. Because of the political developments in Syria, people on the internet began to notice the blog. Attention increased after the blog character described having an experience with the Syrian state internal police.Monica Hesse of the Washington Post wrote that upon discovery of the hoax, bloggers, women, gays and lesbians, and Syrians were unhappy, since a blog that claimed to be one of them was written by an American straight male. Hesse explained, "If [MacMaster] had not been so emotionally resonant, so detailed, so seemingly 'real,' nobody would have cared so much when Amina disappeared, and nobody would have worked so hard to figure out what might have happened to her, and nobody would have learned that she was a pale man from Georgia. Which meant that, at least according to a chilling and narrow definition of what it means to be real on the Internet, Tom MacMaster was very good indeed at being Amina."
Liz Henry, a BlogHer web producer who had recommended some of the posts made by MacMaster when he worked under the "Amina" character, said "He’s stealing the voice of a marginalized person. His way of describing what it’s like to be gay in the Middle East goes down smooth with people who have a progressive
Progressive
Progressive is an adjectival form of progress and may refer to:-Politics:* Progressivism, a political ideology* Progressive Era, a period of reform in the United States Progressive is an adjectival form of progress and may refer to:-Politics:* Progressivism, a political ideology* Progressive Era, a...
bent. Why did I jump to this blog — just because it was a person who shares some of my values?"
Minal Hajratwala
Minal Hajratwala
Minal Hajratwala is a writer, performer, poet, and queer activist of South Asian descent. She was born in and is currently based in San Francisco, California, US, and was raised in New Zealand and suburban Michigan...
, upon discovering the real identity of Tom MacMaster, re-examined the fictional biography draft he sent her with more scrutiny. Robert Mackey of The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
said that Hajratwala's second assessment of the writing was "scathing". Hajratwala said "The faked lesbian sex scenes turn my stomach. The narcissistic writing, the sprinkling of quotations from the Koran and tidbits from Syrian history, the stock stories compiled from a thousand news clippings — it all seems painfully obvious." Hajratwala posted the manuscript from MacMaster online so readers could look at it. MacMaster asked Hajratwala to take the manuscript down and threatened legal action. Hajratwala refused to remove the writings, posted the e-mails MacMaster sent her, and asked readers to copy and disseminate the Amina story draft. MacMaster later said he had apologized to Hajratwala "for any hurt feelings" in a letter.
Brian Whitaker of The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
said that the blog "was an arrogant fantasy" that "undermines, rather than illuminates, awareness of the realities of being gay in the Middle East." Whitaker added that "Living a fantasy life on your own blog is one thing, but giving an interview to CNN while posing as a representative of the region's gay people appears arrogant and offensive, and surely a prime example of the "liberal Orientalism" that MacMaster claims to decry."
Commenting on MacMaster and Graber, Louise Carolin, deputy editor of the lesbian magazine Diva
Diva (magazine)
Diva is a leading lesbian magazine in the United Kingdom. It was launched in 1994 by Millivres Prowler Group Ltd., who also produce the Gay Times. The current editor is Jane Czyzselska, who was promoted to the position in 2004. It includes many articles dedicated to lesbian and bisexual social...
, said that they "are unusual in that they chose to operate with such a huge sense of entitlement at such a high level, not just for a brief kick but apparently under the delusion that they were doing something good for lesbians." She called it "absolutely indefensible" and said it reminded her of hoax cancer blogs. She also said that they ignored "the first rule of being an ally
Straight ally
Straight ally is a colloquial term that describes a heterosexual person who supports equal civil rights, gender equality, LGBTQ social movements, and challenges homophobia. A straight ally believes that LGBT people suffer discrimination and thus are socially disadvantaged...
"; "don't try to speak for the people you're trying to support." Iman Qureshi, a Pakistani lesbian writer, called MacMaster's hoax a form of egotism, describing it as the author taking on "a persona in which he felt he could be heard without criticism." British feminist Beatrix Campbell
Beatrix Campbell
Mary Lorimer Beatrix Campbell, OBE is a British campaigning journalist and author.Since the mid 1970s, she has published numerous articles and book reviews in such publications as Marxism Today, Red Rag, Time Out, Feminist Review, New Statesman, New Socialist, The Guardian, The Independent,...
described both hoaxes as expressions of male dominance, with the authors infiltrating "discussions where they wouldn't otherwise have an obvious, and certainly not an authoritative, place."
On 24th June, Edinburgh University announced they were "very concerned" about the reported activities of Tom MacMaster, and would investigate any misuse of University computing facilities: they would also investigate the matter in the context of Edinburgh University's Dignity and Respect Policy and list of Disciplinary Offences.
See also
Hoaxes- Essjay controversyEssjay controversyThe Essjay controversy was an incident concerning a prominent Wikipedia participant and salaried Wikia employee, known by the username Essjay, who later identified himself as Ryan Jordan. Jordan held trusted volunteer positions within Wikipedia known as administrator, bureaucrat, arbitrator and...
- John TitorJohn TitorJohn Titor is the name used on several bulletin boards during 2000 and 2001 by a poster claiming to be a time traveler from the year 2036. In these posts he made numerous predictions about events in the near future, starting with events in 2004...
- Edward OwensEdward OwensEdward Owens is a fictional character, part of a historical hoax created by students at George Mason University on December 3, 2008, as a project in a class dealing with historical hoaxes called "Lying About the Past." The story of Edward Owens, purportedly a 19th and early 20th century American...
- Kaycee NicoleKaycee NicoleKaycee Nicole was a fictitious persona played by Debbie Swenson in a well-known case of Münchausen by Internet. Between 1999 and when the hoax was discovered in 2001, Swenson, playing the role of Kaycee, represented herself on numerous websites as a teenager suffering from terminal leukemia...
General
- Online identityOnline identityAn online identity, internet identity, or internet persona is a social identity that an Internet user establishes in online communities and websites...
- On the Internet, nobody knows you're a dogOn the Internet, nobody knows you're a dog"On the Internet, nobody knows you're a dog" is an adage which began as the caption of a cartoon by Peter Steiner published by The New Yorker on July 5, 1993. The cartoon features two dogs: one sitting on a chair in front of a computer, speaking the caption to a second dog sitting on the floor...
External links
- A Gay Girl in Damascus, Amina's blog written by MacMaster, currently with all entries from before the revelation of the hoax removed.
- http://www.minalhajratwala.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/damascusgaygirl.blogspot.com_.zip shows the blog as it was at 6 June 2011