lets unite to stop so-called “honor” crimes

I have just finished reading a disturbing article and couldn’t but comment on it.
I say that because of the crime against humanity that is beyond injustice that occurred in one of Damascus courts in the case of Zahra, the child who was murdered by her brother and which the judge deemed a “honor” crime and acquitted the murderer.
Also the article is disturbing because of the call by the author Mr. Basam AlQadi for women to carry weapons to defend themselves as this is the only way he sees for women to stop the injustice and the social discrimination against them.
I am greatly disappointed by this response which shows lack of understanding to the root causes of the problem, which is deep seeded in the mindset of every one of us living in this country.

the root cause stems from our lack of respect to the other side of view, we have to start accepting the other whoever that may be.

it is needless to say that the government should be held responsible for this great disaster, but at the same time it is the responsibility of every one of us to start looking inward to see how we were contributing to this disaster all along by denying the opposite point of view (whichever that is) to be aired and by trying constantly to impose our vision of Syria on all other Syrians.

we should stop fighting among ourselves, we should unite against the powers of darkness, no more ignorance and waste of time, it is time to take action as a united front against so-called “honor” crimes.

today I had an ahha moment#4

while waiting for a response of a corespondance, I realized that I have been waiting already for too much. I immediately decided that it is time for action.

but then I had another realization.. I realized that action in itself if not directed to serving a goal is not going to bear fruit, we have to take the right action in order to achieve results, that what a results-oriented person is all about and that how it is going to be from now on.

open letter to Dr.Imad Mustafa

Dear Sir, I am writing this letter on the occasion of the critique that you have had on the latest piece that appeared in the National Geographic magazine about Syria, in which you  accused the author of having an agenda and a preconceived notions about Syria that he set out to prove in his article.

Dear Sir, let me share with you my take on this :assuming that this was correct;  I believe that it is nobody duty but us Syrians to prevent biased coverage from happening, we should not give journalists a chance to smear Syria’s reputation outside.

Dear Sir,

in the past few days  prominent and respected lawyer and human rights activist Haitham AlMaleh was arrested for just speaking his mind that after he has not been out of prison for long, what do you think the message of this arrest?

Don’t you think that it weaken Syrian citizens trust in their national institutions?

when the Syrian citizen feel respected and start having equal opportunities in his/her country, he/she will be the first line of defence against all attempts to draw Syria as a backward place full of fear and economic disparities.

When the Syrian citizen is allowed to express his/her views without harassment, and to be an active part of the reform movement in all areas of life, economically,socially and politically he/she will start to feel ownership and believe me no foreign journalist will dare misrepresent our country again.

Dear Sir,

I very much appreciate your concern and jealousy for the way Syria is depicted in the outside, but as it is known; change should come from the inside, I say lets start building a nation instead of worrying what other people say or think about us. so please take a moment to think about that.

Thanks

Yasser

today I had an ahha moment#3

change is inevitable, we can fight it, we can delay it, but no matter how hard we try it is coming, and we better be prepared to deal with it.

be it gradual or sudden, soft or hard, expected or not, our lives will change in some stage for the better it is hoped, but as long as we believe in the vitality of having a full life we will embrace change if not try to effect it ourselves.

Social media marketing

A while ago the Junior Chamber International organized an event called Book Basket. I will discuss only one aspect of it which is its huge marketing impact.

The budget for the event was only 25000 s.p (keep that in mind), the sponsors were Damasquino mall and ExLibris library.
The resulted media exposure was massive: over 25 articles appeared in online sites, magazines, and newspapers, as well as considerable air time on T.V stations like Massaya T.V, that not counting the buzz created around the event. If they wanted to get the same media exposure without the event it must have cost around 2 million s.p!!

Now, that is an example of the massive potential of smart marketing using simple put highly targeted channels.

Social media marketing should be based on the same vision.

I am undertaking an attempt to duplicate this effect through organizing a Tweetup. I am going to try finding a sponsor, my task would be to convince this sponsor of the viability of this marketing tool and its great potential.
The idea I have in mind is to approach Rotana café to convince them to host the event for free in exchange for the buzz that will be created by tweeple around the event.

If it is successful I am planning to aim for greater ventures, but for now I am keeping faith in the greatness of social media marketing:)

Sharing is caring

have you felt this feeling of a new start.. a fresh page that is clear and waiting for you to fill it with the right (or wrong) drawing.

it is really a great feeling to turn a page and know that there is much out there to be aprt of and that you are having a chance to experience new things and be part of new initiatives.

for me I am looking forward to a new job and I have sorted out most of my life and it is pretty organized right now:)

Wish me luck..I know you want to:P

Don’t call me!

this morning I recieved a message from (insert name of mobile operator here) saying that my line will be deactivated because I have exceeded my allowance period.

well, that is right as I have not being paying since a very long time, not because I don’t have money (maybe) but because I don’t want to.

imagine that a friend told me that he is looking forward to going to serve in the military just because he can get rid of his mobile for 40 dyas, lol

you see I am living in this heaven right now…no phone calls , just SMSs!

I am attending this..

too many cultural events have been going on recently, and sometimes you find it difficult to choose, but making the right choice is to be not taken lightly because it will determine whether or not you will enjoy your evening or ending up lambasting yourself for not being somewhere else .

See the poster.

BAD09 post

today is blog action day and I have registered to talk about a very pressing issue which is climate change.
when you look at a problem at first you may be at loss at how to approach it, the question of “how” is the most difficult one to answer, and all your efforts will go to waste if there is no plan to guide you through.

I believe that dealing with the problem of climate change is a challenge that face us all and collaboration is the only viable option we have in order to avert the tragedies that await us.
we have to start on the local level, by initiating awareness programs and projects to not only tell people about climate change but more importantly to engage young people in the process and let them feel that they are involved and thus mobilizing great energizes and powers that will eventually lead to a tangible change in the right direction.
Politics will render governments unable to reach a deal on this very important matter, so what we need is a grassroots movement, and the collective effort of every conscious citizen in cooperation with his/her fellow citizens to start creating something towards the same goal.
To be more specific I say lets us gather around a main theme that contribute to a better environment like recycling or promoting green products or simply keeping one’s neighborhood clean, and let people feel that they own this initiative, let them be active part of it so that they will feel motivated and help in a genuine way, and that’s the key to successful campaigns which leads to a lasting positive change.

Today I had an ahha moment#2

I discovered something about openness, I discovered that all our attempts to be open will not lead us anywhere as long as we have no clear idea where we want to go.I discovered that opennes is about the ideasthat we should search for in every aspect and everycorner.

it is about tolerating ourselves to be able to  see beyond the person standing in front of us:)