One of the most moving pieces we have picked up lately on this site was this account by A Gay Girl in Damascus of her father facing down two security thugs who came to arrest her one night in April. A glorious story about human freedom, written by a proudly Muslim lesbian.
Well Amina is now missing. Her cousin Rania O. Ismail reports that she was seized by three men on the streets of Damascus yesterday. Her family doesn’t know where she is, but they don’t think she’s been killed. Her father is desperate. His name is Abdallah al Omari and he asks anyone with information to contact him at his home.
Sometimes as a writer, I think about the ideals that called to me as a young person, and this is one of those times. Writers have a special role to play in the Arab spring, especially writers as brave and independent and eloquent as Amina. I’m praying for her. If press organizations, human rights groups, or the American government can have any influence over her situation, they should act now. Thanks again to Saleema for calling this story to our attention.
