Anti-government activists living in the Middle East, Europe and the U.S. are taking a leading role in using the Internet to defy the autocratic Syrian government in providing news of the uprising to the world.
Writing in The New York Times, Anthony Shadid described the work of one man, “Gaunt and with bloodshot blue-green eyes, Mr. Nakhle navigated a cascade of information Friday — a frenetic conversation on Skype with 15 people in Syria, a snippet of video from Tartus, a phone call from a friend in Damascus, and queries from journalists for contacts in remote towns. Someone he believed to be a secret police officer flashed him a taunting message: ‘There is news that a member of your family has been taken by security services.’ Mr. Nakhle changed the sim card on his phone and called home, without taking his eyes off his computer screen. The news proved false.” -db
From The New York Times, April 23, 2011, by Anthony Shadid with contributions from Katherine Zoepf.