Tamer Shlash writes for Medium about the “ferocity that comes with hate and power” in Syria. She illustrates, “There is no imaginable kind of crime that has not been committed by those who have power and regime,” with the story of a young man whose life was taken just as he on the verge of achievement:
Waseem Abu Zenah was an “almost-graduate” from the Faculty of Information Technology Engineering at Damascus University.
What does that “almost” mean? Let me tell you.
When he had passed all exams and his graduation document was ready, he asked his cousin, who studies at the same faculty, to bring it on his behalf. She did try to do so but the faculty staff told her that he must come in person. Next day Waseem himself came on their demand, they told him to return in an hour and it will be ready. When he returned, he found nothing but armed security men who captured him and led him to a nearby security and detention center.
The exact reason is not known until now. Waseem didn’t have any political activity neither in land nor on the web. He has always promoted peace and co-living and hoped the conflict to end, and was loved by both pro-regime and anti-regime people. In fact, the majority if not all of his family and extended family are pro-regime.
There was no reasonable cause for the arrest, except for one.
Waseem had conflicts with two Shabiha (militia) students. While the reasons were diverse, both students are tightly connected to powerful people in the regime, both of them can submit reports that can cause arrest, both of them had security power in the faculty and, most importantly, both of them hated him so much. It’s almost certain that one of them is the reason behind Waseem’s arrest and its consequences.
The arrest happened on December 4th, 2013. None of Waseem’s family had connections powerful enough to get him out of there, the reports for which he was arrested seem to be very overwhelming and people behind it were much more powerful. And for more than 4 months, Waseem remained detained in a place where his family couldn’t see or talk to him, people are tortured daily, food is delivered in few amounts, large numbers of people are amassed in relatively very small rooms, and diseases easily spread. Eventually, Waseem passed away due to untreated hepatitis four days ago.
Waseem was arrested when he was going to get his graduation document, culminating 17 years of study and makes his family and him feel matchless happiness. However, they couldn’t celebrate, thanks to the hatred of those who dishonestly delivered false reports that led to his arrest.
A great man, he always readily helped his classmates and faculty students. There is no student in the faculty of Information Technology Engineering who hasn’t benefitted from Waseem’s publications, notes, and direct help — none. Even those two students who hate him did get much help from him either directly or indirectly.
Since Social Media is a relatively new field in Syria, few are those who gained SM Marketing experience, and Waseem Abu Zenah was the leading Social Media Marketing figure in Syria. He had key founding and marketing roles in many popular websites and Facebook pages — Facebook is the Social Network every Syrian uses — including Alrakameiat, Laughing Like a Boss, Syrian Programmers, and others, along with +8000 followers for his personal Facebook account, which is no longer available. If you have Syrian friends on Facebook, they must have seen many posts mourning him.
After graduation, Waseem continued studying to get master degree in Web Science. And after leaving job at Alrakameiat, he had been preparing to launch his own startup. He also fell in love with a girl and was going to be engaged to her. This is the future he was planning for himself, and which is undone. This is how promising brains are assassinated in Syria.
