Ama Arraf, known as "Gay Girl In Damasc," was the fictnal ventn of a whe Amerin man livg Stland. The episo lead Brian Spears to offer this advice to his fellow whe wrers: "Don't -opt the voice of a mory hop that people will take your wrg more serly."
Contents:
- 'GAY GIRL IN DAMASC' TURNS OUT TO BE AN AMERIN MAN
- “GAY GIRL DAMASC” WASN’T JT A LIE, WAS PRO-JIHAD LEFTIST PROPAGANDA THAT CLUD CLAIMS OF AMERINS THROWG DUNG AT WOMAN FOR WEARG THE HIJAB
- GAY GIRL DAMASC BLOGGER ADMS TO WRG FICTN DISGUISED AS FACT
- WSTON SMH: “GAY GIRL DAMASC” WASN’T KIDNAPPED, DON’T EVEN EXIST
- THE GAY GIRL DAMASC HOAX
- A GAY GIRL DAMASC THAT WASN’T
- GAY DAMASC
- THE EXC AND CONSEQUENC OF THE 'GAY GIRL DAMASC' HOAX
- WHE PRIVILEGE AND THE 'GAY GIRL IN DAMASC'
'GAY GIRL IN DAMASC' TURNS OUT TO BE AN AMERIN MAN
The person behd the "Gay Girl In Damasc" blog me forward after purported arrt drew scty. * the gay girl in damascus that wasn't *
Over the last several months, Ama Arraf, a blogger who said she was Syrian-Amerin and went by the name Gay Girl In Damasc, ptured the world's attentn. Today, the Gay Girl In Damasc blog end the mystery, postg an apology that revealed Ama was fact the work of Tom MacMaster, an Amerin om Geia whose universy rerds show is a medieval studi graduate program at the Universy of Edburgh Stland. The revelatn me hours after NPR approached Brta Froelicher, his wife, wh some evince that nnected her wh Gay Girl In Damasc.
“GAY GIRL DAMASC” WASN’T JT A LIE, WAS PRO-JIHAD LEFTIST PROPAGANDA THAT CLUD CLAIMS OF AMERINS THROWG DUNG AT WOMAN FOR WEARG THE HIJAB
The Amerin man behd the Gay Girl Damasc bloggg hoax explaed an terview wh The Tim that his attempt to e fictn to promote discsn of the Middle East spun out of ntrol. * the gay girl in damascus that wasn't *
She was a gay woman livg a untry where beg gay is illegal. We have noted a few tim at this se that a cur hierarchil scheme emerg — like a strange game of “rock, paper, scissors” — when one fds the aims of fashnable left-wg such as femism, gay rights, and mpaigns agast “Islamophobia” petn wh one another.
That phenomenon is nfirmed below the discsn of “pk washg, ” “a term ed by some anti-Israel crics to cry any attempt to pare Israel’s treatment of gays wh that of Arab stat. ” Even for the fictnal Levante lbian, the Islamic agenda absolutely tmps even basic personal safety for gay people. “Taken by ‘Gay Girl’, ” by Jonah Goldberg for the Los Angel Tim, June 15:.
GAY GIRL DAMASC BLOGGER ADMS TO WRG FICTN DISGUISED AS FACT
The Gay Girl Damasc Hoax explor the vulnerabily of ted and polilly engaged Wterners to Progrsive Orientalism, a form of Orientalism embedd wh otherwise egalarian and anti-imperialist Wtern thought. Early the Arab Sprg, the Gay Girl Damasc blog appeared. Its thor claimed to be Ama Arraf, a Syrian Amerin lbian Mlim woman livg Damasc. After the blog’s went viral April 2011, Wtern journalists electronilly terviewed Ama, magnifyg the blog’s claim that the Syrian uprisg was an ethnilly and religly pluralist movement anchored an expansive sense of social solidary. However, after a post announced that the secret police had kidnapped Ama, journalists and activists belatedly realized that Ama did not exists and Thomas “Tom” MacMaster, a forty-year-old straight whe Amerin man and peace activist livg and studyg medieval history Stland was the blog’s te thor. MacMaster’s hoax succeed by meldg his and his dience’s shared polil and cultural beliefs to a falsified versn of the Syrian Revolutn that validated their views of themselv as anti-racist and anti-imperialist progrsiv by erasg real Syrians. Watch our talk wh the thor Andrew Orr here: * the gay girl in damascus that wasn't *
I’d barely followed “A Gay Girl In Damasc” until last week, when Daily Beast lumnist Peter Beart posted somethg to Twter: “This is really important “” this woman is a hero, ” wh a lk to a story about Ama Abdallah Arraf, a Syrian Amerin woman and the thor of the blog “A Gay Girl In Damasc.
The thor of “A Gay Girl In Damasc” was fact a 40-year-old straight du om Geia livg Stland. CNN terviewed “her” “” by email “” for a story about gay rights and the Arab Sprg. “She” said thgs were gog great for gays.
WSTON SMH: “GAY GIRL DAMASC” WASN’T KIDNAPPED, DON’T EVEN EXIST
From an terview wh the whe Amerin du who pretend to be "A Gay Girl Damasc": "I had an ia of what my character should look like and one day I was flippg through somethg and I saw a picture of her and said 'that is the face'. I didn't thk anyone would notice."… * the gay girl in damascus that wasn't *
The outlet enuraged the s of “pk washg” “” a term ed by some anti-Israel crics to cry any attempt to pare Israel’s treatment of gays wh that of Arab stat. Israel is tolerant, even celebratory, of gay rights (Israel recently lnched a gay tourism mpaign wh the slogan “Tel Aviv Gay Vibe “” Free; Fun; Fabulo”). Syria punish homosexual activy wh three years prison (In Sdi Arabia, Yemen and Iran, the punishment is ath).
In fact, how dare “advot of war, occupatn, disposssn and apartheid” e Arab and Mlim hostily to gays as “‘evince that the primive sand-people don’t serve anythg other than killg by the enlightened children of the Wt. Bis, “she” has never been harassed by Arabs for beg gay. No longer mt you thk too hard or make tough choic if you’re, say, anti-Israel and pro-mocracy or pro-gay rights and favor of the self-termatn of Mlim fanatics.
THE GAY GIRL DAMASC HOAX
'Gay Girl Damasc' Blogger Adms to Wrg Fictn Disguised as Fact - The New York Tim.
| Gay Girl Damasc Blogger Adms to Wrg Fictn Disguised as Fact.
Gay Girl Damasc Blogger Adms to Wrg Fictn Disguised as Fact. Six days after a post on the blog A Gay Girl Damasc triggered panic among s rears by suggtg that the blog’s thor, who claimed to be a Syrian-Amerin.
A GAY GIRL DAMASC THAT WASN’T
that s edors had helped to start the Gay Girl Damasc blog.
As part of an vtigatn led by Andy Carv, NPR had disvered that photographs of Syria sent by the thor of the Gay Girl Damasc blog to a Facebook iend Canada recently had been posted onle 2008 by Ms. Froelicher poted the broadster to the new apology posted on the Gay Girl Damasc.
Abunimah was given some help his rearch by another blogger, Liz Henry, a Web producer at who suggted last week that the Gay Girl Damasc blog might be fictn.
GAY DAMASC
A Syrian-Amerin young woman named Ama Arraf had been publishg a blog tled “A Gay Girl Damasc”, which she related the events of her life, her hop and aspiratns, her poetry, her social nscience, and her thoughts on the recent ernment crackdown on polil unrt Syria. The story beme an overnight e, and sce then, there have been ntuo ternatnal mands for the immediate release of the “gay girl Damasc.
The suatn had elemental emotnal pull: we all know how girls are treated Mlim untri; and gays, well, they’ll make an ternatnal hate crime out of any failure to renr them proper obeisance; and the Baath Party is universally reviled as the party of Saddam Hse.
The hoaxer took advantage of the ternatnal rage over reports that a 13-year old Syrian boy was tortured to ath by the same ernment forc that allegedly kidnapped the “gay girl Damasc. Those wrgs stopped abptly last Monday, and a postg on her blog, “A Gay Girl Damasc, ” a said Ama had been hled away by ernment secury agents.
THE EXC AND CONSEQUENC OF THE 'GAY GIRL DAMASC' HOAX
And Sunday, the tth spilled out: The gay girl Damasc nfsed to beg a 40-year-old Amerin man om Geia.
The Gay Girl Damasc Hoax explor the vulnerabily of ted and polilly engaged Wterners to Progrsive Orientalism, a form of Orientalism embedd wh otherwise egalarian and anti-imperialist Wtern thought. Early the Arab Sprg, the Gay Girl Damasc blog appeared.
“Gay Girl Damasc, ” a popular blogger, turns out to be a beefy, beard grad stunt recently of Stone Mounta, Geia. The rearship of A Gay Girl Damasc had explod the wake of the current unrt Syria. Yet, the rear of the Gay Girl Damasc blog across a fair share of “credibly ignorant and stupid posns.
WHE PRIVILEGE AND THE 'GAY GIRL IN DAMASC'
“I have seen lots and lots of talk of how Islam and homosexualy, Islam and mocracy, Islam and femism, Islam and human rights, Islam and so forth and so on are patible, ” the fictnal Ama blogged. ” The Gay Girl Damasc claimed that “as perhaps one of the better known openly gay women Syria” she had experienced an “entirely supportive” surroundg relig muny.
The exposure of the hoax has left A Gay Girl Damasc’s jected followers askg how MacMaster uld have so celly ceived them. He told Wtern liberals that Middle Eastern Mlims believed gay rights, femism, relig toleratn, ee speech, and so many other sentiments which they profs adherence. It would be temptg to scribe all this as a thrivg ‘gay scene’, but would be foolish to do so.