My name is Salim, born in Yarmouk Camp for Palestinian refugees in Damascus, Syria, 1989.

I was born to a Syrian mother and a Palestinian father. Like thousands of Syrians in 2011, I thought that demanding dignity, liberty and equality don’t imply death, torture, hatred and forced disappearance. I was very wrong, thus I started to write.

This blog is a space to write on and report about issues that don’t capture the attention of mainstream media. Stories about survival and hope, stories about disappointment and lose. It is an attempt to eternalize moments that might have shaped the world we will be living in. It is not just a blog, but also an open and continuous obituary to individuals who left this world, and a celebration of individuals who carry on their struggles. It is a paradox just like the Syrian struggle, or more accurately just like any struggle.

I studied a B.A in Law from 2007-2012. In my last year, Damascus university was transformed into a space of prosecution for those against the regime of Assad. I have decided not to take exams or attend classes, for my safety but also as an act of anti-normalization with a repressive government that jailed and tortured tens of our classmates.  While Homs, central Syria, was being bombed, Damascus university was functioning as usual, but some of us said NO to the status quo.

Between 2013 and 2017, I lived in exile, Sweden. Where I worked and studied. Since the end of 2017 I live in Oxford and study for a Master in Public Policy at the Blavatnik School of Government.

You can contact me at: Salim.salamah(at)gmail.com