Syrian lesbian blogger has been revealed to be Tom MacMaster, an American based in Scotland. Public domain
The mysterious identity of a young Arab lesbian blogger who was apparently kidnapped last week in Syria has been revealed conclusively to be a hoax. The blogs were written by not by a gay girl in Damascus, but a middle-aged American man based in Scotland.
Tom MacMaster, a 40-year-old Middle East activist studying for a masters at Edinburgh University, posted an update declaring that, rather than a 35-year-old feminist and lesbian called Amina Abdallah Araf al Omari, he was "the sole author of all posts on this blog".
How inconvenient: "<span>Despite the explanations offered in the blog post, the question many were asking last night was why. In response to an email from the Guardian, Froelicher said she and her husband "would be giving the first interview to a journalist of [their] choice in 12-24 hours". In a message to another journalist, she said: "We are on vacation in Turkey and just really want to have a nice time and not deal with all this craziness at the moment."</span>
ReplyDeleteBy the way TG, have you heard of the theory of tezeen bi-lbas (from Elia Suleiman's The Time That Remain): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRYm6cjkus8&feature=related
ReplyDeleteYes I';ve seen the movie, more than 2 years ago and I remember this character of the loon neighbour. It's a great film By the way. I loved it.
ReplyDeleteIdentity theft - I hope nobody thinks I'm an Irish Jacobin born in 1764.
ReplyDeleteWhy would we think that Jemmy Hope?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.communistpartyofireland.ie/1798/hope.html
ReplyDeleteWhile searching for this reference I found a columnist on the Irish Workers' Party who uses the name Jemmy Hope.
"Getting mighty crowded in here"