Hadi Al Abdullah ( ar, هادي العبدالله; born 8 May 1987) is a

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

citizen journalist Citizen journalism, also known as collaborative media, participatory journalism, democratic journalism, guerrilla journalism or street journalism, is based upon public citizens "playing an active role in the process of collecting, reporting, a ...

and activist who has risen to prominence through his coverage of the Syrian Civil War.

Personal life

Al Abdullah grew up in Al Qusair,

Homs Homs ( , , , ; ar, حِمْص / ALA-LC: ; Levantine Arabic: / ''Ḥomṣ'' ), known in pre-Islamic Syria as Emesa ( ; grc, Ἔμεσα, Émesa), is a city in western Syria and the capital of the Homs Governorate. It is Metres above sea level ...

to a lower-middle-class family. He holds a bachelor's degree in Nursing from

Tishreen University Tishreen University ( ar, جامعة تشرين, lit=October University), is a public university located in Latakia, Syria. It is the third-largest university in Syria. History The university was founded under the name of the ''University o ...

in Lattakia city. When the Syrian revolution started, he was working on his master's degree in Emergency Room Nursing, and thus he left his studies to join other activists in their civil activities.Homs: The New Capital of Citizen Journalism
''The Ambassadors'', vol 15 no 22, August 2012

Career

During his masters preparation, Al Abdullah was studying at Tishreen University. However, in 2011, he left the university and started working first in the distribution of humanitarian aid materials to people, as well as nursing the wounded in field hospitals. Later on, however, he moved to media activism, and due to the pressure it imposed and time it demanded, he had to keep his focus on media and leave all other activities. Currently, Al Abdullah is based in the

Idlib Governorate Idlib Governorate ( ar, مُحافظة ادلب / ALA-LC: ''Muḥāfaẓat Idlib'') is one of the 14 governorates of Syria. It is situated in northwestern Syria, bordering Turkey's Hatay province to the north, Aleppo Governorate to the east, Hama ...

in Syria and is a regular correspondent of television stations and a social media reporter. On September 2, 2012, Al Abdullah reported on the Farouq Brigades explosive Tunnel warfare targeting the Al Qusair National Hospital. On September 8, 2012, he published a video explaining how to distinguish between adulterated filling and proper stuffing on a

Rocket-propelled grenade A rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) is a shoulder-fired missile weapon that launches rockets equipped with an explosive warhead. Most RPGs can be carried by an individual soldier, and are frequently used as anti-tank weapons. These warheads are a ...

. On May 20, 2013, Al Abdullah published front-line footage of rebels responding to

Hezbollah Hezbollah (; ar, حزب الله ', , also transliterated Hizbullah or Hizballah, among others) is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and militant group, led by its Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah since 1992. Hezbollah's parami ...

during the

Battle of al-Qusayr (2013) The second of two battles in al-Qusayr started on 19 May 2013, as part of the larger al-Qusayr offensive, launched in early April 2013 by the Syrian Army and the Lebanese militia Hezbollah, during the Syrian civil war, with the aim of capturing ...

. In November 2013, Al Abdullah got injured during coverage of battles in Damascus countryside. In March 2015, Al Abdullah covered for

Al Jazeera Al Jazeera ( ar, الجزيرة, translit-std=DIN, translit=al-jazīrah, , "The Island") is a state-owned Arabic-language international radio and TV broadcaster of Qatar. It is based in Doha and operated by the media conglomerate Al Jazeera ...

the celebration of

International Women's Day International Women's Day (IWD) is a global holiday celebrated annually on March 8 as a focal point in the women's rights movement, bringing attention to issues such as gender equality, reproductive rights, and violence and abuse against wom ...

in the Idlib Governorate. On August 10, 2015, Al Abdullah and

Bilal Abdul Kareem Bilal Abdul Kareem (born Darrell Lamont Phelps) is an American journalist and war correspondent covering the Syrian Civil War who has worked with CNN. He believes that he has been placed on the US kill list. He claims to have survived five dr ...

published front-line footage of the

Army of Conquest The Army of Conquest ( ar, جيش الفتح) or Jaish al-Fatah, abbreviated JaF, was a joint command center of Sunni Islamist Syrian rebel factions participating in the Syrian Civil War. The alliance was formed in March 2015 under the supe ...

blowing up a tunnel in the town of Al-Fu'ah during the

Siege of al-Fu'ah and Kafriya The siege of al-Fu'ah and Kefriya was a siege of the towns of al-Fu'ah and Kafriya, towns with majority Shia populations and controlled by Syrian government forces in the Idlib Governorate, during the Syrian Civil War. The siege was initiated wi ...

. On November 22, 2015, he covered the release of six Syrian nuns from the regime's prison in an exchange for the bodies of soldiers of the regime's army. In December 2015, he was invited along with few other journalists to interview

Abu Mohammad al-Julani Ahmed Hussein al-Shar’a ( ar, أحمد حسين الشرع, ʾAḥmad Ḥusayn aš-Šarʿ), known by the ''nom de guerre'' Abu Mohammad al-Julani ( ar, أبو محمد الجولاني, ʾAbū Muḥammad al-Jawlānī), is the commander-in-chie ...

, the leader of

al-Nusra Front Al-Nusra Front or Jabhat al-Nusra ( ar, جبهة النصرة لأهل الشام, Jabhat an-Nuṣrah li-Ahl ish-Sham lit. ''Front of the Supporters of the People of Syria/the Levant''), known as Jabhat Fatah al-Sham ( ar, جبهة فتح ال ...

, in a very rare interview. In January 2016, Al Abdullah and his colleague journalist and activist Raed Al Fares, were arrested by Jabhat al-Nusra, an al-Qaeda affiliate after a raid on their opposition radio station. Both were later released after spending several hours in the Al-Nusra's custody, the release deal included that Al Abdullah confess that Al Fares's

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...

post was a violation of

Sharia Sharia (; ar, شريعة, sharīʿa ) is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition. It is derived from the religious precepts of Islam and is based on the sacred scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran and the H ...

, while Jabhat al-Nusra acknowledged that the raid was wrong and agreed to return all equipment, with compensation for any damage. On March 4, 2016, Al Abdullah was one of the speakers at a

13th Division (Syrian rebel group) The 13th Division ( ar, الفرقة 13) is a Syrian rebel group sanctioned by the Syrian National Council. It was among the first armed Syrian opposition groups to receive U.S.-made BGM-71 TOW anti-tank missiles. The group's leader lieutenant ...

demonstration in

Maarrat al-Nu'man , timezone = EET , utc_offset = +3 , timezone_DST = EEST , utc_offset_DST = +2 , blank_name = Climate , blank_info = BSk , coordinates= , e ...

. On June 14, 2016, Al Abdullah was injured by a Russian bombing in

Aleppo )), is an adjective which means "white-colored mixed with black". , motto = , image_map = , mapsize = , map_caption = , image_map1 = ...

. On June 17, 2016, Al Abdullah and his cameraman Khaled Al-Issa were critically injured by a blast from an

improvised explosive device An improvised explosive device (IED) is a bomb constructed and deployed in ways other than in conventional military action. It may be constructed of conventional military explosives, such as an artillery shell, attached to a detonating mechan ...

in an assassination attempt at their apartment in Aleppo. Al Abdullah suffered fractures to his left leg, jaw and eye, while Khaled Al-Issa was in a coma after injures to his abdomen and head. They were moved to a hospital in Turkey for treatment. Al-Issa succumbed to his injuries on June 24, 2016. On November 7, 2016, in the

Reporters Without Borders Reporters Without Borders (RWB; french: Reporters sans frontières; RSF) is an international non-profit and non-governmental organization with the stated aim of safeguarding the right to freedom of information. It describes its advocacy as found ...

TV5 Monde TV5Monde (), formerly known as TV5, is a French public television network, broadcasting several channels of French-language programming. It is an approved participant member of the European Broadcasting Union. The network is available acros ...

Press Freedom Prize, Al Abdullah was awarded the prize in the journalist category. On December 19, 2016, Al Abdullah interviewed

Bana al-Abed Bana al-Abed ( ar, بانا العبد; born 7 June 2009) is a Syrian girl from Aleppo, Syria who, with assistance from her English-speaking mother, sent messages through Twitter documenting the siege of the city. Most of these tweets have docum ...

after evacuating Aleppo. On January 12, 2017, he interviewed

Ahrar al-Sham Harakat Ahrar al-Sham al-Islamiyya ( ar-at, حركة أحرار الشام الإسلامية, Ḥarakat Aḥrāru š-Šām al-Islāmiyah, lit=Islamic Movement of the Freemen of the Levant), commonly referred to as Ahrar al-Sham, is a coalition ...

Commander-in-Chief Ali Abu Ammar al-Omar. On January 11, 2018, Al Abdullah reported on the

Sham Legion The Sham Legion ( ar, فَيْلَق الشَّام, ''Faylaq al-Shām'') is an alliance of Sunni Islamist rebel groups formed in March 2014, during the Syrian Civil War. The alliance was formed from 19 different groups, some of which were previ ...

launching a counter-attack in the countryside of Idlib and Hama. On February 3, 2018, Al Abdullah reported from the wreckage of a Russian

Su-25 The Sukhoi Su-25 ''Grach'' (russian: Грач (''rook''); NATO reporting name: Frogfoot) is a subsonic, single-seat, twin-engine jet aircraft developed in the Soviet Union by Sukhoi. It was designed to provide close air support for Soviet Gro ...

shot down by

Tahrir al-Sham Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) (, transliteration: ', "Organization for the Liberation of the Levant" or "Levant Liberation Committee"), commonly referred to as Tahrir al-Sham, is a Sunni Islamist political and armed organisation involved in the ...

fighters with a MANPAD.

Awards and nominations

2016 Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom Prize – Won

References

External links

YouTube channel
{{DEFAULTSORT:Abdullah, Hadi 1987 births Living people People from Homs Syrian political journalists Tishreen University alumni Syrian activists

Personal life

Career

Awards and nominations

References

Further reading

External links