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Syrian opposition leader From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Noura Aljizawi (formally Noura Al-Ameer al-Jizawi) is a Toronto-based academic, activist, spokesperson, former refugee, and Syrian political opposition leader.[1][2]
At the age of six, Aljizawi was obliged by the government of Syria to wear military-style uniforms. She noticed at school how many of her classmates' fathers had disappeared, later realizing they were detained and executed political prisoners.[3]
In Damascus, Aljizawi studied for her master’s degree in comparative literature and at the same time spoke out about the leadership of Syrian President Assad and organized demonstrations.[4] She wrote a blog critical of the President.[3][4]
In 2011 Aljizawi led antigovernmental protests in Homs.[5]
Her political activities resulted in her being arrested by the Damascus (215th) branch of Military Intelligence Directorate on 28 March 2012.[6] Held in various prisons, she was tortured with electricity and interrogated for 12 hours per day.[1][4][3][7] While under arrest she was denied access to a lawyer and contact with her family.[6] Her captors threatened to harm her friends and family.[7] Her laptop, which contained her evidence of graduation, was confiscated and her graduation and attendance records were deleted from university records by the Syrian state.[3]
After an international campaign led by Reporters without Borders,[8][9] she was released from jail in 2012 and she fled to Turkey.[3]
In 2014, Aljizawi was elected as the vice-president of the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces.[4][3] In her role she led negotiation attempts, trying to find peace and justice.[3]
In 2016, her email account was subjected to a hacking attempt that was thwarted by the University of Toronto's Citizen Lab.[4][10]
She resigned from her role later in 2016, after concluding that negotiations were hopeless.[3]
In 2017, Aljizawi was accepted to the University of Toronto scholars-at-risk program and relocated to Canada.[4][1] She studied for a Masters in Global Affairs at the Munk School of Global Affairs.[1] Her studied focus on Guinea’s malaria treatment and eradication program.[4]
In February 2018, Aljizawi traveled to Geneva to give evidence to the United Nations Human Rights Council about the situation in Syria.[1][2]
In 2021 Aljizawi was thanked in the International Journal of Communication for her support with documenting online misinformation.[11]
Aljizawi lives with her husband and they have one daughter born in 2015.[1][5]
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