Forged by Fire

HOF —

People look at me and assume I’ve lived a privileged life.
And in some ways — they’re not wrong.
My father comes from one of the most famous families in Damascus.
My mother, from one of the most powerful in Ghouta.
I have relatives scattered across the globe.
Wherever I land, there’s always someone who can help pull a string.

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The Thread That Holds Us in the Power of Love

This is a personal story for those born into the spaces between worlds. These are the children of intermarriagesthe outsiders who never belonged to any tribe. To those who’ve felt like mistakes, like intrusions, enduring the weight of invisible exclusion and the quiet violence of not fitting in.

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Lessons from a Forgotten Revolution

HOF – Today, the Assad regime crumbles from within. The rebels stride into our cities. The question lingers: will we seize this second chance? Or will we let history devour us again?

After 13 years of war in Syria, I’ve learned to hope for the best but brace for the worst. And yet, in those early days, it was impossible not to feel the pull of something extraordinary, something alive.

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Déjà vu: Roadmap to the Abyss

HOF – The battle isn’t against an external enemy—not with armies or wars. It unfolds quietly within us, when the smallest parts of our souls grow weary of resisting our own wickedness. We let the rats of fear and fatigue fester, gnawing away at the cry for justice. With a thousand invisible daggers, they slice at the core of who we are. Only then is the human truly defeated—not by a sword, but by surrendering to the rot inside.

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Crossing through Inferno

HOF – When I was 12, my father told me that I was a fly. He warned of the West’s allure like a blazing light bulb. He told me that the distant sparkle would incinerate me if I ever went there. I was a rebel. I never listened. I installed a VPN software to access banned Western social media. That was how I learned English. For the next 15 years, I relentlessly pursued the West.

I came to Austria with a student visa in 2015.

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