Hadi al-Abdullah (; born 8 May 1987) is a

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

citizen journalist Citizen journalism, also known as collaborative media, participatory journalism, democratic journalism, guerrilla journalism, grassroots journalism, or street journalism, is based upon members of the community playing an active role in the pro ...

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 ( ; ), known in pre-Islamic times as Emesa ( ; ), is a city in western Syria and the capital of the Homs Governorate. It is Metres above sea level, above sea level and is located north of Damascus. Located on the Orontes River, Homs is ...

to a lower-middle-class family. He holds a bachelor's degree in nursing from Tishreen University 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 ( / 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 Governorate to the sou ...

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 Tunnel warfare refers to aspects of warfare relating to tunnels and other underground cavities. It includes the construction of underground facilities in order to attack or defend, and the use of existing natural caves and artificial underg ...

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), also known colloquially as a rocket launcher, is a Shoulder-fired missile, shoulder-fired anti-tank weapon that launches rockets equipped with a Shaped charge, shaped-charge explosive warhead. Most RPGs can ...

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

Hezbollah Hezbollah ( ; , , ) is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and paramilitary group. Hezbollah's paramilitary wing is the Jihad Council, and its political wing is the Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc party in the Lebanese Parliament. I ...

during the Battle of al-Qusayr (2013). 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 Media Network (AJMN; , ) is a private-media conglomerate headquartered in Wadi Al Sail, Doha, funded in part by the government of Qatar. The network's flagship channels include Al Jazeera Arabic and Al Jazeera English, which pro ...

the celebration of

International Women's Day International Women's Day (IWD) is celebrated on 8 March, commemorating women's fight for equality and liberation along with the women's rights movement. International Women's Day gives focus to issues such as gender equality, reproductive righ ...

in the Idlib Governorate. On August 10, 2015, al-Abdullah and Bilal Abdul Kareem published front-line footage of the

Army of Conquest The Army of Conquest () 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 supervision and coordinati ...

blowing up a tunnel in the town of Al-Fu'ah during the Siege of al-Fu'ah and Kafriya. On November 22, 2015, he covered the release of six Syrian nuns from a rebel 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

Ahmed al-Sharaa Ahmed Hussein al-Sharaa (born 29 October 1982) also known by his ''nom de guerre'' Abu Mohammad al-Julani, is a Syrian politician and former rebel commander serving as the president of Syria since January 2025. He previously served as the coun ...

, the leader of

al-Nusra Front Al-Nusra Front or Jabhat al-Nusra or Jabhat Nusrat Ahl al-Sham, also known as Front for the Conquest of the Levant, and also later known as Jabhat Fatah al-Sham was a Salafi-jihadist organization that fought against Ba'athist Syria, Ba'athist ...

, in a very rare interview. In January 2016, al-Abdullah and his colleague journalist and activist Raed 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 a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

post was a violation of

Sharia Sharia, Sharī'ah, Shari'a, or Shariah () is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition based on Islamic holy books, scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran, Qur'an and hadith. In Islamic terminology ''sharīʿah'' ...

, 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 () was 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. According to a spokesperson for the FSA's Supreme ...

demonstration in

Maarrat al-Nu'man Maarat al-Numan (), also known as al-Ma'arra, is a city in northwestern Syria, south of Idlib and north of Hama, with a population of about 58,008 before the Civil War (2004 census). In 2017, it was estimated to have a population of 80,000, inc ...

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

Aleppo Aleppo is a city in Syria, which serves as the capital of the Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Governorates of Syria, governorate of Syria. With an estimated population of 2,098,000 residents it is Syria's largest city by urban area, and ...

. 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 warfare, conventional military action. It may be constructed of conventional military explosives, such as an artillery shell, attached t ...

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; ; RSF) is an international non-profit and non-governmental organisation, non-governmental organization headquartered in Paris, which focuses on safeguarding the right to freedom of information. It describes its a ...

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 across ...

Press Freedom Prize, al-Abdullah was awarded the prize in the journalist category. On December 19, 2016, al-Abdullah interviewed Bana al-Abed after evacuating Aleppo. On January 12, 2017, he interviewed

Ahrar al-Sham Harakat Ahrar al-Sham al-Islamiyya (), commonly referred to as Ahrar al-Sham, was a coalition of multiple Sunni Islamist units that coalesced into a single brigade and later a division in order to fight against the Syrian Government led by Bas ...

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

Sham Legion The Sham Legion (, ''Faylaq al-Shām'' lit. Levant Legion) was 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 previously affil ...

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'' ( ('' 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 Ground Forces. The ...

shot down by

Tahrir al-Sham Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) was a Sunni Islamist political organisation and paramilitary group involved in the Syrian civil war. It was formed on 28January 2017 as a merger between several armed groups: Jaysh al-Ahrar (an Ahrar al-Sham facti ...

fighters with a

MANPAD Man-portable air-defense systems (MANPADS or MPADS) are portable shoulder-launched surface-to-air missiles. They are guided weapons and are a threat to low-flying aircraft, especially helicopters and also used against low-flying cruise missi ...

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 Latakia University alumni Syrian activists

Personal life

Career

Awards and nominations

References

Further reading

External links