This week I graduated w/ excellence from college, at the very top of my class and student of the year. 20 years ago this week, I was kidnapped by warlords in Afghanistan and later sold to the US for bounty. I was 18 yrs old.
Education has always been important to me and to my family. My father insisted my sisters go to school and expected US ALL to get top marks. I left my village at 13 for high school in Sana’a. I knew I wanted to go to college.
When I was sent to #Guantanamo, I protested our inhumane treatment w/ hunger strikes and block riots, I refused to talk to interrogators. For this I was stripped of all “comfort items” including books, pens, paper.
I didn’t have an attorney for more than 8 years, until Andy Hart. We became good friends and he encouraged me to learn English and pursue my college education. He brought me a dictionary and books.
( My lawyer and best friend Andy Hart, died in 2013)
I learned English by reading Around the World in 80 Days, and helped bring classes to #Guantanamo. The classes were terrible and the teachers were told they couldn’t teach us. But it was a start. I wrote this about it my book.
I got so good at English, Andy Hart found a US college that would let me enroll in classes remotely, BUT the US government refused to approve it. I guess it was too dangerous to educate.
The best class at #Guantanamo was taught by a prisoner and my mentor (name?). It was a business class where we wrote a feasibility study and business plan for a business. I wrote about it in my book: miamiherald.com/news/nation-wo…
When I was released from #Guantanamo in 2016 and sent to Serbia, the tribunal recommended I be able to pursue my higher education. The first university in Belgrade to accept me, unenrolled me because I was held at Guantanamo.
The second one enrolled me, but they were afraid I was a terrorist. Once they got to know me, they understood who I was. Even though I couldn’t pay my tuition, they let me stay. When I graduated, my professors cried they were so proud of me.
I would like to thank all those who helped: Andy Hart, Aunt Beth Jacob @bdjacob13, Antonio Aiello @ar_aiello, Erin Thompson n @artcrimeprof, my thanks to the names on last page of my thesis presentation)... and to you all for your help and support.
I want to also congratulate my little sister, who got high marks this week. I am so proud of you.
مبارك لك أختي الكريمة.
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Hunger Strike Thread: 1/8
We had no rights at #Guantanamo. We had no power. We had nothing but our bodies and our lives and we had to use them to bring about change. Going on #hungerstrike is like entering a dark tunnel & the light at the end is death. #artfromguantanamo
2/8 In the beginning, your stomach growls & begs for food. You dream of food. I dreamed of meals my father made after Ramadan--lamb mandi that melted in my mouth. I regretted every grain of rice left uneaten.
3/8 Days later, your stomach shuts down. Your body consumes your fat, then muscle. You feel pain in every cell consumed. You don’t sleep. You can’t concentrate and feel confused. Your vision blurs. Your heart beats so fast it’s hard to breathe.
#Thread 1/8
20 years ago today, just 6 days after 9/11, George W. Bush gave the CIA broad powers to "Capture and Detain" anyone in what would become the #WarOnTerror
2/8 Weeks later, I was sold to the CIA and sent to a black site in Afghanistan where I was tortured along with many others until I confessed that I was someone I wasn't just to stop the pain. This is what I wrote in my book
3/8 I was then sent to #Guantánamo, where I spent over 14 years as a prisoner of the US. I didn't have rights, I didn't have an attorney or legal representation until 2009. I was never charged with a crime. I was never told why I was being held. I was only detainee ISN 441.
1/8 20 years ago, I heard about 9/11 on the radio in Afghanistan. At 18, I couldn’t imagine buildings so tall or why someone would kill so many people. Soon after, I was sold to the US & sent to #Guantanamo. 8 years later, when I saw video of 9/11 for the first time,
2/8 I wept for all the innocent lives that lost since 2001.
I never could have imagined that this tragedy would be used to justify keeping me and hundreds of others locked up and tortured for nearly 15 years.
3/8 This is what I wrote about the day in my book, DON'T FORGET US HERE, LOST AND FOUND AT GUANTÁNAMO.