It Looks Like That Was Recent Ali Ferzat In This Video
The artist Michael Netzer wrote in to give us a rough idea of what Ali Ferzat was saying in this video, posted yesterday on this site and a few days ago on his own. I had guessed from contextual clues that it was recent video, and in fact the video submitted by the artist and gallery owner in accepting the Sakharov Prize from the European Parliament for his role in the Arab Spring protests. It looks like my hunch was correct. Netzer:
In the video you posted, Ferzat first says that he wished he could be with his friends at the awards ceremony and thanks the Sakharov Prize committee for their award of the prestigious prize for freedom to him and his colleagues. He laments the rising number of Syrian martyrs falling and being wounded in every hour, in the effort to gain their freedom. He tells a story about one of his friends who participates every day in the demonstrations, when he asked his friend: "Aren't you afraid you could be killed there?" His friend answered: "Surely I'm aware that I could become martyred at any moment, but maybe you don't know how valuable freedom is. For 50 years I've felt that I've been unable to speak and my voice has been silent. This is the first time I feel my voice is being heard. So, now, at least I'm enjoying some of my rights in this life and it is God who gives us this new freedom." He closed by thanking everyone attending the ceremony and everyone who bestowed this honor on him...
Netzer wrote a second note agreeing with my statement yesterday that Ferzat looks good in this video, which is a relief given how severely he was injured when pro-government Syrian thugs beat him in an attempt to silence his cartoon-making, critical of the current regime.
