Hoax revealed A Gay Girl In Damascus

1 hoax revealed

1.1 misappropriated photographs
1.2 admission
1.3 identity of author

hoax revealed

in wake of kidnapping reports, questions raised possibility not kidnapping arraf al omari herself elaborate ongoing hoax. writer/editor liz henry quoted in middle east live blog run guardian saying, started having doubts based on of patterns of talking personas , fiction.... hate have existence doubted , finding painful continue doubting amina s. if real, sorry , apologize , continue work release , support. possibility part of discussion on bbc world service programme world have including fellow blogger andy carvin, expressed more confidence real, admitted evidence ambiguous.

researchers found prior blog written under name of arraf al omari called amina s attempts @ art (and alliteration) advertised mix of fiction , non-fiction: blog ... ... posting samples of fiction , literature working on. blog contain chapters , drafts. blog have may seem personal accounts. , be. there fiction. , not tell which. blog sample m writing. blog not diary. blog not politics. blog invites comments.

misappropriated photographs

on june 8, jelena lečić, croatian national , expatriate in united kingdom, issued statement pictures claiming represent arraf al omari of herself, causing guardian , huffington post expunge, replace or remove photos had been newspaper s past articles.

lečić, worked administrator @ royal college of physicians in london, made aware of issue friend. appeared on bbc s newsnight clarify had never known of syrian woman , usage of lečić s personal images had been going on period of time. stated having photograph circulated , associated else — whether person real or not — upsetting her.

admission

on june 12, electronic intifada published evidence claims amina product of tom macmaster of edinburgh, formerly of atlanta, georgia. denied this, later day blog updated macmaster s admission sole author of blog. blog post titled apology readers read:

i never expected level of attention. while narrative voice may have been fictional, facts on blog true , not misleading situation on ground. not believe have harmed – feel have created important voice issues feel about. hope people pay attention people of middle east , struggles in year of revolutions. events there being shaped people living them on daily basis. have tried illuminate them western audience.

macmaster stated in interview kidnapping report part of plan end blog. had intended follow few days later message saying amina had been released, had left country , not going blog more .

identity of author

thomas tom macmaster raised in harrisonburg, virginia. graduated in 1994 emory university in greater atlanta, georgia, bachelor s degree in history. @ time of blog , unraveling, postgraduate student @ university of edinburgh in scotland. macmaster said few have paid attention blog if had started in 2010. because of political developments in syria, people on internet began notice blog. attention increased after blog character described experience syrian state internal police.

on 24 june 2011, university of edinburgh released statement, stating concerned reported activities of macmaster , investigate misuse of university computing facilities: investigate matter in context of edinburgh university s dignity , respect policy , list of disciplinary offences.