{"id":57721,"date":"2015-11-06T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2015-11-06T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news-draft\/uncategorized\/canceled-syrian-american-activist-to-talk-at-uri-nov-18-for-international-education-week\/"},"modified":"2015-11-06T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2015-11-06T00:00:00","slug":"canceled-syrian-american-activist-to-talk-at-uri-nov-18-for-international-education-week","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/2015\/11\/canceled-syrian-american-activist-to-talk-at-uri-nov-18-for-international-education-week\/","title":{"rendered":"CANCELED – Syrian-American activist to talk at 溏心vlog免费B站 Nov. 18 for International Education Week"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\t\tNora Barr\u00e9 in national spotlight after presidential campaign event<\/b><\/p>\n


\nKINGSTON, R.I., Nov. 6, 2015 \u2013 A Syrian-American activist who captured the attention of a presidential candidate \u2013 and the media \u2013 with her tearful plea about relatives fleeing a horrific civil war in the Middle Eastern country will speak at the 溏心vlog免费B站.<\/p>\n

In an emotional exchange with Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush during a campaign stop in New Hampshire, Nora Barr\u00e9 burst into tears when she told Bush she has 14 family members who fled the regime of Bashar al-Assad.<\/p>\n


\n\u201cThere are terrible things going on over there,\u201d she says. \u201cThey are so horrible, they almost sound fake. People don\u2019t have a heart.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nBarr\u00e9\u2019s encounter with Bush went viral and led to interviews with the national press, including CNN, MSNBC, CBS and The New York Times. The 34-year-old former Cranston resident is using the press appearances to spark a national debate about the United States\u2019 role in accepting refugees from the war-torn country.<\/p>\n

Barr\u00e9 will talk about the Syrian war from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 18 at 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s Center for Biotechnology and Life Sciences, 120 Flagg Road, on the Kingston campus. <\/p>\n


\nThe talk, free and open to the public, is part of International Education Week, a series of events Nov. 16 through 20 to celebrate global education at 溏心vlog免费B站.<\/p>\n


\n\u201cThanks to her courage and compassion, Nora is putting a human face on the refugee crisis in Syria,\u201d says Kathleen Ramcharran, coordinator of International Education Week and a friend of Barre\u2019s. \u201cHer talk at 溏心vlog免费B站 is certain to raise awareness of these critical humanitarian issues \u2013 and generate discussion at 溏心vlog免费B站 and beyond about America\u2019s role in helping.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nBarr\u00e9 was born in Alleppo \u2013 now considered the most dangerous city in the world. Her family opposed the regime of Hafez al-Assad, who ruled the country until his death in 2000, when his son, Bashar al-Assad, took over.<\/p>\n


\nBarr\u00e9\u2019s grandfather, an architect, was tortured and murdered by pro-Hafez forces. \u201cHis fingernails were pulled out and he got electric shocks,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n


\nFearing for his life, Barr\u00e9\u2019s father fled to the United States, settling in West Virginia to work as a pediatrician. Barr\u00e9 attended grade school and high school there, then got her bachelor\u2019s degrees in biology and psychology at Marshall University. <\/p>\n


\nIn 2011, Barr\u00e9 and her husband, Luke, moved to Rhode Island so he could do his residency at Roger Williams Medical Center. Last July, the couple and their 5-year-old daughter relocated outside Hanover, N.H., for his fellowship in rheumatology at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center.<\/p>\n


\nCivil war broke out in Syria four years ago. Barr\u00e9 called or communicated through the Internet with family members still living in Alleppo, but they always assured her that everything was fine. It wasn\u2019t. <\/p>\n


\n \u201cThe phone lines were tapped,\u201d she says. \u201cIf you said anything against the regime, they\u2019d drag you out of your house and kill you right there.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nAfter bombs blew up their house two months ago, the relatives \u2013 grandmother, uncles, aunts, cousins \u2013 fled to Mersin, Turkey, where people are crammed into a one-bedroom apartment. They finally felt safe enough to talk to Barr\u00e9, who supports them financially, about the murders they\u2019d witnessed. <\/p>\n


\nOne cousin recalled the bombing of his elementary school and seeing his dead teacher carried out on a stretcher. Another disclosed that a sniper shot to death a young mother carrying her 6-month-old baby. <\/p>\n


\nBarr\u00e9\u2019s uncle told her he was walking down the street with a friend when a single bullet fired by a sniper killed the man. People were too frightened to carry him away, and his body decomposed on the road.<\/p>\n


\n \u201cWhat happened to my family is not rare,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s happening all over Syria.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nSome of the relatives are seeking political asylum in the United States. <\/p>\n


\nLast month, Barr\u00e9 drove more than an hour to attend a town hall event for Bush. After he spoke, Bush took questions from the audience. Barr\u00e9 stood up. <\/p>\n


\n\u201cI\u2019m Syrian-American. I have 14 family members that just left Syria. Their house was bombed. I\u2019ve been supporting them the last five years just to eat, and I just got them to Turkey.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nShe started trembling, then came the tears.<\/p>\n


\n\u201cI just want to know, what are we doing to do to help?\u201d<\/p>\n


\nBush praised Barr\u00e9 for helping her family, called Assad a brutal dictator and promised to provide support for the thousands of refugees.<\/p>\n


\nAfterward, he gave Barr\u00e9 a hug. The video and photo were picked up by news organizations throughout the world. Bush even made a campaign video about the encounter.<\/p>\n


\nBarr\u00e9 hopes her words will resonate across the globe.<\/p>\n


\n\u201cI never expected to be on TV. This attention is all a surprise to me,\u201d she says. \u201cI would like to be a voice for those who are not heard.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nShe is advocating two things: a safe-zone in Syria so people can live without danger and more acceptance of Syrian refugees in America and other countries.<\/p>\n


\n \u201cI love the United States,\u201d she says. \u201cThe freedoms we have here are golden \u2013 just to be able to walk and not fear for my life or express myself and not get killed. I don’t take that for granted. I want others to experience those same freedoms.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nPictured above

\nJeb Bush with Nora Barr\u00e9, a Syrian-American who will speak at the 溏心vlog免费B站 Nov. 18 for International Education Week. She lives in New Hampshire, but would like to move back to Rhode Island one day. Photo by Nancy Lane of the Boston Herald.<\/p>\n


\nNora Barr\u00e9 and her husband, Luke, and their daughter. Photo courtesy of Nora Barr\u00e9.<\/p>\n

CNN video of Nora Barr\u00e9<\/a><\/p>\n

Video of Nora Barr\u00e9 and Jeb Bush<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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