Yassin al Haj Saleh on Freedom: Home, Prison, Exile…and the World

Freedom is an act of coming out, of cleavage and conflict; and it may be tragic. Prison strips us of our possible danger, by stripping us of our freedom. It protects us from the peril of freedom.

by Yassin al Haj Saleh, translated by Rana Issa

The article first appeared in the online Syrian journal, al-Jumhuriyya on March 25, 2016.

To Samira, My absent Imam, always present.

No special excuse is needed to engage the concept of freedom. Yet, it is not an evident concept or an ahistorical human faculty, or a universal political demand without contradi…