
Reports that Bassel Khartabil Has Been Executed in Syria - thiagooffm
http://jimmywalesfoundation.org/horrific-reports-that-bassel-khartabil-has-been-executed-in-syria/
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anigbrowl
TWo points. One, the campaign to raise awareness did very poorly. I had heard
of Bassel's arrest around the time it first occurred; I had no idea there was
a campaign to learn of his whereabouts or that he had disappeared. I would
have been happy to support this campaign if I had been aware of its existence.

Two, moral appeals generally don't work. The western style of protest has
become mere gesture: 'I would like for this to change, but will not interfere
with the outcome in any way.' We are bombarded with moral appeals on a daily
basis, and while signaling our agreement or support online can sometimes yield
enough traffic for a commercial or voluntary activity, it has a pretty dismal
record in bringing about political change.

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icanhackit
> _We are bombarded with moral appeals on a daily basis, and while signaling
> our agreement or support online can sometimes yield enough traffic for a
> commercial or voluntary activity, it has a pretty dismal record in bringing
> about political change._

Agreed. It seems as though no one who's relatively comfortable is willing to
put any skin in the game (literally). We're sitting around with our thumbs up
our collective arses wearing stickers of our preferred social justice brand
while wondering why the world is hurtling more and more towards a dystopia-
enthusiast's wet dream. It's too bad signalling our morals to everyone
achieves jack shit.

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nthcolumn
I feel this should say 'murdered'.

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cannonedhamster
It's only murdered when it's unlawful. This was death by government agents and
lawful regardless of whether we agree with the law. This was an execution of
someone that the government felt was in the way.

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lostmsu
Can somebody clarify if he was executed by Syrian government?

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hjrnunes
My bet is that it wasn't or it would've been the first thing written.

The fact they don't explicitly say who did it, or who they think did it, or
whom the "troubling news from Syria" say did it, makes me think they still
want to somehow implicate the government - which makes this a despicable
attempt to politicise this man's alleged death.

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amingilani
I can almost feel my blood boiling.

