Bahraini journalist Lamees Dhaif gave up her home, family and country. And she did it all for people she didn’t even know. She did it for all the people in Bahrain.

She cannot return to her home without risking her life or the lives of her loved ones.

Dhaif was presented with the Tully Center for Free Speech Award for her courage and fierce dedication to journalism on Monday at 7 p.m. in the Joyce Hergenhan Auditorium.

Syracuse University students were given an exclusive insight to Dhaif’s work and the lives of the citizens of Bahrain through a speech, video presentation and Q-and-A session led by Roy Gutterman, the director of the center.

Dhaif has been dedicated to the oppressed and a voice to the people in her native country.

“The people have no rights,” she said. “All the power lies within one family. The people are denied their basic human rights and native Bahrainis are treated as second-class citizens.

Gutterman said the fact that this award exists is sad, as it shows how free speech is lacking in much of the world.

Dhaif became a journalist to give a voice to the people. She said she wanted to expose the severely corrupt Bahraini regime and how all the county’s serious issues lead right back to the royal family in control.

Despite Dhaif’s criticisms of the government, the government avidly follows her work.

Dhaif released a series of articles, “insulting the judiciary” of Bahraini. The articles exposed the bias against women in Bahraini family courts. Dhaif was then fired from the four jobs she held and blacklisted in each of the Gulf regions she worked in.

Instead of appeasing the government, Dhaif took to social media.

“I’ll stay unemployed for 20 years; I will not crawl back to you,” she said.

Social media outlets such as Twitter, Facebook and Dhaif’s blog allowed her to continue covering Bahrain’s Arab Spring without the pressures of harsh government censorship.

But because of her work, Dhaif is no longer safe in Bahrain.

In an interview with The Daily Orange, Dhaif divulged the details of her struggles not only with government censorship, but also the criticism she faces as a woman in this line of work.

“The punishment is double for the lady,” Dhaif said. “You have to give double the effort. You have to be courageous to do this. You are not only facing your government, you are facing society.”

Dhaif compared being a journalist to being a prophet, because journalism is the voice of her people. She advised all aspiring journalists to believe in what they do because journalism is not about fame or money.

“Journalism is about caring not only about the people you live among,” Dhaif said. “It is also about the generation that is not born yet. You are the eye that looks deep into society and those who possess society’s moral compass.”

Gutterman finished the evening with a question for Dhaif: What’s next?

“I choose my path,” Dhaif said. “And I will keep walking on it till the end. To the end of the case or the end of me, whichever comes first. This is my country and I will be there. My body is out, but my soul is stuck there.”

Published on October 16, 2012 at 2:53 am

Contact Erin: erkelly@syr.edu