Project SCOLLOP

Othman Hamdan was born in Abu Dhabi and grew up in the United Arab Emirates. His parents left Palestine before his birth, due to the Israeli occupation, and were subsequently accepted as immigrants to Jordan. He identifies most with his Palestinian heritage and considers his maternal grandparents’ hometown of Al-Walaja, on the outskirts of Jerusalem where he visited as a child, to be his home. During his teenage years, Othman became disenchanted with the political and religious authorities in the Middle East and found himself drawn to the United States to further his education and to pursue a Western way of life. In 1999, he moved to the US on a student visa to attend college.

Othman eventually left school to explore different areas in the US and work at a variety of jobs. After the attacks of September 11, 2001, he was appalled as he watched the change in American attitudes and policies towards the Middle East. While considering applying for asylum, he was advised that it was a poor time to do so in the US and Canada would be a better option. In 2002, he entered Canada on refugee status and has lived in British Columbia ever since.

During the time of the Arab Spring, Othman’s interest in political issues and current events in the Middle East and around the world grew to the point where he started to post about them on social media. As his own activism grew, his platform turned to raising awareness and sparking debate on the most controversial subjects that other activists and pundits were scared to discuss. Before his wrongful arrest, he had tens of thousands of followers on his social media accounts, as well as support through a loose network of other activists around the world.

Since his ordeal with the Canadian government, he is still fighting to clear his name and gain his freedom. He is working on bringing the truth to the public, not only to gain back his own life, but to bring awareness to the injustice, racism, and lack of accountability governments and their organizations have to citizens, immigrants, and the rest of the world.