{{Short description|Syrian-Swedish imam}} '''Fidaaldin Al-Sayed Issa''' ({{langx |ar| فداء الدين السيد عيسى}}), born January 15, 1985,<ref name="allabolag">{{cite news|title=AL-SAYED ISSA, FIDAALDIN |url=http://allabolag.se/850115TOED |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130418131647/http://allabolag.se/850115TOED |url-status=dead |archive-date=18 April 2013 |publisher=Allabolag.se |date=28 August 2011 |access-date=28 August 2011 }}</ref> is a Syrian political activist who lives in Eskilstuna, Sweden.<ref name="allabolag"/><ref name= "joshua110511">{{cite news |title=Syrian Revolution 2011 Facebook page Administrator, Fidaaldin Al-Sayed Issa, Interviewed by Adam Almkvist |url=http://www.joshualandis.com/blog/?p=9705 |publisher=Joshua Landis |date=11 May 2011 |access-date=28 August 2011}}</ref>

Fida is the chairman of the ''Youth Coalition of March 15'' and former spokesperson for the Facebook page ''"The Syrian Revolution"''. Fida is together with his father and siblings, one of the founders of the ''Office of the Damascus Declaration'' in Sweden back in 2008.<ref name="tfs">{{cite news|title=الاجتماع التأسيسي لمكتب إعلان دمشق في السويد |url=http://www.thefreesyria.org/f-s-1/rawafed-2402-5.htm |publisher=thefreesyria.org |date=21 February 2008 |access-date=28 August 2011 }}{{dead link|date=December 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> He has been called an infidel on Syrian TV many times. It has also been alleged that his Syrian citizenship has been withdrawn.<ref name= "joshua110511"/>

According to Syrian press, Fida leads Sweden’s chapter of the Muslim Brotherhood.<ref>{{cite news |title=ما يسمى بالناطق الرسمي للصفحة الداعية للتظاهر والتخريب هو مدير مكتب "الاخوان المسلمين" في السويد |url=http://www.champress.net/index.php?q=ar/Article/view/86011 |publisher=Champress.net |date=22 March 2011 |access-date=28 August 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110821042540/http://www.champress.net/index.php?q=ar%2FArticle%2Fview%2F86011 |archive-date=21 August 2011 }}</ref><ref name= "joshua110424">{{cite news |title=The Man behind "Syria Revolution 2011″ Facebook-Page Speaks Out |url=http://www.joshualandis.com/blog/?p=9340 |publisher=Joshua Landis |date=24 April 2011 |access-date=28 August 2011}}</ref> (not confirmed). While Fida has not directly dismissed these rumors, he has at least once explicitly stated during a television interview that he does not belong to the Muslim Brotherhood. He even refers to the brotherhood in a conversation with Barada TV in February. Several photos have also circulated on the Internet different pictures of Fida with senior members of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt.<ref name= "joshua110424"/>

Fida is a Swedish citizen and known as the imam of the Eskilstuna Mosque.<ref name="joshua110511"/><ref name="folket">{{cite news|title=Manifestation som tog avstånd från terrorvåldet |url=http://folket.se/nyheter/eskilstuna/1.902099 |publisher=Folket.se |date=20 December 2010 |access-date=28 August 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111007231218/http://folket.se/nyheter/eskilstuna/1.902099 |archive-date=7 October 2011 }}</ref> Fida is currently studying Sharia<ref name= "sum">{{cite news |title=Stockholms Unga Muslimers temahelg! |url=http://www.ungamuslimer.se/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=242%3Astockholms-unga-muslimers-temahelg&catid=1%3Alatest-news&Itemid=53 |publisher=socialisterna.org |access-date=28 August 2011}}</ref> combined with studies for a PhD in Innovation and Product Design at Mälardalen University and is active in the NGO Sweden’s Young Muslims.<ref name= "joshua110511"/>

==Background==

Fida was born in an unspecified Arab country.<ref name= "joshua110511"/> He is the eldest child and has two brothers and a sister. His father Tarif was imprisoned by al-Assad's security forces in Syria.<ref name= "rattvisepartiet">{{cite news |title=Muslimer, kristna – alla är med |url=http://offensiv.socialisterna.org/sv/945/kampanj/6673/ |publisher=socialisterna.org |date=13 April 2011 |access-date=28 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130614114128/http://offensiv.socialisterna.org/sv/945/kampanj/6673/ |archive-date=14 June 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Fida said in an interview that about 16 children at ages 12–13, who wrote "Go away al-Assad" on a toilet wall in his school in Syria and then was arrested by security police. "When they returned, they were raped and had no fingernails left, they had been torn away."<ref name= "rattvisepartiet"/> The family moved to Sweden in 2001.<ref name= "rattvisepartiet"/> Fida went to High School at Rudbecksskolan in Stockholm<ref>{{cite news |title=Fida Alsayed |url=https://www.facebook.com/fidaaldin |publisher=Facebook |access-date=28 August 2011}}</ref> together with his sister Lina.<ref>{{cite news |title=Lina Al-Sayed Issa |url=https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1159547496 |publisher=Facebook |access-date=28 August 2011}}</ref> After the 2010 Stockholm bombings, he appeared in various local media in which he renounced terrorism and said that what happened in Stockholm was an evil act and evil acts can never be justified.<ref name= "ekuriren">{{cite news |title=Muslimer dödar inte |url=http://ekuriren.se/nyheter/eskilstuna/1.901215--muslimer-dodar-inte- |publisher=ekuriren.se |date=18 December 2010 |access-date=28 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120426033441/http://ekuriren.se/nyheter/eskilstuna/1.901215--muslimer-dodar-inte- |archive-date=26 April 2012 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}</ref>

==Syrian Revolution Network== Fida has together with his two younger brothers Mustafa and Yasir created the page ''"The Syrian Revolution"'' on Facebook<ref name="svt">{{cite news|title=Om oroligheterna i Syrien |url=http://svtplay.se/v/2493118/gomorron_sverige/om_oroligheterna_i_syrien |publisher=SVT |date=2 August 2011 |access-date=28 August 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120326175244/http://svtplay.se/v/2493118/gomorron_sverige/om_oroligheterna_i_syrien |archive-date=26 March 2012 }}</ref> that has been identified as the most influential social networking tool in the mobilization of protesters during the Syrian Revolution.<ref name= "joshua110511"/>

In an interview on Nyhetsmorgon at TV4, Fida explained that when he started the page before the "revolution," were initially skeptical of the idea of an uprising in Syria, while others supported the initiative. Fida has stresses several times that the Syrian opposition is a peaceful movement for freedom and democracy. According to Fida no marketing is required for the page, as the situation in Syria was marketing itself. He said he no longer administrates the page alone, and he now has the help of hundreds of young people and pro-democracy activists in Syria.<ref name= "tv4">{{cite news |title=Nyhetsmorgon - Så påverkar revolutionen i Libyen upproret i Syrien |url=http://www.tv4play.se/nyheter_och_debatt/nyhetsmorgon?title=sa_paverkar_revolutionen_i_libyen_upproret_i_syrien&videoid=1946736 |publisher=TV4 |date=24 August 2011 |access-date=28 August 2011}}</ref>

BBC Arabic showed in a special report how Fida run the page from his apartment in Eskilstuna. Fida explained that 75% of the administrators who run the site today are from within Syria. Fida also told that it is a difficult process before a video is approved and posted on the site: the event must have been filmed and sent by various independent sources, even sometimes needed to be confirmed by filming the date on a local newspaper, or that some of the protesters show big signs where you can clearly see the week's campaign name.<ref name= "bbcinterview">{{cite news |title=حصريا : أحمد الشيخ في غرفة عمليات الثورة السورية |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6kqiY0u53M4 |publisher=BBC Arabic |date=6 July 2011 |access-date=28 August 2011}}</ref>

He called Sweden in interview with SVT to expel the Syrian ambassador, explaining that some of his friends had been murdered because of an image or a video that they have sent to the page.<ref name= "svt"/> 65% of the website's readers are coming from Syria.<ref name= "svt"/>

== Personal Views == Fida has been characterized as a supporter of the Syrian opposition, likening the situation to that of the French Revolution.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Wikstrom|first=Basma Atassi, Cajsa|title=Uprising, revolution or civil war?|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2013/3/15/syria-uprising-revolution-or-civil-war|access-date=2021-12-04|website=Al Jazeera English|language=en}}</ref> On the question of military intervention in Syria, he replied "the people of Syria do not want military action. They want political and economic penalties on al-Assad's government, as well as tougher statement from the UN, EU and the larger organizations. They want the EU countries to expel Syrian ambassadors and recall their ambassadors from Damascus".<ref name="tv4" />

Fida has reported being sent threatening letters in Swedish and Arabic. In response to the question of how long he intended to continue, Fida answered "until I die".<ref name= "svt"/>

==See also== *Syrian Revolution *Syrian Revolution General Commission *Arab Spring

==References== {{reflist}} {{Syrian uprising (2011–present)}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Sayed, Fida}} Category:Swedish imams Category:Swedish activists Category:Swedish people of Syrian descent Category:1985 births Category:Living people Category:People of the Syrian civil war Category:Mälardalen University College alumni