Bassel Al Shahade, a native of Damascus, Syria, couldn’t remain in the United States while so much was happening in his home country.

‘He felt guilty not being with his people during the struggle they were going through,’ said Owen Shapiro, a Syracuse University film professor and Shahade’s academic adviser.

He was killed in the city of Homs while filming government attacks against citizens in Syria. He was a Fulbright Scholar at SU working toward a Master of Fine Arts in Film in the College of Visual and Performing Arts. Those close to Shahade will remember him as a smart, talented young man with a passion for film.

‘Bassel was extremely smart, very talented and had a great sense of humor,’ Shapiro said. ‘He was easy to work with and was a great addition to our film program.’

Shahade was on campus for one semester last fall before returning to Syria to document the country’s revolution, Shapiro said. He said he kept in contact with Shahade through email after he returned to Syria.

Shahade did not express his experience in Syria to Shapiro in great detail because he was afraid that the Syrian government was monitoring his email, Shapiro said.

‘He didn’t say much about what was going on in Syria because he didn’t want to put anyone else in jeopardy, but he always said he was concerned for his own life,’ Shapiro said.

While in Syria, Shahade had been filming demonstrations against the Syrian government that were taking place, Shapiro said. He was also working with other citizen journalists to teach them how to shoot and edit film, so that they could expand the number of people who could document what was going on in the country.

Shapiro said Shahade was extremely invested in helping the Syrian people.

‘Above all else, he wanted to help his people in the struggle that they were going through despite the possibility of danger,’ Shapiro said.

Shapiro said students and faculty that were close to Shahade were notified of his death through an email from a fellow graduate student in the Gaza Strip. They were shocked and saddened to hear the news of his death, he said.

‘We’re also angry that this happened; that there are governments of the world that would kill their citizens for any reasons,’ Shapiro said.

Some friends of Shahade took to his Facebook page to mourn their loss.

Waheeb Al-Eryani wrote that he cried looking at pictures of Shahade.

‘He believed that neither sect, ethnicity nor religion mattered in relations between people as most people I knew in Syria did,’ he wrote. ‘ I knew he was so talented and believed he would make great movies.’

Shapiro said a group of SU students and faculty are planning a candlelight vigil for Shahade later this week. A memorial service will take place when students return to campus in the fall.

adhitzle@syr.edu 

Published on June 1, 2012 at 12:00 pm

Contact Alexandra: adhitzle@syr.edu | @LexieHitzler