Breakdown of Transnational Repression 105 I would say the first four months was difficult. Even some of your closest people will stay away from you because they are afraid of being associated.” In another example, Belal formed the National Syrian American Expatriate group in Anaheim, which he hoped would bring individuals with varied political views together to support gradual liberalization in Syria. This group of a dozen or so individuals put together a list of requests for Assad, including presidential term limits, in March 2011. However, Belal’s expatriate group was formed in secret out of fears of transnational repression, and Belal was the only member willing to sign his name to the group’s demands. 4.1.3 Syrians’ Gradual Coming Out and Risk-Taking Strategies Despite the challenges of going public, Syrians reported doing so after regime violence converted their families to the cause or forced their loved ones to flee. Sharif observed this shift among his conationals in Bradford, who began to tell him, “Look, if my family in Syria are going on the street, why do I need to be frightened here in England?” Similarly, Batul was able to “open up” in 2012 after her relatives in Syria decided to make their anti-regime position known and gave “their okay” for their relatives to come out. Washington, DCbased Mohammad al-Abdallah, a political exile whose father was imprisoned by the regime at the onset of the uprising, likewise reported being able to escalate his public criticisms of the regime after his father reached out to condone his son’s activism. He said, When the uprising started, I was on TV commenting and basically criticizing the government. But I had that concern about my family’s safety because members of my family were in prison. In April, I get a phone call from my father inside the prison. He managed to basically bribe a police officer and use his cell phone. And he called me, [saying] they’re arresting lots of people from the street and bring[ing] them to the prison here, but they tell me they see you on TV and they’re very proud of you. So please continue doing that regardless of what’s happening here. The victimization of loved ones also compelled respondents to transition from guarded to public advocacy. Nebal, a student in London, emphasized that although an embassy official had contacted him to demand that he attend proAssad demonstrations, he felt that he had “no choice” but to go public after his brother was imprisoned. Others did so after experiencing a personal loss. As Abdulaziz Almashi, a founder of the Global Solidarity Movement for Syria, attested, When I start joining the anti-Assad demonstrations in late April, we used to hide our faces with scarves because we’re not sure about the consequences, we’re worried about loved ones in Syria. In late May, my friend was killed in Hama and I saw the video on Al Jazeera. One week after that, the Syrian embassy again contacted me to ask me to join their protests, and I made my decision. I said “look, I’m not joining you, you are killing https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009272148 Published online by Cambridge University Press