Ala'a Basatneh

Ala'a Basatneh, born in Damascus, Syria, is a Syrian-American political activist best known for her involvement in the Syrian Revolution. She is the focus of the 2013 documentary called #ChicagoGirl: The Social Network Takes on a Dictator. In 2016, she attended President Obama's last State of the Union address, as a guest of Illinois Democratic Representative Mike Quigley.

Biography According to the documentary she was the protagonist of, #ChicagoGirl, Basatneh was born in Damascus, Syria and emigrated to the United States with her family when she was six months old.

Basatneh graduated and Northeastern Illinois University with a political science degree. She is a writer at Fusion, focusing mostly on politics and the Arab world.

Political activism Basatneh became an online political activist in 2011, after news reports regarding the arrest of 15 young students in Daraa. She also personally visited Syria to deliver medical supplies.