I'm posting this translation here only because I am a product of US schools and so have no French to speak of: please give that link your click as well, they did the work. Also, nota bene that this is run through Google Translate, which has gotten much better but is still not perfect.
"Sami Zayn, whose real name is Rami Sebei, crisscrossed the Quebec small halls for years before identifying a chance in the independent wrestling federations. He spared no effort to become a champion of the NXT (WWE American League) and is now one of the stars of SmackDown Live with his good friend Kevin Owens. But all would not be impossible if his parents had left Syria in the 70s. This son of immigrants knows too well the luck he has, today more than ever. His story.
What is happening in Syria is a very personal subject for me. I am Syrian. I was born in Montreal, I am proudly Quebec and Canadian. But in my house, it was 100% Syrian. Outside, I was in Quebec, at home, I was in Syria.
I'm lucky to live my dream of working for WWE. But I always keep in mind that if my parents did not come to Quebec in the 1970s, maybe you would have seen the news. It may be me who would be on a small inflatable boat in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea.
The difference between me and them, deep down, is not much. It's because my parents left before all this happened.
My grandmother is still there. I also have cousins, aunts and uncles. A large part of my family was in Syria when the war started. There are still many who are still there, but there are also some who have left. I have family whose members came here as refugees.
I know it's a polarizing subject. But for me, when we talk about refugees, when we use big words and vague terms, basically, we talk about my family. It strikes me in a much more personal way than someone who has no connection with this country.
I went to Syria twice. The first time, I was 5 years old, the second time I was 14 years old. I was so far away from all the concerns of today.
At the time, I was especially sad because I was there all summer and I was missing wrestling. That's telling you. I was so obsessed with wrestling.
I lived with my grandmother and where she lived, there was a guy on horseback selling watermelons with a bell in his hand. For one reason or another, it is the image I keep of Syria. I have beautiful memories of this place, of my family. It's so different as a culture. It was interesting to see it because I am the product of two really different cultures. At home, we speak Arabic, we eat Arabic. The mentality is Arab. When I went to school, with my friends, I was Quebec. These are two aspects of my life. That's why I am as I am, a product of two cultures that sometimes opposed each other.
When I went to Syria, I could see these differences. Little things in the way of living. There are naps, it was new to me. People were sleeping in broad daylight because it was too hot. Also, at the time, I loved skateboarding. Nobody had seen that. There were people trying to sleep and I was bothering them. There were no supermarkets. For tomatoes, you went to the garden, for bread, you went to the bakery.
DO SOMETHING
I recently saw the photos and videos of the same city where I was. Seeing all the destruction is difficult. It gave me the idea to try to do something. I thought that perhaps with my face, perhaps thanks to my notoriety, I could sensitize those who have no connection with Syria.
Sometimes we look at situations like what is happening in Syria and we have the impression that we can not do anything. That there is no way to change anything. It happened to me too. I realized that I had been talking about it for months, but that I was not doing anything.
I reached a point where I told myself that it had to change. Now I am in a position in my life and in my career where I can help a little more.
My brother is a humanitarian activist working in Canada with several organizations that help Syria. I am in the United States most of the year and I asked him which group he could recommend to help.
For me, the most important thing was to provide care. My brother told me about SAMS, the Syrian American Medical Society. This is one of the only groups that can directly help Syria, not just refugees around the country.
I contacted them, I looked at what we could do. They work not only in Syria, but also in several refugee camps in Jordan, Turkey, Greece. They have several programs. I did not really know what to do to help, but eventually I opted for the mobile clinic. There are plenty of people who do not have access to medicines because their village is destroyed and they have nothing left.
The mobile clinic is a way to bring them drugs directly. We worked on logistics and I started the Sami For Syria campaign. I also liked the idea that SAMS is a non-religious, apolitical group that does not seek profit. They are really here only to help the world.
I was a little worried about this project because when you hear the word Syria, there are so many political and religious implications. Yet there are hardly any detractors. No comments on politics or religion. Nothing. Even on Twitter or Facebook, and it's always there that people are the most negative.
I was overwhelmed by the generosity of people. We raised $ 79,000 from a goal of $ 96,000 so far. It's refreshing to see that. There is so much negativity. I even have trouble watching the news sometimes because it breaks my heart. This time, with Sami For Syria, I had the opportunity to do something only positive, with the sole purpose of helping the world.
LIVE IN PEACE
I am lucky with the struggle to have been able to work all over the world and to have seen so many other cultures. What you learn by traveling a lot is that people are really similar from one place to another. There are small differences in culture, way of life, religion, politics. It's unique to each region, of course. But basically, everyone just wants to live in peace. That's what I observed.
They are very much in the United States or Quebec, in the smaller cities, which may not know many Syrians. At least, if they see me, they can put a face on those who suffer on the other side of the world.
I must also tell you that even WWE supported me in this project. If they have the choice of seeing a wrestler trying to create a change or a wrestler wrestling, I imagine they will pick the wrestler who does something positive. It is surely good for the image of the company. I did not have any resistance, quite the contrary. They encouraged me.
As a company, there are limits to what WWE can do to help me, and I understand that. But I spoke to people in high places and I had their blessing for this project.
On the personal side, I still have to be careful. I know very well that sometimes we need athletes or celebrities to raise awareness about certain topics. But at the same time, my job is to entertain people. Nobody will come to me for opinions on politics or religion, they will come to me to be entertained.
It creates a conflict in me. Should I soften my political message, should I talk about this or that? Because I happened to throw some arrows at Donald Trump's administration. I know I have to be careful. WWE does not have a political or religious identity. It is apolitical.
My friends in wrestling supported me a lot in Sami For Syria. Wrestlers made retweets or made financial contributions. Kevin Owens and Seth Rollins, in particular, gave good amounts. It moved me. There was no negative response from my family, colleagues or the crowd.
My family in Syria knows that I am a wrestler, but they do not necessarily understand why. They would like me to be a doctor, an engineer. It's normal. All the same, I would like to go wrestle for them there one day. It would be a dream for me. But before going to wrestle, I would be happy to simply be able to return to Syria ...
- Interview by Jean-François Tremblay, La Presse
