When Islamic State overran the Iraqi city of Mosul, human life was not the only thing in peril. Knowledge was, too.
Fortunately, Ameen al-Jaleeli understood this. He used a friend’s wifi to transfer a vast batch of Wikipedia files for offline usage. When the militants cut the cables in July 2016, he was ready.
Olivia Cuthbert
Olivia is a freelance journalist and has been covering the Middle East for 15 years with a focus on women’s rights, international development, culture and education in the Arab world. Her work has been published in outlets including The Guardian, The Sunday Times, The Telegraph, New Statesman, Middle East Eye, openDemocracy and Wired magazine. She has a bachelor’s degree in English Language and Literature from the University of Oxford and speaks a little Arabic, but it’s a work in progress.