 According to NPR, before he became an activist, Jarrah was a "successful businessman with a comfortable life" but who quit his job "rather than join a pro-government rally".In 2012, Jarrah along with Deiaa Dughmoch established The ANA New-Media Association claiming it would become Syria's first independent free media agency.The office was established in Cairo given the dangers of doing so in Syria due to the events of the Syrian civil war and the Ba'ath governments crackdown on independent free media.