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Mouawiya Syasneh
Syrian protester From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Mouawiya al-Syasneh (Arabic: معاوية الصياصنة; born 1996 or 1997)[1] is a Syrian recognized for his role in the events that sparked the Syrian civil war. In March 2011, 14-year-old Syasneh and his friends spray-painted anti-government graffiti on the walls of their school in Daraa.[1] The graffiti incident has been credited by some as a trigger for the onset of widespread protests against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, which ultimately escalated into civil war.[2]
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Early life
Mouawiya Syasneh was born and raised in the southern Syrian city of Daraa, later considered the "cradle of the Syrian revolution."[3] Syasneh grew up in a conservative Sunni Muslim family in a community considered to have high rates of unemployment and limited opportunities for youth. Syasneh described his challenges under Assad's authoritarian rule, with the arrival of security chief Atef Najib worsening conditions and intensifying public dissatisfaction due to increasing atrocities committed prior to and during the Siege of Daraa by the Syrian Arab Army, where accusations arose of torture and extrajudicial killings of dissidents. In particular, the Syrian Arab Army detained and tortured dissidents accused of making graffiti against the Assad government.[4][5]
In early 2011, as the Arab Spring was engulfing the Arab world, the Syrian security apparatus arrested multiple children accused of creating graffiti in Daraa.[6] They were allegedly tortured by Najib, who accused and insulted the Houran and denied their release. This led to the start of the Syrian revolution in the city.[6]
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Graffiti incident
In February 2011, inspired by the Arab Spring protests in Egypt and Tunisia, Syasneh and his friends spray-painted the words "Ejak el door, ya doctor" ("Your turn has come, O Doctor"), referring to Assad, who had trained as an ophthalmologist before becoming Syria's leader. They were detained for 26 days by the Syrian secret police, the Mukhabarat, where they were reportedly tortured and mistreated. "The electric shock treatment was the worst," Syasneh recounted, adding, "They took me to the bathroom and it was really wet, and they would turn on the shower. They ran the current through the water and onto my back. I felt the shock wherever the water went." Thousands of people took to the streets demanding their release.[7] When the government violently suppressed these demonstrations, the unrest spread nationwide, marking the beginning of the Syrian Civil War.[8]
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Role in the Syrian Civil War
The graffiti incident is considered one of the early sparks of the Syrian uprising. While Syasneh did not intend to initiate a nationwide movement, the event coincided with growing discontent toward Bashar al-Assad’s government. Protests in Daraa escalated, contributing to broader unrest that later developed into an armed conflict.[9][10]
Syasneh later joined the Free Syrian Army (FSA) and participated in battles against government forces. In 2013, his father, a retired architectural engineer, was killed by a rocket while on his way to the mosque. Following this, Syasneh decided to take up arms, stating, "I never thought about shooting anyone before that, but he was my whole life, and I wanted to fight for him."[11]
He continues to live in Daraa in his partially damaged childhood home with his widowed mother and siblings.[12]
See also
References
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