Mouawiya Syasneh

Mouawiya Syasneh (Arabic: معاوية الصياصنة; born 1996 or 1997)^[1] is a Syrian figure known for his involvement in the events that preceded the Syrian civil war. In March 2011, then 14 or 15-year-old Syasneh and his friends spray-painted anti-government graffiti on the walls of their school in Daraa.^[1] Many credited the graffiti incident as a trigger for the onset of widespread protests against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, which ultimately escalated into civil war.^[2]

Mouawiya Syasneh
Born	1996 (age 28–29) or 1997 (age 27–28) Daraa, Syria
Organization	Free Syrian Army
Known for	Role in the Syrian Civil War

Early life

Mouawiya Syasneh was born and raised in the southern Syrian city of Daraa, which was 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 before 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, whom Assad's regime accused of writing several graffiti in Daraa.^[6] They were allegedly tortured by Najib, who, among others, accused and insulted the Houran, while denying the children's release. According to multiple sources, this incident sparked the beginning of the Syrian revolution in the city.^[6]

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]

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]

Later on, Syasneh joined the Free Syrian Army (FSA) and participated in several 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

• Syrian Civil War
• Arab Spring
• Bashar al-Assad
• Syrian revolution