Tuesday, October 2, 2012

A Blooming Flower of the Arab Spring… Hamza Ali al-Khatib



Hamza al-Khatib, a 13-year old boy from Dara’a, was excited to go out and protest like any other child who has experienced the taste of freedom. On May 25, 2011, Hamza left his home to protest against the siege that has been suffocating the innocent residents of Dara’a for days. However, his excitement  was shattered when the regime’s forces situated at the barriers arrested him. For days he was gone, and his family was deeply worried, but their worry did not last for long as it was replaced by a burning heart mixed with grief and pain when they received his corpse at their door. His body showed effects of torture, with bruises over his entire body and holes due to the shots that the regime’s forces fired at him. Assad’s forces were not satisfied yet. They went as far as cutting the little boy’s genitals and breaking his neck. Hamza Ali al-Khatib has become a symbol of all the young victims of the brutal Syrian regime and a blooming flower in the Arab Spring.