From inside Syria..

The Syrian Ghandi: Ghiath Matar

Ghiath Matar...

He left as a martyr... but returned as a flower bud, only to bloom in the spring of freedom

A Syrian activist from Daraya, Damascus.. who died under the hands of the Syrian regime's forces due to the torture he was subjected to when the Syrian forces arrested him.

He became known flowers and roses to army soldiers, to show them that this revolution was all about peace. But they were not satisfied only after torturing him and killing him in the terrifying prisons of Syria.

That is why Ghiath Matar became a symbol of peaceful resistance in the Syrian revolution....  another Ghandi.

He died on September 10, 2011 and his funeral was attended by ambassadors of many countries including Germany, Japan, Denmark and the United States.

A couple of months later, his wife gave birth to a child who she named after his father, Ghiath Matar.



RIP our blooming flower, Ghiath Matar.

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.