Syrian Cyberactivists Turn to Graphic Art
SMN No. 5, July 2, 2010
On a castle wall in old Damascus are plastered two large photos of a former political activist. On one of the photos, Tohama Maarouf is pictured with her two children, and on the other she is standing alone behind bars above a sentence that reads, “The place of Tohama is with Cesar and Diana [her children]… But… the law is at the service of the security services.”
Next to the photos is a large poster of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad over the slogan, “Syria protected by God.”
But this snapshot of downtown Damascus only exists virtually on the internet. With Syrian youths unable to scribble political slogans on the streets or daub graffiti on walls, cyber-activists in Syria are resorting to Photoshop and graphic art to draw attention to political issues.
The above-mentioned collage was designed by a netizen for a Facebook page that was created recently in support of Maarouf who was arrested in February on the grounds of a sentence that was issued against her in 1995 and until now not enforced. Back then, she was accused of belonging to the outlawed communist party.
Activists say that Maarouf had abandoned political work after her arrest for a year in the 1990s and was until her recent detention working as a dentist and raising her two children.
More than 150 people have so far pledged their support for Maarouf through her page on Facebook.
One activist, contacted via email, said that images had a much stronger impact on people than words. He said that this explained why netizens were using images to publicise their causes online although he added that technical limitations have not made this form of graphic expression widespread yet.
On a Facebook page of another prisoner of conscience, stylised photos of Tal Malouhi were displayed in solidarity with this 19 year-old blogger who was detained by security officials last year. One of the compositions carries her photo in a golden frame with a legend reading “Tal Malouhi… We are all with you.” Another picture branded “Freedom for Tal Malouhi”, has her photo next to that of a flying dove. Thousands have joined the group to call for her immediate release.
A third group created in November last year called on the abolition of the emergency law in effect in the country since 1963, which gives sweeping powers to security officials to arrest dissidents and stifle freedom of expression and association. The group, which included 270 members, used a chained map of Damascus to symbolise the repression of liberties in the country.
