Symbol of Resistance: Graffiti in Idlib, Syria, by Abu Malek Al-Shami Symbol of Resistance: Graffiti in Idlib, Syria, by Abu Malek Al-Shami

“I’ve finally met my mom after 11 years!” messaged the 30-year-old Syrian artist-activist Abu Malek Al-Shami, a few hours after reaching Damascus, the Syrian capital. “We will talk a lot,” he told me, “but let me understand that I am living this dream… I still can’t believe it!”

It was December 11, 2024. Syria’s dictatorial ruler, President Bashar al-Assad, who indiscriminately bombed his own country since 2011 and displaced millions, had fled Syria three days ago. Assad’s exit was a dream come true for thousands of Syrian refugees, including Al-Shami. He rushed back from the European country (which he does not want to mention), where he had been living a secretive life as an illegal migrant.

Al-Shami is among seven million Syrians who are scattered around the world, mostly in Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq in West Asia, Germany and Sweden in Europe and Egypt in North Africa. Syrians started leaving their land en masse in 2012 after the Assad regime launched a brutal crackdown on anti-government protesters.

Starting the tournament as clear favourites, Paris Olympics bronze-medallists India haven't disappointed so far, beating hosts China 3-0, Japan 5-1, trouncing Malaysia 8-1 before registering a 3-1 victory against Korea in their last match.

These two teams are meeting for the first time in the tournament in pool stage.

When the protests began in 2011, Al-Shami was 17. In 2013, hounded by the security forces for his participation in anti-government protests, he left Damascus, Syria’s capital, and his hometown, after his brothers were arrested. He sneaked into Darayya, a suburb of Damascus, and joined the Free Syrian Army, an armed group with a broadly secularist-nationalist approach.

Al-Shami says the Assad regime’s ‘brutal crackdown’, including firing on peaceful protesters and filling prisons with detainees, many of whom perished under torture, forced a large number of civilians to take up arms in self-defense, which the regime exploited to justify its actions under the pretense of fighting terrorism. In Darayya, he became a fighter during the night and a painter during the day. The graffiti with which he turned Darayya’s bombed buildings into symbols of resistance and hope earned him the moniker of ‘Banksy of Syria’, an allusion to the British street artist-activist.

But he soon went out of everybody’s radar, as Assad’s war against armed rebels and civilian opponents intensified. The deaths of his friends, many of them university students, became a regular affair. Al-Shami survived bullet wounds, but came out alive ‘rather miraculously’ from Darayya in 2016 when Syrian security forces launched a major onslaught.

His next destination was Idlib, which came under the control of the Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a rebel organisation, in 2017. He enrolled for a Baccalaureate in civil engineering at Idlib University. However, he dropped out in 2019, when the increasing intensity of indiscriminate bombing by Syrian security forces and their Russian allies turned Idlib into an unlivable city. While thousands fled, he stayed back and honed his skills in oil painting. During this period, he became associated with a street art group based in Kafranbel, a town 40 km south of Idlib which, like Darayya, drew global attention due to the protest graffiti that local revolutionaries painted on the walls. But Kafranbel fell to Assad’s forces in 2020.

He finally left Syria in 2021, but got caught in Turkey without valid papers and was sent back. He fled Syria again and reached a European country (which he does not want to mention), where he lived in a shared accommodation, undocumented, waiting for a response from another European country to his application for asylum.

merkur24 casino

When we spoke at the end of November 2024, he was under stress, cautious of not getting caught as an illegal migrant. He worked at a studio producing advertisements, earning a modest salary. He had no hope of returning anytime soon. I reminded him about a conversation we had in 2020. He had identified the continuance of the Assad regime as his worst nightmare, as it would mean the Syrian people ending up as homeless and refugees, spread all over the world, in countries that do not consider their sacrifices. Reminding him of that, I asked how he saw his nightmare unfold since 2020. He was upset that their fears became a lived reality, and the situation grew harsher.

Little did anyone know that things would change so dramatically. Upon hearing the news of Assad’s exit on December 8, he packed his bags. Al-Shami was back in Damascus on December 11 He posted a photo of him in Damascus, with the rebel groups’ ‘Free Syria’ flag in his hand. He went straight to his mother, who lives with one of his brothers and a sister. The Syrian war has left other members of the family scattered. The eldest brother, following his arrest and release, moved to Egypt, where he has been living with his family since 2014. Another brother, who too faced arrest, settled in Azaz, a northern Syrian town held by one of the rebel groups. The rest of his siblings live in Istanbul, the Turkish capital. Some have obtained Turkish citizenship, while others remain under temporary protection.

Al-Shami knows the moments to celebrate will not last long. “Syria needs a lot of work and it is very tired,” he says. He does not think of leaving Syria again. “I’ll do my best for national development and ensuring safety. Now is the time to work. I’m optimistic.”

(This appeared in the print as 'Syria Speaks')234win