BEIRUT — Abed Hakawati spends his days in a devastated, rebel-held neighborhood of Aleppo, writing graffiti on the walls to remind residents and rebels alike of the original goals of the uprising that erupted four years ago: “Freedom, dignity and social equality.”
The 37-year-old, once an actor in the theater, is now a fugitive, on the run from President Bashar Assad’s forces and Islamic State militants who have taken advantage of the civil war to take over much of northern and eastern Syria.
Hakawati is among the secular activists with a dream of a democratic Syria who were the backbone of the peaceful protest movement that erupted in March 2011 against Assad’s autocratic rule. Their dream didn’t just fail, it exploded. They watched it perverted in ways that reached new depths of horror year after year, from barrel bombs smashing historic cities to Islamic radicals beheading and burning opponents.
Four years later, many Syrians believe the conflict has become a choice between rule by Assad and rule by Islamic radicals, and many, the activists admit, prefer the former.
Hopes of democracy seem distant in a wrecked nation where more than 220,000 people have been killed, countless others maimed and millions dispersed in the worst humanitarian crisis of the 21st century. The conflict has bred extremism that has touched countries across the globe and instilled chaos that may redraw the map of the Middle East.
Those original activists lucky enough to have survived or escaped abroad now struggle to come to terms with what went wrong. Many say the chaos is exactly what Assad wanted to preserve his rule.
“Quite simply, all the moderate voices that have called for a civil, democratic state have been either silenced or radicalized,” Hakawati said. “This was Bashar Assad’s plan, and it worked.”
Inspired by the Arab Spring uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt, Syria’s revolt erupted in March 2011, when security forces arrested a group of teenagers who scrawled anti-Assad graffiti on a wall in the southern city of Daraa. A small protest took place March 15 in Damascus’ old city, calling for reforms, considered by many the start of the uprising. Three days later, security forces opened fire on a protest in Daraa, killing four people, the first deaths of the revolt.
Protests grew and spread in towns and cities across provinces, met by batons and bullets. Protests were often joyous. In Homs — one of the worst-hit cities during the crackdown — exultant crowds of protesters danced arm in arm and singing to the beat of a drum “Yalla Irhal, ya Bashar!” — a simple yet powerful lyric translating to “Come on, Bashar, leave.”
