Syria Diaries: Tagging Civil Revolt

On BEIRUTSTATEofMIND's trip to the Aleppo province of Northern Syria in March we documented and translated some of the graffiti encountered - principally in the border town of Azaz, but also in Aleppo city itself and the villages of Bayanun and Hayyan in the Aleppo countryside. The messages contained in the tags provide some interesting insights into the local psyche...

Religious epithets beseeching divine aid in Azaz’s liberation and stencilled “Allahu Akbar” (God is Great) tags bisected by the unmistakable silhouette of a Kalashnikov appear alongside phrases denouncing embattled Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his cabinet as sycophantic Iranian agents and slogans cursing the Syrian regime’s Lebanese Allies Hizbullah as the “Party of Satan” (Hizb u-Shatan). There are more visual tags as well: defaced images of former Baath party MP’s line the town’s souk accompanied by tributes to fallen martyrs. Other tags simply profess to the hope for a brighter future.

Some of the imagery (with translations) can be found in the article linked HERE with further tags captured below.

 Whoever stands against our revolution his path is humiliation and death. The Noble Free Syrian Army

 (cant make out the last word). 

Azaz, March 2013.

The Party of Satan - a derogatory reference to Hezbollah, staunch allies of the Assad regime.

Azaz, March 2013.

 Wherever you go - we go,  wherever you return, we return. This is a special case. 

Outside old Mukhabarat HQ, Azaz, March 2013.

 Liberated Azaz... We kneel to no one but God.

 Azaz, March 2013.

 (We want) Freedom Only. 

Azaz, March 2013.

 Thief (foreground in blue)... The end of all oppressors (background in black). 

Azaz, March 2013. 

 Brigade tag. Aleppo, March 2013.

 Torch of Freedom. Azaz, March 2013.

 Photoshopped tributes to fallen martyrs and defaced images of former Baath MPs also contribute

 to the imagery at street level. 

Azaz, March 2013.

 Defaced Candidate, Azaz, March 2013.

 Defaced MPs, Aleppo, March 2013.