SYRIA: Child victim's Facebook page becomes platform for opposition

The Facebook page created in memory of Hamza Khatib, a 13-year-old boy who died last week, allegedly tortured and killed in state custody, has become a focal point for opposition to four decades of rule by the Assad family in Syria. 

The teenager, who protesters say was brutally abused before being slain in custody, has become a symbol of the pro-democracy protests, Syrian activists said.

The Syrian government insists that Khatib died from a random buller at a demonstration. And President Bashar Assad has invited Khatib's family to meet with him and has promised an investigation of the youth's death.

But such assurances have done little to diminish Syrian protesters' outrage over the death of the boy, who has been tranformed into an icon for the activists' pro-democracy movement. Although the Facebook page has one creator, administrators now include more than 6,000 people. 

"We will not forget you, Hamza. We will not forget all the martyrs. We will not forget the weakness of Arab regimes. We will not forget the weakness of global regimes. We are all Hamza al Khatib," reads one of the posts on the Facebook page. 

TIMELINE: Uprising in Syria

The profile picture for the page is a photo of the dead Khatib emblazoned with the words "tortured and martyred by Assad's gangs," a reference to the Syrian president. 

The words continue across the bottom of a photo of a smiling Khatib: "We will not be silent. We will not close an eye until Assad's gangs are tried. [The regime] is the killer of innocence." 

Almost 67,000 people have become fans of the Facebook page, where people from all over the world share articles, photos and videos of the youth.

"The Facebook page is meant to target international audiences rather than local Syrian ones. The Syrians know very well what is going on in Syria, but the U.N. Security Council is too afraid to begin an investigation," said the creator of the page, who was reached via email and insisted on anonymity because he feared reprisals.  

One picture shows a vigil in Sacramento for the young resident of the southern Syrian city of Dara. In the background, the words "The regime will be overthrown" can be seen painted on a wall. In a written comment beneath the picture, a young woman from New Zealand swears that she will share the story of Khatib's death with the rest of the world.

ALSO:

Syrian government releases hundreds of detainees, protesters not satisfied

Bahrain's emergency law lifted; human rights activist summoned by military

Amnesty International demands justice for Egypt's victims of 'virginity tests'

-- Roula Hajjar in Beirut 

 Photo: Images of Hamza Khatib dead and alive are accompanied by an inscription vowing to keep alive his memory. Credit: Facebook. 

Comments

[Nick]

Syrian President Bashar Assad had decided to follow the footsteps of his father, Hafez, who was responsible, along with the Baath party for the genocide committed in City of HAMMAH in 1982, at a time when the international community stood idle watching this war crime been committed, without taking a single initiative to stop it. This regime is also responsible for many other atrocities, and for imposing the emergency law, that has been in effect since 1963, authorizing the detention of political dissidents. When the editor of well known Lebanese magazine,” Al Hawadeth”, Salim Louzi , in the early eighties decided to write articles in his magazine to criticize Syria’s policies and human rights record, he was also butchered, same styly of little Hamza Al-Khatib .Let us not forget, the assassination of PM Rafic Harirri and number of his colleagues and politicians. People of Syria as we speak, have been massacred simply because they are demanding freedom. Civilians who have trying to buy bread for their families in Jableh or homos, have been shot. Activists who are caught with cellular phone or computers have imprisoned and tortured some tortured and beaten to death. Mass grave has been found recently in the southern town of Daraa.To add insult to injury, the regime is not allowing any westerners or Arab media to enter the county, so no one has any record of their atrocities.
Are we going to allow GENOCIDE to take place this time around in our modern history? Are we going to permit this authoritarian, regime to deliberately send snipers from its select, elite special forces, led by Bashar Assad Brother Maher, that was primarily formed to protect the regime, to murder its own, unarmed citizens?
I realize that this regime has been serving our interest in the region in terms of stability, for over fifty years, however these arrangement had proven to be very costly to our national interest. Syria had supported Hisbullah, and many other rogue terrorist groups such The Popular Front for the liberation of Palestine/ General Command, Fateh Al- Islam, and many others, aiming at destablizing Lebanon,Iraq, Palestine and the whole region , and gaining political ground, to further its own political influence in the region.
I urge you to write to the white house, and the state department. Kindly ask them them to take action to stop the slaughter.
I applaud our effort, to privatively ask the Syrian government to halt the slaughter, but that is not enough, and it is not working. We must take tougher stand to support the people's universal right of freedom. We ought to extend our support to the anti-government groups covertly, and furthermore expose this regime, perhaps we could better serve our interest by forging alliances with the people of Syria, in that important part of the world.
God Bless,

[AM]

sounds to me the only propaganda and misinformation comes from you 'Bianca'... who's holding your leash?
and Gazza, go take your meds quick, and if you are going to enlighten us with your compassionate heart and quick thinking, check who's propaganda you are paying attention to: there is no 'apparently' on this crime, Hamza was rounded up -kidnapped - by security forces along with other seventeen people or so, the family did not hear of his whereabouts or his condition for a month, he was returned dead. Ya'll need to stop covering the sun with your finger.

[Satan]

Read much? -> "random buller"

[Nermeen]

The fact that YES So-called ISRAEL is killing Palestenian children everyday, violating human rights everyday and is a fake state aided by the west to occupy Palestine- cannot be denied. I do agree most of the time Arabs do blame the west for their governments actions- but thecae here NOW and THIS article is referring to Hamza Alkhatib who was tortured and killed by the hands of Assads forces. And we dare sit here arguing over who's right and who's wrong - that would have not been the case had it been your daughter, your son tortured, killed or humiliated in any way.

[Bianca]

This is exploitation of a dead child. In Syria today, there are many factions that are taking advantage of the civilian protests. These are armed, go around the country and kill. Many international reports have pointed out this phenomena. US reporting is far behind what is really happening. These groups are trying to grab some portion of power. There is no reason for the govermnent to arrest, torture or kill a child. But there are plenty of motives for the armed spliter groups to commit such crime, deepen the confilict and put the government on the defense. You may wish to find more sources of information, that is, other then the often self-serving civil society NGOs. Such groups, as good intentioned as they may be, are prone to interpret everything from their parochial angle, and end up aiding and abbetting the violent splinter groups. The groups are the garden variety extremists; in the climate of chaos, they are killing their "enemies", as well as the government that like any other government keeps an eye on the violent extremism.

It will be very, very helpfull to get information from other sources, and not fall for everybody's propaganda. Whatever one thinks of any regime, supporting violent, antisocial elements in any society in the time of chaos, is not the way to go.

[ABG]

Well, Joao, there were numerous Facebook pages calling for the 3rd Intifada scheduled for May 15, so I am surprised that there aren't many pages devoted to the kids killed by IDF. Unless, of course, there aren't kids targeted and killed by the IDF. That being said, I wonder if there is a Facebook page for the Israeli kid murdered via heat seeking missile which targeted his school bus.

You're good with the bumper sticker logic. You ought to be seeing as how that's all the pro-Palestinian side seems to promote anyway.

[Al]

Maybe we will know in 30 years what the truth was. Much of these news from both sides are propaganda. Diplomats talking about viagra to help rape in Libya? Chemical weapons getting ready to be used in Libya? Bombing civilians with planes in Libya? Mass graves in Syria?

I just don't trust news anymore and social networks are easily manipulated.

[JoaoAlfaiate]

Funny we don't see any Facebook pages like this one for Palestinian kids murdered by the Israelis.

[ABG]

Sure thing, Gazza. The only interesting part of your post is that you didn't blame "Zionists".

[Truth]

I'm surprised the poster who claimed the story was fabricated did not go on to blame the US, Israel and the Jews.
Its always been easier for the Arabs of the region to blame their problems on these bogeymen than to address the evils of their own societies. Unfortunately for the likes of Assad or his cohorts in Hezbollah and Hamas, the Arab street is finally waking up to the fact that it is they and not Israel that are the true enemies of the Arab people.
Truth is coming out and the liars and the haters should be very very afraid

[Gazza]

What a bunch of idiots. This is a fabricated story from start to finish. He was killed inadvertantly after soldiers responded afer a protest at a government barracks responded to qweapons fire from the crowd, apparently from one of the agitators who paid the crowd to protest. He wa sonlty just identified, and the condition of this body is due to decay not torture. The lurid details are lies and fabrications spead by activists who seek to profit from the death of a young boy caught in the wrong place and the wrong time, and manipulated by others.

Seek the truth, and don't be fooled by the lies in corporate media or activist social media.