From socks to sarcasm: How Syrians are mocking the al-Assad dynasty
At Basel al-Sati's souvenir shop in a central Damascus market, socks bearing caricatures that ridicule ousted Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad and his once feared family now sell like hot cakes.
'I want to bring joy to people who've been deprived of happiness for so many days and years,' said Sati, 31, displaying pairs of white ankle-length socks.
'Everyone who comes from abroad wants to buy the socks -- some to keep as a souvenir, others to wear mockingly and take pictures,' he told AFP.
'There are even some who buy them just to stomp on them,' he said.
Stamping on someone's image is considered deeply insulting in the Arab world, so the socks allow wearers to trample the al-Assads underfoot as they walk.
Pictures of the al-Assad clan have gone from being ubiquitous symbols of repression to objects of derision and mockery since his December 8 ouster by anti-government forces after nearly 14 years of devastating civil war.
Some socks showing al-Assad in sunglasses read 'We will trample them', while others depict him with heavily exaggerated features.
Others bear a caricature of Hafez al-Assad who ruled Syria before his son, depicted in his underwear and chest puffed out.
They bear the phrase 'This is what the al-Assads look like' -- a play on the family's last name, which means lion.
Al-Assad's once feared younger brother Maher labelled 'the captagon king' also features. Western governments accused Maher and his entourage of turning Syria into a narco state, flooding the Middle East with the illegal stimulant.
'No better' gift
Sati's shop, brimming with other gift items, is decorated with images from Syria's revolution.
An image of al-Assad is on the ground at the entrance so people can walk on it.
'It's another kind of celebration, for all the Syrians who couldn't celebrate in Ummayad Square after the fall of the regime,' Sati said.
The Damascus landmark filled with huge crowds from across the country and hosted days of celebrations after al-Assad's ouster, with people raising the now official three-starred flag symbolising the revolution.
Afaf Sbano, 40, who returned after fleeing to Germany a decade ago, said she had come to buy 'Assad socks', which sell for around a dollar a pair, for friends.
There is 'no better' gift for those 'who can't come to Syria to celebrate the fall of the regime', she told AFP.
'I bought more than 10 extra pairs for my friends after I shared a photo on Instagram,' she said.
'We had never dared to even imagine making fun of him' before, she added.
'People hate him'
Manufacturer Zeyad Zaawit, 29, said the idea of socks to mock the al-Assads came to him after the former ruler was deposed and fled to Russia.
Zaawit started with a small number and then ramped up production when he saw they were selling fast.
'People hate him,' Zaawit said of al-Assad.
'I took revenge on him this way after he fled,' he said, adding that the socks were so popular that some customers even paid in advance.
Zaawit said he produced around 1,000 pairs in the first week and has since tripled production, making more than 200,000 pairs in three months.
Images of the socks have been shared widely on social media and they have even been used in satirical television programs.
Al-Assad's own words have also been turned against him -- including a refusal to meet Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a foe who is close to Syria's new authorities.
Erdogan made repeated overtures to al-Assad in the period before his overthrow.
In August 2023, al-Assad famously said: 'Why should I meet Erdogan? To drink refreshments?'
The pronouncement, now the subject of jokes on social media, appears on posters in food and juice stalls, sometimes accompanied by mocking images of al-Assad.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Arab News
an hour ago
- Arab News
Israel may have breached EU agreement, bloc's foreign policy arm says
Palestinians try to get food at a charity kitchen providing hot meals in Rimal neighborhood in Gaza City on June 18, 2025, amid the ongoing war between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement. (AFP) Mourners carry a body for burial outside al-Awda hospital in Nuseirat camp in central Gaza, on June 20, 2025, after several Palestinians were killed as they reportedly headed to a food distribution centre in the war-stricken Gaza Strip. (AFP) Palestinians try to get food at a charity kitchen providing hot meals in Rimal neighborhood in Gaza City on June 18, 2025, amid the ongoing war between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement. (AFP) Palestinians carry sacks and boxes of food and humanitarian aid that was unloaded from a World Food Program convoy that had been heading to Gaza City in the northern Gaza Strip on June 16, 2025. (AP) BRUSSELS: The European Union's diplomatic service said on Friday there were indications that Israel had breached its human rights obligations under the terms of a pact governing its ties with the bloc, according to a document seen by Reuters. Citing assessments by independent international institutions, the European External Action Service said 'there are indications that Israel would be in breach of its human rights obligations under Article 2 of the EU-Israel Association Agreement.' The report comes after months of deepening concern in European capitals about Israel's operations in Gaza and the humanitarian situation in the enclave. 'Israel's continued restrictions to the provision of food, medicines, medical equipment, and other vital supplies affect the entire population of Gaza present on the affected territory,' the document said. Asked about the EU review, an Israeli official called it 'a one-sided report that exemplifies the double standards the EU uses toward Israel.' Under the EU-Israel Association Agreement, which came into force in 2000, the EU and Israel agreed that their relationship 'shall be based on respect for human rights and democratic principles.' The EU's top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, announced in May that the bloc would examine whether Israel was complying with the terms of the pact, after over half of EU members backed the conducting of a review. The report includes a section dedicated to the situation in Gaza, covering issues related to denial of humanitarian aid, attacks with a significant number of casualties, attacks on hospitals and medical facilities, displacement, and lack of accountability. The report also looks at the situation in the West Bank, including settler violence. The document relies on 'facts verified by and assessments made by independent international institutions, and with a focus on most recent events in Gaza and the West Bank,' it said. Israel has said that it respects international law and that operations in Gaza are necessary to destroy Hamas, the Palestinian group responsible for the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on Israel. EU foreign ministers are set to discuss the review during a gathering in Brussels on Monday. Member countries remain divided in their approach to Israel. While some ministers could advocate for moving toward taking action based on the review, no concrete decisions are expected at Monday's session. Diplomats expect EU officials will reach out to Israel with the outcome of the review in an effort to influence it, and that ministers will return to the subject during a July meeting.
Arab News
2 hours ago
- Arab News
Hundreds of US citizens left Iran in last week, State Dept cable says
WASHINGTON: Hundreds of American citizens have departed Iran using land routes over the past week since an aerial war between the Islamic Republic and Israel broke out, according to an internal State Department cable seen by Reuters on Friday. While many left without problem, 'numerous' citizens had faced 'delays and harassment' while trying to exit, the cable said. It said, without giving further details, that one unidentified family had reported that two US citizens attempting to leave Iran had been detained. The internal cable dated June 20 underscores the challenge Washington is facing in trying to protect and assist its citizens in a country with which it has no diplomatic relations and in a war in which the United States may soon get involved. The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The cable was first reported by The Washington Post. • US advises land exits via Azerbaijan, Armenia or Turkey • Some US citizens departing Iran faced problems, cable says • Over 6,400 US citizens filled possible evacuation form in Israel President Donald Trump and the White House said on Thursday he will decide in the next two weeks whether the US will get involved in the Israel-Iran war. Trump has kept the world guessing on his plans, veering from proposing a swift diplomatic solution to suggesting Washington might join the fighting on Israel's side. The air war began on June 13 when Israel attacked Iran and has alarmed a region that has been on edge since the start of Israel's war in Gaza in October 2023. Israel is the only country in the Middle East widely believed to have nuclear weapons, and said it struck Iran to prevent Tehran from developing its own nuclear weapons. Iran, which says its nuclear program is peaceful, has retaliated with its own strikes on Israel. Iran is a party to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, while Israel is not. POTENTIAL EVACUATION The US State Department in a travel alert earlier on Friday urged its citizens wishing to depart Iran to use land routes via Azerbaijan, Armenia or Turkiye. Iranian airspace is closed. The US Embassy in the Turkmenistan capital of Ashgabat has requested entry for over 100 American citizens, but the Turkmenistan government has yet to give its approval, the cable said. The Islamic Republic treats Iranian-US dual citizens solely as nationals of Iran, the State Department emphasized. 'US nationals are at significant risk of questioning, arrest and detention in Iran,' the alert said. Washington is looking at ways to potentially evacuate its citizens from Israel, but it has almost no way of assisting Americans inside Iran. The two countries have had no diplomatic ties since the Iranian Revolution in 1979. US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee on Thursday said the administration was looking at different ways to get US citizens out. 'We're working to get military, commercial, charter flights and cruise ships for evac,' he said in an X post, urging US citizens and green card holders to complete an online form. As of Friday, more than 6,400 US citizens filled out that form for Israel, a separate internal department email seen by Reuters said. The form allows the agency to predict an approximate figure for potential evacuations. 'Approximately 300-500 US citizens per day would potentially require departure assistance,' said the internal email, also dated June 20 and marked 'sensitive.' The State Department does not have official figures but thousands of US citizens are thought to be residing in Iran and hundreds of thousands in Israel. Israel's strikes over the last week have killed 639 people in Iran, according to the Human Rights Activists News Agency. Israel says Iranian attacks have killed 24 civilians in Israel. 'The US Department of State received no reports of US citizen casualties in Israel or Iran,' the second email said.
Arab News
4 hours ago
- Arab News
Saudi analyst tells Al Arabiya news that Turki Al-Jasser was a ‘terrorist' and ‘traitor'
RIYADH: Salman Al-Ansari, a renowned Saudi political analyst, said during an interview with news channel Al Arabiya that Turki Al-Jasser, who was arrested in 2018 and executed last Saturday, was not a journalist, as many posts on social media accounts claimed after his death was announced. Al-Jasser was 'literally a terrorist (and) a traitor, and he had nothing to do with journalism,' Al-Ansari said. Media reports describing him as a journalist were a 'fabrication,' he added. During the interview, Al-Ansari told Al Arabiya his sources had confirmed Al-Jasser worked for a 'sensitive government agency' and had access to classified information. He added that Al-Jasser had been involved 'in the planning and financing of terrorism.' Saudi Affairs Expert @Salansar1 rejects claims that terrorism convict Turki al-Jasser was a journalist. He shares new details in an interview on Al Arabiya English's W News. — Al Arabiya English (@AlArabiya_Eng) June 20, 2025
