Martyr from My Hometown: A Peaceful Struggle Halted by Death
Martyr from My Hometown: A Peaceful Struggle Halted by Death
Majd Al-Hussein – Daraa
He called for the peacefulness of the revolution, attempting to paint the confrontation without succumbing to criminal ethics or carrying weapons. He tried to convey the message by dedicating the principle of nonviolence in the revolution against oppressors.
The martyr engineer “Maan Al-Awdat” was one of the important figures known in Houran and one of the prominent local figures in the peaceful popular movement. He was the first to launch the slogan “Peaceful, Peaceful” in the demonstrations, which became one of the most important slogans in the revolution and spread throughout Syria.
He used to stand among the demonstrators and chant with them, emphasizing the necessity for everyone to adhere to the peacefulness of the revolution and not to succumb to the attempts of militias calling for carrying weapons, despite the fall of martyr after martyr.
He called for a unified Syria, a secular state with multiple sects based on democracy and the rejection of dictatorship. He stated that human beings diminish their intelligence with their belief in violence and insisted that renouncing violence is the true method of confrontation, not escape. He believed that humans distinguish themselves from animals by the presence of intelligence and the rejection of violence in all its forms.
Maan was arrested multiple times, tortured in dark dungeons, but despite that, he remained steadfast in his principles. He used to say, “When I come out of their prisons, I will return to the protest squares.”
In one of the sit-ins in front of the Saraya building in Daraa Al-Mahatta, the security forces arrested him for more than a month. When released, he went directly to Freedom Square next to the Umayyad Mosque in Daraa Al-Balad before going home to his wife and children.
Upon hearing the news of his release, his wife and children went to see him. He was among the crowds, carrying on his shoulders and chanting his usual slogan “Peaceful, Peaceful.”
The security authorities realized the danger of the ideology represented by “Maan Al-Awdat” and the strength of his influence. Thus, a decision to eliminate him came from the highest political authority. On August 8, 2011, during the funeral of one of the revolution’s martyrs, the cemetery in Daraa Al-Balad was surrounded by the security forces. The funeral procession turned into a demonstration, led by Maan Al-Awdat. He was targeted during it, shot in the side, falling injured. Gunfire was directed at anyone approaching him to provide aid. The head of the military security branch in Daraa, Colonel Luay Al-Ali, approached with his war pistol drawn and executed Maan Al-Awdat from point-blank range. He fell dead.
Maan Al-Awdat joined the caravan of martyrs who paved the way for freedom with their peaceful activism. However, the chants he used to recite continued after him and became the slogans of all the sons of the Syrian revolution.
Maan departed, but his principles, chants for freedom, and his message that nonviolence is the strongest and the comprehensive universal constitution for the success of revolutions remained. Nonviolence is the decisive sword that does not cause harm.
