The protagonist is a metaphor for Hafez Al Assad, father of Bashar Al Assad and his predecessor as Syrian leader. The movie character is a patriarchal figure whose authoritarian tendencies lead to ...

Bashar al-Assad, Syria’s murderer-in-chief, has fled to Moscow. The people are celebrating, tearing down posters of Assad and statues of his equally vicious father, who founded the regime.

Art World Syrian Artists Envision a Future After Assad: ‘I’m Drunk With Ideas’ While it’s uncertain what comes next, they believe nothing could be worse than the last five decades.

Images of Bashar al-Assad and his family were emblematic of the dynasty’s grip on Syria. Though remnants linger after the regime’s ouster, the removal of the once ubiquitous relics has offered ...

It was after Bashar al-Assad violently clamped down on protesters in 2011 that Syria was plunged into a 13-year civil war, in the course of which 500,000 people are thought to have been killed.

Now, with Bashar Al-Assad gone, Hafez joins the show to share his hopes for this moment, and to talk about how his art has helped him to adjust. Aired 12/12/2024 Problems playing video?

Comics had already been trying to foster stand-up in Syria before Bashar al-Assad’s fall. Now, they are telling jokes in a liberated country, while warily eyeing the new government.