Daily Star Editorial

A vicious attack in broad daylight Thursday against one of Syria’s leading artists, the internationally renowned political cartoonist Ali Ferzat, is the kind of incident that generates serious questions about whether the government of President Bashar Assad is aware of the impact of its actions.
Ferzat has made it known in recent weeks that he is not in lock-step with the Assad government, but is far from being considered a traditional enemy of the authorities in Damascus.

After years spent as one of the Arab world’s leading cartoonists, Ferzat became even more prominent a decade ago, just after Assad became president. Ferzat was the editor of the satirical weekly Al-Domari (The Lamplighter), a periodical that served as one of the early signs of hope that the new president was ushering in an era of change.

But the recent cartoons by Ferzat – one in which he portrayed Assad packing his suitcases along with Moammar Gadhafi – were apparently too much for the authorities to stomach. The brief kidnapping of Ferzat and his subsequent brutal beating at the hands of unknown thugs left him with broken hands, a message of retribution for daring to express his opinions.

Last month, it was the turn of Ibrahim Qashoush, termed the “revolutionary singer” because of his chants in support of toppling Assad. Human rights groups said at the time that Qashoush was found dead, with his throat cut, in a clear message to anyone opposing the Syrian authorities.

Syrian actions against leading intellectuals and artists are a sign of how desperate the authorities have become in their drive to crush any type of dissenting opinions. The Syrian authorities appear to have no regard for what the public, whether inside or outside the country, thinks of their actions.

The beating of Ferzat comes after Damascus has made every effort to convince the world that “armed gangs” have been terrorizing the Syrian people, necessitating a harsh military response. But the thugs who attacked Ferzat did so in one of the most heavily patrolled and watched areas of the capital. For the Syrian authorities to regain any shred of credibility in terms of their vigorous public opinion campaign, they would have to produce, try and punish the attackers of Ferzat, but this is extremely unlikely.

The Syrian authorities should also be aware that the latest incident will give scant hope to defenders of Damascus that Assad’s government has any intention of moving toward a confrontation with its opponents that isn’t based on violence.