Like other Syrians now, Ahmad received condolences and congratulations for the martyrdom of his brother through social networks.
For centuries, Syrians have received condolences in graceful houses or large tents, filled with voices reading Quranic verses or with the presence of the local Sheikh and surrounded by dozens of people.
"Geography has narrowed and cities have been levelled", Ahmad says.
"What are the possible options? We are just like other Syrians, homeless because the Syrian regime displaced us from our homes and cities."
Ahmed explains: "My brother was executed in regime prison. I am exiled in Jordan, my third brother is in Turkey and the fourth and fifth are somewhere else… what do we have more than Facebook to use as a place to receive condolences from many friends?"
Mother and journalist Nuha Shabaan, likewise in her farewell to her son, who was martyred, leaving just memories of engineering studies in place of the revolution, wrote on her Facebook page: "The news of your martyrdom will fill all my pages for a long time. Your news is a headline for all the news and you have become the most important breaking news in my life."
While congratulations for his martyrdom kept arriving from far and wide, the location and comments reveal the plight of all Syrians.
Congratulations came from London, from Egypt, from Beirut and the countryside of Damascus, where the martyr shed his blood.
Condolences or congratulations for the martyrdom of someone through social networks is something only Syrians understand. We look at the number of condolences in the absence of any alternative, except for some regions in the north or east of Syria.
The siege applied by the Syrian regime, using missiles and heavy artillery, has imposed a new reality for Syrians – and one they never could have imagined but in nightmares.
Journalist Mohammad Hamady, who lives in Amman, points out that what is happening is extremely dangerous, an historical phenomenon that forces the international community to confront its immorality in an unprecedented way.
Dozens of martyrs die in Syrian cities every day and their relatives cannot find a way to bury them or to receive condolences.
"What is happening is unprecedented and there are fears about the effect it will have in the future."
On every Facebook page, you will find a story of a city destroyed by the regime and see that its habitants didn’t even have the chance to have a last look.
The pictures of martyrs fill tens of thousands of Facebook pages and those who created those pages were obliged to accept the reality of receiving condolences through these pages for either a short, or very long while.
Condolence words are now easily found. Sentences differ, some preach and remind of life and death through some Quranic verses, while others just say: "May God have Mercy on him."
The words come easily as they reflect what lies in the hearts of all Syrians, of the pain and woe to the country and its people, and the prayer for victory.
Translated and edited by The Syrian Observer
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