Faces from the Syrian Revolution: Mowgli

A Tribute to Mowgli

Mowgli’s profile picture on Facebook. It is the only photo most of his revolutionary friends knew him by.

His friends only knew him as Mowgli, as he used to call himself on facebook. He was one of the first video-graphers/producers who documented the beginning of the Syrian uprising, he also was co-founder and active member of “Syria’s Eye Witness” Facebook group that still reports events on the ground till this very day. He was heavily involved in non-violent activism.

Only after his death did we get to know his real name, Anas. He was born in Hama, the city that witnessed the horrible massacre of 1982 under Assad the father. Anas is Syrian of Palestinian origin and an up-and-rising computer graphics designer and animator.

With his talent, and lens, Anas Mushmush was a real threat to the tyranny of Assads, and they needed to silence him among many other voices. Anas’s body was delivered to his family on the 23rd October 2012 after being killed under torture.

The Syrian activist community with all of its components was united in mourning him and grief was wide spread..his loss is still felt, painful, given how he died, but it is felt with a believe that now he is with God in a better place.

Mowgli, Anas you will never be forgotten, rest in peace..

The Free Syrian Translators team has put together this tribute post for Mowgli. This following is a personal note from one of our members and its followed by a couple of videos with English subtitles showcasing Mowgli’s work.

In the first months of the blessed Syrian revolution, I met Mowgli, the quite, well balanced, cheerful, optimisitic young man, brimming with energy and creative thoughts.

Between us there were a few Facebook messages and a single Skype call. We used to talk about the situation in Hama and the revolution, and he in turn used to ask me about Damascus, the city of Jasmine. We envisioned how the free Syria would be and dreamt about a civil developed state, and often we used to end our chats with prayers to God to free the detainees, for relief for the devestated Syrians, and forgiveness for the martyres of our beloved Syria. He told me and his friends about the demonstrations in Hama and the successful creative activities carried out by the locals of defiant Hama.

I did not work with him on any of his creative art projects which he contributed towards the revolution of dignity and freedom, but from a single incident I got to know him as if I meet him years ago. In the winter of 2011, one of my female relatives in Hama was kidnapped and I turned to him for help, inqurying about the best way to find out where she is and how to reach her. The young man, suprised me with his magnanimity, his wonderful morals, his gallantary and zeal as he took it upon himself to look for my relative as if his own sister was the one who has been kidnapped. Not a single day passed without him asking about her latest news, and he did not spare an opportunity to ask those around him and his acquaintances about any possible mean to find her whereabouts…He adopted the issue until we found out where she was and that she was in a good condition.

It never crossed my mind that he would be arrested. He used to disappear frequently because the internet and phone lines were often disconnected in Hama. Then he would reappear and we would thank God for keeping him safe and greet him: we were worried about you, take care of yourself. His answer would always be: “don’t worry…We won’t die before our time is up… and nothing would happen to us unless God Has intended so..”

That was until we got news that he was martyred under torture in Assad’s prisons… We cried alot for him..and his martyrdom filled our hearts with sadness that knows no boundries. Oh Mowgli, God bless you and may you find peace in God’s vast paradise.

We will never forget the martyr’s blood.. oh Mawgli we will never forget your blood… and we will continue your journey, as you always used to say, either to victory or martyrdom.

Mowgli’s Videos:

Hama: A Revolution for Change not a Revolution for Revenge