Meet the bachelorettes: Kinda Za'oor, Rima Dali, Rou'a Jaafar and Lubna Za'oor |
The
fate and whereabouts of the four would-be
“Brides in White” taken in by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s security
agents in a Damascus souk last Wednesday remain unknown (see my post yesterday).
Rima Dali's solo protest last April (top left) |
The four bachelorettes – Kanda and Lubna Za’oor,
Ru’a Jaafar and Rima Dali – were detained as they paraded
in typical white bridal gowns in Souk Midhat Pasha with banners calling for
peace.
One of the foursome, Rima
Dali, was detained last April 8 after a brave, solitary act, which saw
her stand in the middle of a busy Damascus street in front of the Syrian
parliament holding a banner reading, “Stop the killing, we want to build a
country for all Syrians.”
A video showing
Rima holding the banner in front of cars with women passersby applauding her went
viral on YouTube.
Ru'a Jaafar and two of her works |
For
this, she was arrested but released within 48 hours after Syrian cyber
activists organized a bold real-life protest by meeting on the same
intersection she had stood at, holding banners with the same slogan.
A
month later, Lyse Doucet interviewed Rima, among others, for the BBC video,
“Are moderate Syrians being heard?”
Ru’a
Jaafar, another member of the quartet, turns out to be a talented painter. Unfortunately,
I have been unable so far to find snippets of information about the Za’oor
pair, Kanda and Lubna.
Relevant illustration titled "Their idiocy heartens us" by Syrian cartoonist Ali Ferzat |