Planet Syria
In 2016, the whole world was talking about ISIS. The extremist group was targeting civilians the world over, and what people knew of Syria was that it was home to this terrorist group that had the capital of its so-called caliphate in Raqqa. There was growing frustration among many Syrian activists and civil society groups about the international community’s focus on military advancements against ISIS as opposed to how to ultimately defeat the group. Achieving this latter goal would require creating the conditions necessary for lasting peace and justice.
Syrian civil society had two key demands: an end to the bombing and genuine peace talks. To draw attention to these demands and help build support for civil society’s efforts, we brainstormed until we came up with a winning creative concept: a website called Planet Syria. The name was chosen because Syrian colleagues said they felt they were treated as though they come from another planet. This feeling was embodied in the below artwork by Syrian artist Tammam Azzam, which inspired the campaign concept.
Azzam generously lent his beautiful work to the campaign, which really helped draw people in. Along with the creative concept, civil society organisations across Syria teamed up to release a joint statement on the site, which read: “We are Syrian non-violent activists and we need your solidarity. The extremism that is growing in your cities is rooted in our conflict. We Syrians are its first victims.
“This extremism breeds on injustice and violence. It grows from the rubble of our ravaged towns and cities and will only continue to expand unless we act together. To stop the extremism we have to end the bloodshed in Syria.
“Stopping the violence requires two steps, which we cannot achieve alone: (1) an end to the Assad regime’s barrel bombs and air strikes and (2) negotiations between all Syrian groups and their international backers.”
In addition to this statement, the website also published a list of all the organisations supporting Planet Syria.
Critical to the sense of connection people felt with Planet Syria were the nonviolent activists who served as powerful spokespeople for the cause. Salma Kahale, from Dawlaty, wrote an exceptional email explaining to people why Syria’s nonviolent activists needed their solidarity. It was this call that compelled people to respond to the campaign so loudly.
Throughout its lifetime, Planet Syria received a great deal of global attention. At its launch, people were asked to send messages of support to the nonviolent activists behind Planet Syria Hundreds responded, and it was absolutely overwhelming. People got creative, writing graffiti, singing songs, giving shoutouts to Planet Syria from their Sunday church services, and writing messages in the sand. This was an example of a strong call to action that helped mobilise support for Syria. People connected to the activists, their story, and the creative concept that expressed alienation in such a poignant way.
Though many of the groups behind Planet Syria continue to collaborate with each other, the coalition no longer formally operates. There were several reasons behind this, including lack of resources, and a lack of clarity on the coalition’s objectives, ways of working, and communication principles. Nonetheless, the website remains as a useful public marker of the demands of the Syrian people.
What we learnt
A strong creative concept can be a great way of getting collaborations started. Once off the ground, it is important that there is clarity over the objectives and ways of working for collaborations to be able to sustain.