NPR Revisiting The Spark That Kindled The Syrian Uprising

By the time he first went to jail, back in February 2011, young Syrian activists were already online, trying to organize some kind of uprising like those in Tunisia and Egypt. They eventually chose March 15 as their start date. Dozens of people turned out for demonstrations in Syria's capital, Damascus.

Protesters shouted one simple word: "Freedom." Many of them were later arrested. In the end, little came of the March 15 protests. The next day, back in Daraa, relatives of the detained graffiti writers like the 19-year-old we met went to the head of the security forces.

"Forget your children," they say he told them. "Just make more children. And if you don't know how to make more, I'll send someone to show you."

Ibrahim Abazid heard the story from his relatives. He says at first they didn't know what to do. The next day was a Friday. "We went to the mosque and it happened just like this," Abazid says. "Nobody — nobody planned it."

http://www.npr.org/2012/03/16/148719850/revisiting-the-spark-that-kindled-the-syrian-uprising