Regional/Cultural Day
Yawm al-Shuhada
The anniversary of the 1916 execution of the Syrian and Lebanese nationalists by the Ottoman governor Jamal Pasha (known as "the Butcher"). The martyrs were hanged in Marjeh Square in Damascus and in Beirut, and their deaths galvanized the Arab independence movement. The day is observed with ceremonies at the Martyrs' Monument, and the reminder that the martyrs gave their lives for the freedom of Syria. The names of the executed : including Shukri al-Quwatli, Rafik Rizk Sallum, and Abd al-Hamid al-Zahrawi : are inscribed on monuments in every Syrian city.