religious figure

Adnan al-Arour

عدنان العرعور

Journeys

Adnan al-Arour: The Opposition Voice That Became the Regime's Best Weapon

Adnan al-Arour's story illustrates how the Assad regime did not need to manufacture all its enemies — sometimes the opposition's own worst voices did the work for the regime.

Biography

Adnan al-Arour (born c. 1952, Hama) is a Syrian Salafi preacher who fled Syria after the 1982 Hama massacre and settled in Saudi Arabia, where he hosts programs on Wesal TV and Al-Safa channel. A supporter of the 2011 revolution, his infamous 'meat grinder' threat against Alawites who backed Assad became the Assad regime's most-used propaganda clip, allowing the regime to reframe an anti-dictatorship uprising as an anti-Alawite sectarian war.

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Journeys1

Key Facts

Born:1952-01-01

Place:Hama, Syria

Nationality:Syrian