The self-proclaimed Islamic State (also known as Daesh) has been the center of the media's attention for quite some time. It has the whole world gripped by fear by its grisly spectacles and medieval executions. However, the gruesome terror of the radical militia seems to obscure an equally ruthless antagonist: the Assad regime. Same Shit is the name of a campaign trying to highlight the similarities between both forms of oppression and effect change in this status quo.

Launched by the grassroots group Kesh Malek (Checkmate), the campaign aims to influence Western public opinion, which is currently pushing towards collaborating with Assad in its war on Daesh.

“Sadly, there are more articles and research being written on Daesh each month than the sum of those concerning the Syrian uprising in almost four years,” one of the campaign's organizers highlights, “the terror of Deash is amplified, while Assad's crimes go unnoticed.”

To tackle this issue, the organizers cooperated with Syrian artists, writers and translators, and the campaign came to life on October 21, 2014. On its Facebook and Twitter accounts, the campaign has published paintings, caricatures and statistics that point out the similarities between Assad and the terrorist militia.

The activists also urged the cooperation of Syrian and Arab communities in the west, in the hope of overcoming the uprising's sounding failure to trumpet its cause to the world.

To fund the campaign's activities, the organizers made stickers and posters of the campaign's logo available for purchase. The rest of the proceeds will help open a cultural center in the countryside of Aleppo and supply it with books.

The US-led military campaign in Syria and Iraq was not immune from criticism either. The organizers consider the coalition's mission futile, because it fails to address the core issue. “Daesh did not emerge out of nowhere. It is the product of decades of the regime's radicalization of Syria. Eradicating the root of extremism in the region starts with overthrowing the Assad regime.”

Through its provocative name and sarcastic material, Same Shit defies the selective coverage of mainstream media on Syria, which paints a murky picture of the situation to say the least. “Over 200,000 martyrs, and more than half the Syrian population are refugees due to Assad's state terrorism. The world needs reminding, lest it forgets!”