How can a London-based writer of Middle Eastern origin protest against the violence in Syria? Here's one way: enlisting the help of a graphic artist, Shahrazad (a pseudonym) designed this poster expressing her disgust at Syrian first lady Asma al-Assad's silence.

The poster is free; you can get your copy by emailing Shahrazad at iamnotlikeyou@safe-mail.net. It was first distributed two weekends ago at a protest in London and has been picking up steam ever since: the British Solidarity for Syria campaign took 500 posters, and more will be heading north to Edinburgh with the organisers of Reel Syria 2012. "At first, some Syrians were put off by the image of Asma on the poster," says Shahrazad. "You might think the photo is glamorous, but if you examine it closely she looks perturbed." She hopes it will be displayed all over the world.

Shahrazad once saw al-Assad up close when she joined her in a women's bike ride for peace several years ago and had hoped it was the beginning of a new era in Syria. "We could have been more than friends; we could have been sisters," she has written on the poster. "But you are a sister no longer, and each and every one of us feels played like a sucker."