{"id":7054775,"date":"2026-09-02T13:56:16","date_gmt":"2026-09-02T13:56:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/airline\/oh-my-syrias-passport-photo-was-stolen-watermark-and-all\/"},"modified":"2026-09-02T13:56:16","modified_gmt":"2026-09-02T13:56:16","slug":"oh-my-syrias-passport-photo-was-stolen-watermark-and-all","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7054775","title":{"rendered":"Oh My: Syria’s Passport Photo Was Stolen, Watermark And All"},"content":{"rendered":"


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It\u2019s common for passports to contain art and pictures, reflecting the country. For example, here in the United States we have a new \u201cpatriotic\u201d passport<\/a>, prominently featuring President Trump. <\/p>\n

Now it\u2019s the art in Syria\u2019s passport that\u2019s making headlines, for completely different reasons. As it turns out, Syria stole one of the photos used in the passport, and didn\u2019t even remove the watermark\u2026 oops!<\/p>\n

Syria\u2019s passport contains a watermark on the picture page<\/h2>\n

Since 2023, Syria has been issuing biometric passports with a new design, though it\u2019s only now getting a lot of attention. Specifically, the passport has pictures from around the country, and it\u2019s the one on page 35 that\u2019s the most problematic.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a picture of the Al-Hamidiyeh Souq, located in Damascus, which is the largest souq in the country. That seems like a nice thing to put in a passport\u2026 right? <\/p>\n

As it turns out, the picture has \u201cWASEEM ASMAR PHOTOGRAPHY\u201d written in big letters across the top left. So it would appear that the (now former) Syrian regime seemingly just searched online for a picture of the souq, and then used that without permission, and didn\u2019t even remove the watermark.<\/p>\n

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Wissam Asmar, the man behind the picture, is speaking out about this Syrian passport photo situation. He explains that he took the picture back in 2009, during his first visit to the Syrian capital.<\/p>\n

He reportedly learned that his photo was being used in an unauthorized way three years ago, in an anonymous Facebook message. He clarified that no one from the Syrian government had ever contacted him to seek permission to use the photo. <\/p>\n

He estimates that his picture may be present in roughly 20 million printed copies of the biometric passport, and suggests that the value of such an image in similar cases outside of Syria could reach up to one million dollars.<\/p>\n

Now, a couple of things:<\/p>\n