The Arab world marks Mother's Day today, on March 21. On social networking sites, netizens have sent out congratulations to their mothers on the day. They also remember the mothers of the thousands of martyrs killed by the authorities as they protested against dictatorship in this so-called Arab Spring.

From Bahrain, Sayed Ahmed Al Alawi tweets [ar]:

Egyptian Salma Hegeb shares a similar sentiment. She reminds us:

@Salma_ts2al: It's the second #MothersDay for some mothers of martyrs in Egypt. Since yesterday and I'm thinking how painful is that…

And Syrian Zain has bad news:

@ZainSyr: The number of martyrs in #Syria has risen to 70, including 14 children and 7 women #MothersDay

The heartbreak many, particularly children and mothers, felt on this day is summed up by Syrian blogger Razan Ghazzawi, who admits:

@RedRazan: I really envy those who have many words to say to the mothers of martyrs on Mother's Day. I can't even find one word. #Syria #Mothersday

She adds:

@RedRazan: #Syria Facebookers have been campaigning 2 encourage citizens 2 visit mothers of martyrs 2day,2 show them they're not alone in their plight.

A screen shot of the Syrian martyr's mother Facebook page, which encourages Syrians to visit the mothers of martyrs killed by the Assad regime

The Facebook Page is called We are Your Children, Martyr's Mother and can be found here [ar].

Back in Egypt, Mohannad tells us [ar]:

Meanwhile, Syrians abroad are finding it difficult to connect with family back home and wish their loved ones a Happy Mother's Day. The 47th tweets:

@THE_47th: Seriously, I have to f^^&** find a satellite phone or tie a message to a pigeons feed to tell my grandma Happy Mother's Day in #Homs

Kareem Lailah adds:

@KareemLailah: Please Assad, give me the communication back just for 1 minute to tell her #HappyMothersDay mom! #Syria #iLoveYou

And Syrian Shakeeb Al-Jabri jokes:

@LeShaque: Happy Mother's Day to my motherboard, one mother without which I cannot survive.