Rally Commemorates Second Anniversary of the Syrian Uprising
BOSTON/Copley Square - Over 100 people gathered in Copley Square on Saturday to commemorate the second anniversary of the Syrian uprising and ask for international support for their struggle. Supporters of the Syrian National Council, the rebel opposition coalition fighting President Bashar Hafez al-Assad’s Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party gathered to demand justice for the Syrian people in a three-hour rally and march on a bitterly cold day.
George Stefo, a member of the Foreign Relations Committee of the Council, spoke at the rally, “We're here because it is the second anniversary of the Syrian Revolution. We have had almost fifty years of the Assad family, and fifty years of the Ba’aths.” Stefo had strong opinions about world intervention. “The United Nations is at a stand still. Russia, as a permanent member of the Security Council, can veto and block any resolutions that come up. The General Assembly has passed bills, but they are non-binding.“
On March 18, 2011, decades of festering internal political tensions erupted, centered in the city of Daraa, as Syrian dissidents clashed with security forces. Crowds gathered at the Omari mosque in Daraa, chanting their demands, including the release of political prisoners they claimed were unjustly captured or kidnapped; trials for those who shot and killed protesters; and the abolition of Syria’s 48-year emergency law. By early April of that year, 23 protesters were killed. The Syrian government passed a bill lifting the country's emergency law, in place for 48 years, just hours after security forces fired on protesters, which was claimed as a tangible victory by rebels.
Sheikh Ahmad al-Sayasneh, who was the imam of the Omari mosque in Daraa at that time, has been a part of unsuccessful talks with Assad. A last minute addition to the rally, Al-Sayasneh spoke of his vision for the Syrian people.
"Here in America, we can ask for freedom and speak, but over there, we do this (rally) and we get shot. People in Syria are asking for dignity. I can't believe we are living like we did hundreds of years ago."
Protesters shook signs with portraits of children and views of empty rooms with floors covered in pools of dark blood. Figures of 3,500 dead children, and millions displaced in refugee camps were a common theme. For many protestors, these images rang true from past experiences of torture. For others, worries about family back home prevailed.
Ayman Aboushala, a professor at Tufts Dental School, has been in the United States for twenty years, but speaks frequently to his family in Syria. “Things are hard, with little electricity, food, and water. My families' neighbor died from not being able to get dialysis. The life of the normal citizen is abnormal. They only leave their home to find food, and even then, they're worried about a bomb. It is an atmosphere of intimidation. My niece and nephew are of the age to go to college, but their education schedule changes. They are not even involved in politics. The distance from Copley Square to Harvard can take three hours with all of the checkpoints. Children miss class, and eventually just give up. The tragedy is not the regime, but the children who have lost three years of education so far."
Aboushala concluded with a reference to U.S. military interventions in oil-rich countries, "If we as America, say we want democracy around the world, what does it mean? Is America selective? Is the blood of Syrians cheap?"
Hala, a woman who did not give her last name, said, "Seventy thousand people have died. I am originally from Syria, and I still have family there. I have lost a cousin, and friends. My friend was tortured. His wife had found him in a military prison hospital, beaten. He had been trying to help refugees when he was kidnapped.”
One victim of torture agreed to be interviewed by Open Media Boston. Samir, who asked to only have his first name published out of fear for family back home, was one of the rally organizers. He stood on crutches and his legs appeared to be slightly crooked. In 2011, Samir was captured, tortured, and had both of his legs broken. Secret operation military forces only released him when he paid a bribe.
He said, "They would do this all of the time. Capturing businessmen, or their sons, or both, asking for a ransom after. Many of the kidnapped were found dead." Samir owned a cargo company with 14 employees that was shutdown when he was captured. He would eventually have seven surgeries to be able to walk again. In the months that followed, neighbors led the government forces back to Samir's home. He had to travel along the countryside, staying in friends' homes for two days at a time to avoid capture. He could not go far. "There were check points everywhere. In one day, I remember, 200 were established at Assad's orders in Damascus.” Samir has been granted political asylum by the US government.
Other protesters lamented the deteriorating conditions in Syria, focusing on the shortage of humanitarian aid and medical care. Mossad Awad has been here for 9 months and was a medical resident in a Damascus hospital before he left. He said, "I'll never forget. People were bleeding, assaulted. A lot of my colleagues were fleeing. There will be a shortage of doctors in Syria. International aid is hard to come by there. There are doctors on the Turkish border in the refugee camps.”
Recent reports of US arms sales to the Syrian opposition groups were of little relief to the protesters - who support foreign military intervention in the conflict. Stefo said, “We haven’t seen major arms sales. The government of Syria still has jets and bombs. Our goal, if the world won't fund us with anti-aircraft missiles, is to at least create a no-fly zone, or at the very least a safe zone for humanitarian aid. Al-Sayasneh agreed. “ The United Nations hasn’t done anything. They should offer military assistance.”
The future of the movement is unclear. When asked about the structure of a future government, Al-Sayasneh said, “I don’t know. We’re still looking over that.”
