Miami Rally In Support Of Syrian People
MIAMI (CBS4) – More than one hundred people took part in a rally Sunday in Miami to show their support for the people of Syria.
Staged at the Torch of Friendship on North Biscayne Boulevard, the rally was put together by the South Florida chapter of the Syrian American Council (SACSF) which wanted to bring awareness to the rebel uprising and massacres plaguing Syria.
One woman at the protest who asked not to be identified to protect her family in the city of Homs told CBS4's Natalia Zea there are only two things she can do to help her loved ones: protest and pray.
"I can imagine they're going to be dead any moment. It's terrible! It's terrible! I pray for them every day that they're going to be fine, that they'll be ok," she said through tears.
Clashes between military rebels and the Syrian army are growing more frequent and Syria is now on the brink of civil war.
The protestors want the international community to step in and overthrow dictator Bashar al-Assad.
The unidentified woman said the hardest part of seeing the images of bombings of her home town was knowing that the smallest Syrians were suffering.
"(The Syrian Army) are wolves, they're beasts! You can't talk with beasts! They kill everyone, they kill the babies!They don't want anyone to give any help to those babies that are stuck there! They need milk," she cried.
Faris Ashouri has never seen the conflict first-hand. He was born in the United States. But he feels compelled to make sure all South Floridians and all Americans know about the Syrian struggle.
"It's just so sad that a lot of people can't find Syria on a map and yet 5000 people have been killed," he told Zea.
For the first time, he says he understands what freedom really means.
"Over here we're safe (protesting), but if we were doing this over there, there would be tanks on the road trying to kill us all."
This was the Syrian American Council of South Florida's first protest and they hope it will be there last. Protestors say they are praying the violence happening so many miles out of their reach will soon be over.
Al-Assad's regime has pursued a harsh crackdown against an uprising that began last March. A U.N. estimate in January says more than 5,400 people have been killed.
