A Good Rally!

Well, it was not exactly a revolution but we did it. We rallied in front of the Syrian Embassy on Saturday and we did manage to make some noise. We were about 50 people in all at one time, but some counts around 75 people did show in the three hours period that we spent. The crowed was pretty diverse, and represented Syrians from various backgrounds, ethnic and political. There were also some American and Arab participants who wanted to show their support of our cause. For this, they have our lasting gratitude. Some photos of the event can be found on the Syrian Elector blog, but the picture above shows the heretical family in action: my daughter, Oula (21), holding the sign on the far left, my wife Khawla holding the sign on the right, I am holding, but not hording I swear, the loudspeaker, and my son, Mouhanad (17), holding the sign on the far right.

Much work still lies ahead for this weary soul though. But, in this, I am comforted by the fact that we have a really nice and active team in Syria who are now busy trying to assess the degree to which our call for boycott seems to have had an effect on the thinking of the Syrian people.

But let me quote here a note from the Syrian Elector English site that I think is relevant:

“this battle is not about actual figures, which, judging by the extant of the popular boycott of the legislative elections, will probably favor the opposition. The battle is about appearances and will be fought in the media. Here the Syrian regime has much under its disposal and will surely try to convince everyone that the position of the Assads is quite secure and that they are firmly in control. Our main task, therefore, at the Syrian Elector, will be to try to assess the factuality of the rosy picture that the regime will paint for itself.  People should remember here that even if the regime managed to put a few tens of thousands on the street in different parts of the country, Syria has over 12 million voters, their attitudes cannot be assessed by what we see in government-orchestrated rallies and celebrations.”