We, the undersigned, stand in solidarity with the millions of Syrians who have been struggling for dignity and freedom since March 2011. We call on people of the world to pressure the Syrian regime to end its oppression of and war on the Syrian people. We demand that Bashar al-Asad leave immediately without excuses so that Syria can begin a speedy recovery towards a democratic future.
Since March 2011, Asad’s regime has steadily escalated its violence against the Syrian people, launching Scud missiles, using weapons banned by the Geneva Convention such as cluster bombs and incendiary munitions, and using aerial bombardment. The regime has detained and tortured tens of thousands of people and committed untold massacres. It has refused political settlements that do not include Asad in power, and it has polarized the society through strategic acts of violence and by sowing seeds of division. The regime has also, since the early days of the uprising, sought to internationalize the crisis in order to place it within geopolitical battles that would only strengthen the regime. Staying true to the logics of an authoritarian regime, Asad could never accept the legitimate demands of the Syrian people for freedom and dignity. Thus, there is no hope for a free, unified, and independent Syria so long as his regime remains in power.
This is a revolt that was sparked by the children of Deraa and the sit-ins and demonstrations of the youth in the cities, the peasants of the rural areas, and the dispossessed and marginalized of Syria. It is they who rallied non-violently through protests and songs and chants, before the regime’s brutal crackdown. Since then, the regime has pushed for the militarization of the Syrian nonviolent movement. As a result, young men took up arms, first out of self-defense. Lately, this has resulted in attempts by some groups fighting the regime to force a climate of polarization, and negation of the Other politically, socially and culturally. These acts that are in themselves against the revolution for freedom and dignity.
Yet, the revolution for freedom and dignity remains steadfast. It is for this reason that we, the undersigned, appeal to those of you in the global civil society, not to ineffective and manipulative governments, to defend the gains of the Syrian revolutionaries, and to spread our vision: freedom from authoritarianism and support of Syrians’ revolution as an integral part of the struggles for freedom and dignity in the region and around the world.
The fight in Syria is an extension of the fight for freedom regionally and worldwide. It cannot be divorced from the struggles of the Bahrainis, Egyptians, Tunisians, Libyans, Yemenis, and other peoples who have revolted against oppression and authoritarianism as well as against those seeking to usurp or destroy the uprisings and divert them for their own agendas. It is connected to the Palestinians’ struggle for freedom, dignity and equality. The revolution in Syria is a fundamental part of the North African revolutions, yet, it is also an extension of the Zapatista revolt in Mexico, the landless movement in Brazil, the European and North American revolts against neoliberal exploitation, and an echo of Iranian, Russian, and Chinese movements for freedom. This is a revolution where women have also played a central role.
The Syrian revolution has confronted a world upside down, one where states that were allegedly friends of the Arabs such as Russia, China, and Iran have stood in support of the slaughter of people, while states that never supported democracy or independence, especially the US and their Gulf allies, have intervened in support of the revolutionaries. They have done so with clear cynical self interest. In fact, their intervention tried to crush and subvert the uprising, while selling illusions and deceptive lies.
Given that regional and world powers have left the Syrian people alone, we ask you to lend your support to those Syrians still fighting for justice, dignity, and freedom, and who have withstood the deafening sounds of the battle, as well as rejected the illusions sold by the enemies of freedom.
As intellectuals, academics, activists, artists, concerned citizens, and social movements we stand in solidarity with the Syrian people to emphasize the revolutionary dimension of their struggle and to prevent the geopolitical battles and proxy wars taking place in their country. We ask you to lend your support to all Syrians from all backgrounds asking for a peaceful transition of power, one where all Syrians can have a voice and decide their own fate. We also reject all attempts of any group to monopolize power, and to impose its own agenda, or to impose unitary or homogenous identities on the Syrian people. We ask you to support those people and organizations on the ground that still uphold the ideals for a free and democratic Syria.
Please do write in the comment sections your name and title ( work or something else) if interested in signing this statement, thank you.
I stand with the Syrian people in their battle for freedom from tyranny and from the imperialism that spawned it Down with Assad. The people of Syria must decide their fate. Victory the Arab Spring, No to U.S. usurpation, solidarity between Syria and the Palestinian people. Democracy Now
In the face of world indifference to what amounts to genocide, the Syrian people have the right to defend themselves against Assad’s onslaught in any way possible. I fully support their struggle and sign wholeheartedly this petition
I will sign this statement gladly.
Jamie Allinson
Rojo Rojito
Cort Greene
Can you please indicate your job or a title you want to add to your name,
Thank you for your support
I am Manuel Barrera, PhD
Associate professor of urban education
Metropolitan State University
Minnesota, USA
Haroldo Dilla Alfonso, sociologo, Cuba/Republica Dominicana.
Thomas Markus Kvilhaug, activist member of the International Socialist branch of Norway,
working as an assistant teacher.
I fully support the downfall of the Asad regime. . What
this post doesn’t make clear is that this declaration was made at
the World Social Forum in Tunis with the signatures of 41
international left figures: for the list (and text in French) see –
http://alencontre.org/moyenorient/syrie/syrie-solidarite-avec-la-lutte-des-syriennes-et-des-syriens-pour-la-dignite-et-la-liberte.html
thank you for this
I am happy to sign this statement Brian Slocock Senior
Lecturer, Political Science, University of Paisley
(Retired)
I would be very pleased to sign this excellent statement.
Robin Yassin-Kassab. novelist and commentator.
but where is the list of signatories? (i’m uk-based, by the
way)
We are still taking signatures, a list will be published soon, it already includes people like Tarek Ali, Gilbert Achcar, etc… thank you for your support.
good for tariq ali. i’m glad to see his position has developed.
Yes better, he made progresses:) for your info this was the article I wrote following his awful position on Russia Today : https://syriafreedomforever.wordpress.com/2012/07/18/response-to-tareq-ali-what-is-really-happening-in-syria/
take care
i read your excellent response at the time. thank you for it.
I am happy to add my name to this statement. David Byrne
McDonald III, photographer and activist, Seattle, USA
Journalist and author
Gregory A. Butler
founder and moderator
GANGBOX: CONSTRUCTION WORKERS NEWS SERVICE
Happy to sign!
Gail Daneker, Director of Peace Education and Advocacy
Friends for a NonViolent World –St. Paul, USA FNVW recently
published Then and Now: The Syrian Revolution to Date, A young
nonviolent resistance and the ensuing armed struggle, by Dr. Mohja
Kahf (www.fnvw.org)
Thomas Harrison Co-Director, Campaign for Peace and
Democracy
I would like to add my name to this statement on the current Syrian regime
John O’Brien
Los Angeles California
Stonewall Rebellion Participant
Michael Cisco, writer and teacher, New York City.
Khaled Khalifa, novelist, from Syria, has asked me to ask you to add his name.
Sarah Eltantawi, scholar of religion and writer, Boston USA
Please add my name.
Amr Al-Azm
Associate professor at Shawnee State University, Syrian Activist and board member of The Day After NGO.
Sherifa Zuhur, historian, Director, Institute of Middle Eastern, Islamic and Strategic
Studies and Founder/Director, British-American Association of Muslim Academics
God bless the people of Syria.
Joe Vasicek
Science Fiction & Fantasy Writer
Provo, Utah
Please add my name:
Rime Allaf, Syrian writer and adviser.
Hassan Hassan, columnist for The National newspaper in Abu Dhabi.
hi my dear robin pleas put my name…thank you
i hope every thing go well for you.
Thank you for the support, but could you please indicate a title or a profession, and your country
Ibrahim Jalal, artist, Syria
Khaled Khalifa – novelist – Syria
Kamal Essaid, Real Estate business owner, Cary, North Carolina, USA. I sign this as a human being who has never seen, heard or read about such barbaric act of group of people in power against their own citizens who are my brothers and sisters and relatives. This is has to stop or is it a sign of armageddon.
Tiffany Kreierhoff, writer
add my name, too. pax.
حسن بن الطيب التونسي
مساندة كاملة للشعب السوري على ثورته ضد الاستبداد والحكم الفردي. لا وصاية على هذا الشعب الأبي .
Thank you for the support, but could you please indicate a title or a profession, and your country
Thank you for doing this! Syria is becoming a mirror of our conscience, regardless where we live or where we stand in the political spectrum.
Mélanie Cambrezy, Ph.D student, Université de Montréal
Québec, Canada
I am very glad to sign your excellent statement of principles and objectives. And I believe that in spite of U.S. statements to the contrary, the U.S. is not at all interested in a change of regime in Syria. The CIA had, after all,sent prisoners to Assad’s prisons for torture as a regular “accepted” policy.
Hi! — I signed earlier, but somehow my organizational identification didn’t make it through. Here it is again: Joanne Landy, Co-Director, Campaign for Peace and Democracy, New York City
Stephen R. Shalom
William Paterson University
It’s great to see this! I will sign and also, please consider this an organizational endorsement.
Gerry Emmett, Resident Editorial Board, News and Letters Committees, Chicago.
Franklin Dmitryev
Co-National Organizer, News and Letters Committees, Chicago
Full support and solidarity to the Syrian revolutionary struggle against both the authoritarian Asad regime and the machinations of imperial western powers seeking to manipulate the legitimate uprising against Asad in the interests of strengthening and extending the hegemony of global capital.
I sign understanding the statement’s solidarity to be inclusive of Syrians in the grassroots nonviolent resistance, who still exist on the ground in Syria and who, despite cataclysmic conditions and dire challenges to their existence, have never stopped struggling to keep the revolution aimed at a genuinely democratic outcome for the country of my birth and parentage.
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In solidarity with the Syrian Revolution!!! Down with the Assad regime! Down with imperialist intervention!
In stand with the Syrian people and against the Assad regime and ISIS! The Rojava revolution are a heroic and inspiring example for people all over the world!
I reiterate my support for this statement and the Syrian people’s struggle for freedom and dignity. For Bashar al Assad to leave Syria immediately and for an end to the imperialist bombing of the Syrian people people, for an end to U.S. complicity with with Assad’s legitimacy under the pretext of a “war on terror”. I oppose the pretense of ISIS to short the Syrian people while they murder Syrians and seek to impose a fascist solution to the tyranny of al Assad. Syrian freedom forever, Syria freedom now.
I am Manuel Barrera, PhD
Metropolitan State University, USA
I reiterate my support for this statement and the Syrian people’s struggle for freedom and dignity. For Bashar al Assad to leave Syria immediately and for an end to the imperialist bombing of the Syrian people people, for an end to U.S. complicity with with Assad’s legitimacy under the pretext of a “war on terror”. I oppose the pretense of ISIS to support the Syrian people while they murder Syrians and seek to impose a fascist solution to the tyranny of al Assad. Syrian freedom forever, Syria freedom now.
I am Manuel Barrera, PhD
Metropolitan State University, USA
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