Global Campaigns in Solidarity with Syria Keep Growing

This post is part of our special coverage Syria Protests 2011.

While repression continues in Syria, the Internet has been flooded with initiatives in solidarity with Syrian citizens and their struggle for freedom. Two of the latest are “Call Homs” and “Syrian Sit-in in Youtube.”

“Call Homs” aims to show solidarity with the people of Homs, the Syrian city that has become the symbolic capital of resistance against the regime's brutality. This week, Muslims celebrate the festivity of Eid Al-Adha, and a campaign organized by a group of Syrian expatriates encourages people to dial the area code for Homs and wish a random family Happy Eid. More guidelines can be found  on the Facebook event page.

An audio recorded by Mohammed Al-Mulhim and widely shared on Twitter presents the conversation between a Saudi man and a Homsi lady. Here's the translation:

Salam Aleikom/ Aleikum Es-salam / Who's talking? / This is Mohammad AlMudhem, from Saudi Arabia / Oh, son, you got the wrong number, / Yes, I know, sister. I´m calling you randomly,  to tell you just one thing. /Tell me, dear/ We stand with you in solidarity, with all our hearts /God bless you, my son/Listening to you makes me very happy, sorry to disturb you, I just wanted to wish you Happy Eid / God bless you, my son! / Best wishes and I hope you stay safe / Who's talking again? / This is Mohammad Almudhem / God bless you, best wishes and longest life to you/ But tell me about you, is your family ok? / Yes, we are, thanks so much, God bless you, God bless you!

The campaign spread quickly mainly through blogs, Facebook and Twitter, with hundreds of users sharing the #CallHoms hashtag and their stories:

SYRIAslyJana: To show your support, # callHoms: Dial 00963- 31 then 21, 22, 24 or 25 then enter 5 random numbers & say a couple of encouraging words #Syria
NoorAl_khaldi: اتصلت المكالمه الاولى كانت من البياضه عايدتهم وانبسطوا كثيير بالمعايده وحسوا انوا في احد معاهم وانا جاني نفس شعورهم شعوووور جميل #callhoms

NoorAl_khaldi: I just made my first call. They were from El-Bayada, they seemed very happy that I wished them Happy Eid and that someone was there with them, and I felt so happy, such a great feeling! #callhoms
Another initiative encourages users to join a “Syrian sit-in in Youtube,” by sending videos in support of the Syrian struggle for freedom. According to the event's website:
نجتمع فيه كلنا معاً ومن كل مكان في العالم ومن كل الجنسيات… لنعلن تضامننا مع مطالب الشعب السوري الحر، ولنقول جميعنا
وبصوتٍ واحد لا للقتل لا للظلم لا للقمع لا للقهر، ولنقول لبشار الأسد ونظامه وعصابته أننا وبعون الله سنسقطكم ثم سنحاكمك
We are all getting together, from all corners of the world, men and women, to express our support for the demands of the free Syrian people, and to say out loud, with one voice, No to killing, oppression and injustice. We say to Bashar AlAssad and his regime: We will overthrow you, and then you will be judged.
All the videos can be found here. Here are two of them:

This post is part of our special coverage Syria Protests 2011.

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