A contingent in support of the Syrian Revolution will meet at the Abraham Lincoln statue, in the 16th Street walkway of Union Square, at 5 PM for the May Day march in New York City this Thursday, May 1. The contingent has issued the following statement:
SUPPORT SYRIA'S FREEDOM STRUGGLE!
DOWN WITH THE DICTATOR BASHAR ASSAD!
The Syrian revolution has its roots in the same kind of economic grievances faced by working people in the US and the West: widespread youth unemployment, high food prices, austerity measures, and a bloated military budget. Fearing unrest, the Bashar Assad regime muscled up on its security, pouring money into the police and intelligence services at the expense of social spending. Any vocal criticism of the government was met with persecution by the police state long before the eruption in the spring of 2011.
In the first week of March 2011, ten children, aged 9-15, were inspired by the slogan proclaimed by Egypt's revolutionaries, "Down with the regime!" The kids wrote this on the wall of their school in the city of Deraa—and were promptly arrested. The incident escalated into a massacre of protesters by security forces—the first of many over the coming months. It was the regime's bloody repression that caused a movement of strikes and peaceful protests to escalate to civil war.
Three years later, because of the Assad regime's relentless war crimes against its own people, millions of Syrians have fled the country—up to three million, with numbers going up every day. Syrians continue to struggle for their freedom, and their courage demands solidarity from workers and progressive people around the world.
We call for solidarity with our Syrian brothers and sisters in their fight against a murderous regime.
We demand that Russia stop its supply of weapons to Assad.
We demand that the US open its doors wide to Syrian refugees.
We demand that Assad be tried for crimes against humanity.
For more information:
http://syriafreedomforever.wordpress.com
http://www.therevoltingsyrian.com
A warning re. May Day Free Syria contingent
The "official" organizers of the May Day march are adherents of the retro-Stalinist Workers World Party, which is actively supportive of the Assad dictatorship. So our contingent will be a direct challenge to them. We are not looking for a fight, but we may be asked to leave the march, and will have to make a decision on how to react…
May Day march for Free Syria in NYC
May Day, 5 PM at the Abraham Lincoln statue, in the 16th Street walkway of Union Square.