Statement issued by the local coordinating committees
It has been three months since our revolution for freedom began.
So far, Syrians have shown an unprecedented degree of awareness towards national unity and solidarity among people coming from different cities and towns or belonging to different religious or ethnic backgrounds.
Syrians have also shown a high degree of discipline by maintaining the pace of protests while maintaining the peaceful nature of their struggle towards a civil free and democratic Syria.
That was manifested daily in the slogans, banners and statements of protesters, and in their rejection of the rhetoric of sectarian division or of violence. Furthermore, it is manifested in the way protesters took off to the streets in solidarity with their fellow citizens in other towns and cities that are suffering the repression of the security forces.
All the above in addition to the bravery of Syrians and their great sacrifices has been the driving force behind this revolution.
It can be even said, that the revolution has brought freedom loving Syrians together and that it has ignited a strong sense of nationalism in spite of the long years of applying the regime’s policies of “divide and counquer”
Yet again, the regime is trying to harm the unity of the Syrians by all possible and dirty means and to create fear among their groups, cause concerns for the ethnic minorities, and build up the sectarian speech addressed by the official and semi-official media.
As we condemn such sectarian speech from the regime, we emphasize, again, that our revolution is of all Syrians regardless of their ethnic backgrounds or religious sects. We also assert that it cannot be tolerated when a speech or act of a sectarian nature is to be associated with the people uprising. We are not struggling against one discrimination for another discrimination, we are working with all our might to neutralize any links of religous or sectarian nature from the public domain, and keep them only within the scope of civil society, so they act as a source of diversity and enrichment. We are not fighting gainst racial discrimination to face another. Instead, we look forward to creating democratic majorities and minorities that transcend sects and ethnicities within the framework of a civil state based on the aspirations and political programs, economic and social that wrapsaround the Syrian citizens.
The corner stone in our vision of the future of Syria is based on the idea that the Syrian people are equal free citizens. The unity of Syria and Syrians is not negotiable for us, and we will never tolerate sectarian recognition, whether it is announced or hidden. God bless our martyrs, and vive our revolution for a free democratic Syria
16-6-2011