Houses damaged by the government army, according to the opposition, are seen in the Inshaat district of Homs March 7, (Photo: Reuters).
Several Syrian protest movements have begun planning to commemorate the first anniversary of start of the uprising against the regime of Bashar Al-Assad by calling for mass protest across the country.
Preparation comes amidst an intensive crackdown led by pro-regime forces on both the city of Homs and Idlib on Sunday, as well as other cities on the eastern shore in a pre-emptive effort to abort the opposition plans for mass widespread protests. The protests are planned in many Syrian cities starting on 15 March and continuing to 18 March.
The Syrian Revolution General Commission (SRGC) said in a statement on its website that it is organising a mass protest on Friday day dubbed “The Friday of Syrian dignity.” The SRGC is a coalition of several local protest movements across Syria.
“Our revolution against the criminal regime continues, we are going out every day, taking to the streets to take vengeance for children and women killed in last two days and over the last year,” the statement read.
Opposition groups have pinned great hopes on convincing millions of Syrians to take to the streets to bring back the momentum from this moment last year when hundreds of thousands of protesters demonstrated across the country.
A Syrian activist talked to Ahram Online via social networks said that the mass killing of protesters on Sunday in both the city of Homs and Idlib fuelled the anger of millions of Syrians.
“It was one of the darkest days in the uprising, the security forces and its Shabiha (regime hired thugs), opened fire on women and children," said Anas Mohamed, an anti-regime activist in Homs. "Syrian forces were even looking for injured people to shoot them and make sure that they were dead,” added Mohamed.
Several youth groups in the cities of Banias, Latakia, Aleppo, Damascus, and Hama were able to mobilise hundreds to take to the streets on Monday to protest the regime massacre in Homs on Sunday.
This shows, Mohamed suggested “that the brutality shown by the Syrian regime on Sunday would encourage many of the citizens to give up their fear and participate in the protests.”
On Sunday Syrian security forces killed more than 50 people in a raid on Homs. The bodies of 47 people including 26 children and 21 women, some with their throats slit, were found in the streets after the raid.
Syrian revolutionary groups declared Tuesday a “Day of Mourning” across the country calling on the Syrian people to exact revenge for the children and women that have been slaughtered.
More than 8,000 people have been killed in the Syrian conflict, including many women and children, according to Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser, president of the UN General Assembly. Meanwhile Syrian rights groups, have put the toll at more than 9,000.
“Violations of human rights are widespread and systematic," Al-Nasser said. "The international community has a responsibility to act.”
Early in March the Syrian army carried out an intense military raid using tanks, machinery guns, and helicopters on the main square in the city of Homs, Bab Amro, considered a central hub of the demonstrations.
The heavy crackdown on Homs and Idlib led to the spread of protest to other cities.
A year after the first protest, the inhabitants of Syria's two largest cities, Damascus and Aleppo, remain largely uninvolved in the anti-government protests. The central squares in the two cities have seen rallies of tens of thousands in support of Al-Assad and his government several times over the past year.
Analysts and even opposition activists themselves acknowledge that without mass participation in the protest movement from these two cities, the government may survive and avoid the fate of its counterparts in Egypt and Tunisia.
An activist and member of Deraa’s Local Coordination Committee talked to Ahram Online on the condition of anonymity; he said he is not optimistic that many people would participate in the uprising anniversary in the coming days.
He added that the Assad regime attacked Homs and Idlib on Saturday and Sunday to stand as an example and warning on how it will deal with any mass protest, and also to ensure that Homs, a key hub of the uprising, has no chance to prepare for peaceful protests.
“While the army was raiding Homs, there were arresting our brothers at their houses in eastern cities like Banias, Latakia, and also in Aleppo,” he added.
He also pointed out that as facts on the ground change every hour because of military crackdown on protest and mass arrest, it is almost impossible to have mass protest across Syria at the same time.
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