WEST BLOOMFIELD –
About 100 people, mostly Syrian Americans, demonstrated against the regime
of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Saturday, April 9, many of them breaking
a long silence by taking to the streets for the first time.

Many said they had been afraid to protest against the regime
for years in the U.S. fearing retribution against family members back home from
al-Assad’s regime, but they felt emboldened by recent Arab uprisings for
democracy, especially in Syria.

They held signs with slogans such as “Stop the Killing
in Syria” referring to peaceful anti-government protesters, along with
numerous Syrian flags and signs calling for al-Assad to step down.

“I feel sympathy for those who have been killed but I
believe we will overcome the regime…he has been in office for so long talking
about reforms but this time we don’t believe it will matter,” said Dima
Al-Sadafi.

Yielding to unrelenting public pressure for reform, Syrian
President Bashar Assad dismissed his cabinet two weeks ago. A new cabinet was
formed on Thursday, April 14 and hundreds of protesters detained have been
given presidential amnesty.

There is a large professional Syrian community residing in
metro Detroit which largely has been silent and has not taken a clear position
on which side they stand in the conflict.

In the last couple of weeks, rallies in support of the Assad
regime has been reported in a few other U.S. states, but not in Michigan.
Counter protests in Syria in support of Assad have also been reported.

Dr. Daad Katato, a Palestinian American, said she supported
the Syrian uprising and others because “simply put, liberty and freedom
have no nationality or borders, ” she said. “The fear from
dictatorship  regimes is gone, gone
forever, in contrast (ironically) now the leaders in the Middle East are the ones
who are breathing the fear, not us.”

The protest consisted of mostly Syrian Americans from a wide
range of Michigan cities from West Bloomfield and surrounding cities up to
Flint. A large contingent of Syrian Americans from Flint plan to protest at the
Flint Islamic Center and they plan to continue with more rallies. .

A protest is expected to occur at the Syrian embassy in
Washington, D.C on Saturday, April 16 with Michiganians riding to the capital
city in buses.

One demonstrator, Ahmad Al-Dabagh, had a personal connection
to the bloodshed in Syria, with his own loss occurring more than 30 years ago.
Al-Dabagh said his entire immediate family, including his father, mother, four
brothers, and four sisters, was killed in the 1982 Hama massacre in Syria.

“I hope more and more change can come to Syria.  A lot of Syrian Americans have been
afraid to come out here but many others have stopped being afraid,” he
said.

Al-Dabagh said the brutality of the regime, lack of
political and other freedoms, and economic discrepancies with wealth
concentrated in the hands of too few people, have necessitated a change.

“A new generation starting with Tunisia, Egypt and the
rest has come to give us hope, this change will be more difficult but it will
come, inshAllah (God willing).”

Another protester, Muaz Jondy, said that the promise of
reforms was only meant to delay the process and to buy more time to find a way
to stay in power.

“At first the demands were just to repeal the emergency
law, now after these killings we believe it’s time for a regime change,”
he said.

“This is our first time speaking out locally because in
the past it meant being imprisoned or tortured; we’re out here to break that
silence and that fear barrier.”