Today, there were calls for national protests over what had happened in Dera’a … and questions over the promises made last night.
So, before leaving for Friday prayers, I did what I’ve done before: took out a pen and wrote on my left forearm legibly in Arabic and English my name, my Syrian identity number and my US passport number, my address and phone number as well as three contact numbers and the message “I am an American citizen” in Arabic and English. Just in case.
Tension in the Umayyad mosque was palpable. Everyone wondering what comes afterwards … and when prayers were done, the shouts of “Freedom!” started, with new ones for the martyrs of Dera’a … “Dera’a is Syria” we chanted and “Our blood, our souls, for you Syria!” as well as chants for freedom and democracy.
We assembled in the courtyard and marched through the suqh, hundreds of us … and coming the other way was a second crowd, chanting “Our blood, our souls, for you Bashar!” Rumor says that they were bussed in.
The two crowds met. We shouted at each other. I heard that there were blows but saw none. The police came in and scattered us, siding with the other crowd … we went home to ready for next time (actually, I stopped and bought some sweets …)
Elsewhere, there were demonstrations all over the country, in Homs, in the villages of the Hauran, even in Baniyas where thousands protested. In Dera’a, too, tens of thousands I have heard, though the city is somewhat closed off … there, they say, the chant was “Maher you coward, send your troops to liberate Jaulan,” referring to the President’s brother and the Israeli-occupied Jaulan.
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