Hadi al Bahra
President of the Syrian Coalition
October 4, 2014
Dear Syrians, my brethren:
Oh the purest and most honest of people:
Today, Eid is celebrated without the joy of Syrians who have usually filled the world with happiness and joy. Eid is full of sadness today after oppression and darkness gripped our homeland. Syrians, who sustain insatiable love for their homeland, the dearest and the purest place on earth, have been beleaguered by a regime that has wasted everything away, wasted the sovereignty of this nation away by summoning foreigners from everywhere and planting the culture of killing and slaughter in our land.
The Assad regime has left Syrians with two choices: tyranny or extremism. Syrians have said no to both.
Syrians have been fighting against Assad and ISIS with valor and determination unmatched in the history of mankind. Tyranny and extremism for the Syrian people are unfamiliar to their culture and way of life. Syrians have experienced the threat of extremism since the early days of the revolution. Though they have repeatedly alerted the world of this threat, they, alone have been left to fight it, fully aware that their struggle for freedom is the only hope for the demise of the regime and the end of extremism.
Our homeland is going through tough and decisive developments as the Assad regime has destroyed the infrastructure of Syria and thrown away its sovereignty, rendering Syria an open and borderless land.
The most recent chapter of chaos, violence and terrorism planted by Assad in our land was the death of children in the neighborhood of Ekremah in Homs who are now equal to their peers; the children of Dara’a, Aleppo, East Ghouta. Banias, Baida and Hula.
The terrorism that is now besieging the town of Ayn al-Arab (Kobanî), and threatens its residents, does not differ from the terrorism that is besieging East Ghouta, Aleppo and Al Waer district near Homs. Terrorism is one, even though it has various shapes and colors.
Dear Syrians,
Oh my family,
Oh my brothers and sisters in every part of Syria:
Our fate is to defend ourselves against oppression and darkness, and to be together in the same trench fighting for our freedom and for the future of our children.
Let this Eid be an opportunity for all of us to do heart-searching and self-questioning as our homeland and its independence, which our grandfathers sacrificed their blood to achieve, is in danger. The gravity of the current situation requires everyone to take part in saving Syria from Assad’s criminal regime and ISIS’s blind extremism.
We in the Syrian Coalition promise to live up to our work and close our ranks, and that no one of us is above the law or accountability. We represent you and we draw our legitimacy only from you, and we promise to be faithful guardians of the goals of the revolution in order to regain our constitutional and humanitarian rights. We also reaffirm our pledge that our effort will be in accordance with the interests of our people and our homeland.
We are going through the most important stage in the history of Syria, and a window of hope has opened where we should invest with responsibility and statesmanship. We have been given an opportunity to achieve the aspirations of our people and to shorten the time and reduce the sacrifices necessary to achieve our goals. Your support of what we are doing is the source of our strength. Let your voice be heard, widely and loudly.
Syrians are capable, through unity and their love of their homeland, of protecting their country, freedom and independence, and are also able to build a free and democratic state, a state of all citizens without discrimination, distinction or exclusion.
Let us all work hand in hand to complete our journey and achieve freedom and independence for our country; and to sow the seeds of goodness and love.
Dear Syrians
Oh the noblest people
The dearest people
Your plight is enormous, but the dream and renewed hope for a better future for our children motivates us to continue the struggle in defense of our freedom, dignity and independence.
Dear Syrians,
Only through your faithfulness, candor, and steadfastness will our tomorrow be better after we have purged our land of tyranny and extremism.
Freedom and independence are on our doorstep, God willing.
Long live Syria and its people, free and with honor.
We wish you Happy Eid
