SYRIA: The Call from Damascus, The Local Coordination Committees in Syria

December 13, 2012

Today, Damascus is living in unprecedented times, as battles in its neighborhoods and outskirts increase in intensity, and progressively approach the heart of the capital, thereby gradually blocking the only remaining lifeline available to the dying regime.

We all know that the battle is not going to be easy, and that the regime will defend its existence by the most brutal means, as we have become accustomed to seeing. We know that the regime will spare no resources in destroying any hold it may have before its collapse, as we have witnessed in all other Syrian cities.

Therefore, we appeal to all Syrians: to the Free Syrian Army battalions fighting to liberate the capital – the regime’s last stand – to all LCC activists, to our local councils, and to our area residents.

We appeal to the Free Syrian Army heroes to consider as “neutral ground” places of worship, such as churches and mosques, particularly in religiously-mixed areas. We further call upon you to remain as far away as possible from archeological sites in the capital, so as to minimize the regime’s acts of retaliation – acts that fail to differentiate between stone and human lives, let alone the millennia-old heritage that has embraced Damascus and its surroundings. We call on you to preserve any documents or records you may find in security centers or state security branches. These documents contain massive amounts of incriminating evidence against the regime and its symbols, and will be required to hold the regime accountable, compensate victims, and retain a historical record of decades of state behavior.

We call upon activists, residents, and FSA battalions to collaborate in forming committees to protect public and private property in areas that have been liberated from the regime’s tyranny. We also call on the residents of Damascus to carefully prepare for an influx of requirements for first aid, shelters, electricity generators, and essential supplies.

We call upon residents of religiously-mixed areas to not allow the regime any opportunity to draw them or their neighbourhoods into a battle with the revolution or revolutionaries. The Battle of Damascus is meant complete the liberation of Syria for all its people.

However long remains between now and the Battle for Damascus, and regardless of the obstacles we may face, Syria and Syrians are closer to victory than ever before. With patience, and by working together, hand in hand, our long struggle will be over and we will move toward a new, free, and democratic Syria.

Source: yalla souriya

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