{"id":624,"date":"2011-05-13T07:30:04","date_gmt":"2011-05-13T11:30:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/activistfaith\/?p=624"},"modified":"2011-05-13T09:44:43","modified_gmt":"2011-05-13T13:44:43","slug":"standing-for-syria","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/activistfaith\/2011\/05\/standing-for-syria.html","title":{"rendered":"Standing for Syria"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/209\/2011\/05\/syria_0.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-627\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/209\/2011\/05\/syria_0.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"200\" height=\"139\" \/><\/a>Officials estimate 850 protestors have been killed in the recent uprisings in Syria. NOW is the time for people of faith to both pray and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.change.org\/petitions\/get-aid-sent-to-daraa-syria\" target=\"_blank\">act<\/a> on the behalf of Syria&#8217;s people.<\/p>\n<p>As in all things, first, please pray for the people of Syria. Pray for their safety, the issues at stake in the protest, and the role of other nations discussing how to be involved (or whether to be involved) in the tragedy that is taking place.<\/p>\n<p>Second, speak out for civilians under attack in Syria. Specifically, you can sign the petition below at this <a href=\"http:\/\/www.change.org\/petitions\/get-aid-sent-to-daraa-syria\" target=\"_blank\">link<\/a> to ask government officials to provide humanitarian aid to citizens of Daraa, Syria, one of the most heated areas held hostage during Syria&#8217;s current protests.<\/p>\n<p>In case you think adding your signature won&#8217;t make a difference, remember recently that I urged readers to join a petition to speed up text donations to Japan&#8217;s earthquake and tsunami victims? Over 40,000 responded, and CHANGE HAPPENED. Donations reached Japanese service providers and victims promptly, helping meet the needs of many and save lives.<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"http:\/\/www.change.org\/petitions\/get-aid-sent-to-daraa-syria\" target=\"_blank\">petition<\/a> overview and letter text are below.<\/p>\n<p><em>&#8220;Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, <\/em><br \/>\n<em> for the rights of all who are destitute.&#8221;<\/em> -Proverbs 31:8, NIV<\/p>\n<p><strong>PETITION OVERVIEW<\/strong><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>As of April 30th, 2011, the citizens of the city and province of  Daraa, Syria have been held hostage by Syrian forces for 6 days. For SIX  days the innocent citizens have not had water, electricity, access to  food or medicine. They are afraid to leave the house for fearing of  being killed by Syrian forces. The same forces are not allowing anybody  to enter the city or province. THIS HAS TO STOP. Babies and children and  are dying without food.<\/p>\n<p>This petition is for the United States, International Community, UN,  Red Crescent to stop stalling and talking and actually forcing the  Syrian government to allow AID to enter Daraa.<\/p>\n<p>We need to show those that are sitting that the world will not be  silent! We will not allow a massacre to happen in Syria again. The world  will no longer be silent. Sign and Pass along to everyone you know!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h4>PETITION LETTER<\/h4>\n<p>Send AID to Daraa, Syria<\/p>\n<p>Greetings,<\/p>\n<p>I was thrilled to see the United States and  International Community come out and condemn the atrocities being  committed against the innocent Syrian population in Syria. US Secretary  of State Hillary Clinton said last week, &#8220;[The government] must cease  the violence and begin a serious political process. We strongly condemn  the ongoing violence committed against peaceful protesters by the Syrian  government.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;m writing to ask you to follow through with your condemnation of  the violence by preemptively responding to the potential massacre in  Daraa, Syria. Syrian forces have closed off Daraa city and province.  They have cut off the citizen&#8217;s water, electricity, phone lines,  internet, access to food and medicine. As you know, there are many Aid  organizations in and around Syria like the UN and the Syrian Arab Red  Crescent. We need your political clout to force the Syrian government to  allow Aid agencies to enter Daraa and care for the wounded and starving  children.<\/p>\n<p>Please do not wait until after an even greater massacre happens. It  is your duty to stop crimes against humanity before they begin if you  can. You can stop the killing of innocent civilians in Daraa now before  its too late. Please act.<\/p>\n<p>Join this petition <a href=\"http:\/\/www.change.org\/petitions\/get-aid-sent-to-daraa-syria\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a> or at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.change.org\/petitions\/get-aid-sent-to-daraa-syria\" target=\"_blank\">http:\/\/www.change.org\/petitions\/get-aid-sent-to-daraa-syria<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>+++<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/dillonburroughs.org\/\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>DILLON BURROUGHS<\/strong><\/a> is an author, activist, and   co-founder of Activist Faith. Dillon         served in Haiti following the epic   2010 earthquake and has         investigated modern slavery in the US and   internationally. His books         include\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/search.barnesandnoble.com\/Undefending-Christianity\/Dillon-Burroughs\/e\/9780736937023\" target=\"_blank\"><em>Undefending Christianity<\/em><\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/search.barnesandnoble.com\/Not-in-My-Town\/Dillon-Burroughs\/e\/9781596693012\/?itm=3\" target=\"_blank\"><em>Not in My Town<\/em><\/a> (with Charles J. Powell), and\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Thirst-No-More-OneYear-Devotional\/dp\/1596693126\/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1305121836&amp;sr=1-1\" target=\"_blank\"><em>Thirst No More<\/em> <\/a> (October). Discover more at\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/activistfaith.org\/\">ActivistFaith.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Officials estimate 850 protestors have been killed in the recent uprisings in Syria. NOW is the time for people of faith to both pray and act on the behalf of Syria&#8217;s people. As in all things, first, please pray for the people of Syria. Pray for their safety, the issues at stake in the protest,&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":230,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[16,14,126,125],"class_list":["post-624","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-activism","tag-activist-faith","tag-dillon-burroughs","tag-pray-for-syria","tag-syria"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Standing for Syria - Activist Faith<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/activistfaith\/2011\/05\/standing-for-syria.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Standing for Syria - Activist Faith\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Officials estimate 850 protestors have been killed in the recent uprisings in Syria. NOW is the time for people of faith to both pray and act on the behalf of Syria&#8217;s people. As in all things, first, please pray for the people of Syria. 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