Syria, Syria don't you cry, we will never let you die.....

Marching down St Catherine for the children of Syria.

One of the many chants recited last night at the vigil/march held downtown Montreal. Another chant from last night, recited in Arabic, was God, Syria, and Freedom, as well as Come on Bashar, leave! There were other slogans, but my Arabic being limited, I did not understand them. Though to be sure, when the name Bashar was in the slogan, it was all about what an ass hole he is being and how he should leave already. RDI suggests there were 150-250 people... I think there was closer to 400 people. The numbers RDI had were probably from the organizers, as the group from Facebook indicated there would be around 200 people. It doesn't take into account that sometimes only 1 family member wrote he was attending and then brought half a dozen people with him.

I was very pleased with the fact there was no counter protesters. Rumours through the crowd though implied there was people from the Syrian Embassy in attendance. I know I stuck out like a sore thumb, I don't look Syrian, I was asked at least twice if I was from news media, I suppose because of my big camera. I explained to one woman I was there since my mom-in-law was born in Homs, Syria, and I feel solidarity with the Syrian people.

The march went from Norman Bethune Square to Philips Square. The police arrived around 8:30ish to escort the protesters marching down St Catherine.  I will give credit to Montreal police, they do a great job escorting protests. That's  what police forces are for, to protect the people! [HINT HINT BASHAR!!!] They were there, but stayed out of the way as people were just peacefully walking and shouting slogans.

 Katherine Lalancette of the Gazette interviewing Afra Jalabi

One woman I noticed out of the crowd. Turns out she is on Syria's most wanted list. I saw her being interviewed by a young female journalist for what seemed to be quite some time. She was also interviewed on CTV news briefly as well last night.

One of the organizers asking people to get their candles for the march

I noticed also reporters from RDI - they had one of the longest reports on the protest march of any TV news outlet. It is available on the RDI website - tele-journal  for July 30th. It's about 5 minutes into the 1st part of the broadcast.  I did not see CTV on site, but I caught the news. It was obvious they only came to Bethune square briefly and not later, as they say only several dozen people were there.  When we marched we were surely about 400.  I noticed a truck from Global TV but did not see their reporters, and have no idea if they had a report.

10 placards giving history and current details of uprising in Syria

I have to say the event was well organized.  They had T-shirts for sale, and free candles to all those who wanted to walk with them.  They had printed up leaflets to hand out on the street as others marched on St Catherine. They had highly graphic placards of images taken from footage that has come out of Syria. They had a sound system they used to encourage the crowd to cheer or chant and to make Montrealers aware of the plight of the Syrian people and how the Syrian children have the right to freedom too.

We left Philips Square at 10 to make sure we caught the 10:30 train back to the West Island. By then hubby had had enough of the crowds and noise.  They were shouting slogans when we left, and were going to have an audio visual presentation. I suspect the slogan shouting was also done to attract people from downtown Montreal to make them aware of the Syrian situation.

Candlelight vigil for Syria's dead Children St Catherine Street

Because it is the last day before Ramadan, it has been one of the worst days for the Syrian people, especially those in Hama, and other restive towns.  Tanks where there in force in Hama, and I haven't found a news report that knows how many dead. The numbers indicate there have been more then 100 dead this Sunday alone. The Hamza page I follow suggests 136, the Syrian days of rage say 120, and ffnSyria says 121. Aljazeera was far more conservative in it's estimates an hour ago, but now they also say 121 people are dead.

Edit 1:15pm : AlJazeera now says 136 dead
Edit 5:00pm : AlJazeera now says 142 dead