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Syrian activist Danny Abdul Dayem, speaking at the Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center in Boston. (Jill Ryan/Here & Now)
Sam Cook’s “A Change is Gonna Come” served as an anthem for the Civil Rights movement in the 1960s.
Last Friday night, it played as visitors arrived at the Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center to hear Syrian dissident Danny Abdul Dayem speak about what’s going on in his home country, and what they can do to help.
“We need you to spread the word. What we need is your support,” he said to a crowd of a couple hundred.
We recently spoke with Danny from the Baba Amr neighborhood of the besieged Syrian city of Homs. He escaped before the Syrian government occupied the area and came to the U.S. to speak with Americans.
“Everyone is saying we sympathize with you, we feel sorry. I know they do, [but] I need the government to move. We need military intervention. We need someone to save lives there,” he told Here & Now‘s Robin Young.
Syrian activist Danny Abdul Dayem, after speaking at the Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center in Boston. (Jill Ryan/Here & Now)
First-Hand Account
Imam Abdullah Faruq, associate imam at the Mosque for the Praising of Allah in Boston, said it’s important that Americans hear Danny’s story.
“We can read or see what’s on the news but when someone comes back there, witnessing the kind of thing that’s going on there, it needs to be echoed. And the Muslim world needs to know,” he told Here & Now‘s Jill Ryan.
‘All We Can Do Is Pray’
A student who preferred not to give her name said she has family in Syria.
“All we can do is pray for them. I go to school here and a lot of the students had no idea what’s going on over there,” she said.
Syrian-American Rushdal Beebee,visiting from Florida, decided to come to the center after her daughter told her Danny was speaking.
“Seeing him at CNN, and then seeing him in person, I think he’s my hero. Just to meet somebody like him, it make me feel good that there are good people in the world,” she said.
The View For Syrian-Americans
Rushdal Beebee said it has been hard to watch the events in Syria unfold.
“It’s very sad, it’s very stressful. You can’t even watch few minutes and you start to cry. Because Syria in the past used to be a shelter for all the Arabic people or people from Armenia, Chechnya, Palestine, they all would come to Syria. Now seeing Syria have refugees is really heartbreaking. So hopefully we will get over this and the Syrian people again will be free,” she said.
Syrian activist Danny Abdul Dayem, speaking at the Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center in Boston. (Jill Ryan/Here & Now)
Guest:
- Danny Abdul Dayem, Syrian activist
