Saima Hassan

On March 15 2011, the Arab Revolution hit Syria's doors when the people took to the streets to protest the torture of students who had put up anti government graffiti. The government in turn chose to respond with force and demonstrations spread like wild fire. Assad, Syria’s current dictator ordered a series of crackdowns, sent tanks into the cities and opened fire on demonstrators. The country was on the brink of a civil war. Violence plagued the country. Children were and continue to be murdered. Women are being raped- husbands forced to watch. According to the United Nations, more than 7,500 civilians have been killed in the uprising. Activists put this number at 9000. Amnesty International claimed in a report in March 2012 that Syrians detained in the crackdown had been “thrust into a nightmarish world of systemic torture,” the scale of which had not been witnessed for decades. To commemorate a year’s worth of struggle, and further awareness of the atrocities, Minnesotans gathered together on March 17, 2012 to support the Syrian people and raise their voice against crimes Assad was committing. They demanded regime change, begged the world to wake up, and pleaded that the US do it’s share to end the torture and killings. 
They chanted SOS- Save Our Syria.