Excite and Enliven

Yesterday, my uncle’s wife was found outside of her apartment, thrown out of the kitchen window, her body shattered eight stories below. My uncle (my mom’s brother) has always been a thorn in the Syrian government’s side - he is a past leader of the Democratic Party there, and used to host Western dignitaries such as a former U.S. Senator when they visited. His two best friends - strong advocates of democratic reform in Syria - were “put in a Toyota” last week. This is code for “they were hauled off by the government and will never be seen again.” It is very strongly suspected that the government had come for my uncle, didn’t find him, found resistance from his wife, and then killed her. Afraid of government retaliation, my uncle did not announce the death - he took his wife’s body to the small town in which he grew up and buried her next to his mother, and held no funeral. In fact, when he came upon the body of his wife, he was returning from another funeral, and funerals have become risky business in Syria, because Syrian snipers have been firing directly on funeral-goers. I tell you this to illustrate the magnitude of what is happening in Syria.

I would kindly request that you don’t send condolences - instead, please take the same amount of time and call a Senator and/or Congressman and tell them very simply that the American government must condemn Bashar Assad in the strongest terms. You might think that these calls don’t mean anything but believe me - they do. Thanks in advance for a taking a moment to effectuate change in the name of a wonderful woman and a wonderful wife who was senselessly killed because her husband was an advocate of freedom and liberty. May God keep you and your families safe.