From the Interfaith Immigration Coalition (http://www.interfaithimmigration.org):
In the wake of last month’s brutal chemical weapons attack in Idlib which claimed the lives of at least 100 innocent civilians and continued mass atrocities across the country since, I am reaching out to you as founding team member of a new, grassroots Syria initiative: the Not A Bystander (https://www.notbystander.org/) campaign.
Reports by the United Nations and human rights organizations across the globe have concluded time and time again that war crimes and crimes against humanity are being perpetrated in Syria. However, media coverage and policy discourse have focused more on terms like “terrorism” and “civil war,” often presenting the situation in Syria as “too complex” and thus, discouraging the everyday citizen from doing something about our generation’s most egregious humanitarian crisis and mass atrocities.
The Not A Bystander campaign seeks to remedy this by galvanizing already-existing public sympathy for Syria and funneling it into simple, direct action, essentially crowdsourcing the fight against war crimes and crimes against humanity.
In basic terms, the Not A Bystander campaign seeks to bring together everyday individuals, celebrities, and organizations across the globe to proudly and publicly declare: “I Am Not A Bystander to war crimes and crimes against humanity in Syria.” Centered around the two basic principles (https://www.notbystander.org/the-platform) of civilian protection (https://www.notbystander.org/civilian-protection) and accountability (https://www.notbystander.org/accountability), the campaign presents participants with a pledge (https://www.notbystander.org/the-pledge)in which signatories commit to two things: first, a refusal to be a bystander to war crimes and crimes against humanity in Syria, the vast majority of which have been perpetrated by the Assad regime and its Russian ally against the Syrian people; and second, in a proud and public commitment to the resolve of the Syrian people, a pledge to take at least one direct action to honor this refusal to be a bystander.
By offering everyday citizens tangible actions by which to direct empathy and support for the Syrian people, the campaign encourages direct action in a simple, accessible manner. In addition to signing the pledge, participants are encouraged to change their profile pictures on social media and to publicly identify with the campaign through its branding. Later stages of the campaign will invite participants to partake in various forms of creative direct action, whether through art installations, awareness 5k runs, or tweetstorms. Other elements of the campaign will ultimately involve media, legal, and policy action items. The Not A Bystander campaign website features an expansive toolkit (https://www.notbystander.org/campaign-toolkit) which features how-to guides to help participants contact decision-makers (https://www.notbystander.org/contacting-decision-makers), organize events (https://www.notbystander.org/organizing-for-syria), and get their writing published (https://www.notbystander.org/writing-on-syria) on Syria, alongside a number of useful flashcards which provide vital information on war crimes and crimes against humanity, civilian protection measures, and accountability.
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