Syrian TV star joins anti-regime protesters

Mohammed al-Rashi attends funeral of Damascus demonstrators as celebrities pick sides in fight to topple President Bashar al-Assad The Syrian TV star Mohammed al-Rashi has joined Syria’s anti-regime demonstrators just days after a group of intellectuals and artists protested in Damascus. In a video posted online the actor is seen attending a number of funerals in the Damascus neighbourhood of Qaboun, where at least 15 people were shot dead on Friday, the highest number of deaths reported in a single day in the capital since the revolt began four months ago. Rashi joins a list of stars including the actor Fares al-Heloo who have spoken out against the regime. On Wednesday 30 of about 200 actors, writers and intellectuals who protested in the Midan neighbourhood of the capital were arrested, including the leading actor May Skaf, film directors Nabil Maleh and Mohammed Malas and writer Rima Fleihan. All have since been released. But as those fighting to topple President Bashar al-Assad and those supporting him seek the backing of the rich and famous, many of Syria’s celebrities have shown loyalty to the regime. The singer George Wassouf performed before thousands of people at a pro-regime concert in the central Omawiyeen Square on Sunday evening. Wassouf, one of Syria’s most famous singers who hails from a town in the governorate of Homs, is among a number of stars who have drawn fierce criticism for supporting a regime that continues to crack down brutally on protesters. The concert, described as a show of loyalty to the homeland, started with a minute of silence for the dead. Others have hedged their bets. The actor Muna Wassif, the mother of the democracy activist Ammar Abdulhamid, who runs a blog on Syria’s revolution, called in May for an end to the killing and the lifting of sieges on villages but stopped short of calling for the regime to go. In May a group of international filmmakers signed an online petition denouncing the killing of protesters for making “demands of basic rights and liberties”. Nour Ali is the pseudonym of a journalist in Damascus Syria Arab and Middle East unrest Bashar Al-Assad Protest Middle East guardian.co.uk

Posted by on July 18, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.