By the light of a bright moon, several men loaded up three white vans with luggage and equipment at three in the morning at the parking lot of Dalati’s Insurance in Anaheim, Calif. One man crouched by the side of a van door, rubbing a sticker against the surface: “Marie Colvin Convoy for Freedom of Syria,” it read. 

Colvin, a journalist for The Sunday Times, was killed in Syria Feb. 23 while reporting on the country's uprising against the government of Bashar Al-Assad. A photo of her face, alongside one of Rami Ochlick, a French journalist who also died in Syria, cover the windows of the van.

“Without freedom, life is not worth living,” said Belal Dalati, a Syrian-American resident of Anaheim who organized the convoy. “[Colvin and Ochlick] realized that and that's why they endangered themselves and felt that they need to expose what's going on in Syria and the atrocities that the Syrian people are going through.”

The convoy set out to honor of Colvin’s work in Syria, leaving Anaheim Thursday morning for a two-week tour to New York. Once they reach their destination, members of the Syrian-American community will present Colvin’s family with a medal of honor and a Syrian flag. 

When the Syrian uprising began in March of last year and reports of violent crackdowns on protesters began to spread, the regime instated a ban on most foreign journalists from coming inside to report on the conflict. A few months ago, Dalati was on a humanitarian convoy of 200 volunteers and journalists on the border of Turkey. They were denied entry to Syria when they tried to deliver aid. 

“They said 'no' to food. They said 'no' to medical supplies. They said 'no' to the media,” he said. “They're just trying to present their point of view to the world and they don't want anyone else to see  the crimes they are committing against humanity.”

Marie Colvin was among a brave group of journalists who ignored the  warnings and entered Syria covertly to report on a side of the war the regime didn’t want exposed. She died when the regime targeted a rebel media center in Homs, killing her and Ochlik in the onslaught. 

“We heard about the death of two reporters in Syria and we wanted to do something for them, to present the families of the victims with an award,” Dalati said. The group will take stops along the way to collect donations and most importantly, raise awareness among Americans and Syrian-Americans alike still on the fence about a revolution that has been characterized by its sectarian divides. Mazen Almoukdad, another organizer, said this is the time for Syrians abroad to take action.

“We cannot expect others to do our job. It is time to walk the walk," he said. "If you're not up to this challenge, just withdraw and say 'I'm not Syrian.' "

Almakdoud hadn’t followed Colvin’s work prior to the revolution and hadn't even known who she was. But he’s eager now to meet her mother in New York.  “I am honored to privileged to have her name on our convoy,” he said. “I am going to say to her mother that it's absolutely true that she lost her daughter. We cannot replace [Colvin] no matter what, but her mother has gained 22 million Syrians.”

The question of humanitarian intervention is one that separates Dalati and Almoukdad. Dalati has lost three cousins to the revolution. His voice is weary as he speaks about the current situation. As he has listened to phonecalls from family abroad, he’s become convinced a military intervention needs to take place. 

“I hear the horror. They have no electricity. They have no means of heat. There's no gas to put in their cars. They're under siege,” he says. “It's a nightmare for humanity. It's a total human tragedy and the whole world is watching.”

He believes that Syria’s lack of oil wealth is what has stalled talk of military intervention. “It looks like no one is willing to carry the tab,” Dalati said. “Do they feel the international community abandoned them? You bet they do.”

Almoukdad, however, said he still believes in a peaceful unarmed uprising—even though the revolution became militarized when defected soldiers formed the Free Syrian Army against the Assad regime in July. 

“This is my personal opinion and I'm going to stick to it. This revolution has to stay peaceful,” he said, “This revolution does not and should not allow outside interference.”

Both men, however, agree on one thing: Success will come. 

“I see that freedom is coming, I'm just counting how many people are to die before that happens,” Dalati said, his voice low. “How much death equates to freedom? I don't know. I don't know.”

 

Reach Senior Staff Reporter Tasbeeh Herwees here.