Hundreds Rally in Dearborn to Protest U.S. Intervention in Syria

More than 200 people throughout southeast Michigan gathered in protest at Dearborn City Hall on Sunday to call for the United States to cease arming rebel forces in Syria.

City Hall is one of several designated "free speech zones" located in Dearborn. 

Earlier this month, The White House announced it would begin sending munitions to "vetted" rebel forces fighting against President Bashar Al-Assad, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Sunday's protest was organized by The Syrian American Forum and the Michigan Emergency Committee Against War and Injustice.

Organizers said the Obama administration's decision to provide support to militants in Syria has not prevented ongoing violence in the country.

"It only prolongs the killing, destruction, and suffering of the Syrian people," Ziad Abu Fadel, a blogger for SyrianPerspective said. "Even more to the contrary, such support could amount to support of terrorism in Syria and beyond."

Fadel said he believes the rebel groups supported by the Obama administration are also responsible for killing innocent children and civilians by using car bombs in residential areas, destroying churches and mosques, and targeting spiritual leaders.

Monzer Ahmad, a member of the Syrian American Forum, said that the bulk of the rebel forces in Syria "are not freedom fighters. They are killers."

Other members in attendance compared the U.S intervention in Syria to former President George W. Bush administration's invasion of Iraq in 2003.

"I’m against an intervention. I think what’s happening is a concerted effort to remove the Syrian regime," wrote Osama Siblani, publisher of The Arab American News. "I’m not saying that I don’t think reform is needed. But destroying the country isn’t the way to do it. Intervention is not going to stop the killings, it’s going to increase the violence.

"Intervention will create a catastrophic situation for the region and I believe they (the West) will not intervene."

Since unrest began in 2011 against Al-Assad, more than 93,000 Syrians have been killed.

According to US News & World Report, the White House has been reluctant to become involved in Syria in part because the Bashar government has a strong ally in Russia. However, some protesters at the Dearborn rally alleged that the United States has already been funneling weapons into the country from Turkey and Jordan already.

When the White House announced that it is sending aid to Syrian rebel groups at the beginning of June, President Obama claimed that Assad used chemical weapons against Syrian citizens.

Some protesters said Sunday that such allegations are not true and lead to irresponsible fear mongering.

"Any U.S. role should be directed at supporting dialogue and a political solution by Syrians, for Syrians, based on the Geneva Declaration of June 2012," Fadel said.

Dearborn has one of the largest Syrian populations in the United States.