The regime didn’t want to admit that they were fighting any sort of secular entity. So when we started having big demonstrations, it drove the regime crazy. Salamiyah had a big effect on all of Syria. It raised people’s awareness that government propaganda wasn’t true. Daraa, a predominantly Sunni city, was demonstrating. And Baniyas, a mixed city, was demonstrating. And Salamiyah, a city of minorities known for its leftist tendencies, was demonstrating. Everyone had the same slogans, the same political principles, the same demands for freedom. It wasn’t Salafis or foreign agents challenging
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