Syrian activists pay tribute to Colvin
Marie Colvin was killed Feb. 22, 2012 by shelling in the besieged Syrian city of Homs. She was 56. Credit: Getty Images
Syrian community activists from across the country arrived Friday in East Norwich to honor Marie Colvin, the war correspondent killed while covering unrest in their homeland.
Some of the nearly two dozen people joining the "Marie Colvin Convoy for Freedom of Syria" traveled from as far away as California -- stopping in cities along the way to call for an end to repression in their native land.
They said it was the least they could do to show appreciation for a fearless journalist who had become their hero.
After welcoming the convoy at her home, Colvin's mother, Rosemarie, attended a gathering at Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Park in Oyster Bay, where she was given a "medal of honor" trophy bearing the inscription "Freedom is a worthy cause."
The Colvin family was also presented with a poster-size card signed by Syrians from around the nation.
"On behalf of the Syrian community throughout the U.S., we would like to extend our condolences. Your loss is our loss," said Mazen Almoukdad of Anaheim, Calif.
"It is true that you lost a dear daughter, but you have gained 22 million Syrians," he said. "We will never forgive and we will never forget what they did to her."
Marie Colvin, 56, a native of Long Island who worked as a foreign correspondent for The Sunday Times of London, was killed alongside French photographer Remi Ochlik on Feb. 22 as the Syrian military attacked the city of Homs. Her funeral was held Monday in Oyster Bay.
Rosemarie Colvin, 79, said she appreciated the Syrian community's tribute to her daughter Friday.
"The sadness is a little more comforting when people like this remember and come to console us," she said. "I want to thank them all. . . . The Syrian people still need an awful lot of help."
Belal Dalati, an Anaheim businessman who helped organize the convoy, said Marie Colvin "died for something -- for freedom, and this is what America stands for."
"This is why we choose to come here and we become Americans by choice," Dalati said, "and we would like to spread that feeling of freedom all over the world, including Syria."
The group later rallied outside the United Nations to call for international help in ousting Syrian President Bashar Assad.
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