At the onset of the Syrian revolution, Syrian youth began organizing themselves in their neighborhoods, villages and towns so they could plan protests and deliver their news to global news agencies. As the revolution spread throughout the country, there came a need for coordination between people in different neighborhoods in the same city on one level, and between cities and governorates nationwide on another. This is how the Local Coordination Committees of Syria (LCC) was born.
Activists in different neighborhoods, villages, towns and cities created coordination committees to organize revolutionary activities within their areas. Eventually, they decided to unite these committees under the LCC umbrella. The LCC was established by a group of activists and lawyers, who aimed to document regime violations, coordinate communication between activists on the ground, unite the political vision of these activists, and reach out to the media to report on events. The LCC continued to grow and develop until it established a presence in most Syrian cities. The group created a media office, and appointed official spokespeople to present the LCC’s political vision, including activist and poet Omar Idlibi and scriptwriter Rima Flihan.
A few months into the Syrian uprising, the LCC was able to gain the trust of media outlets because of its ability to document events and report to the media. The group also gained a reputation for high quality reporting, due to the large number of activists who joined, and who became citizen journalists reporting amid the action.
In order to provide further documentation for its work, the LCC established an English and an Arabic website. Events are reported on the websites as they unfold. Also on the website is a daily report that includes all events that took place on the ground throughout the day.
In addition to its website, the LCC publishes a bi-monthly newspaper titled We Came Out For Freedom. Many prominent activists and lawyers write for the paper, including Razan Zeitouneh. The paper is distributed in many areas inside and outside of Syria.
Over the last two years, the LCC has also organized a number of campaigns and grassroots movements. Examples of the campaigns are “Syria is Colorful,” “The Revolutionary Flag Represents Me,” “The Fingerprint of a Fighter,” and “Tomorrow Will be Better.”
Education is also important to the LCC, which is why the group has organized field schools that aim to support the education of internally and externally displaced refugee children. The LCC has held parties for children in areas like Darayya, Dael, Hasaka, Busra al-Sham, Muhassan and Khirbet Ghazala, and has also worked to provide psychological support to children and to distribute food baskets among them.
This email address has been created for people looking to contact activists, for journalists looking to be updated on the news of the Syrian revolution:
Contact the LCC at this email address to coordinate or plan something with the group:
Contact the LCC at this email address for issues related to relief work:
The LCC’s Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/LCCSy?fref=ts
The LCC’s Arabic website
The LCC’s English website
http://www.soutenir-la-syrie.com/ASPS-english.html
