Seventh Grader Rallies Support For Syrian People

7th grader Cenna Khatib was moved to write a poem on behalf of Syrians who are under attack by their government.

She wrote it after attending a rally for Syrians in December.

She read it to a crowd of 200 people rallying on Saturday at Copley Square in Boston.

The rally supported "the struggle of the Syrian people against the atrocities the government there is committing against the people," said Cenna's mom, Keli Khatib. 

The entire Khatib family, Cenna, her mom and dad and her two brothers were at Saturday's rally.

The poem is called:

Freedom to Syria

Quietly I stand in an upset crowd

Chanting and screaming in the background

Signs and flags flying through the air

A benevolent breeze blows through my hair.

Reading terrible but true things on the signs

Thinking of families in Syria including mine.

Suddenly an angry ball of fire burns within my soul

I begin to shout with the crowd:

“DOWN WITH ASSAD!” “DOWN WITH ASSAD!”

As I finish in my soul lays a piece of burnt out coal

I leave Boston feeling proud

Sometimes it feels good to go with the smaller crowd.

Rallies such as the one held in Boston are being in held in cities throughout the world, Keli said. 

"At this rally, Amnesty International was represented and they spoke about taking action by contacting the Russian embassy and urging them to make it clear that these attacks against the Syrian people must end," Keli said.

For more on Amnesty International's efforts.