Syrian-Americans have expressed anger at the US, Britain, France missile strikes on their homeland as they celebrated their country's independence day at a rally in Pennsylvania.
The Morning Call of Allentown reports a crowd of about 50 Syrians chanted in Arabic and sang the Syrian national anthem at the annual event.
Late Friday the US-UK-France launched a coordinated airstrike in Syria, under the pretext of the unsubstantiated international campaign about the use of chemical weapons in the Syrian town of Douma.
According to the MCA, at the ceremony, people called the reports propaganda, to turn world opinion against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Some wore T-shirts with the Syrian flag inside an outline of the nation’s borders and the slogan "Hands off Syria."
Syrian ambassador to the United Nations Bashar Ja'afari addressed the ceremony by video and in Arabic, thanking those gathered for standing with Syria, according to a translation provided by a member of the congregation, the report added.
"We love God, we love our country, we love our president," the crowd of 50 or so chanted in Arabic, followed by the Syrian national anthem as the flag was raised, and then the "Star-Spangled Banner," it said.
"We’re hurt [by] what happened," George Khallouf said, as quoted by the MCA, adding that he believes U.S. President Donald Trump acted too quickly by ordering U.S. forces into action without United Nations support. "It was a foolish decision."
