Syrians donate blood to thank Canada just after missile attack

Just hours after a U.S.-led airstrike on the Syrian capital of Damascus, hundreds of Syrians across Canada donated blood to thank the country that has welcomed them since civil war broke out in their homeland seven years ago.

In Ottawa, around 25 people registered to give blood on what organizers call Syrian Canadian Donation Day. One of the volunteers of the nationwide campaign hopes April 14 will continue to be a day when Syrians across the country will take time to donate blood.

“The Syrian community has been planning to say thank you and to give back, and to show their gratitude for all the support and all the generosity of the Canadian people in 2016, 2017 until now. We feel like it’s our duty to do that,” Abdulnour Sakhniya said. “It’s part of our tradition and values, and we’d like to share those values today on April 14.”

Douaa Amir, 21, was the first volunteer to make a donation during the special clinic at the Canadian Blood Services location on Carling Avenue.

With her left arm extended and her hand gripping a stress ball, the young woman said she was a little nervous about giving blood for the first time, but grateful to have the opportunity to help.

“Canada has received a lot of Syrian refugees and it has given us peace, freedom and a lot of opportunities like jobs,” said Amir who fled the northern Syrian city of Aleppo just over a year ago. Now, she says, she is able to live without fear and pursue her goals.

“I can get back to my studies and I can study with peace and freedom, and I can work.”

Hours earlier, the U.S., Britain and France had fired more than 100 missiles in Syria, targeting chemical-weapons-related facilities to punish President Bashar Assad for a suspected chemical attack against civilians.

Sakhniya said it’s difficult to comment on the airstrikes, and that his only hope is that the military move will help save lives.

“We all have mixed feelings about what has happened ... but if it is going to end the suffering, if it’s going to end the attacks that are happening, then I am absolutely with it, of course.”