The Alternative to Assad? You're looking at it

Khaled Abu Salah is a man that has appeared a number of times on al Jazeera reports, and I first saw him when he was courageously telling one of the Arab inspectors about the horrific situation in Homs. I like his reasonable, sensible approach to explaining what is happening, and I worry about what would happen to him if the security services ever captured him. Here is a video of a short speech that is said to have been filmed today. If and when this is all over, watch people like him very closely. These people have emerged from Syria's streets and alleys and they are the future political generation that will help lead Syria - not some political dinosaur in exile abroad. When people sarcastically ask me who the alternative to Assad is, I think of people like Khaled Abu Salah. Why shouldn't a man like him become a future president of Syria?

I've done my best to translate it below:

Today, we have all come here, but not to offer condolences to Abu Muhammad. No, we have come here to offer him congratulations for the martyrdom of Muhammad Rabee. And to tell Abu Muhammad that we are all his children.

And guys, the most important thing that we have seen in this revolution is that we have all become brothers and family. But we are all revolutionaries, and the most important thing is to avoid showing sadness, because by God's will he is now a martyr. I don't want anybody to offer me their condolences. Congratulate me, for martyrdom is a medal that we can pin to our chests. This is our path and we chose it on the 15th of March. We all - together - went to pray in the square and offered the "prayer of the departing" before we went out to demonstrate.

Gentlemen, the revolution is not one of rights and jobs, it is not a revolution for bread, the revolution is a cause. If we cry for our martyrs, or feel sad, that does not mean that our resolve has weakened, no! We cry for them to remember them constantly, and remember that their blood is a debt we owe to them, all of them. We are all the children of this country, and whoever loves his country will sacrifice his life for it. Abu Muhammad we are all your children today, and God bless you all.

[There is a brief interlude where the crowd cheers and he gives some instructions for organising the next Friday's protests]

Guys, let me tell you something. I swear that as long as we are going out in the name of God, then we should follow his teachings and love each other. Let us love each other, and if somebody makes a mistake we should forgive him - we are all the same! If we love our friend and he makes a mistake, then we tell him that he made a mistake and forgive him. If we all continue to love each other, then no security, no army, no shabiha, no Iran and not even Russia can stand against us. God bless you all!