...your spouse? We sitting here today are fortunate enough not to be experiencing a situation such as Syria where according to a BBC report in 2015, more than 250,000 people have died over the course of a 4 and a half year Syrian Civil War, which still goes on till date. Today I will be informing you about the background of the Syrian government, the reasons within Syria that lead to the Civil war and Refugee Crisis and the current situation of the Syrian refugee crisis To understand the severity of this Refugee Crisis, we need to connect it back to its roots, the Syrian Government. The Syrian government is lead by President Bashar Al Assad, who came into rule in 2000 after both his father and elder brother passed away. Before he was elected his father ruled Syria for 30 years, he modernised the country but at the cost of a brutal repression by surpressing the thoughts and actions of people and the Emergency Law – the law of arresting anyone who went against the government was applied since 1963 and continued throughout his rule. When Bashar Al Assad was sworn in as president, he signalled he would be a different kind of leader and promised political reforms , and according to the BBC news report in 2015, President Assad promised wide-ranging reforms, including modernising the economy, fighting corruption and launching "our own democratic experience" during his inaugural speech. however things did not go quite as planned, The reasons only kept building up until the civil war ...
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...An analysis into the rise of Arab Nationalism following the establishment of the State of Israel post-1948 and its impacts November, 2012 The main catalyst for the rise of Arab nationalism throughout the Arab world stemmed from the creation of the state of Israel in 1948. Israel's creation as the result of Zionist Jewish nationalism led to a counter-reaction in the peoples of Arab states - including Palestine - which was focused on removing Zionism from Arab lands and uniting Arabs to defeat Israel with the Palestinian cause being the central call of Arab nationalist intellectuals. By 1919 the Palestinian people had already established their identity as Arab, Palestinian, Syrians during the Paris Peace Conference as part of their process in developing their own nationalism. This longing for a more defined identity had increasingly become a matter of concern for Arab intellectuals especially after a growing Jewish community in Palestine and an absence of one formal representative of the people. Such occurrences led to a reaction and a will to reunite and regain the people’s dignity through the idea of Arab Nationalism. Examples of notable early nationalist thinkers include Sate’ al Husari, Michel Aflaq who were greatly influenced by prominent 19th century European thinkers. One of the earliest forms of Arab Nationalism was embodied in the Syrian Socialist National Party that was founded in 1932 by Antoun Saadeh, which started off by fighting French colonialism from...
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...Essay on Facebook Posted by admin as Example papers Social Networking Sites like Facebook Made the World a Better Place Appearing on the world stage in 2003, Facebook has revolutionized the average person’s social network into an unprecedented web of information available in the palm of a hand. With just a few clicks or taps on one’s mobile app, one can meet people, see friends from high school and even make contacts with potential business interests. Unfortunately, social networking sites like Facebook have not made the world a better place because it is a waste of time for the user. As time is important to people, it can be better spent doing productive things, beneficial for one’s life. As the old adage goes, time is of the essence, and if it is not used wisely, the consequences are never good. Social networks have become more than just connections with people, they have accumulated add-ons like Farmville, Mafia Wars and other games in order to keep users entertained. In these games, the user plays for virtual money, often spending many hours each day building farms and collecting sheep and other animals. With millions of users signed-up for such add-ons, it is not hard to deduce that they are wasting millions of hours each day decorating farms and collecting garden tools. It is, however, true that if used right, the site can connect users with people of same interests, thus building a name for a person, if s/he is a writer for example. Nevertheless, a few possible connections...
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...(Worldvision.org). After the uprising of the deadly war, many Syrian refugees fled their homes to countries in the Middle East and countries in Europe including Germany. Germany played a huge part in accepting these homeless Syrian refugees. According to the New York Times, Germany accepted approximately 800,000 refugees. The acceptance of these escaping refugees is a resemblance to the holocaust which occurred in the mid 1900’s (ushmm.org/wlc). The holocaust like the war occurring in Syria today forced hundreds and thousands of Jews to flee their country. Refugees fleeing the war needed to travel light and with precaution. Many taking important information with them such as their identification, passports, visas, money, and pictures of their families; that they left behind or lost along the way. Countless Syrian refugees traveled to Germany illegally by boat due to Syrian border regulations that only allowed families with visas and or passports or “young men who came individually” to cross the border. (Irinnews.org). Families along with their children crossed the border on boats, buses, days of walking, and/or escaping overnight. Many died trying to flee the country while traveling over the Mediterranean Sea. This included...
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...foreign aid to Syria? Syria continues to be categorized as a state sponsor of terrorism, since 1979. Syria’s government supports U.S.-listed terrorist groups and allows some of these groups, such as Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, to maintain headquarters in Damascus. Both of these organizations have been labeled as a terrorist group not only by the U.S, but also by the European Union, the United Kingdom, Japan, Canada, and Israel. The Syrian government also houses and aids worldwide terrorists, and serves as the center of trade in illegal narcotics. An American supported Israeli-Syrian treaty would make it far more difficult, rather than easier, for the United States to speak up or take action against these activities. The 2006 State Department Country Report says the Syrian government remains an active supporter of Hezbollah and has a secret presence in Lebanese politics. The goal of the Hezbollah is to dominate Lebanese politics in order to create a theocratic Islamic state out of Iran and to act as Iran’s (and Syria’s) substitute in confronting Israel and the US as a second front. Syria has suspected ties to the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in 2005. However, Syria still rejects the terrorist categorization, denies involvement in the Hariri killing, and says it was Hamas, Hezbollah, and other groups on its soil to be legitimate resistance movements aimed at beneficial Arab territory held by Israel. Reports claim that Syria was involved,...
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...Armed Conflict in Syria: Background and U.S. Response Jeremy M. Sharp Specialist in Middle Eastern Affairs Christopher M. Blanchard Specialist in Middle Eastern Affairs September 6, 2013 Congressional Research Service 7-5700 www.crs.gov RL33487 Armed Conflict in Syria: Background and U.S. Response Summary The popular-uprising-turned-armed-rebellion in Syria is in its third year, and seems poised to continue, with the government and an array of militias locked in a bloody struggle of attrition. Members of Congress and Administration officials are debating options for responding militarily to President Bashar al Asad’s forces’ reported use of chemical weapons in attacks on rebel-held areas and civilians. After the U.S. intelligence community concluded that Asad’s forces used weapons in limited attacks earlier this year, the Obama Administration had signaled a pending expansion of U.S. civilian and military assistance to the opposition. Earlier in the conflict, U.S. officials and many analysts asserted that President Asad and his supporters would be forced from power, but had difficulty articulating how that outcome would take place within the timeframes they set forth. Recent developments suggest that both the opposition and the Asad regime face considerable challenges in their attempts to assert greater control over Syria. Increasingly, analysts have focused on the potential for the regime and its opponents to carve out strongholds and prolong the fighting. Rapid escalation...
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... complete understanding of what constitutes civil war and provides a framework 76 Introduction the Middle East, authoritarian regimes thought invulnerable to protest and impossible to oust began to cede to massive protest. Attacks on governmental institutions and elite leaders ensconced from public opinion developed divergently in each nation, employing tailored strategies to mobilize the public and reap key support. This paper focuses on the nature and development of these Arab Spring further use these distinctions to illuminate the conceptual, instrumental, and semantic nature of civil war in general. - exacerbated the grievances felt by rebel forces and smoothed over ethnic, religious, and tribal ten- trastingly, in Syria, instances of mild reform under Bashar al-Assad, popular concerns for security, kept civil war at bay. Conceptual Isolation of Civil War presence or absence of civil war. However, the scholarly distinction between civil war and other insurgency and counter-insurgency, uprisings, genocide or genocidal actions, and general loss of internal monopoly over the legitimate use of force.1 confuses the framework of responses and semantically politicizes actions by regional and international players. Thus, in order to explore the causal factors in reaching civil war, the instrumental and The constitutive dimensions of civil war are conceptually under debate. The majority of However, 1...
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...Should the U.S. take Military Action in Syria? Syria, a country in the Middle East bordering Turkey, Iraq, Jordan, Israel and Lebanon has experienced growing civil unrest since 2011. The current government, led by Bashar al-Assad, has responded with violence and human rights abuses. In September 2013 the United Nations (UN) (United Nations, 2013) confirmed chemical weapons were used against civilians in Damascus on August 21st. These actions have generated an outcry for intervention. Arguments Some believe taking action is the only way to stop the killing of civilians and end human rights abuses perpetrated by the military. These pro-interventionists conclude Assad continues his oppressive actions because he doesn’t believe anyone will take action to stop him. Assaults on Syrian civilians are documented by many sources. Since January 2011 it is estimated over 100,000 citizens protesting against the Assad regime have been killed by military forces (Table, 2013). A report commissioned by the UN in June 2013 estimated 5,000 were killed each month since July 2012. This number exceeds reported deaths in Iraq at the height of war in 2007. In a September 2011 report many atrocities against children were documented. Over a hundred children were killed in connection with protests, many others reported injured. A group of children in the town of Dara’a, as young as 8, were taken into custody in connection with anti-government graffiti on a schoolhouse wall. These children...
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...Christians in Israel Israel is one of the most unique countries in the world because of its demographic makeup, especially in looking at the country from the perspective of an American. This is because it is the only country that is made up of a primarily Jewish population. In Israel, it is the Christians who are the minority. It is specifically these minority Christians that I am investigating in this paper. I will primarily answer the question, “Who are these Christians living in Israel?” I will examine this by looking into what specific denominations these Christians represent, what historical backgrounds they have living in the country of Israel, and how their culture meshes with that of Israel as a whole. Making up only about 2 percent of the 7,000,000 people of Israel, Christians living in Israel are very much a minority by number.1 Interestingly, though, Israel is the only country in the Middle East where the Christian population has grown over the past 60 years, now standing at over 155,000.2The Christian peoples of Israel can be classified into four main groups. These are the Orthodox Churches, the Non- 1 Eldar, Yishai, “Focus on Israel – The Christian Communities of Israel” 2 Reidy, Tim, “The Holy Land and the Church in the Middle East” Chalcedonian Churches, the Latin and Uniate Churches, and the Protestant Churches.3 Specifically, the state of Israel officially recognizes a number of Christian Communities. This recognized status allows the ecclesiastical, or...
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...Makiyah Mcgruder Mr. Stevens World history 9th grade 3/3/14 The Armenian Genocide Part 1 The Armenian genocide went on for nearly an Olympiad. More than 1.2 million Armenian people were killed in Turkey from the year 1914 to 1918. The Armenians were killed by the Ottoman Turkish government, to terminate the racial, religious minority. This was the first of many genocides of the 20th century. The men were shot and killed. Women and children were involuntarily evacuated from their homelands, and made to walk until they kicked the bucket from feebleness, disease, and starvation. Who/What Involvement in Event (may include their action or response to event) |Involvement in Event (may include their action or response to event| Leaders – Who was responsible (leaders or government) for the event taking place? |The government was responsible for the even taking place. | Casualties – Which group(s) was targeted in this event? |The Armenian people were targeted in this event. | Opposition Did anyone oppose or try to prevent this event (may be within the nation or another government opposing the event)? What did the opposition do to prevent/stop the event? |Not really, based on the information I was provided with the genocide ended because the Armenians beat the Turkish in the battle of Sardarabad ending the genocide. | Supporters – Who supported or helped to carry out the government orders? What did the supporters do to carry out the event...
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...and novichok as the most threatening chemical agents in the world today. Sarin is typically odorless and colorless and takes one minute to kill a person. Sarin- -What is Sarin? Sarin is nerve agent that is colorless, odorless chemical that can kill you as little as a minute, in extreme cases. It was developed by German Researchers in the 1930's and it causes muscle spasms, vision loss, and asphyxia. This chemical is classified as a weapon of mass destruction. -How is Sarin Delivered? This is a dangerous chemical that can be deployed as a liquid, or loaded in to missiles and mortars. It can be packaged with other chemicals and converted in to nerve gas or fired from anti-tank guns and shoulder mounted launchers. Side effects of Syria- Sarin can be inhaled or absorbed through the skin. It cripples the respiratory central of the central nervous system and paralyzes the muscles around the lungs. This results in death by asphyxiation. The agent could even potentially contaminate food or water supplies. It can also linger in the area for up to six hours. Just a pinpricked-sized droplet is enough to kill a human according to the World Health organization. Exposure symptoms include nausea, violent headaches, blurred vision, drooling, muscle convulsions,...
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...The Arabs: A History by Eugene Rogan Robert Irwin on an eloquent history of Arab hopes and disappointments * Share17 * * * * * ------------------------------------------------- Email * ------------------------------------------------- Robert Irwin * ------------------------------------------------- * ------------------------------------------------- The Guardian, Saturday 31 October 2009 An American Army helicopter flies past a mosque in Baghdad, Iraq. Photograph: Joe Raedle/Getty Images The Arabs: A History 1. The Arabs: A History 2. by Eugene Rogan 3. 4. ------------------------------------------------- Top of Form Buy the book Bottom of Form by Eugene Rogan 532pp, Allen Lane, £25 Early on in his book Eugene Rogan, who teaches the modern history of the Middle East, confesses that in "any free and fair election in the Arab world today, I believe the Islamists would win hands down". Again, towards the end of this engrossing and capacious book, he reiterates that the "inconvenient truth about the Arab world today is that, in any free and fair election, those parties most hostile to the United States are most likely to win". Today, Arab fear of the west and resentment at the humiliating and socially damaging effects of westernisation fuels Islamism and the spread of terrorism. How have we come to this pass? Rogan answers this question by tracing the history of Arab hopes and ultimate disappointments from...
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...All lecture questions from lecture for the Final Exam will come from this list of terms. The other ½ of the exam will come from readings and the assigned videos What happened in 1981 to the Iraq nuclear facility Abu Nidal- Afghan-Russian War Anwar Sadat Arab Legion Arab Spring – Arabs, the origin Assyrians Ayatollah Khomeini Balfour Declaration Bashar Al-Assad Bath party Battle of Tours Beirut Hilton Hotel in 1958 Black September Byzantine Empire- Camp David Accords Charles Martel Council of Clermont, France- Convention of Constantinople Cost of the war in Iraq (est. money and deaths of troops) Country of Edessa Creation of Israel (how did it happen) Eastern Roman Empire Emperor Constantine Fatah Ferdinand de Lessep- First Anglo–Afghan War of 1839-1842 Gamal Abdel Nasser Geography of the Middle East Golan Heights Haganah Hagar & her son Ishmael- Hamas Hamid Karzai Hassan Rouhani- Iran-Iraq War (1979-1989): Irgun Ka’ba- Kermit Roosevelt Khyber Pass massacre 1842 Killing the Israeli ambassador and his aides in London Kurds Lawrence of Arabia Levant- Lochay, Scotland The longest US war Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Manluks 1983 Marine HQ in Beirut Mission Accomplished! Mohamed Bouazizi - Mohammad Reza Pahlavi Mohammed Mossadegh Mongols under Genghis Khan Muammar al-Gaddafi Muhammad Mujahedeen Munich Olympics in 1972 Muslim Brotherhood- Napoleon in the Middle East National Liberation Movement Nerve gas and the...
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...Palestinian Persuasion Authors utilize a variety of literally techniques to convey feelings and ideas. Edward Said uses many different strategies to represent the Palestinian people throughout his essay “States”. In creating awareness of the Palestinian struggle Said employs numerous distinct techniques and strategies to convey his message and elicit emotion from the reader. Said uses photographs along with his own interpretations throughout the text to convey emotion to the reader in a very vivid way. These pictures display great depth into the emotional connection Said feels towards the Palestinian people along with his compassion of a call to action. The unique way that he displays the pictures along with a personal explanation creates a partnership that together illustrates and teaches the reader about the struggles of Palestine in a way that images cannot do alone. In addition to the an image of a nomadic man sitting on a modern chair in the village of Tel Sheva, Said writes, “He seems unsettled, poised for departure. Now what? Now where? All at once it is out transience and impermanence that our visibility expresses, for we can be seen as figures forced to push on to another house, village, or region. Just as we once were taken from one “habitat” to a new one, we can be moved again.” (543) These powerful words are woven into the image in way that conveys Said’s personal interpretation, which forces the reader to see through the Palestinians eyes. The message Said...
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...------------------------------------------------- THIS HOUSE WOULD ARM THE SYRIAN REBELS (from idebate.org) Syria, a relatively small but pivotal Middle Eastern Country, has been on a downward spiral since March 2011 when there were peaceful street protests calling for the President, Bashar al Assad, to step down. Assad responded with force, firing on the protestors in Daara on 21st March, and within a week demonstrations and some clashes in six of the twelve provincial capitals. Quelling Daara with force was followed in late April with violent clashes in Homs which in turn escalated nationwide on April 22 when more than 100 demonstrators were killed across the country.[1] Some among the protestors responded to force with force and formed the Free Syrian Army at the end of July whose organisation was enhanced by defections from the Syrian army.[2] Peace attempts have failed[3] and the country is now involved in a full scale civil war between rebel groups, that want to overthrow the government as inspired by the other Arab spring revolutions, and Assad's government. The civil war is compounded by the fault lines that run through Syria's history, the government is supported by a Shi'ite sect called the Alawites, that have historically been a persecuted minority but under Bashar's father, Hafez who was president from 1971 to 2000, they rose to prominence. Sunnis, the majority, want to return to political dominance, but these are not the only two groups, there are also Christians...
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