...Peoples views are divided on the Syrian conflict between those who view it as a revolution, and those who view it as a civil war. Revolution inevitably holds characteristics of civil conflict, there is a aspect of civil conflict that must not be looked at in all revolutions. There is a horrible truth about the Syrian problem which is overwhelming, that there are Syrians fighting and killing other Syrians in Syria. The civil conflict taking place in Syria is not a purely sectarian one. The western media exaggerates the extent to which the conflict can be so described. An arrogant Orientalist set of views refuses to understand the Syrians have a much different life. It revolves around death and pain. Sectarian war is the inevitable the destiny of Syrians. Not every conflict is about discrimination or for religious reason. The Spanish Civil War was a conflict between the supporters of the Republic and the fascist followers of Franco. The situation in Syria is closer to the previous example than sectarian civil war. One of the biggest reason behind civil conflict in Syria is the uprising of Syrians against a new feudal class that had enslaved them in syria. For rxample, the majority of Muslim Sunni rebels are moved by a will towards social justice and revenge against these feudalists, rather than exclusively by a sense of Sunni discrimination. In Syria, Syrians are fighting for different political reasons. Certainly some parties have religion focused political reasons...
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...Sara Wadlow PS 434 Research Paper May 3, 2015 Introduction The Syrian Civil War has resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people. Since 2011, protests and attacks have been a daily occurrence, and the regime of Bashar Al-Assad has done what it believed was necessary to stop rebel forces and end protests. As such, Assad has committed many questionable, at best, and criminal, at worst, actions against the civilians of Syria in an effort to stop the rebels. The indiscriminate warfare Assad has used against Syrian citizens is shown in multiple international doctrines as illegal, and is thus a war crime, which should be prosecuted. The Statue of the International Criminal Court defines war crimes as “serious violations of the laws and customs applicable in international armed conflict” and “serious violations of the laws and customs applicable in an armed conflict not of an international character (ICRC 2016). Section IV of Rule 156 of the International Committee of the Red Cross, titled Other Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law Committed During a Non-International Armed Conflict, lists use of prohibited weapons subject to criminal sanctions, and specifically references the Chemical Weapons Convention, Amended Protocol II to the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons, and the Ottawa Convention as laying the groundwork for this guideline. This paper will address historical context of the Syrian Civil War, United Nations documents concerning...
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...The unrest started as a civil uprising that were part of the wider North African and Middle Eastern protest movements known as the Arab Spring, with Syrian protesters at first demanding democratic and economic reform within the framework of the existing government. The uprising began with protests in March 2011 in Daraa, but a violent response from the government and subsequent clashes left dozens of opposition protesters and at least 7 policemen dead. In April 2011, the Syrian Army was deployed to quell the uprising and soldiers fired on demonstrators across the country. After months of military sieges, the protests developed into an armed rebellion. The conflict is asymmetrical, with clashes taking place in many towns and cities across the country. In 2013, Hezbollah entered the war in support of the Syrian army. The Syrian government is further upheld by military support from Russia, which it stepped up in the winter of 2013-14, and Iran, while Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and the United States transfer weapons to the rebels. The international response to the conflict has been described as a proxy war due to the nature of this involvement. By July 2013, the Syrian government was in control of approximately 30-40% of the country's territory and 60% of t The Syrian Civil War, also known as the Syrian Uprising, is an armed conflict in Syria between forces loyal to the Ba'ath government, which took power in 1963, and those seeking to oust it.he Syrian population. A late 2012...
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...The United Nations gave a grim new count Wednesday of the human cost of Syria's civil war, saying the death toll has exceeded 60,000 in 21 months - far higher than recent estimates by anti-regime activists. The day's events illustrated the escalating violence that has made recent months the deadliest of the conflict: As rebels pressed a strategy of attacking airports and pushing the fight closer to President Bashar Assad's stronghold in Damascus, the government responded with deadly airstrikes on restive areas around the capital. A missile from a fighter jet hit a gas station in the suburb of Mleiha, killing or wounding dozens of people who were trapped in burning piles of debris, activists said. Gruesome online video showed incinerated victims - one still sitting astride a motorcycle - or bodies torn apart. "He's burning! The guy is burning!" an off-camera voice screamed in one video over a flaming corpse. It was unclear if the government had a military strategy for attacking the gas station. At least one of the wounded wore a military-style vest often used by rebel fighters. Human rights groups and anti-regime activists say Assad's forces often make little effort to avoid civilian casualties when bombing rebel areas. Syria's conflict began in March 2011 with protests calling for political change but has evolved into a full-scale civil war. As the rebels have grown more organized and effective, seizing territory in the north and establishing footholds around Damascus,...
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...Robert F. Obeji April 26, 2014 EC: 462 Prof. Rush Policy and History of the Arab Spring in Syria As the Arab Spring developed throughout the Middle East in early 2010, countries such as Tunisia and Egypt adopted peaceful solutions to transition from authoritative governments to democratic inspired political systems. In Syria, the situation was different, the country unraveled into chaos as groups sought to gain power over each other in an attempt to oust Bashar Al Assad’s 70 year old regime. What happened was four years of warfare without end in sight, and 6.5 million Syrian refugees seeking asylum outside of Syria. Compared to the whole of the Middle East, Syria as a country tends to be one of the most diverse in the region. Syria has numerous sects of Islam, Christians, Jews, and foreign religions in an area the size of Ohio. It also has the Kurds in the North who consider themselves outside of the Arab-centric culture. When Hafez Al Assad took power in the early 1970’s, he adopted a nationalistic view as his minority group would be contested by the majority Sunni population (theatlantic.com). Prior to adopting that policy, the Baath party was ruled by Gamal Abdel Nasser who united Egypt and Syria as part of the United Arab Republic. Nationalism took effect throughout the Middle East as the Ottoman Empire, Britain, and France started to lose its grasp over the region. Nationalism was a way to unite a divided people against a common foe. After realizing the dream of...
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...ECPSC- 2013 CURRENT AFFAIRS HANDOUT - 11 SYRIAN CIVIL WAR Gen 1. The Syrian civil war also commonly known as the Syrian uprising is an ongoing armed conflict in Syria between forces loyal to the Syrian Baath Party government and those seeking to oust it. The conflict began on 15 March 2011, with popular demonstrations that grew nationwide by April 2011. These demonstrations were part of the wider Middle Eastern protest movement known as the Arab Spring. Protesters demanded the resignation of President Bashar al-Assad, whose family has held the presidency in Syria since 1971, as well as the end to over four decades of Baath Party rule. In April 2011, the Syrian Army was deployed to quell the uprising. After months of military sieges, the protests evolved into an armed rebellion. Background 2. The Ba'ath Party government came to power in 1964 after a coup on 1966, another coup overthrew the traditional leaders of the party, Michel Aflaq and Salah al-Din al-Bitar. In 1970, the Defence Minister Hafez al-Assad seized power and declared himself President, a position he would hold until his death in 2000. 3. In 1982, at the height of a six-year Islamist armed insurgency throughout the country, Hafez al-Assad conducted a scorched earth policy against Islamist-held quarters inside the town of Hama to quell an uprising by the Sunni Islamist community, including the Muslim Brotherhood, Salafists and others. This ruthless crackdown became known as the Hama massacre, which left tens of...
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...«IS IT AN ARAB SPRING OR BUSINESS AS USUAL? RECENT CHANGES IN THE ARAB WORLD IN HISTORICAL CONTEXT" By Michael B. Bishku* INTRODUCTION What began in Tunisia in December 2010 and continues most violently in Syria today has been labeled by observers of and experts on the Middle East as the "Arab Spring," but is that the correct term? (It should be noted that Lebanon engaged in the Cedar Revolution in 2005 - following the assassination of Sunni Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri by Hezbollah operativeswhich resulted in the withdrawal of Syrian froops after 30 years.) While Tunisia seems to be emulating Turkey as a historically secular country with mildly Islamist politicians exercising the greatest amount of influence in their country's respective foreign and domestic affairs, Egypt, the birthplace of the Muslim Brotherhood, appears to be at the center of a struggle between the Islamists and the military, which has dominated politics in that country since the early 1950s, while secularists and the minority Copts feel as if they have been sidelined. Majority Shi'a in Bahrain were quashed in their attempt to have a minority Sunni government recognize their rights, while Yemen's longtime leader was replaced by that country's vice president. Libya toppled an erratic dictator, but has no experience with representative government and like in Yemen the population possesses tribal identities. Syria is now engaged in a brutal civil war in which at least 20,000 people have lost their lives by the...
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...Germany has decided to phase out its all the nuclear plants by 2022. This decision, prompted by Japan’s Fukushima nuclear disaster, will make Germany the first major industrialized nation to go nuclear-free. Germany (Europe’s largest economy) is determined to replace its nuclear power with renewable energy resources. . Swiss parliament has approved amendments to tax treaties with other countries, including India. This makes easier access for India, to collect information about the illegal funds held by the Indian nationals in Swiss private banks. The Swiss parliament endorsed amendments to double-taxation agreements (DTAAs) in line with internationally applicable standards. The beneficiaries from the new amendments include India, Germany, Canada, Japan, the Netherlands, Greece, Turkey, Uruguay, Kazakhstan, and Poland. French Nationals to Sue Sarkozy over Crimes in Libya Two French lawyers have said that they are planning to sue French President Nicolas Sarkozy against the Humanity crimes over the military campaign in Libya that was led by NATO. Jacques Verges and Roland Dumas two of the French lawyers have decided to represent the families of the victims during the military campaign. Constitution (15th Amendment) Bill, 2011 passed in Bangladesh The Parliament of Bangladesh, the Jatiyo Sangsad, passed the Constitution (15th Amendment) Bill, 2011 on 30 June 2011 to amend its constitution under which the caretaker government system for holding general elections was scrapped...
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