SYRIAN CONFLICT

by: Aryan Javan

Introduction

Since 2011, Syria has been in a constant state of civil war, between President Bashar al-Assad's government regime and rebel Syrian forces. The rebels have now been replaced by extremist group ISIS. The Free Syrian Army Moderates (FSAM) are stuck in the middle and are the only ones left to fight for a free, democratic Syria. The FSAM is currently fighting both the Assad-led forces and ISIS.

The entire conflict was sparked after teenagers in the Syrian town, Dar'
a, were arrested and tortured for painting revolutionary slogans on a school wall. The city protested the atrocities only to be senselessly slaughtered by Syrian government troops. This spread civil unrest throughout the country.

As per BBC, by 2013 over 90 thousand Syrians were killed and that number was nearly doubled to 191 thousand in 2014 (the current death toll has reached 220 thousand as of March 2015)! Both sides are accused of horrible crimes, such as: murder, rape, torture and civil suffering (blocking access to water, food and health services). Assad and his regime have been caught using chemical weapons against civilians. Optimism during the "Arab Spring" movement showed the world Assad's atrocities and horrible treatment of his citizens.

Four out of five Syrians are now considered to be living below the poverty line. More than 11 million Syrians have been displaced from their homes. Another 4 million Syrians have left as refugees to other countries (Jordan, Turkey and Lebanon). This marks one of the largest exoduses in recent history. There are around 5.6 million children in need of humanitarian assistance.

The Difference

FSAM supporter and American-born Syrian activist, Aladdin Kanawati, works with an organization known as Peacebuilding Solutions. He has been able to travel this region and details some of his work with refugees in Amman, Jordan.

Photo of Aladdin Kanawati and Syrian refugee boy [Picture taken by: Will Moran]

The conflict seems not so much who is loyal to Assad anymore, it is now turned to a Shi'a Muslim versus Sunni Muslim conflict. The Assad regime is gaining support from Hezbollah and Iran (a predominately Shi'a Muslim nation) and the rebel forces have been replaced by the Islamic extremist group ISIS. Kanawati details that the FSAM are now caught in the middle.

"Basically, we go house-to-house, to people with no money, no food or barely anything from the international organizations, and listen to their stories," explained Kanawati, "we hear horrible things that have happened to these people and offer them free therapeutic/psychiatric care for their mental health."

"I know guys that one day are fighting against the forces of Assad," states Kanawati, "and the next day they are running away from ISIS."

Kanawati works with the Syrian refugees in the capital city of Jordan, Amman. Him and his mother were helping traumatized refugees receive proper mental care and rehabilitation (this project was shut down eventually due to lack of funds). Kanawati works with the Syrian American Medical Society while staying in Amman.

Final Words

The Free Syrian Army Moderates want neither ISIS or Assad to stay in power. They fight for an independent and democratic Syria of the future. The entire Middle-East may of  been prone to less conflict if the political boundaries were drawn correctly by the Western powers in the 1920's. Just like Africa (when Europe and the world partitioned Africa like a pizza), the boundaries put ethnic groups that did not like each other in the same place. It was a foundation set up to fail from the get go.

"I know this is not practical, but we need to gather all the leaders of these countries and literally redraw the boundaries of each nation, pleasing the Shi'a's, Sunni's, and Kurd's," said Kanawati, " maybe eventually leading to a Middle-Eastern Union one day, much like they have in Europe."

This information was provided by BBC News

Rodgers, L., Gritten, D., Offer, J., & Asare, P. (2015, March 12). Syria: The story of the conflict. Retrieved April 23, 2015, from http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-26116868