The Syrian conflict has been ongoing for a little over four years now. 11 million people have been displaced from their homes, which has lead to a huge humanitarian crisis.
Showing posts with label Peace. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Peace. Show all posts
Thursday, April 23, 2015
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 The rebels have now been replaced by extremist group ISIS.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.
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.
"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.
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
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.
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| 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.
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"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
How to Help the Syrians
by: Aryan Javan
A dear friend of mine, Aladdin Kanawati, an American-born-Syrian, voluntarily works with Syrian and Middle Eastern refugees in Jordan. Kanawati is a supporter of the Free Syria Army Moderates, which is not in favor of the ISIS group or Assad backed regime. They fight for a free, independent, and democratic Syrian nation. He details how the nations of the Middle-East must get past their religious and ethnic differences to unite as one.
Aladdin works with the organization, Peacebuilding Solutions. Peacebuilding Solutions helps refugees, disaster stricken populations and other people in need of asistance. There efforts have mainly begun in refugee camps in many different nations. Kanawati works with Syrian refugees that have been displaced in Jordan.
"For all the negativity to cease, the people must look at each either and realize they are all just humans," states Kanawati.
The tension of the Syrian conflict has really very intense and very real for the people who live that nation. To help the cause and learn about the Peacebuilding Solutions campaign visit their website!
To read the full story on Syria and their regime click here.
A dear friend of mine, Aladdin Kanawati, an American-born-Syrian, voluntarily works with Syrian and Middle Eastern refugees in Jordan. Kanawati is a supporter of the Free Syria Army Moderates, which is not in favor of the ISIS group or Assad backed regime. They fight for a free, independent, and democratic Syrian nation. He details how the nations of the Middle-East must get past their religious and ethnic differences to unite as one.
Aladdin works with the organization, Peacebuilding Solutions. Peacebuilding Solutions helps refugees, disaster stricken populations and other people in need of asistance. There efforts have mainly begun in refugee camps in many different nations. Kanawati works with Syrian refugees that have been displaced in Jordan.
"For all the negativity to cease, the people must look at each either and realize they are all just humans," states Kanawati.
The tension of the Syrian conflict has really very intense and very real for the people who live that nation. To help the cause and learn about the Peacebuilding Solutions campaign visit their website!
To read the full story on Syria and their regime click here.
Friday, April 3, 2015
Iran and Social Media
By: Aryan Javan
A nuclear deal between World Powers and Iran was tentatively agreed upon Thursday. This possibly will ease the economic sanctions on Iran in exchange for limited nuclear weapon development. The sanctions most-likely will be gradually lifted rather than all at once. The two sides have been marred by tension for years, as Iran claims to be in the developmental process of a nuclear weapon which most of the world is against.
In relation to new media, many Iranian citizens took to social media to show their satisfaction. Over the past week many were tuned into social media, TV or whatever medium, to get the breaking news. The state TV broadcast even showed Obama's speech live on Thursday, which is very uncommon for the government funded news broadcast. People posted pictures of them celebrating, them watching the speeches, all sorts of happy images. There are of course still going to be protests, but for the most part people on both sides can take a sigh of relief.
Social media makes the world smaller. Thus, people can show what is happening across the world in a matter of seconds. In a place like Iran, people have a thirst for the western world. I have traveled there about 6 times on different occasions, different regimes, different political climates, and most every time the people are just curious. There is no hate among the citizens there. They asked me questions about the NBA, the movies, the girls, the food, stuff every foreigner would want to know. They let me join them in their soccer games and late-night gatherings. The media has perpetuated the axis of evil label and that is all people think about when they think Iran. Instead of the beautiful and rich culture of the ancient land.
Tying this back into social media, Iranians recently have been able to make connections to the rest of the world via social media. When the protests in 2011-12 happened, images where shown to the world via Facebook and Twitter. People were taking advantage to show the political climate during that time. The Iranian people do have a voice and it does need to be heard. My only hope is that one day all of this is to be solved diplomatically and Iran may once again open its doors to the west.
A nuclear deal between World Powers and Iran was tentatively agreed upon Thursday. This possibly will ease the economic sanctions on Iran in exchange for limited nuclear weapon development. The sanctions most-likely will be gradually lifted rather than all at once. The two sides have been marred by tension for years, as Iran claims to be in the developmental process of a nuclear weapon which most of the world is against.
(Picture of Tehran, Iran)
In relation to new media, many Iranian citizens took to social media to show their satisfaction. Over the past week many were tuned into social media, TV or whatever medium, to get the breaking news. The state TV broadcast even showed Obama's speech live on Thursday, which is very uncommon for the government funded news broadcast. People posted pictures of them celebrating, them watching the speeches, all sorts of happy images. There are of course still going to be protests, but for the most part people on both sides can take a sigh of relief.
Social media makes the world smaller. Thus, people can show what is happening across the world in a matter of seconds. In a place like Iran, people have a thirst for the western world. I have traveled there about 6 times on different occasions, different regimes, different political climates, and most every time the people are just curious. There is no hate among the citizens there. They asked me questions about the NBA, the movies, the girls, the food, stuff every foreigner would want to know. They let me join them in their soccer games and late-night gatherings. The media has perpetuated the axis of evil label and that is all people think about when they think Iran. Instead of the beautiful and rich culture of the ancient land.
Tying this back into social media, Iranians recently have been able to make connections to the rest of the world via social media. When the protests in 2011-12 happened, images where shown to the world via Facebook and Twitter. People were taking advantage to show the political climate during that time. The Iranian people do have a voice and it does need to be heard. My only hope is that one day all of this is to be solved diplomatically and Iran may once again open its doors to the west.
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