Syrian War
The war in Syria is a drastic event that has caused many to suffer. Half of the country’s population has been forced to flee or killed (Yourish). Syria is in a tight mess amongst Assad’s army, the Rebels, and terrorist groups. The war in Syria is especially unjust because Syria does not get as much sympathy, even though they are also on the receiving end of terroristic attacks. Examples of this can be seen from the countries refusing to allow refugees in to the French flag waved around the world after the Paris attacks.
Salma Abdelaziz of CNN wrote an article titled “Social Media Saves a Syrian Refugee, Provides Dad a New Start” which tells the emotional story of Abdul Halim al-Attar, a Syrian refugee and a single father of two. An activist from Norway, Gissur Simonarson, posted a picture of Abdul selling pens in Beirut, Lebanon and carrying his sleeping daughter over his shoulder. After just hours, Simoranson was flooded with requests to help the man in the picture. At the time, Simonarson did not know who Abdul was and thus, a search with #BuyPens started to locate this pen seller. After two days, Simonarson finally found him. Abdul was “overwhelmed to learn he was the subject of an international search”. He explained that he had fled Syria because ISIS had attacked his city and reduced it to rubble. #BuyPens pledged to help Abdul and raised $80,000 for him in just 24 hours. With the money, Abdul was finally able to send his children to school, and he is now planning to help other refugees.
Founded on April 15, 1919 in London, the Save the Children organization has been dedicated to helping Syrian children. They are committed to giving children around the world a healthy start, a chance to be educated, and protection from peril. Despite the growing danger in Syria, Save the Children has managed to reach out to 1.1 million people, including 570,000 children. They have provided food baskets, education, health services, clean water, and warm clothes. So far, their program has supported 59 schools in northern Syria, supplied essential school materials and paid school fees, supported 1,000 teachers through training, provided safe play areas and counseling, repaired damaged schools, and ran alternative learning programs and informal education in refugee camps. They hope to continue doing this and ask for donations to maintain relief support for Syrian children.
The Syrian war has torn up families and sent many fleeing from the country. The Syrian citizens affected by the war have not only had the struggle of the war itself, but also of receiving no understanding from other countries. The world must realize that Syria is also on the receiving end of terroristic attacks and that these people are only fleeing from danger. The world has to unite to help Syria and its helpless citizens.
Works Cited
Abdelaziz, Salma. "Social Media Saves a Syrian Refugee - CNN.com." CNN. Cable News Network, 31 Aug.
2015. Web. 16 Feb. 2016.
"Quick Facts: What You Need to Know about the Syria Crisis." Mercy Corps. N.p., 05 Feb. 2016. Web. 25 Feb.
2016.
Yourish, Karen, and K. K. Rebecca. "How Syrians Are Dying." The New York Times. The New York Times, 13
Sept. 2015. Web. 03 Mar. 2016.