A wave of protest, to get their president to resign, started in Syria mid-March following the protest in Tunisia, which started in January 2011. President Bashar al-Assad supposedly sent out his troops on demonstrators. Their acts did not bring down the protestors. The United Nations believes the protests are on the verge of a civil war. Surrounding countries, such as Turkey, Jordan and Russia, who should be supportive of President Bashar al-Assad, have been criticizing the acts of the President. Syria was released from the Arab League due to President Bashar al-Assad’s ideas to strengthen attack on the protesters. On December 19, President Bashar al-Assad allowed Arab spectators into his country. 15o citizen were killed while the spectators were in Syria. “The U.N. estimates the death toll in Syria at 5,000; and estimates of detainees run from 15,000 to 40,000. On Dec. 14, 2011, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called on other countries to intervene to help end the bloodshed. Through it all, Mr. Assad’s government has stubbornly clung to the narrative that it is besieged by a foreign plot.”
New York Times.Syria-Protests(2011-). January 6, 2011. News Article Online.
Certainly a complex topic to post about. What amazes and interests me the most is how the government was able to shut down the internet and all online communication. While videos of tortured children are unfathomable (http://articles.boston.com/2011-06-04/news/29685811_1_protesters-foreign-media-torture) the economic destruction caused must have been severe. I wonder how the internet was actually cut off and the feasibility of something like that happening here.
ReplyDeleteThe government of Syria has a monopoly on internet and telecommunications. So far that is not the case here, and I hope it never is.
ReplyDeleteWhile I was there, everyone with cell service in Damascus - even those of us who were foreigners who had cell phones - got a text message thanking us for our support of Bashar al-Assad at the first big rally for him after the protests started. We all got like 100 free minutes of calls.