Assignment: SYRIA AND THE CIVIL WAR
Read this article from Canada - it explains the basics of what has happened in Syria (FEEL FREE TO LOOK UP OTHER SOURCES IF YOU NEED MORE BACKGROUND - BUT I WILL BE LOOKING FOR EVIDENCE OF YOUR HAVING READ THESE AND WATCHED THE ENTIRE VIDEO.
Then watch this Frontline video - it is 53 minutes long. Be aware that some of the scenes are very hard to watch. War is violent.
Write a one page minimum essay answering these questions. PLEASE NOTE THAT THESE QUESTIONS ARE ADDRESSED IN ALL THREE SOURCES AND OFTEN TALKED ABOUT MANY TIMES IN THE VIDEO. I WOULD SUGGEST YOU READ THROUGH THE QUESTIONS AND THEN READ THE ARTICLES AND THEN WATCH THE VIDEO.
All the same rules apply to this assignment as did to the previous ones - title, minimum one page, font, etc.
1. Who is Hafez al Assad, how did he come to power and how did he run the country?(nice, kind or what?)Who is Bashar al Assad and how did he come to power and how did he run the country?(nice, kind or what?) What changes did he try to make in Syria - did it work? Then what happened?
2. What was the starting point of the civil war? How has Syria changed since the civil war?
3. Who are the majority population of Syria and who are the minority? What makes them "different"? Are they the only ones involved in the war (who else lives in this country?). Who sides with whom? (opposition/rebels versus regime soldiers)
4. Why is one group so afraid of the other? What do Alawites think will happen to them if the rebels win?
5. What does the regime (Assad and "current" government) tell their people about who the opposition are, you should answer this by referring to the main characters in the documentary - what are their thoughts about the situation. Ahmad (in the Rebel free Syrian Army), the young man in the high school - what is their motto?, Mohammed the Alawite militia man, what is he and other Alawites convinced of as far as his Sunni neighbors and what they are planning to do? Which foreigners do they think are fighting against them?
6. What happened to the Sunni farmer - what is the problem for many farmers?
7. Early on in the documentary there is a poster on the wall of Assad on the Regime side of the river. What does it say - do you see similar ideology throughout the video?
8. How many dead, how many refugees, what happens to Ahmed, what does his mom say she will do?