The Syrian Revolution: A Controversy over the President

Freedom is a dream for many people around the world. Once the people see a chance to reach this dream, they cannot let go. People in Tunisia, Libya, and Egypt seized the chance for freedom. They were able to overthrow the regime. The people in Tunisia and Egypt used peaceful protesting while the people in Libya had to go to war with the regime to fight for their freedom. The idea of protesting spread throughout the Middle East. However, countries like UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar are safe from these protests because these countries, and the other gulf countries, have a king not a president. It is nearly impossible to overthrow a king. Ingo Forstenlechner, Emilie Rutledge, and Rashed Salem Alnuaimi write about the regime in the Arab Gulf countries by saying that “ all are monarchies based upon tribal, clan and family allegiances and thus do not currently, face a crisis of legitimacy” (Forstenlechner 54). All the attempts to overthrow a regime in the Middle East are part of a freedom movement referred to by the term the Arab Spring.

The Arab Spring is a term that generates different responses and positions from people. In Syria, two positions have been the main ones since the revolution has started. The first one is against the idea of protesting. Those people are normally in high power like the president Bashar Al-Assad and businessmen. They look at the Arab spring as a contagious disease, like plague, that threatens their place as rulers or their business. On the other hand, some people see this word as the seed of hope for having a better life. Those people will not give up on a chance to have some changes in their country. Their goal is to have freedom and democracy instead of tyranny. Now, there is a third position that emerged from people. This position cares about one thing, which is the safety of the country. It is generated because the people don’t want to see their family members, friends, and their fellow citizens die every day. They do not want to see their country get destroyed because of the fighting between the regular army and the rebels (The Free Syrian Army). The fight is still going until this day. The country is divided according to these positions. The people are arguing and giving evidence to prove that their position is the right one.

I lived in Syria for four years, from 2007 to 2011. I was there when the revolution started. Many Syrians said that the protests would be over soon, and Syria is not going to be like Libya. The protests started in early 2011. First, the people went on peaceful protests. Then, the protests changed in armed ones. Since that day, Syria has become a war zone between the people who support president Al-Assad and the people who do not. The fight has brought destruction to the country. Many cities were destroyed. An article online gives the UN statistics about the number of dead and homeless people: "The UN says at least 70,000 people have been killed and 1.2 million left