Download PDF About the AuthorFeras Aboukhater is a third-year undergraduate student with a Biology major and a minor in Medicine, Health, and Society at SUNY Stony Brook University. He wrote this research paper for his WRT 102 class in his freshman year. Feras plans to go into medical school when he is done with his undergraduate degree and he aspires to become a Cardiologist. ContentsHow Fox News Frames the War in Syria What Living in Safe Parts of Syria Looks Like Balancing Between Conflict and Peace |
ConclusionI would like to share with you some images from Syria three years ago where people were watching one of the last games for Syria to qualify for the World Cup for the first time in history. People gathered in the streets and backed their national team. Although having very different political views, many of them agreed on the point that this national team was something that united Syria for the first time in a very long time.  Figure 1: Photograph by Louai Beshara. Published caption describes how the celebratory mood of Syrians watching the World Cup qualifying match in Damascus, Syria, on September 5, 2017, spread to rebel- and extremist-controlled areas, as well (Agence France-Presse)  Figure 2: Photograph by Youssef Badawi. Published caption explains that Syria has never qualified for the World Cup, so Syrians are very excited watching the World Cup qualifying match (Agence France-Presse) I call in this paper for peace journalism in Syria, and those pictures can act as ideas for what type of pictures journalists can include in their reports when they are taking the peace journalism approach. Of course pictures like these cannot solely replace the mainstream pictures of war and destruction that we can see everywhere. Journalists must also support those pictures by speaking about the complexity of life in Syria but at the same time never forgetting the ongoing war and also trying to give solutions to end the conflict. In conclusion, I believe that the misunderstanding towards Syria and Syrians by Americans is a very important topic that should be studied more and eventually eradicated. In this paper, I gave Americans a starting point from which they can finally start challenging the news they see about Syria and not merely accepting the biased reporting that is presented to them. In addition to that, I gave them proof that there is normal life in Syria and that Syrians are a strong people who are determined to fight the horrific circumstances in order to preserve their right to live a normal life. Finally, I gave journalists an alternative route that they could take regarding reporting on Syria and other countries facing the same situation. I am proud to be among the first people to talk about this important topic, and I hope that this paper catalyzes a change first in you, and from you to the whole country. |