"American Misconceptions of Syria"
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 |
What Living in Safe Parts of Syria Looks LikeI have lived in Damascus from 2011 until 2017, and that’s why I can describe in detail what it is like to live there and who the Syrian people are. First of all, Damascus is the capital of Syria, and it is one of the safest cities there in the years of war. There is normal life in Damascus; however, that does not deny the fact that there is a risk on everyone’s lives too. Damascus was experiencing constant shelling and innocent civilians died as a result, but that did not stop people from living their lives. Syrians were determined to live a normal life, challenging death and war with the power of life, and they accomplished it. Students go to schools, employees go to work, restaurants are open, streets are packed with people, the Opera House has concerts every week, etc.; everything gives you an impression that this is not the country you see on TV and that the determination of Syrians is impeccable. Syrians are educated people; war did not prevent them from learning, and public schools are still free. They are the most generous people you will ever meet in your life to the extent that they would open their house for you if you ask for it and treat you as part of their family. Walking in the streets of Damascus and seeing how people are living normally with the simplest factors available would make you think again of the war view you have towards Syria and appreciate the amazing power Syrians showed facing the prolonged and bitter war. I have encouraged you previously to ask yourself what you know about Syria; however, now I am going to ask you a different question: Have you ever thought of all of this information when hearing the word “Syria”? If the answer is no, then that is a great proof that this misunderstanding is a big problem. Searching for a reporter who talked about normal life in Syria, in the years of war, was an arduous challenge because every American media source was always focusing on the war perspective. The type of journalism I was searching for is defined as peace journalism. Peace journalism “evolved as an alternative to challenge traditional war coverage,” encouraging “a focus on proactive coverage and nonviolent approaches for journalists covering conflict zones” (Neumann and Fahmy 223). In the Syrian war, peace journalism is rare, but one of those rare examples is the article “Damascus Diary: A Syrian City Filled with Life, and Hints of Brutal Death” by Anne Bernard. This article describes to an extent what I mean by a normal life, going away from the typical way of reporting the news in a war-torn country, however still failing to mention any of the solutions that could be done to end this war. This is a reason as to why it is not the best example of peace journalism. Bernard starts by saying, “More than five years into Syria’s chaotic civil war, the capital is relatively undamaged and functioning, bustling with commuters, markets and restaurants” (para. 2). She then describes what she saw in the old city of Damascus and says: “At the base of the Umayyad Mosque, one of the most beautiful sites in the Old City, couples and families hang out, feed pigeons and pose for a man who’s been using the same Polaroid camera for decades” (para. 5). She then was astonished to see a “lavish” wedding at the Sheraton Damascus Hotel and people lounging by the pool, too (para. 7). Afterwards, she mentioned going to the fanciest restaurant in old Damascus, Naranj, and talked about the great spread of Syrian traditional food that was presented and that all she paid there was $10! She continued to describe the taxi and bus drivers in a funny way when she said: “Taxi and bus drivers have always seen themselves as impresarios in Damascus: playing Arabic classics and Western pop music, making coffee in little electric pots while weaving through traffic, setting up romantic lights that they flick on at night for an instant party atmosphere” (para. 16). Finally, she concludes the article by describing The Tiki Bar where people drank and smoked with a DJ playing music, and that was how her trip went in Syria in 2015. All of those images show us that American media outlets are not doing a really good job in showing the full story, and in the next section, I will discuss how that can be reversed. |