HISTORY

What is Syria: Brief overview, history,culture,landscape etc.

https://youtu.be/JDMuwJYwYs0

Momin
- Syria is home to one of the world's oldest civilizations, with a plethora of artistic and
cultural treasures. The country has a complicated and, at times, catastrophic past,
ranging from its historical roots through modern political turmoil and the Syrian Civil War.
- Modern-day Syria, a country in the Middle East on the Mediterranean Sea's shore, is
one of the world's oldest inhabited locations.
- The earliest human remains discovered in Syria are estimated to be 700,000 years old.
- Ebla, a Syrian city that dates back to roughly 3,000 B.C., is one of the oldest settlements
ever discovered in human history
- Syria became part of the Eastern or Byzantine Empire after the Roman Empire fell apart.
- Muslim forces conquered the Byzantine Empire in 637 A.D. and took control of Syria.
The Islamic faith swiftly spread throughout the region, and many factions rose to
prominence.
- Damascus eventually became the Islamic world's capital, while Baghdad, Iraq, took its
place around 750 A.D. Syria's economy suffered as a result of this transition, and the
region became unstable and governed by numerous factions for the next several
centuries.
- The Ottoman Empire acquired Syria in 1516 and ruled it until 1918. In Syria, this was
regarded as a generally tranquil and stable time.
- As part of the Sykes-Picot Agreement of 1916, French and British diplomats secretly
agreed to partition the Ottoman Empire into zones during World War I.
- With the end of World War I, the Sykes-Picot Agreement separated the majority of Arab
lands under Ottoman sovereignty into British or French spheres of influence.
- In 1918, British and Arab forces acquired control of Damascus and Aleppo, and in 1920,
the French acquired control of modern-day Syria and Lebanon. These agreements
brought the region's 400-year-long Ottoman control to an end.
- The reign of the French in Syria resulted in upheavals and revolts among the Syrian
people. In what is now known as the Great Syrian Revolt, Syrians banded together
against the French occupation from 1925 to 1927.
- In 1936, France and Syria concluded an independence pact that provided France
military and economic dominance while allowing Syria to stay independent.
- Syria was occupied by British and Free French soldiers during World War II, although
Syria became an independent country in 1946, only a few years after the war finished.
- Syria's political life was exceedingly unstable after its independence in 1946, owing in
large part to severe conflict between the country's socioeconomic, religious, and political
groupings. Syria fell under the autocratic leadership of President Saddam Hussein in
1970.
 - Hafez al-main Assad's objectives were to achieve national security and political stability,
as well as to reclaim Syrian territory lost to Israel in 1967. Assad committed his country
to a massive arms buildup that put a strain on the national budget and left little room for
growth. Bashar al-Assad, Assad's son, became president after his father died in 2000.
- Bashar al-Assad, his son, was elected president. Despite some early gestures toward
democratic change, Bashar al-Assad eventually continued his father's authoritarian style
of rule, suppressing political dissent with Syria's powerful military and security forces.
Internal tensions that had been suppressed for a long time erupted in 2011, resulting in
the Syrian Civil War.

Landscape
https://youtu.be/MTmHW-j70es
- Syria is bounded by Turkey to the north, by Iraq to the east and southeast, by Jordan to
the south, and by Lebanon and Israel to the southwest.

Syria's coastline is rather short, stretching for around 110 miles (180 kilometres) along
the Mediterranean Sea between Turkey and Lebanon. Sandy bays alternate with rocky
headlands and low cliffs along the beach.
Syria's most important water supply and only navigable river is the Euphrates River. It
begins in Turkey and runs southeast through Syria's eastern region The Euphrates Dam,
located at abaqah on the river, was completed in the 1970s. Lake Al-Asad, the reservoir
behind the dam, began to fill in 1973.
Ethnic Composition

Muslims make up the vast bulk of the population. Sunni Muslims make up almost
three-quarters of Syria's Muslim population and are the majority everywhere except the
Al-Suwayd mufaah (governorate) in the south and the Latakia governorate in the north.
The Alawites (a Shiite subsect) are the second largest group, with the majority living in
the governorate of Latakia or the governorate of Aleppo.
Christians make up around a tenth of Syria's population. Greek Orthodox, Greek
Catholic, Syrian Orthodox, Armenian Catholic, Armenian Apostolic (Orthodox), Syrian
Catholic, Maronite, Protestant, Nestorian, Latin, and Chaldean are among the churches.
There is a minor Jewish population as well.
Syria is 45.8 percent rural, 54.2 percent Urban
 Traditions Culture

https://youtu.be/ItqOxATA9WU

Men traditionally wear long garments called kaftans. These are often white in the
summer and made of darker colors and a heavier fabric in the winter. They also wear a
three-piece head cover called a taqiyah. The base of it is a white cap with holes used to
hold hair in place. Women typically wear long black garments called abayas that cover
them from shoulders to their ankles. They also wear a head and face cover that leaves
 only the eyes peeking out. Underneath all of these coverings, however, she may be
wearing a traditional Arabian dress with intricate beading.

Traditional foods: Syrian cuisine consists primarily of stuffed vegetables, meat and rice
dishes, and flavorful desserts. Mahshi (stuffed veggies with rice or meat), Ful Medames
(Egyptian fava beans), and Kibbeh Bil Sanieh (baked Kibbeh) are the most popular
traditional meals

Why Do you guys think this history important? Write down your thoughts

History allows us to examine and comprehend how people and communities functioned in the
past. We can, for example, judge war by looking back on prior occurrences, even while a
country is at peace. History gives us the information we need to make laws or formulate ideas
about many areas of society. It is important to understand the history of Syria as it relates to the
ongoing problems which this country is facing.
On going problems

What is happening in Syria: Current Issues and conflicts

-Civil war, conflict between government and opposition forces

- Who is involved within this huge conflict
-Impact on citizens: What has happened to the Education system collapse, Refugee
Crisis, Homelessness
- Current day situation
- What is the future outlook for Syria

Ekam:
The Civil war
- How did it begin: In March of 2011, Syria’s government, which at the time was led by
pres. Bashar al-Assad, came face to face with an unprecedented challenge to the
authority they had Many Syrians who were grumbling about excessive unemployment,
officials not behaving as they should, and a lack of political freedom under President
Bashar al-Assad even before the conflict began.

- However, the event that precipitated the situation becoming a full-fledged civil war
occurred in 2011, in the Syrian city of Deraa.
- After 15 school children were killed, the residents of the area decided to stage a protest.
- When pro-democracy protests erupted in many parts of the country. The protestors
wanted to put an end to the authoritarian practices of the Assad regime. Which was in
place since Assad’s father, Hafiz al-Assad, became president in 1971. Over time the
syrian government used violence to suppress demonstrations/protests, and made
extensive use of police, military and paramilitary forces. Opposition militias had started to
form in 2011 and by 2012 the conflict had emerged into a fully fledged civil war.
- Initially, the protesters only desired democracy and more freedom.
-
- People demanded that President Bashar al-Assad quit after government forces opened
fire on nonviolent protesters. He, on the other hand, declined to do so, infuriating the
protesters.
- President Assad and his regime still had a large number of supporters in Syria, so they
proceeded to combat those who opposed them.

Backstory: There's been a civil war in Syria for the last eight years, with different groups
trying to seize control of the country.
 - Who is involved?: Soldiers who back Syrian President Bashar al-Assad vs Opposition
fighters who don't want Assad to stay in power.
Islamic State is a terrorist organisation (IS)
IS took over huge sections of Iraq and then went into eastern Syria, where they gained
land and influence, amid the chaos of combat between government and anti-government
fighters.
IS have lost control of all of the areas they had controlled by March 2019. Kurdish forces are
now holding around 12,000 suspected IS militants.
Because other countries are involved, the situation is quite complicated.

Russia and Iran are important sponsors of the Syrian government, while the US, Turkey,
and Saudi Arabia backed the rebels. The United Kingdom, France, and other Western
countries have also offered varied degrees of support to "moderate" rebels.
Fighting is still going on. The United States recently withdrew soldiers from the country's
north-east, allowing Turkey to mount a military strike against the country.

So who are the opposition forces

against the government? What is
the impact on the people?:

Show ISIS video from: https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/16979186 and Isis and Islam

diffrentiation: https://youtu.be/FlzO_Fgg5_g

There isn't one single group of people fighting against President Assad and the government's
army.

The group who want the president to step down - called the opposition - is made up of several
kinds of people. These include groups of rebel fighters, political parties who disagree with
Assad, and those living in exile who cannot return to the country.

Since the battle began, it was projected that there could have been up to 1,000 distinct factions
opposing the government, with an estimated 100,000 fighters.

There are just a few groups left now, and the number of warriors has decreased as well.
It wasn't long before the crisis in Syria became more than just a war between people who are for
or against President Assad.

In 2011, the group called Islamic State (IS) joined the rebellion against President Bashar
al-Assad in Syria, where it found a safe haven and easy access to weapons.

IS is a militant group with extreme, violent views, which has used this violence against anyone
who doesn't agree with what they think. They have also persecuted other groups, including
Christians and Yazidis.

In 2014, the group began to take over large areas of a country called Iraq, next door to Syria.
Then, they moved into eastern Syria and - in the chaos of the war - they were able to gain land
and power there too.

Raqqa was the first big city captured by IS in Syria in early 2014. The group went on to take
over large parts of the country towards Aleppo in the north, and along the Turkish border.
Both Assad's forces and the rebels were fighting a separate battle against IS at the same time
as fighting each other.

To try to stop IS, in September 2014 the US used planes to attack IS fighters in Iraq. These
attacks are known as airstrikes.

Just over a year later, UK MPs voted in favour of military action against IS in Syria too. The first
airstrikes were carried out by RAF Tornado jets within hours of the vote in the House of
Commons.

Towards the end of 2017, Syrian Kurdish and Arab fighters joined together - backed by America
- to take back the city of Raqqa in the north-west. This ended three years of rule by IS which
had made Raqqa its headquarters.
Now, IS occupies a few hundred square metres near Syria's border with Iraq.

There are still concerns about IS though, as it is thought that some of its fighters are still
operating in hiding.
ISIS aims to create an Islamic state called a caliphate across Iraq, Syria and beyond The group
implements Sharia Law, rooted in eighth-century Islam, to establish a society that mirrors the
region’s ancient past. ISIS is known for killing dozens of people at a time and carrying out public
executions, crucifixions and other acts. ISIS uses modern tools like social media to promote
reactionary politics and religious fundamentalism. Fighters are destroying holy sites and
valuable antiquities even as their leaders propagate a return to the early days of Islam. In 2014,
ISIS controlled more than 34,000 square miles in Syria and Iraq, from the Mediterranean coast
to south of Baghdad. In early 2016, the United States calculated that ISIS had lost 40% of its
34,000 square miles of territory. In 2015, ISIS was believed to be holding 3,500 people as
slaves, according to a United Nations report. Most of the enslaved were women and children
from the Yazidi community, but some were from other ethnic and religious minority communities.
ISIS’s revenue comes from oil production and smuggling, taxes, ransoms from kidnappings,
selling stolen artifacts, extortion and controlling crops.

https://youtu.be/FlzO_Fgg5_g

Impact on People in Syria :

https://youtu.be/K5H5w3_QTG0

Ameek
How has thIs Crisis Contributed To Issues Such as:
The refugee Crisis,Education
Crisis,Homelessness,Poverty and Forced Syrians To
change their way of living

I.e: homelessness/education/refugee crisis and humanitarian assistance

Millions of ordinary Syrians have been forced to flee their homes in search of a safer place to
reside. Because of the ongoing civil war
More than five million Syrians have been forced to flee the nation, according to the United
Nations (UN), an organisation that strives to tackle some of the world's problems. Many people
have fled to neighbouring nations including Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, and Iraq.
More than six million people have joined them.
Turkey is the largest host country of registered refugees with over 3.6 million Syrian refugees
living in the country.
By December 2018 the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights recorded that 367,965 people had
lost their lives, including more than 120,000 ordinary people who aren't even soldiers or meant
to be involved in the fighting. This figure doesn't include people who are missing or who aren't
recorded though, so the actual number is thought to be much higher.

Millions of ordinary Syrians have been forced to flee their homes in search of a safer place to
reside. Because of the ongoing civil war
By February 2019, some say 13 million people were estimated to be in need of humanitarian
assistance, including 5.2 million in desperate need.

Lots of children can no longer go to school because their schools have been destroyed or there
are no teachers where they have moved to.
When people are forced to leave the country where they live like this, they become known as
refugees. The conflict in Syria has caused one of the largest refugee movements in recent
history.

Many refugees made the decision to try to reach Europe. This is because some countries in
Europe said they would accept refugees who wanted to start a new life here.

Millions of people both inside and outside Syria are in desperate need of help, but aid agencies
say that getting help to people inside the country is very difficult and dangerous.

More info: One other topic that has been talked about a lot is the use of chemical weapons.

There is an international law which bans countries from using chemical weapons in wars, as
they are deemed too cruel to use on other people.

However, in August 2013, it was reported that they were used in the war in Syria, which caused
anger around the world. Both the rebels and the Syrian government denied that they were
responsible.

MPs in Westminster voted against responding to this with military action in Syria. But the US
and French governments discussed limited missile strikes against military targets.

In September 2013, Russia and the US reached an agreement which said the Syrian
government should give up its chemical weapons and destroy them so they can never again be
used. This was important as Russia and the US support different sides in the Syrian war.

The process of destroying the weapons began in October 2013 and the people working on this
project were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize later that month.Another suspected chemical
weapons attack took place in Douma in April 2018. Again experts blamed the Syrian
government for what happened but both they and Russia said they didn't do it.

That led to most recent air strikes by the UK, the USA and France against what they said are
Syrian government chemical weapons factories.

Future Outlook For syria:

Because there is still a major power struggle in the region, it does not appear that the conflict
will finish anytime soon.

The two sides are locked in a deadlock. This means that government forces and rebel groups
are unable to defeat one another or come to an agreement on the future.
Now, Turkey has launched military operations in the country's north, forcing even more people
to evacuate their homes.

Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey's president, has stated that he will "never call a ceasefire" to terminate
the military assault against Kurdish forces in northern Syria.

Turkey is attempting to push these forces away from Syria's border.

The battle is destroying the country, along with much of its rich cultural history. All six Unesco
World Heritage sites in the country have been severely damaged.

Many countries are attempting to maintain humanitarian aid, such as food and emergency
supplies. But it's tough when nearly 3 million Syrians live in regions where aid workers can't get
to them.
The rest of the world will continue to try to figure out how to assist Syria in achieving peace. The
conflict, though, remains for the time being.

Show the rest of the videos after the ISIS video:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/16979186

Sources of research used:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/16979186
https://www.britannica.com/place/Syria/The-winds#ref29952
https://www.history.com/topics/middle-east/the-history-of-syria
https://gulf2000.columbia.edu/images/maps/Syria_Ethnic_summary_lg.png
https://trip101.com/article/traditional-food-in-syria#:~:text=The%20traditional%20food%20of%20
Syria,Bil%20Sanieh%20(baked%20Kibbeh).