NOT much was known about Syria except that it is a small, beautiful country and was a great place to spend the summer to escape the unbearable heat of the Gulf region. Other known aspects of Syrian culture are their delicious foods like stuffed grape leaves and tabouleh, generosity, and excessive reverence for elders. Growing up in America and then Saudi Arabia, I knew very little of Syria myself, even though I am originally Syrian. Our short and infrequent visits to my father's family gave me some insight into Syrian life. The weather in the summer there was like winter in Jeddah. We ate fruits that were freshly picked from the fields and their delicious smell and taste were equal to no other fruits in the world. To refuse food offered to me by a relative was considered a personal insult. My 35-year-old uncle who smokes would immediately put out his cigarette, sit up straight, and hide the ashtray behind his back the second my grandfather stepped foot in the house, out of respect for his father. Other facts about Syrian life that I later discovered are poverty, backwardness, bribing officials just to process routine transactions, and lack of freedom of speech and religious expression. Slowly did I learn the covered up heartache and mysterious past of my father's birthplace. Only as an adult did I find out about the Hama massacre of the year 1982. Young Muslim men wanted no more of Hafez Al-Assad's oppressive rule of the country and his hoarding of the country's natural resources. Young men organized protests and attempted to overthrow Al-Assad's regime. Without hesitation, Al-Assad authorized the cold-blooded murder of 50,000 civilians in Hama and the capture of countless innocent men. Not a house in Hama was spared the loss of either a son, husband, brother, father, or cousin. Protesters and anyone who exhibited any public signs of Islamic devotion were prosecuted. Al-Assad used execution, torture, and imprisonment to silence any opposition in Syria and his barbaric methods actually succeeded, and the silence and fear lasted for 30 years. At the time of the Hama uprising my father was a medical intern in the United States and had nothing to do with what was going on in his home country. Yet every time he wanted to travel to Syria to see his parents we all worried for his safety. And he used to shave his beard before his trip to Syria out of fear that being a practicing Muslim would be equated with being against Al-Assad's government. I still remember my cherished childhood visits to Syria and how I would always beam with pride to have my father walking by my side. At every stall we would stop at in the markets, people would call out to him “Hakim”, meaning wise, because he was a doctor. He was known as the bright student who went to America to become a doctor. My dad would call on each and every relative, bearing gifts of bags of fruits, savory sweets, and much needed money. He was an American Board Certified surgeon, but he remained humble and never forgot his roots. And now all eyes are on Syria. The Assad son, Bashar, is following his father's bloody legacy. He has unleashed upon his own people inconceivable methods of torture. March 6, 2011 marked the day when the black shadow of death would loom over Syria once again. A group of students in the spur of the moment scrawled this slogan on the walls of their school in the city of Deraa: “The people want to bring down the regime!” Fifteen schoolchildren were then arrested for four days before being released to their families, their bodies telling the tale of abuse. Reports emanated that these boys between the ages of 12 and 15 were beaten harshly, some had their fingernails ripped out of the flesh and toes crushed with hammers. The families and friends of these boys took to the streets in peaceful protests to voice their anger for the brutality perpetrated against children by the government's thugs. Live ammunition was opened on the peaceful protesters, only to anger the protesters even more. Greater numbers of men, women, and children rallied on the streets in neighboring towns, chanting anti-government sentiments. Despite the government's strict ban on media coverage, the stench of the Syrian government has seeped to the rest of the world. Young men are recording scenes of human rights violations on their mobile phones. Eye witnesses have reported mass graves, torture to force prisoners into false confessions, dumping corpses into rivers, and randomly plucking men, women, and children protesters from the streets to imprison them. Pictures of the dead body of 13-year-old Hamza Khatib shook the world. His body was swollen and blue from torture, filled with gun wounds, burn wounds, and open sores. Bashar Al-Assad told the Syrian public that Hamza Khatib had died a natural death in the hospital and that his body was intact when his family collected it. The Syrian government claims that the father then mutilated his own son's dead body to create a conspiracy against the Syrian government. It is beyond comprehension how Al-Assad thinks that anyone in his right mind would believe such lies. The Syrian people are fed up with lies and intimidation; they want real change. The people of Syria have reached the point of no return. There is no turning back. The escalation of violence against them is only strengthening their resolve to hold their ground until Bashar Al-Assad is brought to account for his crimes against humanity. About 1,800 civilians have been killed and over 16,000 have been thrown into prisons. The prisons are full to capacity so schools have been evacuated and turned into concentration camps. The number of refugees seeking safety and shelter on the Turkish border has reached to 12,00 and will continue to climb as the Syrian government is burning agricultural lands, farm animals, and bakeries in small Syrian villages. And now in the blessed month of Ramadan, Al-Assad's government is shelling and destroying holy mosques. But history will not repeat itself. No amount of force will silence the Syrian people in this day and age. No amount of violence will crush the Syrian's desire for freedom, basic human rights, and a decent life. All Syrians living in the Kingdom are grateful beyond words to the beloved King Abdullah, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, for criticizing Al-Assad's use of force against unarmed civilians. The withdrawal of the Saudi ambassador from Damascus is their beacon of hope and light at the end of the long tunnel. __
