Mohamed Bouazizi is a young Tunisian
man whose death began the Arab Spring. Nobody would believe that Mohammed’s act
of burning himself would change the situation in the Middle East dramatically.
It all began with the first spark from Tunisia when the people rebelled against
the regime demanding their freedom. After the successful experience in Tunisia,
the revolution was contagious. It crossed into Egypt from Libya to reach Syria.
At that time, the Syrian people were waiting eagerly for the revolution in
order to make their lives better, because they were suffering under the rule of
the tyrant. As a result, everyone went down to the streets to protest against
the regime and to demand freedom. However, in the long-term and due to many
factors, the revolution has changed into a civil war. Therefore, many people wished
that war had never begun because it turned their lives upside down. My family was
an example of one of millions of families in Syria whose lives have been torn
apart.
The first and most important issue
was that the war has affected the economic situation of my family. As a result,
my family income has been cut by more than half, because my father’s job changed
from being a paid to a volunteer. He began treating the injured and protesters
from the demonstrations against the government in the field hospitals. The lack
of doctors was the basis of his humanitarian obligation toward his fellow
citizens. Similarly, my mother, who was working as pharmacist, had to quit her
job because of the dangerous environment that stood in her way of work. In
addition, the constant economic problems have influenced the country’s currency
value in relation to the Dollar and Euro. Thus, the prices of important daily
life products rose sharply, and leading
my parents to be in a very embarrassing situation and in fear of future hunger.
Besides the economic situation, the
war has changed the social life in my family in terms of isolating us and
making us short-tempered. Before the war, my family along with relatives was
used to meeting each other frequently in order to eat and to spend time
together. However, when the war
began, the conditions in my city forced my family to sit at home almost all day
long, with no electricity or network services for leisure or socializing.
Therefore, this led my family members to become so sensitive and short –
tempered with each other. I remembered that I had a hard time asking my parents
to do anything, because they were trying to bring up excuses in order to start
an argument with me. Undoubtedly, the war was the reason behind their changed in
attitude.
Finally, my education along with my
siblings was severely harmed by the current war. The continuous bloody conflict
in Syria hindered many youths from achieving their goals, and left them
desperate in their lives. Therefore, people have tended to leave the country in
search of a better future. In my case, I have to confess that I was lucky when
I had the chance to come to the United States to continue my education.
However, it wasn’t easy to start studying in a foreign country, where
everything is different in terms of language, culture and the educational
system. Moreover, my sibling’s education has been influenced as well. My sister
was forced to leave her school after she was one year away from graduation,
because it was dangerous for girls to go out alone for fear of kidnapping.
Indeed, for the long-term, the education issue will have catastrophic results
not only on my family, but also on the society in general.
Today, when I remember what Mohamed Bouzizi
did in Tunisia, I feel confused because I don’t know whether it will ultimately
have good or bad consequences on my country. On one hand, he was the sparked of
the Arab Spring in the Middle East that spread to Syria, to save the people who
have been suffering from oppression for many decades. On the other hand, the
unexpected changes that tuned the revolution into prolonged civil war are
having effects on my family economically, socially and educationally. All in
all, after the war’s experience in my country, I’m totally convinced by the
saying, “Victory or defeat, war is hell and everyone loses”.
"Victory or defeat, war is hell and everyone loses"- very well said comment. War is a terrible thing, it destroys people's lives and it makes societies disappear. It is hard to say that it was right or wrong what the Tunisian man did to himself, but at the end millions of people have suffered.
ReplyDeleteYour last sentence is really good. I hope so too. I think your introduction is really nice and supporting idea is very suitable.
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