Syrian warfare affects UCLA students with family in region
By Daily Bruin Staff
Nov. 1, 2012 2:23 a.m.
By Chris Hurley
The effects of an escalating warfare in Syria have reverberated on the UCLA campus in recent weeks, impacting international students from the region and others who have family there.
The conflict came to light March 2011 and has since escalated into what is now referred to as a civil war between two factions: government forces led by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and the Free Syrian Army, an umbrella term for resistance fighters.
The conflict is a result of economic stagnation and what members of the Free Syrian Army perceive as a lack of political freedom and widespread corruption, said James Gelvin, a professor of history who specializes in Near Eastern studies.
It has become the most violent chapter of unrest in the Middle East, pitting Turkey against the Iranian and Syrian regimes as leaders continue to vie for influence in the region, said Gelvin.
War in his homeland has personally affected Syrian citizen Kinan Bachour, a first-year molecular, cell and developmental biology student. Bachour is from the city of Tartus, located in a region that is controlled primarily by al-Assad and his supporters.
His brother was in Damascus, the capital of Syria, when fighting reached the city in July and left the city for Kuwait, Bachour said,
“I was never too interested in politics,” Bachour said. “But I got interested when people started dying.”
The civil war has killed more than 36,000 and displaced many others, according to the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Having grown up and spent his entire life in Syria, Bachour said the country was once a beautiful and peaceful place.
“I’d like Syria to be the safe and peaceful place we always enjoyed (when I was there) regardless of political or religious views,” Bachour said.
More recently, the conflict moved beyond Syrian borders. Mortar shells fell in Turkey, a bomb plot was discovered in Jordan, and violence broke out in Lebanon ““ all of which were related to fighting in Syria, according to reports from Reuters, an international news agency. First-year political science student Caline Farah is a California native but has family in Lebanon. She said she fears the spillover of violence from Syria into Lebanon.
A truce between the pro- and anti-regime forces brokered by the United Nations, which was to take place over the Muslim holiday of Eid last weekend, collapsed almost as soon as it began, Reuters reported last week.
Though fighting in Syria continues, Bachour has not chosen a side to support.
“My family is fine, which is probably why I haven’t chosen a side,” he said.
Maha Qubain, a first-year microbiology, immunology and molecular genetics student from Jordan, said she is saddened by the continued bloodshed in Syria and surrounding regions.
The civil war has worried Qubain, who said she has friends who have lost family or friends from both pro- and anti-regime factions. She fears the conflict will reach Jordan, where her family lives, she said.
Qubain said she remained skeptical of both sides, hoping for a compromise instead of an absolute victory for either party.
“If (al-Assad) just resigns, there will be chaos, he should just stop the killing and compromise,” Qubain said.
There is no consensus among Gelvin’s colleagues as to what will be the outcome of the conflict, he said. He likened perceptions of which faction is “winning” in Syria to a roller coaster.
Still, implications of the conflict and any future resolution are wide and far-reaching, said Daniel Treisman, professor of political science, in an email statement.
Should al-Assad’s regime fall in Syria, Treisman predicts the Iranian government will become more extreme, making it difficult for other countries to negotiate with Iran to end its nuclear program.
For now though, Bachour said he is hopeful for the future in Syria.
“I try to be optimistic, maybe people would realize based on history that oppressing minorities will not lead to a bright Syria,” Bachour said. “And, that way, at least the people who died didn’t die for nothing.”
