Writers Surname 1

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World Crisis
This essay is based on a creative story which explores the humanitarian complexities and
reveals the political realities on a situation of crisis. The crisis is regarding the Syrian conflict
and how it disrupted the lives of students living there. The Syrian conflict continues to have a
devastating effect on the lives of university students, professors and education sector. Not only
Syria is impacted but the neighboring countries are also negatively affected by it. In order to
elaborate the negative aspects of this war, the scenario is described in the form of a story
regarding a 22 year old Syrian guy named Sayed. The story initiates before the start of the Syrian
Civil War. Sayed who is a brilliant and intelligent student had high aspirations of becoming an IT
programmer. He was enrolled in the University of Damascus and pursuing the degree of
computer science. However, he strived hard to postpone his degree by either dropping or failing
the courses. He did this to postpone the Military Service which is exempted for students who are
doing graduation. Another reason was that he wanted to stay with his family because if he is
enrolled in the Military service then he had to leave his family and serve in the tyrant system and
miserable life of Syrian military.
After postponing the degree as long as he could, Sayed was finally graduated but it was
the time when Syrian revolution was started. So, his dream of becoming an IT programmer was
shattered. However, he realized that he had a chance to serve his country and help the rebels by
using his talents for internet and computer. He used the power of social media like Twitter,
Facebook to post the videos of protests and demonstrations. Due to this, he became a target and
threat for the Syrian government as they know that the youth have power to change the system.

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Sayed was hiding from the government because he knew that the government was looking for
talented people like him and using digital media was the best way to fight against the Syrian
conflict. Social media and websites are providing various forms of political mobilization. The
social media design network is a robust characteristics which can prove threatening to the
authoritarian ruler. Its structure of design allows people with technical and computer skills to
resist information control and exercise the rights of democracy. Sayed knew that these online
tools are supportive in organizing, documenting, mobilizing and inspiring the activism over the
internet. The social media rise in movements of politics allowed Sayed and other activists the
opportunities to utilize their networks of social media to form their respective group identities.
Both pro and anti-government groups utilizes social media to combat against the authoritarian
and tyrant government (Harkin). Therefore, the usage of social media has served to promote
competition in both political systems and political dialogues. This is the reason why social media
is perceived as a threat to the authoritarian and tyrant government of Syria.
In order to understand the role of internet and social media dying the political
movements, it is necessary to understand the state of cell phone connectivity and internet, the
information flow and social media use in the uprising of politics in MENA region especially in
Syria. There was a substantial change in the usage of social media especially in the youngsters of
Arab world during the uprisings in Syria, Libya, Yemen and Egypt. Due to the media and
political freedom disparate degrees, the spread and adoption of mobile and internet connectivity
didnt happen at the same stage as in other Arab countries. At the start of 2011, the penetration of
Facebook in Syria was extremely low. This was because the Syrian government banned social
media as it was threatening its tyrant rule. After the ban was lifted, the penetration of digital
media rose quickly in the initial months of 2012. This paved the way for Sayed and other

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activists to target the audience with mobile connectivity as majority of them use cell phones to
access Facebook. Another reason why social media pose a big threat to Syrian government is
that the traditional channels of media like T.Vs, newspapers, radios and news agency are
regulated by the government (Harkin). So, the government controlled the flow of expression and
information by discarding the criticisms on the president of Syria and also blocked international
opposition websites. That is why social media become the most effective player in the Syrian
revolution as it wasnt controlled by the state. Sayed used social media to communicate an
essential voice in documenting and describing the attacks, coordination other anti-government
activities and protests, communicating information to both global and local audiences. After
being successful in using social media to combat the tyrant system of Syrian government and
conveying the message to global audiences, Sayed was a major threat. He was caught by the
Syrian Police and was thrown in jail for plotting against the government.
As we have seen the positive side of the story till, the negative part of the story lies
ahead. Sayed had dreams of becoming an IT programmer became a human rights activists due to
the Syrian revolution. Using his talents to fight the tyranny of the authoritarian government of
Bashar al Assad, was a positive side. The story will now describe the hopelessness and miseries
Sayed had to go through which changed his life and broke his spirit. Arab prisons are just like
hell where the prisoners are tortured mercilessly and all their hopes of living are shattered. When
in prison, Sayed was isolated from the rest of the world and had no access to attorneys. He had to
share prison with more than 30 men who were all imprisoned for various charges related to
rebelling activities, having ties with members of armed opposition or due to security report
falseness. All of these charges are not severe than the punishment these prisoners had to go
through with. The cell was cold and dark with no ventilation and was about 50 sq. feet.

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Everyday these prisoners had to go through torture with around 40 documented ways comprising
of electrical shocks, from the ceiling suspending detainees by their arms, beatings, pulling nails
and cigarette burns. The screams of the prisoners undergoing torture are unbearable which makes
a person crazy. Guards continuously beat everyone and called them terrorists. Some of the
prisoners cant bear this inhumane activity and die. Those who are left alive are forced to sleep in
the area where dead are disposed of which results in rashes and skin infections. Sayed had to go
through all of this punishment and for what. A just cause and fighting for the right of his people.
To sum up, this story shows how war and conflict can transform the life of a person who
stand up for a good cause. People are willing to sacrifice themselves to bring an end to this brutal
government. Thousands of people have died and many still stand firm to achieve their objectives.
We can see this from the example of the protagonist of this story that how the talent is wasted
and oppressed. Also, the power of social media is highlighted which is a strong tool against
authoritarian governments.

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Work Cited
Harkin, James. "Good media, bad politics? New media and the Syrian conflict."Reuters Institute
Fellowship Paper, University of Oxford (2013).