Life Through the Eyes of a Modern Syrian

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – “People describe living under shelling, bombing, even under chemical weapons attacks. Some talk about the sounds of planes overhead; the waiting, wondering, where a bomb will drop is as terrifying as the actual explosion,” said Dr. Wendy Pearlman, author and professor from Northwestern University.

On Monday night roughly forty students, faculty, and members of the community gathered and listened intently Dr. Pearlman speak about the first-hand accounts she had received from Syrian refugees for her book “We Crossed a Bridge and It Trembled” which details the horrible conditions that the Syrian people are put through on a daily basis and the destruction that has come upon their homeland by their government.

The event, put together by the International Studies Institute at the University of New Mexico focused on the Syrian revolution that began in 2011; however, Dr. Pearlman explained how the Syrian conflict began nearly forty years prior with the rise of General Hafez al-Assad in 1970. The regime al-Assad began continued into today’s age when his son Bashar al-Assad took over in 2000.

Their regime brought on a great oppression to the people of Syria; one testimony provided by Dr. Pearlman spoke about “brainwashing” that began as young as elementary school to condition the citizens into believing that how they were living was okay. Another testimony stated that “to fight for change was reckless.”

The condition of the Syrian citizens only worsened after the revolution in 2011. Momentarily many felt like they had tasted freedom for the first time but when the Regime armed themselves and took to the streets, the people were submerged into a violent civil war. Dr. Pearlman recounted the horrible stories of terror, hunger, and desensitization to war that the Syrian people have and currently still are experiencing. They felt abandoned by the world.

“I always had the sense that there were a lot of people in Syria who would’ve welcomed an intervention,” stated Dr. Mark Pecency, the Dean of Arts and Sciences at the University of New Mexico, who was in attendance of the event.

Due to the ongoing conflict, many Syrians have become displaced and are now seeking refugee status in a multitude of countries all over the world.

For more information contact:

Wendy Pearlman, PhD

pearlman@northwestern.edu

(847) 491-2259

Mark Pecency, PhD

markpec@unm.edu