The Beginnings of the Civil Unrest: Pt.1 A General Overview

The civil unrest in Syria is not that uncommon when looking at the larger picture of the public in the Middle East. The citizens of the three countries of Tunisia, Libya, and Egypt have all managed to overthrow their own respective governments; while there have been large protests in Iraq and Algeria with "Sustained civil disorder and governmental changes" in Syria and Yemen- to draw attention to major instances of civil unrest from the populations of the states.

The map, courtesy of Wikipedia, details the countries that have been affected by the Arab Spring.

The uprising in Syria had similar origins to that of the other nations: A demand for more political freedoms, a change in the current regime to that of a more democratic one- meaning also that the current leader of the nation Bashar al-Assad step down, and finally that more civil rights are granted to the citizens. A specific point to the goals of the Syrian opposition was to have the 48-year long emergency law repealed. This law, according to Al Jeezera,"gave the government a free hand to arrest people without charge and extended the state's authority into virtually every aspect of citizens' lives" (Al Jazeera). This law was repealed back on the 21st of April, 2011, however the protests have continued. Interestingly seven officers deserted from the Surian Army to form the Free Syrian Army, led by Colonel Riyad al-Asad, to protect the protesters from the Syrian government's army (Asharq Alawsat). Currently, the opposition control several key towns throughout the country: Douma, a city that is northeast of the capital city of Damascus (Alarabiya); Homes, a city that has been the center of attention in the past weeks as pro-government forces have been shelling the opposition controlled city (NYTimes); and even suburbs of Damascus itself have fallen under the opposition's control (MSNBC).