Syria: #Just Stop The War

By Ashiya Parveen

03 November, 2015
Countercurrents.org

The bloody trajectory of the Syrian civil war became a common refrain a few weeks back. Notwithstanding the scale of disaster and horror caused by the four-and-half-year conflict, world’s conscience was struck after the tragic death of a three-year-old Syrian boy, Aylan Kurdi, in September. The image of the little child lying dead on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea led to a massive public outrage. Many hapless Syrians fleeing to Europe in search of life found a virtual crowd standing behind them and fighting for their right to life. Mass online activism under a popular hashtag #refugeeswelcome forced the European governments to respond to the exhausted Syrians in a humane and responsible way.

But, as expected, the online activism soon lost its momentum and things are not just back to square one, rather worse! According to a news report, over 70 children died last week alone. The report juxtaposes the death of these children with that of Kurdi by saying, “More than 70 child have died attempting the same crossing between Turkey and Greece as three-year-old Syrian boy Alan Kurdi, whose body was found face down on a Turkish beach last month - prompting worldwide outrage about the plight of refugees travelling to Europe.” Millions of hearts go out for Kurdi and for those still fighting deadly battles in the Mediterranean Sea, with some winning only to be left stranded at the alien lands.

Since the outbreak of civil war in Syria, many people, including children, have lost their lives. News reports about the misfortunes of the fleeing Syrians abound. The fact that nearly half of Syria’s 22 million populations is either dead or displaced speaks volume about the gravity of the situation. Speaking to Al Jazeera, a woman said, “Drowning to death was better than being beheaded. Better.” There is no dearth of such disturbing anecdotes piercing our conscience as the victims are shown recalling how they chose between land and sea, between life and death, between home and camp... Some would be seen trying hard to choke their sobbing while recalling how they bade adieu to their home, their city and their country. Still others would cry out loud for they are the ones who had been robbed of their loved ones. But one wonders, are not these images disturbing enough to leave an imprint on the world’s consciousness? Isn’t the plight of the fleeing Syrians bloody enough to keep up the online activism aided by new media and emerge as a force to reckon with in the handling of the Syrian civil war at large?

The power of new media like Internet, Facebook, Twitter, etc. was most recently demonstrated during the 2011 Arab uprising when it played a constructive role in triggering the protests and bringing down the autocratic regimes in some countries. Even in case of the refugee crisis, it has been acknowledged that the emergence of powerful public opinion proved a turning point in the handling of the crisis. But it seems that building solidarity on social media for the brutalised Syrian refugees has satiated our conscience. Then it needs to be thrust upon the sane minds across the globe that the Syrian conflict is more than the refugee crisis. It is more than writing an elegy for those being defeated callously in the sea. Rather, it is about cruel power politics that has rendered human lives worthless. It is a glaring case of bloody real politic that outweighs human lives to maintain balance of power. And nothing constrains the ability of online forces to transcend the boundary of state-guarded realism. After all, citizen journalism or online activism is not bound by the infectious realism of the nation-states.

In addition, new media have the potential to influence political decision-making by helping to create social capital and virtual mass mobilisation to end what the UN describes as “world’s worst humanitarian crisis”. People in the countries with serious involvement bear a moral responsibility to take the initiative. Should not it prick their conscience that as major players in the conflict their countries i.e. Iran, Russia, Saudi Arabia and the US have remained largely ignorant to the predicament of the Syrian refugees? The gravity of the situation on grounds did not persuade these stakeholders to bridge their differences and find a diplomatic solution sooner than later. The Vienna talks on October 30, which nonetheless followed a flurry of unsuccessful recent diplomatic efforts, failed to yield any result. Mass casualties in attacks carried out by both state and non-state actors in Syria did not add any urgency to the crawling diplomatic efforts.

But is this the case with the lot too? Not really! The formations of popular narratives on social media are not guided by geostrategic concerns rather the humanitarian one. Then what discourages us to build a forceful public opinion to end the conflict. What stops us from building a virtual mass mobilisation to push for the end of the conflict under hashtags like #helpSyrians, #notoviolence, #endSyrianconflict, etc. While we were busy expressing solidarity with the Syrian refugees, an appeal from a 13-year-old Syrian boy went unnoticed when he said, “Please help the Syrians. You just stop the war, we won’t want to go to Europe. Just stop the war in Syria.” The boy, who escaped the Syrian city of Deraa, was urging the modern civilized nations.

Ashiya Parveen is a Ph. D. student at the Academy of International Studies, Jamia Millia Islamia. Email: [email protected]