Syria wants the
Golan Heights returned
Lebanon splintered out from
SyriaSyria is in
fact one of the last secular states in the region, and unlike such US allies
as Israel or Saudi Arabia does not privilege any religion; indeed, its
Allawite rulers are regarded by many orthodox Sunnis as outright heretics. |
It is a one-party Baathist state where
Islamists and political activists are suppressed, and the secret police
arrest political prisoners, many of who will never come before a judge.
Violent opposition to the regime is met with brutal force, most dramatically
in the case of the armed rising of the Muslim Brotherhood in Hama in 1982:
the city was sealed off and at least 10,000 people were killed, in a similar
operation to that later undertaken by the US and its allies in Falluja. |
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Cities |
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Aleppo (1,700,000)
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Damascus (1,600,000)
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Homs (1,033,000)
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Latakia (554,000)
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Hama (410,000)
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Ar-Raqqah (188,000)
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Deir ez-Zor (133,000)
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Pope John Paul II visits Syria in May
2001
Damascus is considered
the oldest city in the world, 5000 years old |
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Demographics |
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Population: 18,881,361
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Life Expectancy: 70.32 years
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Literacy: 76.9%
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Median Age: 20.7 years
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Suffrage: 18 years - universal
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Tomb of John the Baptist, at Umayyad
Mosque
2/3 of the country is in
the desert |
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Half the population live
in urban areas
95% of Syrians are Arabs
Half the population is below 19 years of age |
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The population is mostly Sunni, most Jews
live in Damascus |
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Geographics |
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- Land size: slightly larger than North Dakota
- Total: 185,180 sq km
- Water: 1,130 sq km
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Famous Azem Palace, in Damascus |
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History |
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Sykes-Picot
Agreement
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Golan
Heights
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Six Day War
(1967)
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Hafez al-Assad overthrew civilian government, becoming the ruler of Syria in
1970, al-Assad ruled the presidency for 30 years through the power of the
army.
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Yom Kippur War
(1973)
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Oil Shocks (1973-1974)
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History
of Muslim Brotherhood in Syria
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Syrian forces enter Lebanese soil, in Beirut (1976)
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Syrian army massacres Palestinians in Tel al Zaatar
camps in Lebanon (1976)
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President Hafez al-Assad dies (June 10, 2000)
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Pope John Paul II visits Syria, becomes first Pope to
ever visit a mosque (May 2001)
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Girl in headscarf
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Language |
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- Arabic (official)
- Kurdish
- Armenian
- Aramaic
- Circassian widely understood
- French
- English somewhat understood
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What no one is
discussing openly, however, is the real issue surrounding the Golan
Heights: water...A careful look at a map, makes obvious that the
1967 war, in which Israel occupied the West Bank and Golan Heights,
was a war fought in significant part over water. The water
distribution system of Israel, the National Water Carrier, in the
Occupied Territories, takes 20% of its supply from ground water from
the rest of Lake Tiberias' as well as wate from the Eastern side of
the Occupied Territories, which is from the Jordan River. (Muriel
Mirak-Weissbach, Executve Intelligence Review, p. 50-51)
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