okay so I want to begin by asking you
all a few questions
the first being how many of you were
born in a country other than the United
States okay so a few of you how many of
you have parents or grandparents that
were born in another country okay and
how many of you at least know someone
who is born in a country other than the
United States okay thank you so it seems
as though almost every single person in
this room has some sort of connection to
an immigrant and can somewhat understand
what it might feel like to be an
outsider personally I am the daughter of
I am the daughter of two immigrants my
parents are right there in the crowd and
they were both born in Lebanon we come
from a small village in Lebanon called
the vazhi in Bekaa Valley for those of
you who don’t know
Lebanon is an extremely tiny extremely
poor country in the Middle East and it
borders Syria to give you an idea of
just how small Lebanon really is in
terms of its population size the state
of Ohio has a population of about 12
million whereas Lebanon has a population
of about 6 million so the state of Ohio
alone is almost double the population of
Lebanon in terms of its physical size
Lebanon is about four thousand miles
squared and Lake Erie is about ten
thousand miles squared so here’s a
little visual of Lebanon over our area
so while that’s pretty interesting I’m
not here to talk to you about the size
of Lebanon I do want to talk to you all
about a specific aspect of Lebanon
though and that is its population of
refugees Lebanon has a very small
population and yet one-fourth of it is
made up of refugees according to the
UNHCR there are over 1 million Syrian
refugees registered and Lebanon today
and
I have personally seen our small village
of as they grow so much over the last
few years since the start of the war
because of how many refugees have come
in it only makes sense because the area
where my family is from is only about a
15-minute drive from the Syrian border
but what’s even more shocking than
seeing such a small village grow so much
in such a short period of time is the
fact that in 2006 when I was only six
years old my own family had to flee from
Lebanon because of war there was a war
going on at the time involving Israel
and Hezbollah for those who are unaware
Hezbollah is a terrorist group that was
formed in 1982 in response to an Israeli
invasion of Lebanon and so the war is
fittingly called the 2006
Israel has bola war or the 2006 Lebanon
War my family had to spend one or two
weeks sleeping in my grandmother’s
basement that provided some protection
obviously because it’s underground but
that just was not safe enough we ended
up having to flee and so we left as the
and so those are images from the war and
we left with Ozzie and we journeyed
through Syria until we reached Jordan so
the fact that my family once had to flee
our village because of war and now
people are seeking refuge in our village
because of war is crazy to think about
and I greatly attribute this experience
to why I am so invested and passionate
in helping refugees today both in my own
community and internationally so there
are a lot of Syrian refugees in Lebanon
however that number is only a small
percentage of how many refugees there
are around the entire world according to
the United Nations
there are around 11 million Syrians
fleeing war today
that’s enough people to fill roughly two
hundred Yankee stadium’s and I’m sure
you all all you are all wondering if you
haven’t looked into the issue or kept up
on it at all just as I did why are these
people displaced and what’s even going
on
well in 2011 what is known as the Arab
Spring
top of the regime’s of Tunisia and Egypt
in March of that year it began in Syria
and it is what continues to plague the
country today however the issue has only
become far more complicated during that
time a group of teenage boys were
arrested and tortured for
anti-government graffiti the people were
outraged as one was also killed as a
result they respond the people of Syria
responded through non-violent
governmental protests also protesting
lack of freedom and governmental
economic issues the regime responded
however with force and they detained and
killed many demonstrators this is
ultimately what sparked the conflict
that continues to plague the country six
years later so the so so this conflict
is really difficult to comprehend at
times so let’s start with Syria itself
and learning more about it itself as a
country so Syria is a small country in
the Middle East bordered by Jordan Iraq
Turkey and Lebanon its people are of
many different ethnicities speak many
different languages and practice many
different religions although 90% about
90% of the population are Arab
there are many minorities whose
religions all vary greatly about 74
percent of the probably population are
practicing Sunmi Muslims however other
religions include Christianity Shia and
Alawis the people also speak many
different languages the official
language is Arabic however they speak
Armenian Aramaic Circassian French and
English as well and so the people of
Syria are extremely diverse and while
the country today is extremely divided
it wasn’t always like this I’m currently
reading a book called among the ruins
Syria past and present by historian and
research
fellow Christian satin ER in a satin er
writes about the religious history of
Syria going as far back as ancient times
and satyr writes that Syria was once
known as a country in which Muslims and
Christians live together in peace and so
there was this beautiful coexistence
among members of different religions and
communities that leaves many including
myself wondering what happened so today
the Syrian conflict is extremely
difficult to comprehend however one of
the biggest misconceptions that is so
important to understand is that the
Syrian conflict is not a civil war no
matter how many times it is referred to
as one the Syrian conflict is not an
internal conflict according to Austin
Gunnar a new york-based geopolitical
analyst for those who have been trying
to make sense of the Syrian civil war
since 2011 with little luck the
explanation is simple it isn’t a civil
war and it never was understanding it as
a proxy conflict from the very beginning
will add one immeasurably in
understanding what the obvious solutions
are but only when they come to this
understanding while I’m not going to
stand up here and tell you all that
there are blatantly obvious solutions to
the greatest humanitarian crisis of our
time I think this quote does a great job
at illustrating the significance of
foreign involvement in the Syrian crisis
involvement from countries such as the
US Russia and Turkey have only continued
to fuel the conflict in a civil war
usually there are two sides and the war
will end when one of the sides either
surrenders or is too exhausted to
continue fighting however not only are
there more than two sides to this
conflict but even if we were to
extremely simplify it and look at it as
just a war between the regime and the
people both sides are backed up by so
many different forces that the war will
never truly end if it keeps on going
that way
and so okay and so another big
misconception with this issue is that
it’s not our problem but it is according
to the UN eleven million people are
fleeing war that is not to mention that
there are over there have been over half
a million reported deaths one-and-a-half
million reported injuries and about
three million children are not attending
school half of the Syrian population is
no longer no longer has a home I’m sure
you have all seen the image of this
little boy who fled Syria with his
family by boat and he ended up washing
up on shore it went viral a little while
ago I have personally seen the refugees
in Lebanon live in absolutely miserable
conditions in tents in mud with nothing
not even bare necessities
nobody flees the home that they love
just to flee and to risk their lives
they do it because they don’t have a
choice and this issue even extends to
our own community the Syrian conflict is
obviously a global issue and I think
it’s much easier to say that it’s not
our problem then to to really face the
fact that millions of people are dying
and we are doing absolutely nothing
about it and so if you are to all take
away one thing from this presentation I
urge you all to realize how truly global
the Syrian conflict is and how there are
so many ways to help out even in our own
community one of my favorite poets named
Orson Shire once wrote apathy is the
same as wore it all kills you and so I
urge you all do not be apathetic but
show care and concern because we are all
human thank you
[Applause]
all a few questions
the first being how many of you were
born in a country other than the United
States okay so a few of you how many of
you have parents or grandparents that
were born in another country okay and
how many of you at least know someone
who is born in a country other than the
United States okay thank you so it seems
as though almost every single person in
this room has some sort of connection to
an immigrant and can somewhat understand
what it might feel like to be an
outsider personally I am the daughter of
I am the daughter of two immigrants my
parents are right there in the crowd and
they were both born in Lebanon we come
from a small village in Lebanon called
the vazhi in Bekaa Valley for those of
you who don’t know
Lebanon is an extremely tiny extremely
poor country in the Middle East and it
borders Syria to give you an idea of
just how small Lebanon really is in
terms of its population size the state
of Ohio has a population of about 12
million whereas Lebanon has a population
of about 6 million so the state of Ohio
alone is almost double the population of
Lebanon in terms of its physical size
Lebanon is about four thousand miles
squared and Lake Erie is about ten
thousand miles squared so here’s a
little visual of Lebanon over our area
so while that’s pretty interesting I’m
not here to talk to you about the size
of Lebanon I do want to talk to you all
about a specific aspect of Lebanon
though and that is its population of
refugees Lebanon has a very small
population and yet one-fourth of it is
made up of refugees according to the
UNHCR there are over 1 million Syrian
refugees registered and Lebanon today
and
I have personally seen our small village
of as they grow so much over the last
few years since the start of the war
because of how many refugees have come
in it only makes sense because the area
where my family is from is only about a
15-minute drive from the Syrian border
but what’s even more shocking than
seeing such a small village grow so much
in such a short period of time is the
fact that in 2006 when I was only six
years old my own family had to flee from
Lebanon because of war there was a war
going on at the time involving Israel
and Hezbollah for those who are unaware
Hezbollah is a terrorist group that was
formed in 1982 in response to an Israeli
invasion of Lebanon and so the war is
fittingly called the 2006
Israel has bola war or the 2006 Lebanon
War my family had to spend one or two
weeks sleeping in my grandmother’s
basement that provided some protection
obviously because it’s underground but
that just was not safe enough we ended
up having to flee and so we left as the
and so those are images from the war and
we left with Ozzie and we journeyed
through Syria until we reached Jordan so
the fact that my family once had to flee
our village because of war and now
people are seeking refuge in our village
because of war is crazy to think about
and I greatly attribute this experience
to why I am so invested and passionate
in helping refugees today both in my own
community and internationally so there
are a lot of Syrian refugees in Lebanon
however that number is only a small
percentage of how many refugees there
are around the entire world according to
the United Nations
there are around 11 million Syrians
fleeing war today
that’s enough people to fill roughly two
hundred Yankee stadium’s and I’m sure
you all all you are all wondering if you
haven’t looked into the issue or kept up
on it at all just as I did why are these
people displaced and what’s even going
on
well in 2011 what is known as the Arab
Spring
top of the regime’s of Tunisia and Egypt
in March of that year it began in Syria
and it is what continues to plague the
country today however the issue has only
become far more complicated during that
time a group of teenage boys were
arrested and tortured for
anti-government graffiti the people were
outraged as one was also killed as a
result they respond the people of Syria
responded through non-violent
governmental protests also protesting
lack of freedom and governmental
economic issues the regime responded
however with force and they detained and
killed many demonstrators this is
ultimately what sparked the conflict
that continues to plague the country six
years later so the so so this conflict
is really difficult to comprehend at
times so let’s start with Syria itself
and learning more about it itself as a
country so Syria is a small country in
the Middle East bordered by Jordan Iraq
Turkey and Lebanon its people are of
many different ethnicities speak many
different languages and practice many
different religions although 90% about
90% of the population are Arab
there are many minorities whose
religions all vary greatly about 74
percent of the probably population are
practicing Sunmi Muslims however other
religions include Christianity Shia and
Alawis the people also speak many
different languages the official
language is Arabic however they speak
Armenian Aramaic Circassian French and
English as well and so the people of
Syria are extremely diverse and while
the country today is extremely divided
it wasn’t always like this I’m currently
reading a book called among the ruins
Syria past and present by historian and
research
fellow Christian satin ER in a satin er
writes about the religious history of
Syria going as far back as ancient times
and satyr writes that Syria was once
known as a country in which Muslims and
Christians live together in peace and so
there was this beautiful coexistence
among members of different religions and
communities that leaves many including
myself wondering what happened so today
the Syrian conflict is extremely
difficult to comprehend however one of
the biggest misconceptions that is so
important to understand is that the
Syrian conflict is not a civil war no
matter how many times it is referred to
as one the Syrian conflict is not an
internal conflict according to Austin
Gunnar a new york-based geopolitical
analyst for those who have been trying
to make sense of the Syrian civil war
since 2011 with little luck the
explanation is simple it isn’t a civil
war and it never was understanding it as
a proxy conflict from the very beginning
will add one immeasurably in
understanding what the obvious solutions
are but only when they come to this
understanding while I’m not going to
stand up here and tell you all that
there are blatantly obvious solutions to
the greatest humanitarian crisis of our
time I think this quote does a great job
at illustrating the significance of
foreign involvement in the Syrian crisis
involvement from countries such as the
US Russia and Turkey have only continued
to fuel the conflict in a civil war
usually there are two sides and the war
will end when one of the sides either
surrenders or is too exhausted to
continue fighting however not only are
there more than two sides to this
conflict but even if we were to
extremely simplify it and look at it as
just a war between the regime and the
people both sides are backed up by so
many different forces that the war will
never truly end if it keeps on going
that way
and so okay and so another big
misconception with this issue is that
it’s not our problem but it is according
to the UN eleven million people are
fleeing war that is not to mention that
there are over there have been over half
a million reported deaths one-and-a-half
million reported injuries and about
three million children are not attending
school half of the Syrian population is
no longer no longer has a home I’m sure
you have all seen the image of this
little boy who fled Syria with his
family by boat and he ended up washing
up on shore it went viral a little while
ago I have personally seen the refugees
in Lebanon live in absolutely miserable
conditions in tents in mud with nothing
not even bare necessities
nobody flees the home that they love
just to flee and to risk their lives
they do it because they don’t have a
choice and this issue even extends to
our own community the Syrian conflict is
obviously a global issue and I think
it’s much easier to say that it’s not
our problem then to to really face the
fact that millions of people are dying
and we are doing absolutely nothing
about it and so if you are to all take
away one thing from this presentation I
urge you all to realize how truly global
the Syrian conflict is and how there are
so many ways to help out even in our own
community one of my favorite poets named
Orson Shire once wrote apathy is the
same as wore it all kills you and so I
urge you all do not be apathetic but
show care and concern because we are all
human thank you
[Applause]
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