Some context on Syria

Where is Syria, and why should I care?

What's going there? What's this about chemical weapons used on civilians? Why am I hearing rumors that there may be a U.S. strike on Syria?

If you want to better understand the civil war that is raging on in this Middle Eastern country, here are three resources that endeavor to give you a quick primer on the country and the escalation of its internal conflict:

• A profile and overview on on Syria from the BBC
• "10 simple points to help you understand the Syria conflict" from News.com.au, Australia's primary online news source
• "9 questions about Syria you were too embarrassed to ask" from the Washington Post

For some history, background and other stories on Syria and its people, come into the library and check out these books and DVDs:

DVDs

Damascus Paradise on Earth
DVD 956.9144 DAMASCUS

Syria
DVD 956.91 SYRIA

Books

The Bread of Angels: A journey to love and faith
by Stephanie Saldana
956.914 SALDANA

Demanding Dignity: Young voices from the front lines of the Arab revolutions
By Maytha Alhassen
909.0974927 DEMANDIN

The Other Side of the Mirror: An American travels through Syria
By Brooke Allen
915.6910442 ALLEN

Stolen: Escape from Syria
By Louise Monaghan
306.8743 MONAGHAN

Saladin
By Anne-Marie Edeé
B SALADIN

Syria
By John F. Morrison
956.91 MORRISON

The Templars: The history and the myth
By Michael Haag
271.7913 HAAG

The Truth about Syria
Barry M. Rubin
956.91042 RUBIN

What Every American Should Know About the Middle East
By M. L. Rossi
956 ROSSI

A Woman in the Crossfire: Diaries of the Syrian revolution
By Samar Yazbik
956.91042092 YAZBIK

The Lemon Tree: An Arab, A Jew, and The Heart of the Middle East / by Sandy Tolan

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The Lemon Tree tells many stories. It is the story of Bashir Al-Khairi, a Palestinian Arab born in Ramla (West Bank, Israel) just before the termination of the British Mandate, and who, throughout his life, devotes himself to the cause of a free Palestine for Palestinians only to wind up permanently maimed in battle, detained and torchered by occupying forces, imprisoned for over half his adult life and ultimately made a refugee in exile, forbidden ever to return to his homeland. It is the story of Dalia Eshkenazi, a Bulgarian Jew and Holocaust survivor who, while still a child in 1948, resettles in Israel with her family during the UN Partition Plan in the same Ramlah home Bashir and his own family were forced out of. It is the story of millions of people displaced by war and politics and of millions more divided by partisan causes. Ultimately though, it is the story of an age-old, still-simmering and unlikely-to-cease conflict, of a war which has waged for centuries between Jews and Arabs, Judaism and Islam, Israelis and Palestinians, though it has really only been infused into the global conscious for the last half century.

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While the Arab-Israeli conflict is a complicated one, embittered with hate and recrimination, Bashir and Dalia's lifelong friendship, linked by coincidence but proliferated through trust and love, is an enlightened union. The pair's unlikely friendship is one which endures despite the maddeningly stubborn socio-political debacle defining their age, the constant wars and violence causing many sad and troubling times of grief, isolation and despair, not to mention each's unchanging personal convictions. Tolan, a UC-Berkely professor and NPR syndicated journalist has written a compelling book on a very touchy, very saddening and very volatile situation of our time. (956.9405 TOLAN)

International Intrigue

A journalist for the BBC during WWII, Frederick Forsyth once tried to 'hop a ride' on a D-Day invasion craft. His adventurism coupled with experience as a global correspondent have helped firmly establish him at the pinnacle of the political thriller genre. Among his many popular works, Day of the Jackal (1971) and The Afghan (2007) are two of his most enthralling epics.

Day of the Jackal (1971)
Rebuff in France over the Algerian question reached its apex in 1962 when, in a move unpopular with many, President De Gaulle withdrew all French troops and granted sovereignty to the North African state. Among the outraged, members of the French OAS (Secret Army Organisations) were former soldiers and colonists who, feeling betrayed after sacrifices made on their country's behalf, decided retaliation was only too necessary. Between the summer of 1962 and spring 1963, a string of unsuccessful assassination attempts were made on De Gaulle’s life. With their ranks dwindling and their cause dying, one last option assuaged the OAS: hire an outside professional killer who, acting alone, would eliminate their target. Following an intense search, a meeting of the strictest confidence was held in Vienna where 3 OAS men and one stranger discussed details of the operation. The stranger--codename "The Jackal"--ultimately agreed to kill the French President for half a million dollars. Up until and beyond the pinned date, no OAS or allied partisan would see or hear from the Jackal accept through the designated middle-man. The OAS now had their last and best ‘shot’ to avenge their betrayal.

Even knowing De Gaulle died--peacefully in his sleep--in 1970 and that there was likely no such lone gunman plot (the other attempts were real enough), you can’t help but be caught up in the drama of this taut thriller. The Jackal's methodical preparations are as intriguing as the climax while the intelligence bureau's counter-operations only add to the appeal. Forsyth's steady, detached style may deter some with its lack of cliffhanger suspense. But his ability to create fascination out of one man's inconspicuous maneuvers has a way of overriding the desire for more action. The film version of this book came out in 1973 and stars Edward Fox as the Jackal. (FIC FORSYTH)
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The Afghan (2007)
Army Col. Mike Martin is well-acquainted with the Middle East. Since his time spent in Iraq as a boy up until his present life as a paratrooper, he’s become familiar with all aspects of the volatile region, even learning the language well enough to translate several remote dialects. But when the intelligence community desperately needs information on a major Al-Qaeda operation, even they know the hard truth: there’s no way to get what they need aside from personally infiltrating the enemy, an impossibility because no one (not even Martin) is capable of doing so.

Even the only conceivable option, an Afghani political prisoner in quarantine, is a non-option. Izmat Khan is a former Taliban commander who even now, after 5 years of interrogation at Guantanamo, remains a staunch fundamentalist ally of Al-Qaeda. Yet a twist of fate many years earlier helped make Khan and Martin loyal friends. Is it even possible? Could Martin’s shared knowledge and intimacy with Khan allow Martin—disguised as Khan—to ‘become an enemy’ among the enemy?

Forsyth writes with such incomparable authority and structure that little room is left for fault-finding. The Afghan could almost pass as a geography textbook, so remarkable is the detail, and yet the story's intriguing enough captivate any politically naïve reader. The action, as with other Forsyth classics, is less personal--war casualties described like a newscast. But it’s the broader picture that’s indirectly intended, fate and conflict viewed at a global scale. With its distinctly middle-eastern attributes, The Afghan shares more than a few parallels with Lawrence of Arabia and readers gung-ho on Indiana Jones won't be disappointed. (FIC FORSYTH)