Although the Syrian government cut off electricity and the Internet to silence its citizens, Leena Mossa-Basha, Free Syria advocate and junior, said she hears horror stories leaked out from her family members still living in Syria. According to Leena, one day her aunt glanced out the window and found people burying dead bodies in her garden. Civilians often avoid graveyards, her aunt said, because security forces shoot those who visit them. Another day a bomb dropped on her cousin’s car, but she couldn’t examine the damage in fear of nearby snipers.

As a Syrian-American, Leena said she keeps herself informed about the Syrian Revolution. However, she said most high school students have no idea what’s happening in a Middle Eastern country on the other side of the world.

To raise awareness, Leena said she spends about two to three hours a day posting articles on mar15.info, the first English website dedicated to bringing people constant and current news about the Syrian Revolution. She also plans to start the Free Syria Club next year with junior Hiranmayi “Heera” Vemaganti.

“Fellow humans don’t want to see other humans being slaughtered and massacred every day,” Leena said. “As human beings, we should all care about what’s happening, not just what’s happening in the U.S.”

According to Leena, the Free Syria Club’s main goal will be to raise awareness. Its members plan to make flyers and pamphlets to inform CHS students about the Syrian Revolution. Although it is not set in stone, she said the club might organize a flash mob or conduct a protest.

Leena is also treasurer of the Muslim Student Association (MSA), where club members can discuss which countries they should help. The MSA held a bake sale starting April 16 during the school lunches to raise money for humanitarian aid for Syria.

Nora Mossa-Basha, mar15.info co-creator and Leena’s sister, said via email, “There are numerous strategical reasons why Americans should take extra note to the atrocities happening in Syria. The Assad regime is highly toxic to freedom and democracy across the world. The regime (not the people) support terrorist groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah. The regime also supports Iran. The highly anti-American regime in Iran has one single friend in the Middle East and that friend is Syria. If the Syrian regime is ousted, and a new government takes over, Iran will slowly lose its legitimacy and power. In addition, something that most people don’t know about is that Bashar al-Assad and his regime allowed Hezbollah and other terrorists to cross into Iraq to kill American troops during the Iraqi war. That alone should be a reason for the American government to take action against him.”

After former Syrian President Hafez al-Assad died in 2000, the Syrian Parliament changed the constitution to lower the minimum presidency age for current Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to take over. Bashar previously worked as an eye doctor, and therefore he had no background to be a government official, according to Leena.

When the Arab Spring, democratic uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa that started in December 2010, inspired the Syrian people to rise up against their own oppressive government, Bashar responded with tanks, missiles, rockets and snipers. Nora said the current death toll is around 12,000, but the true number could be thrice that amount. According to Leena, about 900 of these victims are children.

According to international relations teacher Peter O’Hara, the United States has avoided the subject of Syria for a reason. First of all, it’s a secular nation. Christians are free to practice their religion, and they are also close to the Assad government. However, Leena said the government kills both Christians and Muslims. It demolishes centuries-old churches as well as mosques.

“We’ve got soldiers involved throughout the Middle East. We’ve got people coming home now, trying to (recuperate). We have soldiers in four or five tours in the Middle East, Afghanistan and Iraq,” O’Hara said. “You cannot sustain that sort of tempo. Tempo is a military term for being deployed a lot or being engaged in some sort of combat operation.”

U.N. members Russia and China have trade and economic ties with Syria, and they used their veto power to prevent physical intervention, but Leena said this isn’t an excuse to sit back and watch the slaughter. Although the United Nations has not intervened physically, O’Hara said it has taken steps toward peace. For example, Kofi Annan, former U.N. Secretary-General, created a ceasefire agreement which was implemented on April 12.

As for the United States, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and President Barack Obama have expressed public disapproval of Assad. However, Leena said she wants the United States to do more because condemning Bashar won’t do anything since he doesn’t care what the world thinks of his actions.
O’Hara said, “If Al-Qaeda or the Taliban were to get into Syria, and they were to take over the country, that could be the only way we would ever (intervene physically). And that’s not the issue right now in Syria. The issue is the Assad government.”

According to Nora, the key to winning against Assad and his regime is to spread awareness. Syrian civilians have suffered for over 40 years, and now they risk their own lives to film and document the atrocities taking place in hopes that other countries will take action. Nora said her goal is to use social media sites like Twitter and Facebook to get media outlets to base their pieces on Syria and stir up pressure on diplomats worldwide to act.

“What’s happening in Syria has gotten to the scale of what happened in Bosnia and Rwanda,” Nora said. “We are going to look back at Syria 10 years from now and ask ourselves, ‘How did we let this happen without doing anything about it?’”