On Jan. 6, 2013, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad addressed the Syrian population for the first time in six months amid a 22-month-old civil war that has claimed the lives of an estimated 60,000 Syrians. In a speech that largely resembles a speech he gave a year prior, Assad rejected the legitimacy of the Syrian opposition and called for a national dialogue as well as a new constitution. UCLA history professor James Gelvin discusses Assad’s latest statements within the context of the Syrian uprising that began in March of 2011, as well as the longer story that explains the violence and sectarianism of the Syrian civil war.
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The violence that explains the Syrian civil war is due to Islam and its core violent tenets.
Just as Mohammed lived by the sword, and just as he is considered the perfect role model for Muslims, so it only follows that Muslims will follow his words and actions.
Wherever we find Islam we either find some degree of repression and fear, or we find overt violence instead. Sometimes the truth is staring you in the face and you still refuse to see it for what it is.