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Jessica Arouk
Ali M. Meghdadi
Writing 39C/ Section 33374
04 May 2014
What Does it Take to Belong?
War is a terrifying phenomenal that takes its toll on hundreds of thousands of people. It
takes the lives of many innocent civilians, destructs
economy, brings upon depression and sorrow, causes
people to leave their homes and lose their jobs. This is
what the Syrian people have been enduring for the past
three years and two months now. The Syrian Civil war
started in March 2011 as a result of the Arab Spring in
the Middle East. The Arab Spring was a series of anti-
government protests, uprisings and armed rebellions that
spread across the Middle East in early 2011. Although
there were many uprising, one of the largest and most
violent was the uprising that happened against the
dictator like Syrian president Bashar Al Assads regime and his party, the Baath party. The
Baaths party reign started in Syria when it was created in the year of 1947. President Bashar Al
Assads now late father, Hafez Al Assad, overthrew president Nur AlDin Atassi in March 1971
and was elected president for a seven-year term. Hafez Al Assad goes on to stay president for
another twenty-nine years, until he ultimately dies in June 2000 and his son Bashar Al Assad is
Death Tolls in Syria from 2011-2012
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elected as president. Even though Hafez Al Assad brought stability to Syria, he did it through
repression. His son, following in his fathers footsteps, also repressed his people by not giving
them their freedom and as a result the Syrian people up rise in March 2011 causing a full blow
civil war in Syria. Syrians have proven resilient through fighting for their freedoms, but despite
their fighting they are unable to win. Children have no proper education, men are without work,
and hundreds of thousands of people are without food or shelter. There have been well over one
hundred forty six thousand deaths of women, children, and men. As a result of the mass
destruction and killing taking place, Syrians have had to flee to countries that border Syria but
also went as far as the United States of America to find protection.
Migration to the United States is tough for any immigrant, from any country. The
struggle to adjust to another countries ways and culture takes time and effort to get used to. To
make matters worse, the United States has formed an islamophobia attitude towards any
Muslim that chooses to migrate to the United States because of the September 11 terrorist attack,
making it ten times harder to adjust. For Syrians, specifically, it is another story. Syria is the only
country that is recognized in a global war for the past four years and one of the few places in the
world recognized to use chemical weapons against their own civilians. Migrating to the United
Palestinian Refugees (Alive) Libyan Refugess (Alive)

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Syrian Refugees (Dead Children because of the Chemical Weapons)

States is no longer a choice, but a means of survival, but that does not mean migrating to the
United States does not come with its own price. Unlike Lebanese, Jordanians, Saudi Arabians,
Chinese, or Mexicans who can all return to their country whenever they please, Syrians cannot
fathom the ideal of returning back to the hell they were living in. Although they escape death,
Syrians face many more problems than they expect when migrating to the United States. In
Adele Younis non-fiction book The Coming of the Arabic-Speaking People to the United States
she lets the reader know that Syrians were never really accepted as worthy citizens until after
the second World War. Chapter IX reviews all the negative arguments used to prevent Syrians
from both migrating here and becoming citizens. Contrary and stereotypical arguments were
often used to demean Syrians and Arabs and deprive them of citizenship (Younis 36). Younis
expresses the ideal that Syrians have been facing assimilation problems from long ago, and this
is not a new concept for them. The ideal of assimilation in todays American culture is much
more strained because of the advances in the work force, education, and economic matters. The
problem now is that Syrians are facing much more cultural, financial, and educational dilemmas
than ever before. When coming to the United States, Syrians face assimilation which is the
blending of Syrian culture into the dominant society of the American culture.
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Culture is defined as the beliefs, customs, arts, etc., of a particular society, and in this
case the focus is on Syrian culture. Culture is the way people understand their lives and the world
around them. Syrian culture is steeped in its history
and ingrained in daily life, unless it is taken from
them when they step out of their country, causing a
sense of lost identity. One of the many problems
Syrians face when coming to the United States is
the pressure to leave their culture and assimilate
into American culture. Culture and religion at times
go hand in hand. That being said, the majority of Syrians coming to the United States are
Muslim, and upon arriving they face much discrimination and are unable to fully become
American. Kristine J. Ajrouch and Amaney Jamal both bring up the topic of discrimination
against Muslims in their academic journal Assimilating to a White Identity: The Case of Arab
Americans, when they state that Muslims are more likely to claim an "Other" identity and resist
a white racial classification, this may signify a response to mainstream discrimination targeting
Muslims (Ajrouch& Amaney 873). One of the reasons Muslims cannot incorporate themselves
into American culture is because they are not accepted there. When talking about the many
Syrians that came to the USA, many of them were Muslim women who wore the traditional
Hijab, which is headdress that Muslim women must wear on their heads to cover their hair. Yet
the United States of America looks down on the women who wear hijabs and are constantly
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harassed because of their traditional and religious clothing. According to the Womens Rights
Project, Muslim women have been prohibited from wearing their head coverings in a number of
contexts. They have been harassed, fired from
jobs, denied access to public places, and otherwise
discriminated against because they wear hijab
(ACLU 1). The ironic aspect of this all is the fact
that the First Amendment in the Constitution -
which is the foundation of the United States democratic government-protects the freedom of
speech and religion, and yet Muslim women who wear their cultural attire are harassed and
looked down upon if they practice their religion. Proof of this is when, In 2006, there were 154
cases of discrimination or harassment in which a Muslim womans head covering was identified
as the factor that triggered the incident (ACLU 2). It difficult enough coming to a new country,
but coming to a new country and facing discrimination because of your beliefs and culture,
makes adapting to the new lifestyle you are in much more difficult.
Another challenge Syrians face when trying to assimilate into American culture is the
communal nature of the Syrians as opposed to self-sufficient nature of the American lifestyle. In
Dr. James J. Zogbys book, What Arabs Think: Values, Beliefs, and Concerns, he takes a poll of
many people from different Middle Eastern countries and when the Syrians were polled, he
discovered that, Their ability to lead meaningful and productive lives, their ability to provide for
themselves and those whom they love, and their ability to protect and project the values they
hold most dear these are the concerns that define life and matter most (Zogby 11). The self-
sufficient lifestyle does not work for Syrians because throughout their lives they have committed
This is a hijab
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to providing not only for themselves, but for the ones that they love. This can be issue, when
living in the United States because acquiring the financial needs to provide for the ones that they
love proves to be a challenge when coming from Syria to America. Providing for yourself and
your family is a struggle anywhere in the world, but for the Syrians that come to United States it
is much tougher because they lack job experience needed to maintain a well-paying job which in
return causes them not to find jobs, and are therefore unable to provide for their families. This
endures stress upon them, because as men of the house there obligation is to provide for the
family. Unable to maintain their responsibilities to their families can be the cause of serious
health issues that happen to them. According to the American Psychological Association, they
recognize that Job strain high demands coupled with low decision-making latitude is
associated with increased risk of coronary disease, for example. Other forms of chronic stress,
such as depression and low levels of social support, have also been implicated in increased
cardiovascular risk. With the stress that Syrians are coming across, these are the types of health
issues that they could be facing later on in life and this could have an impact on how long they
live. Another aspect of life for Syrians that brings about more stress is trying to start over
financially in a country you know nothing about.
Starting over financially is a hurdle most Americans do not understand. The toughest part
about it for the Syrians is that in their country they had status and financial stability, and for that
to be taken away from them without warning or preparation is an aspect that most people do not
have to face. Higher education also correlates with more financial stability. Syrians that had to
leave everything they had acquired over the years in Syria and come to the United States faced
many hardships, including low-wage jobs, jobs that require much physical work and jobs that no
one wanted to take. Here is a story of a boy by the name of Youssef Kardouh, and the struggle he
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had to endure. Youssef was an intelligent boy that received good grades and worked hard
throughout his whole life. He lived in a rural village in Syria that did not have much of anything;
they did not have proper education, health care, or electricity and running water that were
available all the time. Youssef studied hard and eventually was accepted into the faculty of
Medicine at the University of Baath in Homs,
Syria and after eight years of intense studying he
became a pediatrician. In order to give back to
his community, Youssef went back to his village
to practice medicine. He healed many children,
and most of the time he did not take a single
Laira (Syrian currency). In August 2012 a bombing in the village took place, which wiped out
everything from homes to people; it took the lives of his mother and sister and his office was in
ruins. Youssef, fearing for his life, decided to apply for a visa, to the United States to flee from
the destruction and luck enough he was granted a visa. Upon arriving to the USA, he wanted to
practice medicine again, but to his surprise every hospital that he went to told him that he needed
to start over and obtain a degree from the United States. Youssef was perplexed and shocked and
all he could imagine was wasting 8 years of his life in Syria studying. Also realizing that he did
not have the financial means to pay for college, he had to settle working in a liquor store in order
to gather money to pay for his education. Someone going from a healer to a liquor store worker
is something that no one should endure. This relates back to a point that Dr. Zogby mentions,
according to his studies on Arab concerns, values, and beliefs. He states that, In one-half of the
countries covered in our study, younger Arabs display greater concern for the quality of their
work. The most significant areas impacted by age are attitudes toward the quality of work
Syrian doctors saving lives during the Civil War
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(Zogby 19). The problem is that the work force that the Syrians are getting into in the United
States has priorities that do not include the Syrians themselves. Language is an essential aspect
in the work force in order to obtain a proper job, and this is what might be restricting Syrians
from getting successful jobs.
Language is more than just words people use to speak to one another; it is the very
essence of the people. The consequences are major when the language you are so proud of, is
actually what is causing your downfall. The first groups of Syrians that face this language barrier
are the children, especially the ones that are enrolled in public schools in the United States. One
of the major differences between Arabic and English is that English is written left to right,
whereas Arabic is written from right to left, and one can imagine how difficult this
transformation could be. According to Omran Akasha who wrote Exploring the Challenges
Facing Arabic-Speaking ESL Students & Teachers in Middle School and conducted a study to
uncover challenges facing Arabic-speaking ESL students as well as teachers in the middle school
classroom discovered that the Data showed that the students face challenges to learn the English
language, the culture, and curricular content using their limited English. The study concluded
that several important challenges for teachers and students exist, including time, language
support, and knowledge (Asakha 12). Not being able to learn English correctly will cause an
avalanche effect because it will impair the children for life. Not doing well in school leads to
them not reaching higher education, and not reaching higher education leads to them to not being
able to obtain a job that is of some status and can give them financial stability. Akasha proposes
a way to help these students better assimilate in the American public school system by saying
that, If ESL students are affected by any of the potential language learning barriers, a change in
the learning environment to meet the conditions might help (17). The key focus is to understand
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the problem Syrians are facing as they migrate to the United States after being in a war. The
assimilation into the American culture is something that is difficult and takes time to achieve, but
at the same time Syrians do not want to lose their sense of who they are because of the pressure
to become someone else.
Slow and steady wins the race, and the race we want to win is full assimilation of Syrians
in the United States. Feeling accepted in to a community, and establishing mental wellness can
mean more to someone than giving them a hundred dollars. Unless you want this to keep
happening to human kind, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5bM8kTOsOk something must
be done. Betterment is not about drastic change, but rather it is about simple steps that can be
taken to lessen the stress and self-doubt of Syrians and making them feel more welcome. The
struggles they face in the United States are nothing in comparison to the life threatening issues
they were enduring in Syria, but that does not mean we have the right to make their lives difficult
here.







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Works Cited
Ajrouch, Kristine J., and Amaney Jamal. "Assimilating To A White Identity: The Case Of Arab
Americans." International Migration Review 41.4 (2007): 860-879. Academic Search
Complete. Web. 3 May 2014.
Cox, Daniel, E.J Dionne, William A. Galston, and Robert P. Jones. "What It Means to Be an
American: Attitudes in an Increasingly Diverse America Ten Years after
9/11." Brookings. The Brookings Institution, 06 Sept. 2011. Web. 01 May 2014.
<http://www.brookings.edu/research/reports/2011/09/06-american-attitudes>.
"Discrimination Against Muslim Women." Womens Rights Project American Civil Liberties
Union. ACLU, 29 May 2008. Web. 18 Apr. 2014.
. "Expert: Video Proves Syria's Chemical Weapons Use." CNN. YouTube, 29 Aug. 2013. Web.
01 May 2014. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5bM8kTOsOk>.
"Exploring the Challenges Facing Arabic-Speaking ESL Students & Teachers in Middle
School." Journal of ELT and Applied Linguistics (JELTAL) 1.1 (2013): 12-31. Print.
Habbal, Dr. Souheil. "Syrian-American Doctors Risk Their Lives to Treat Victims of Syria's
Bloody Civil War." KPCC. Southern California Public Radio, 18 Oct. 2012. Web. 01
May 2014. <http://www.scpr.org/programs/airtalk/2012/10/18/28913/syrian-american-
doctors-risk-their-lives-to-treat-/>.
Hitti, Philip K. The Syrians in America. New York: Gorgias, 2005. Print.
"How Stress Affects Your Health." Http://www.apa.org. 2014 American Psychological
Association, n.d. Web. 27 Apr. 2014. <https://www.apa.org/helpcenter/stress.aspx>.
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Younis, Adele L., and Philip M. Kayal. The Coming of the Arabic-Speaking People to the United
States. Staten Island, NY: Center for Migration Studies, 1995. Print.