Title: The Syrian Revolution Speaker: Racha Salha Specific Purpose: The specific purpose is to persuade the audience

that the Syrian population urgently needs help. Central Idea/SOS: The consequences of the Syrian conflict are so serious that it will affect generations of persons, not only today, but also for many years to come. Even if we cannot prevent war, we can at least do our best to help the victims.

Introduction I. Attention getter: Martin Luther King Jr. once said "Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed." This quotation perfectly illustrates the situation of the Syrians today. The first protests in Syria started on January 2011, however the revolution officially broke out on March 15, 2011, and it is led by the Syrian rebels who are fighting against the dictatorial Syrian regime. Even if the demonstrations were initially peaceful, they were immediately repressed in blood by the Syrian regime. According to an article published in the Huffington Post last September, more than 110,000 have died in the Syrian conflict, and this number is continuously increasing. II. Establishment of Ethos: As a Syrian whose most of family lives in Syria, I feel deeply concerned about this devastating conflict. III. Central Idea: In fact, the civil war in Syria isn't only killing hundreds of innocent people everyday, but it has also completely destroyed the country itself culturally and historically. The consequences of this conflict are so serious that it will affect generations of persons, not only today, but for many years to come. Even if we cannot prevent war, we can at least do our best to help the victims. IV. Preview Statement: We'll explore this more in depth by looking first at the causes of the Syrian uprising, then some of its consequences, and finally some of the solutions that could be provided.

Transition: First of all, let me briefly introduce why did this devastating conflict begin. Body I. Main Idea #1: The people wanted the President's resignation. a. Subpoint 1: The main reason of the Syrian Civil war is that the population wants the president's resignation. Bashar el-Assad is president since 2000, and he is an Alawite. According to an article published in Reuters, the Alawites are a Shiite muslim religious sect representing 12% of the population in Syria, which is mainly Sunni. The Assad's politics is mainly based on terror. In fact, Syria is not only infected by corruption, but it is also ruled by a typical dictatorship. According to an article published in Christian Today, "the regime

maintains its hold on power through the usual measures employed by a dictatorship: eliminating dissent through censoring the media, (...) or preventing free speech and denying political expression." Anyone who dares stand up and criticize the regime in any way is immediately arrested or killed. b. Subpoint 2: One of the most terrible faces of the Assad's dictatorship was revealed in 1982, when the central Syrian city "Hama" has been besieged by the Syrian Regime. This episode is known as "the massacre of Hama" and according to Robin Wright, author of the book " Dreams and Shadows: The Future of the Middle East", this massacre is considered as "the single deadliest act by any Arab government against its own people in the modern Middle East." c. Internal Summary: In sum, the main reason of the Syrian uprising is that people protest against the dictatorial and corrupted regime. Transition: This dictatorship pushed the Syrians to stand up for their rights and, for the first time in more than 40 years, to reunite against the regime. Unfortunately, the rebellion persisted and turned to a bloody and endless Civil war. II. Main point #2: The Civil War in Syria hasn't only killed hundreds of thousands of Syrians, mostly civilians, but it is also affecting generations of people, maybe for many years to come. a. Subpoint 1: First of all, the living conditions in which Syrians have been living for almost three years now are the source of many diseases. According to an article published in the New York Times, the United Nations have confirmed that there is an outbreak of polio, a disease not seen in Syria in 15 years, among Syrian children. The polio isn't only a very contagious disease, but it has also very serious consequences like paralysis. Consequently, there is a whole generation of Syrian children who are likely to become handicapped or deformed. b. Subpoint 2: Another consequence of the civil war in Syria is the destruction of one of the oldest countries in the world. In fact, many heritage sites have been destroyed since the beginning of the war. These include the 13th-century Great Mosques of Aleppo, described as "one of the most beautiful mosques in the Muslim World" in an article published by BBC News. On the other hand, this country where Muslims and Christians have always lived peacefully is now completely disintegrated and divided, and what was initially an internal uprising became an endless religious war between Sunnis and other Muslim minorities: the Shiites and the Alawites, while, according to an article published in CNN, "Christians are caught between Assad's army and the Sunni rebels." c. Internal Summary: To recap, the Syrian civil war has very serious consequences not only on Syrian people by causing many diseases, but also on the country itself which is completely destroyed and divided. Transition: Now that I have discussed some of the consequences of the Syrian civil war, it's time to speak about some of the solutions that could be provided in order to help the Syrian people.

III. Main Point #3: Vaccinate and donate. a. Subpoint 1:One of the first things to do is to vaccinate children, in order to protect them from the living conditions in which they are living. However, Syrians don't only need medical help, but they need drinkable water and food too. In fact, according to an article published in Now., after bombing and gassing the population, Assad's new weapon is now to make the Syrian people starve to death, to the point where the hungry have been allowed by Muslim clerics to consume cats, dogs and donkeys to survive. People also need psychological support, and the only way to do that is to have enough courage to denounce the crimes committed by the Syrian regime. People must be aware of what is really happening, the worse thing to do would be to ignore it. b. Subpoint 2: On the other hand, donations may be really helpful, especially to the Syrian refugees who are more than 2 million today, according to the New York Times. According to another article published in The Guardian, there are multiple aid agencies that are raising money for Syrian refugees, like the UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency. Donations can be made online on their website, safely and quickly, and it's the least we can do for all those innocent people who have left their homes and their country with nothing on their back. c. Internal Summary: In sum, the most important in order to limit the effects of the Syrian civil war is to protect the new generation by vaccinating the Syrian children. Also, donations may be a solution to improve Syrians' living condition. Transition: Now that I am done with my three main points, I will move to the last part of my speech.

Conclusion I. Restate Central Idea: To conclude, the consequences of the Syrian conflict are so serious that it will affect generations of persons, not only today, but also for many years to come. Even if we cannot prevent war, we can at least do our best to help the victims. II. Summarize Main Ideas: The causes of the Syrian rebellion are that people in Syria have no freedom and they have been suffering from a brutal dictatorial regime for more than 40 years. The consequences of the Syrian conflict are so serious that they are not only affecting the Syrian people, but also the country and its historical and cultural heritage. Finally, even if we have no power to stop the war, there are still some solutions that could be provided to help the Syrian people, like the children's vaccination or the donations. III. Tie back to Introduction: The Syrian Civil war has killed hundreds of thousands of people, and this number is increasing every day. IV. Creative Concluding Impact Statement: In my opinion, no matter how long it might last, the Syrian conflict will come to an end, and the Assad regime will fall. So I think that the most worrying now is what may happen once the war is done, and I fear the worst is yet to come.

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