In the article “Are Syrian opposition fighters ‘former farmers or teachers or pharmacists’?” the author contributed greatly in providing an objective perspective about the reality of the members of the Syrian opposition. Obama’s explanation for the lack of success of the US military actions in Syria was based on the assumption that most members of the opposition are farmers, and professionals such as pharmacists. The author contributed to Obama’s comment that experts in the Syrian conflict have knowledge that a large percentage of the members of the opposition are ex-soldiers from Assad’s group. Only a small number of local civilians have taken arms to protect their homes and despite having gone through military training they are not as experts not they have the same experience as their enemies. The author exposed Obama’s lack of knowledge and provided an excellent objective position. I have particularly learned that most of the opposition members were ex Assad’s and that I did not know before. I would highly recommend this article as it is clear, and I would even like to read more about the author’s opinions on this topic in the future.
The Journal on UNRWA and the Palestinian Refugees (Bocco, 2010) analyses the history, the purpose and the political agenda that appears to be under the last 50 years since the UNRWA was funded despite being a nonpolitical agency. The author seems to be negatively biased as he only focuses on the negative points disregarding the positive work that the UNRWA has been doing for the past half a decade. Bocco provided a very good and in-depth critical analysis of what otherwise would go unnoticed. For example, the size of it and the bureaucracy in the way it functions, the time it has been working for despite being a temporary agency in nature, and many other details that are worth considering to fully understand the political agenda of this grave conflict that does not seem to find a peaceful end. These details that he mentioned in his analysis, particularly the relation between the Palestinian refugees identity and the UNRWA, and the source of funds and the effect they have on the agency are two aspects I have learned that I never considered before. I think this article is worth reading as it gives an in-depth analysis of the UNRWA from one perspective. It would be interesting to have another analysis done from the UNRWA perspective as well.
Reference List
Kessler, G. (2014). Are Syrian opposition fighters 'former farmers or teachers or pharmacists’? Retrieved from http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/wp/2014/06/26/are-syrian-opposition-fighters-former-farmers-or-teachers-or-pharmacists/?tid=hpModule_f8335a3c-868c-11e2-9d71-f0feafdd1394
Bocco, R. (2010). UNRWA and the Palestinian Refugees: A History within History. UNHCR, Refugee Survey Quarterly, Vol. 28, No 2 & 3.
