The Boy Who Started the Syrian War

The Boy Who Started the Syrian War

2017, Military and War  -   21 Comments
5.65
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Ratings: 5.65/10 from 88 users.

As the constant stream of media headlines makes clear, the ongoing turmoil in Syria is growing more troubling by the day. Even after more than a half a million civilians have perished under the bombardment of barrel bombs, random gunfire and chemical gas attacks, there appears to be little hope for a resolution.

But that doesn't deter the opposition to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's oppressive government. Produced by Al-Jazeera, The Boy Who Started the Syrian War stands on the frontlines of this battle, and recounts the story of one opposition member who set the tone for this raging conflict with a simple juvenile prank.

In 2011, a 14-year old boy named Mouawiya grabbed a can of spray paint, and plastered a message of defiance against the Assad regime on his school wall. At the time, the boy regarded the graffiti as nothing more than an act of youthful rebellion. The authorities saw it differently. "They hung us up like chickens," Mouawiya says of he and his accomplices following their capture. A period of prolonged torture ensued, and soon sparked the outrage of protestors who began to crowd the streets. Security forces opened fire on the gathering masses under orders from the government, and ushered in an era of civil war that continues to this day.

Graffiti may have inspired the uprising, but the writing was already on the wall for many of its participants. Following the Arab Spring if 2010, the country was primed for a revolt against Assad's dictatorship, and a full-hearted embrace of democratic principles. The film features interviews with several key players in this pursuit, including an average accountant who now serves as a leader of the resistance and an educator who teaches defense techniques to the nation's most vulnerable children. The filmmakers also catch up with Mouawiya, who is now a politically conscientious adult who fights alongside the Free Syrian Army.

Featuring harrowing images of structural devastation and unbearable human loss, The Boy Who Started the Syrian War provides invaluable insight into a conflict that continues to threaten the lives of millions, and plague the promise of democratic relations around the globe.

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G
G
4 years ago

Who is the speaker of the video?

Ian Seed
Ian Seed
5 years ago

Complete and utter propaganda from the Qatari owned Al Jazeera who have supported the terrorists from day 1, funding them too.

Dan
Dan
6 years ago

A must see for any that are ignorant of how this genocide began and of how peaceful demonstrators were attacked on the streets by the regime.

Of course the usual far right/hard left trolls and Kremlin stooges would have you believe otherwise.

Ron
Ron
6 years ago

I suppose majority of people commenting here are from USA the same country who out of some 300 million people could produce two candidates like Hillary and Trump. If these were the best this country could produce I am not surprised at comments here.

Mark
Mark
6 years ago

A superb documentary.

VANDI
VANDI
6 years ago

There is nothing interesting in d whole documentary, they have silienced the massacre of minority, more of propaganda sponsored by their paymasters. God is watching

Fred
Fred
6 years ago

Will, that's exactly what they want you to think. Take your head out of the sand, you'll feel both better and disgusted(at what's really going on) for it.

Will
Will
6 years ago

The Red Cross/Red Crescent Movements, Amnesty International and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, amongst many other international bodies, all state the approx 95% of all deaths and injuries throughout the whole Syrian war have been the responsibility of the Syrian regime.
The ORGANISATION FOR THE
PROHIBITION OF CHEMICAL WEAPONS has also built up data proving that just about all chemical attacks have been carried out by the Syrian regime too. All facts, not opinions, and the day of reckoning will come for the war crimes perpetrated by that regime.
Feel free to check all data yourself on the websites of the orgs mentioned here.

Shava
Shava
6 years ago

I don't even need to watch this to know it's propaganda

Generic smith
Generic smith
6 years ago

Satan, Brett & Jock sum it up nicely for those with a ounce of critical thinking.

Jock Patton
Jock Patton
6 years ago

The revolution...started with ligament demonstrations by the people...that was quickly usurped by the House of Saud...and the Buffoonery that supports them....when The Saudi,Gulf States and American backed ISIS...and the true winner...always cackling in the shadow?... Sacred Israel ... When a thoroughly rotten cabal of desert mercenaries sent in Suicide bombers and Car bombs to liquefy any chance of Syria maintaining it's boarders.
While we sit back and watch game shows and Jamie Oliver make a salad... the Christian ghosts of our 2000 year civilization is wailing
This is a proxy war of yet another attempt to divide and conquer no different than what we did to Yugoslavia, Afghanistan,Iraq,Libya..and of course The Ukraine....and countless other nations since the Second World War.
If we persist in allowing these.. dark shadows that slither among us...These Black Dogs of War to continue to slaughter countless millions...We we will reap our whirlwind...While we slept.

Frank Russell
Frank Russell
6 years ago

These people seem to have very little respect for those old buildings.

Tracy
Tracy
6 years ago

lol...im guessing this doco was made my Americans who want a pipeline to go through Syria - which Assad said no to and which of course was never mentioned. Total rubbish documentary

Glenn
Glenn
6 years ago

Bury your heads in the sand if you choose but the hard facts are people who cherish freedom are being hunted down and murdered including women and children for defending their rights for democracy and a fair system, their's no freedom when you have murderous dictators at the wheel ready to quash any freedom they yearn.

Bret Tutor
Bret Tutor
6 years ago

Holy crap Mack are you for real about that? Listen to satan in the first comment as he sums it up. We will look back on these wars one day with utter regret for this low time in humanity.

Mack Niccolo
Mack Niccolo
6 years ago

I thought this was a very interesting documentary with a unique perspective. As an American I would especially recommend it to other Americans, if for anything that it is quite thought provoking to see. What I find especially interesting are the parts referencing to "normal" life ensuing even during times of such chaos right on their everyday doorstep.

satan
satan
6 years ago

I find it amusing that in the description of the documentary it states that more than half a million people perished from 'bombardment of barrel bombs, random gunfire and chemical gas attacks' all of which alluding to the idea that it is the government, i,e. Assad, is doing the killing, however there is no mention of death related to head chopping, repeated rapes or just simple genocide of Syriacs, Christians and yazidis by the good friends of the White Helmets (filth of the earth), and considering that this documentary is made by Jazeera (Qatari based news organization which immediately makes it a terrorist Wahhabi backer) i can tell you i am skipping this one. I would rather watch something closer to being impartial. Good day to you.