By Link Johnson
The Scene staff
Forest Park student Maisoon Barghouty has been horrified to watch the death and destruction in her Syrian homeland in the past three years.
A civil war between rebels and government forces has left more than 100,000 people dead and sent two million refugees to other countries, half of them children.
“What type of monsters would do such things?” asked Barghouty, 37, a travel and tourism major who has been living in the United States for 10 years.
Barghouty’s parents moved to St. Louis about a year ago after their home was destroyed by the Syrian military under President Bashar al-Assad. Her brother and his family still live in Damascus.
“I call them every day,” Barghouty said. “They’re in a safe place, but they can still hear the bombs and explosions around them.”
Syrian fighting moved to the forefront of international news in August, when videos showed evidence of a chemical attack on rebels and civilians near Damascus. Nearly 1,400 people, including 400 children, were killed.
The Obama Administration recommended U.S. military action, arguing that the Syrian government broke international law. But the situation was diffused when Russia stepped in to facilitate destruction of al-Assad’s chemical weapons.
Barghouty doesn’t think the United States, which she calls Israel’s “big brother,” or Russia would care about Syria if not for its strategic location and oil supply.
“It’s not about what America needs,” she said. “It’s what America wants from Syria. It’s not about Syria.”
Most Syrians are Arabs who follow the Sunni branch of Islam, although the population is very diverse, ethnically and religiously.
People took to the streets in peaceful protest against al-Assad’s dictatorship in 2011, prompting the government to respond with a violent crackdown. Security forces murdered and raped activists and their families, according to news reports.
Barghouty disapproves of the way al-Assad has accepted the help of Islamists and Jihadists to terrorize the opposition.
“Even though I’m a Muslim, I don’t like extremists,” she said.
Barghouty supports the rebels, who have been influenced by similar struggles for freedom in Egypt, Lebanon and other countries in the region.
“We want the same thing,” she said.
Barghouty was surprised people were willing to stand up against the government, which has been run by al-Assad’s family since 1971. She thought revolution would occur everywhere else except Syria.
But Syrians apparently were tired of living in a dictatorship and wanted to change things.
“I knew that (it was) gonna be hard,” said Barghouty, who has been disappointed that the revolution has taken so long and ended so many lives.
Barghouty’s father formerly worked as a lawyer in Syria. She met her husband, who prefers not to be named, when he was visiting Syria. They moved to the United States in 2003.
Barghouty had little trouble getting used to American culture.
“To tell you the truth, I was developing back (in Syria),” she said. “Here, I’m doing the same thing every day.”
Barghouty initially majored in graphic design at Forest Park but decided she would do better with travel and tourism, which she studied in Syria.
“Everyone wants to go somewhere,” she said.
Barghouty keeps busy as a student, wife and mother. She works part time at a gas station and a store owned by her husband.
Barghouty needs only six credits to graduate.
“My original plan was to open a home-based travel agency,” she said.
Barghouty and her parents were able to leave Syria easily because of their Palestinian refugee status. For the first time in their lives, they felt privileged to be Palestinian. Usually, they feel like outcasts.
“No country wants us,” Barghouty said.
Her brother, also a lawyer, could leave, but his situation is complicated because his wife is Syrian and they have two small children.
Barghouty also has a sister, who’s a lawyer, and another brother. Her sister left Syria after her neighborhood was bombed and rode in a small boat with 120 people for seven days. She eventually ended up in Sweden, where she is seeking refugee status.
“She took the hard way to go,” Barghouty said.
Barghouty’s other brother wanted to stay in Syria to help his people, but her family moved him to an undisclosed location.
Barghouty fights back tears when talking about how her family has been divided by the Syrian conflict. She misses her brothers and sister and worries about their safety
“Four kids on four different continents,” Barghouty said. “It’s really sad. Will we see each other again? I don’t know.”