Beginnings

There are so many things to begin writing about. I could start with my humble beginnings as the Saudi born Lebanese daughter of a Syrian mother. Or I could start with the fact that I am a naturalized Muslim American returning to America after over ten years of living in Lebanon. But even though those things are a part of what constitutes this blog, I want to begin with something else.

1. Lebanon has a population of approximately 4,300,000 to date (Feb 2012) 
• Syria has a population of approximately 22,000,000 to date  (Feb 2012) 
2. Median age of Lebanese is 30
• Median age of Syrians is 211
3. Lebanese civil war estimates death toll around 100,000 and/or more (no consensus on this)2
• According to the UN the guesstimated number of Syrian dead so far is above 4,0003
4. The number dead in the Hama siege of 1982 was estimated to be around 25,0004 
1. They say, "the death of one man is a tragedy, the death of a million is a statistic" 5 

I personally don't want to live in a world where I am counted as simply a number on a chart of the dead or dying. And I am positive I am not alone in this!

Here is hoping Syria prevails and does not crumble into civil war. Hoping is a faint effort at not succumbing to grievances, but if at this time hope is all one has, I am positive it can provide the strength of survival and continuity that is needed in times when cruelty is ever more present. So I will remain hopeful, and wish the same to all those who know what tragedy feels like.

1. The four mentioned statistics are from the CIA website
2. CNN blog "Global Public Square"
3. Reports from the UN around Feb 20 2012
4. Amnesty International Report
5. Famous quotation, supposedly quoted by Stalin, but not true