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After four years, Syrian revolution continues

Syrian rebels say that the shift to armed movements against Bashar al-Assad’s regime has pushed people away from the main purpose of the revolution that started in 2011 and called for achieving justice, equality and freedom for all.
People take part in a protest against President Bashar al-Assad in the tribal province of Deir al-Zor, eastern Syria, July 22, 2011. Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets across Syria after Friday prayers, activists and witnesses say, in widening pro-democracy protests against a violent military crackdown to crush a four month uprising.   REUTERS/Handout (SYRIA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS. THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLI
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ALEPPO, Syria — March 18, 2011, was an extraordinary day in the history of Syria; the demonstration demanding the release of “Al-Arbaeen School” students in the city of Daraa in south Syria turned into an uprising that swept across the country.

“It is your turn now, Doctor,” the students wrote on their school walls without knowing that this would lead to their arrest by Syrian security forces at a time when Tunisia, Libya and Egypt were putting an end to the era of dictatorships amid what was known as the “Arab Spring.”

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