A portrait of President Bashar al-Assad looms behind a young Syrian at a Damascus intersection in 2010. (Photo by Alex Stonehill)

Lessons of fear and freedom in Syrian schools

“Let’s talk about the holocaust,” my Syrian Civic Education teacher said one morning back in 2010 — to an unusually full and hushed classroom. “The Holocaust,” he said, “IF it in fact occurred, was greatly exaggerated in numbers.” Complete silence.
Apr 21, 2014