Nicholas Kristof, in “Refugees Who Could Be Us” (2015), blames the global community for not taking earlier actions to solve the problems in Syria. Kristof brings up examples of the suffering that Syrians have gone through, the fact that they have no safe zone, and the fact that these issues have not been fixed by leading countries, such as the United States and European countries, despite the fact that the Syrian Civil War has been taking place for four years. The author brings attention to the vulnerability Aylan Kurdi and other Syrian refugees in order to gain sympathy and help for those wanting to live peaceful lives. Kristof instills a sense of guilt into the reader for not have noticing the issues going on in Syria and encourages them to recognize the issue of not assisting the refugees.
Throughout Kristof’s article, I admired the fact that he decided to take lessons from the past to help persuade his audience to want to help the Syrian refugees. The main issue that Kristof brings up, in regards to the Syrian refugees, is the fact that people are not helping and are being unsympathetic to refugees who are not being given easy access to European countries. He began his article by bringing up the past of his family and suggesting that readers research their ancestor’s lives as refugees. He also brings up the history of the Jews in the Holocaust that tried to flee to America, another time in history where refugees were ignored and suffered greatly because of it. World leaders, especially the United States which is a country founded as a place where all humankind can live equally, should step up to help the refugees. If nations of the world do not provide homes and care for these people, they are helpless and have no choice but to return to their dangerous home, like the Jews during the Holocaust. I think that it is a great idea for people to reflect on the past to see that these refugees cannot be sent away or ignored, because their lives will be lost if they are not taken in by other countries.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/06/opinion/sunday/nicholas-kristof-refugees-who-could-be-us.html?rref=collection%2Fcolumn%2Fnicholas-kristof
Check your grammar in the third sentence- you're missing a word. Besides that, pretty good!
ReplyDeleteI was really moved by Kristof's article. His words were passionate and emotional as well as logical. I also think the way he brought up the issues in the past to teach a lesson was very effective. Especially as a Jews, this issue hits home. It's the global communities responsibility to help out. We have to be compassionate if we don't want to make the same mistakes we always have.