Syria

There are several commonalities between these countries. They include that:

• They all have had coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea
• Parts of all of these countries were part of the Roman Empire in 100 C.E., under Christian control in 400 C.E., and under Islamic control by 1400 C.E.
• They are all, at least partly, in the northern and eastern hemispheres.
• They are all members or observers of the Union for the Mediterranean.

Most of the Negev desert coincides with most of

southern Israel, on the continent of Asia.
Asia (more precisely the Middle East)

In the Syrian Civil War, you have three sides.

1. Government of Syria: Bashar al-Assad and the Government of Syria come from the Alawite minority which was historically discriminated against because their religion is a post-Islamic religion (even though Iran has "certified them" to be part of Twelver Shiite Islam). As a result, they do not want to cede power to the Sunni majority who will likely discriminate against them again as they had in the past. In contrast to most ethnic conflicts in the Middle East, many other Syrian minorities such as the Christians and Druze (another post-Islamic Religion) and the Shiite Muslims in Syria have thrown their weight behind Bashar al-Assad and the Alawites, preferring moderate Alawite discrimination to possible Islamic fundamentalism. They fear worse will come under Sunni-dominated rule, especially since while Assad was Secular, his opposition was Islamist and will likely rule harshly over non-Sunni religious groups.

The Government of Syria is currently supported by Iran and Russia.

2. Rebels of Syria: The Rebels of Syria are not a uniform entity. However, they are primarily Sunni groups led by numerous extreme Islamist organizations, several with links to Al-Qaeda. Others are more liberal in their outlook and are considered to be interested in democracy, but they are weaker in the overall struggle. They are fighting to bring the Sunni majority into power and impose a more fundamentalist view on politics. They consider themselves to be fighting the injustices and violence of the current Assad regime and the atrocities of his father, including the Hama Massacre of 1982 which may have claimed as many as 40,000 civilian lives. They also see Alawites as being unfit to rule because they are not true Muslims and according to their reading of Qur'anic Verse 3:28 (cited below), no non-Muslim should have power over Muslims. Considering that Sunnis are the majority of the country, they do not understand why the minority Alawites and their Druze, Christian, and Shiite allies should dictate policy.

The Sunni Islamist factions are primarily supported and armed by Qatar and Saudi Arabia while the Democratic Pretenders are armed by the United States.

3. Kurds: The Kurds, a Sunni ethnic minority (as opposed to a religious minority), have split between the Government and the Rebels. They are more concerned with protecting their minority in northeast Syria and are generally outside of the conflict zone.

Iraqi Kurdistan has helped and supported their Kurdish brothers aross the border.

Qur'an 3:28: (Muhsin Khan): Let not the believers take the disbelievers as Auliya (supporters, helpers, leaders etc.) instead of the believers, and whoever does that will never be helped by Allah in any way, except if you indeed fear a danger from them. And Allah warns you against Himself (His Punishment), and to Allah is the final return.