Yazbek’s gender is relevant to her experiences. (Any progress made in these areas turns out to be frustratingly slight and slow in a war zone.) Kind of like Gandhi’s “Constructive Program” for villagers. So while the bulk of the people-especially the males-are focused on fighting the government (and other rebel factions) the bulk of the time, people still have to live, they still need other services and activities, so she tries to help as far as children’s education, women’s home-based businesses, etc. But she’s also there to assist in building some kind of civil society in the areas that have been liberated from the government. One is the journalistic one of finding out what is happening on the ground and how people are experiencing it and then reporting that, such as by writing this book. Her trips to Syria have two main purposes. The bulk of her time in Syria is spent in the town of Saraqeb, though she ventures into other areas as well. Each time she has to sneak back illegally in and out of Syria. The Crossing is her account of three of her trips back into her country as the civil war raged. Though she is Alawite like Assad, unlike the majority of that subgroup of the Syrian population she has sided with the rebels against the government. Since civil war broke out in her country against the dictatorial regime of Bashar al-Assad, she has lived part time in exile in Paris, and part time back in her country. Samar Yazbek is a Syrian journalist and activist.
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