OHIO — Ragheed Al-Midani is a Syrian American man who studied in Syrian public schools from 12 to 17 years old.

What You Need To Know

  • Two Syrian American men reflect on the their experience in Syria when they were younger

  • Ragheed Al-Midani, who was born in the U.S., studied in Syrian public schools from 12 to 17 years old
  • Yaser Ayesh lived there until he was a teenager

  • Now that the leader fled the country, both men said they’re expecting things to change

He was born in the U.S. to Syrian parents, and they moved back during that time, the final years of Hafez al-Assad’s regime.

Al-Midani said his experience reflects the regime in Syria at the time.

“I remember, distinctly remember, receiving what’s called a falqa, which is when someone has to take their shoes off or lift their feet in the air, and they get hit with a stick on the bottoms of their feet,” Al-Midani said. “I’ve also been slapped in the face by teachers.”

Al-Midani’s parents immigrated to America back in the 70s.

They tried to go back and live for a while, but Al-Midani said that didn’t work out.

“There was a plan for us to try to settle in Syria permanently,” Al-Midani said, “but the amount of corruption and abuse that existed and just the general environment, it wasn’t encouraging.”

One of the first major protests Al-Midani said was against the government’s kidnapping of children who had written on walls.

He said the situation in Syria became unbearable.

“They pulled out their nails," he said. "We’re talking about 10, maybe 12-year-old kids. They had their nails pulled out while they were captive. From being shot at protests, being detained, being tortured and many people were killed, many people lost their homes.”

Yaser Ayesh, another central Ohio Syrian-American, lived there until he was a teenager.

He described how it was, when he was there, as a dictatorship.

“We don’t have freedom,” Ayesh said. “We don’t have any respect for a human being, for your right, for like court system or anything.”

Now that the leader fled the country, both men said they’re expecting things to change.

“Syria, it will be the peace country, and it will be building the economy from scratch,” Ayesh said.

“I prostrated to God, thanking God," Al-Midani said. "It was the best day of my life."

Right now, he said it’s chaos, but the hope is for a better tomorrow.

“There’s no rule of law. You cant’ petition the government…Syria wasn’t always like that. I think this is an important thing to keep in mind,” Al-Midani said. “We need to give freedom a chance. Freedom in Syria, we need to give it a chance.”

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