If Sydney Was Syria': A Satirical Video On Syria

A short satirical video shot to draw attention to the indifference to the bloody civil war in Syria which entered its fourth year on March 15 has been sweeping through social media platforms receiving scores of shares.



Prepared by change.org - the World's Platform for Change, the film "If Sydney was Syria" features Australia's metropolitan city Sydney as a city in war-racked Syria and offers a different point of view for the three-year atrocity.



It depicts only in three minutes the tragedy of the Syrian people and the daily incidents they encounter in an attempt to highlight the conditions they struggle to survive in.



The film begins spotlighting a young boy in Sydney doing his routine physical exercise on the famous Harbour Bridge. Then he suddenly hears and gets astonished by bombings and explosions. He sees several helicopters and tanks shelling the city.



As the boy starts running for a safe place, a huge placard with Syria's Bashar al-Assad's picture on it is seen hung over the Harbour Bridge. While the city comes under heavy bombing with mounts high smokes rising from the buildings, the boy runs a mile for his life trying to avoid the helicopters and tanks targeting him. When he realizes a vehicle by the pavement with two people on board, he knocks at the window and begs for help.



But the two men seem unaware of him and play games on their mobile phones while complaining to each other about the game - an action representing the world's deaf ears to the atrocity in Syria while being a mere spectator to the massacre.



In the final scene, a message appears saying "If Sydney was Syria, would we still ignore them?"



The film ends with a reminder that there are 2.5 million Syrian refugees, but adds "Australia only takes 500 of them (0.02 percent)."



And the final message says "Let's not ignore them any longer. Sign the petition to make a change today."



Syria has been gripped by almost constant fighting since Assad's regime responded to anti-government protests in March 2011 with a violent crackdown, sparking a conflict which has spiraled into a civil war.



The civil war, which entered its fourth year last month, has claimed more than 140,000 lives, according to London-based Syrian Network for Human Rights.



Nearly 3 million are registered as refugees in neighboring Turkey, Lebanon and Iraq.



englishnews@aa.com.tr - Ankara