Kwan-young Kim

ENC 1101

“Bloggers without Borders…” Response

“Bloggers without Borders” is an essay about the experiences of Riverbend as she

crossed Syria as a refugee. Riverbend begins by stating how many Iraqis were living in Syria to

escape Iraq. She describes how there were so many Iraqis living in Syria compared to the Syrians

themselves. As a result, the Syrian officials decide to require visas of these immigrants as a way

to kick them out of Syria. Because of this, Riverbend and his family had to go back to Iraq for a

while and then return to Syria. This experience made Riverbend realize that she was a refugee in

Syria. The story ends with Riverbend describing how the kind neighbors of his apartment

building reminded him of the “unity that had been stolen from us in 2003” causing him to cry.

The hatred shown in “Bloggers without Borders” towards a group of people can be seen

in many parts of world. It is commonly associated with the Middle East region as the

governments in those countries are viewed upon as inefficient and unjust by many Westerners

including the United States. There is, of course, solid evidence to make the claim that these

countries show hatred towards a specific kind of people. However, it is also true that here in the

United States there are examples of this type of hatred. Ever since the 9-11 attacks upon the

World Trading Center, the United States people have viewed all Middle Eastern people as

terrorists and other dangerous peoples. This can be seen in the way that the opponents of

President Obama used an accusation that he went to a Muslim school as a way to bring him

down. On the local level, this can be witnessed in the way people think about the Muslim people.

In my middle school, Tequesta Trace, a school of white and Hispanic students, the word

“Muslim” were often interchangeably used with the term “terrorist” and the students themselves

believed that all Muslims were terrorists despite the fact that only a very small percent are actual

terrorists.

Riverbend’s experiences can be related directly as the experiences of a refugee living in

Syria. As an Iraqis refugee living in Syria, she undergoes several emotional scars as she lives the

harsh life of a refugee. These emotional scars stem from the hardship one feels at the realization

that no country in the world is truly welcome to them. Of course, there are other physical

hardships as well but these physical hardships only serve as a reminder of the emotional scar that

Riverbend must constantly feel. Riverbend’s story shows that the life of a refugee is truly a hard

life to live.