The Current

'Five years of suffering:' Journalist Janine di Giovanni on everyday life in Syria

Ranging experiences of brutal torture, struggle and survival - di Giovanni's new book "The Morning They Came for Us: Dispatches from Syria" chronicles everyday life of the Syrian war.
Residents carry belongings they collected from their damaged homes as they walk during a return visit to the city of Palmyra, Syria April 9, 2016. (Omar Sanadiki/Reuters)

*Warning Disturbing Content* 

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In 2012, journalist Janine di Giovanni travelled to Syria to document a country on the precipice of war.  By that point, those clamouring for democracy were already the target of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime. Citizens were tortured, raped and killed. 

"This five years of suffering, of starvation, of killing, of maiming, of wounding has got to stop."

 -Janine di Giovanni, journalist 

In her new book, The Morning They Came For Us: Dispatches from Syria, Janine di Giovanni details a country's grinding descent into a conflict that will leave its scars on that society for generations to come.

That's really horrible, when people become immune to the sights and sounds of war. When you take away all normality for people —and they have to wait in line six, seven, eight hours to get a loaf of bread— what they are reduced to is their very basic needs, which is to eat, to sleep, to be safe. And that's all they're trying to do.- Janine Di Giovanni, journalist

On The Current,  di Giovanni shares stories of everyday experiences in Syria that are astonishing, and important to hear.

'How can you live your life, in a comfortable life, knowing our fellow human beings are suffering to such an extent? Most people have no idea.-Janine Di Giovanni, journalist


This segment was produced by Lara O'Brien.