ah, i hi, i'm sandra gottman. welcome to portal your gateway to some of our busier as best content online. this week we're focusing on syria. it's been 10 years since president bush, our last i launched a war against protesters, decade on hundreds of thousands of people have been killed, and half the population has been displaced. the fighting is still going on, while outside remains and power will take a look at how the conflict started and where things stand now will also meet a woman who has dedicated her life to helping syrian women and children overcome their trauma while dealing with her own and we'll hear from the syrian activists who haven't given up fighting for change or not more about who each other is, who the regime and who the rest of the world is. at the end of may, syrian voted in a presidential election. it was dismissed as a shown by the u. s. e. u and others. only people in government held areas could vote, and there was never any doubt over the outcome. but the election helps to cement the shar

oh hi, i'm sandra gottman, welcome to portal your gateway to some about a 0 as best online content. this week we focused on israel and palestine. the flare up of violence we saw last month turned to gaza into a war zone. battered by 11 days of israeli or strikes in this episode of portal, we're going to take a look at some of the bigger issues behind it all, including the messy politics at play. we'll get a sense of what it's like to work as a past. any journalist in the west bank dealing with the daily challenges of these really occupations. and we go cycling and gaza to hear about the challenges enjoys of one young man trying to fulfill a sporting dreams. there are lots of reasons why the fighting we saw in may between israelis and palestinians got so bad, but it's not the 1st time we've seen an escalation and violence like that. and of where to avoid seeing it again. something will have to change. but change often comes down to politics. so what are the politics at play here? that's the question my team and i asked on start here an online show that breaks down the big news storie