Do you know any Syrians?
It's a rich, abundant land. DYK truffles that sell as premium products in Italy and Croatia are sold in heaps like everyday vegetables on the street carts in Syria?
Its insanely rich in food crops, weather, age old recipes of olive oil, soap, etc, most people are just ignorant about the Middle East/West Asia until they meet actual Syrians or people from the region 🙂