Fortunately For Syrians, There's the Cronut

Colonialism has taken on an ugly connotation in the last hundred-fifty years or so. Previously, wealthy Western countries felt obliged to move into less-civilized parts of the world and share the sweet taste of freedom and the sweet smell of indoor plumbing. Of course, the cost involved taking all the natural (and highly profitable) natural resources, but, really, what else did these countries have to trade in exchange for modernization?
These days, of course, one needs to tread lightly in this area since people who live in these places often take umbrage at intrusion by foreign "colonial" powers. One-time colonies feel the urge for the sweet smell of freedom and look askance at methods used to maintain the hold of the "invaders." So it is among certain fundamentalists in Syria.
There's one common enemy all Syrians can point to while they systematically destroy each other in the name of politics or religion, it's the damnable Western ways introduced by the French...and in Aleppo, those in power (i.e. with the most weaponry) have done something radical in an attempt to stamp out that foreign taste in their mouths.
Held at least for now by Islamic rebels, Aleppo has come under the rule of Sharia law: the strictest interpretation of Islamic law. You know what happens when fundamentalists take over: ironically, all hell breaks loose. In this case, leaders have decided that a strict interpretation is the only one allowed; as such, one 14-year-old boy was beheaded this year after someone felt he had uttered a defamation of the prophet Muhammad. Injunctions also exist against tight clothes and make-up for women, and one can be sentenced to a year in the crowbar hotel for failing to fast during Ramadan. So you can see, living there is no piece of cake, especially now that pastry has been banned.
It's true. The world-renowned croissant has been banned in Aleppo  as a symbol of colonial oppression since the "crescent shape celebrates European victory over Muslims." This according to al-Arabiya, a news source. This attempt to thumb their collective noses at the French is, however, a bit misguided. The pastry was not invented in France. Truth be told, the croissant was first noted in Austria in the early 1800s and imported to France: a fact completely escaping the sniffers of the rebels.
But then, they probably have more pressing matters at this point. Cronut, anyone?