عصام الخفاجي |

Haifa, my very sad city

Arash Azizi 29 June 2022

Maha Haj doesn’t remember the exact moment she thought of the idea that later led to Mediterranean Fever, her second feature-length film which

Love is a feminist question

Rehab Mouna Chaker 30 May 2022

Setting aside the agitation caused by raising serious feminist issues in real and virtual life, the general perception common among people is that

Towards an inhabitable world

Al-Jumhuriya Collective 16 May 2022

In a two-day ceremony held in the New Palace’s “White Hall” in Stuttgart, Southwest Germany, Al-Jumhuriya received the 57th Theodor Heuss Medal for

The Tadamon massacre reopens untold wounds

Yasmin Mashaan 5 May 2022

Having lived through unimaginable horrors over the past 11 years – including the loss of my five brothers to murder and enforced disappearance

A spacetime called Gaza

Omar Mousa 27 April 2022

An anxious shiver, a quickening of the heart. I always wondered what the people of Gaza feel when they leave it for the

Ukraine and the left

Santiago Alba Rico 21 April 2022

Statements made by María Jamardo,a radical Galician journalist, on the bombing of Gernika by the Nazi’s in 1937 in a Telecinco ProgramTranslators’ note

Suffocation, our ethics and Russia

Marcell Shehwaro 15 April 2022

The world must heed Syrian calls for justice

The political blindness of anti-racist discourse

Joachim Haeberlen 11 April 2022

As millions of Ukrainians escape from Russian invasion and receive a warm welcome by the European Union and supporters of the “refugee cause,”

Parallax: Four perspectives on Russia

Stephen Hastings-King 6 April 2022

In recent weeks, I have had the sense that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has destabilized thinking prevalent on the Left in ways that

The Ukrainian-Syrian-Russian triangle and the world

Yassin Al-Haj Saleh 25 March 2022

Up to recently, it had seemed that many people in the west think that the Russian War in Ukraine is qualitatively different from

Music and Its Reverberations: Letter to Hassan Abbas

Nisrine Al Zahre 11 March 2022

Dear Hassan, A friend suggested that we gather in a symbolic funeral in Paris to bid you farewell – in open air as

The Internet is mired in false history

Zeead Yaghi 10 March 2022

In Al-Wujuh al-Bayda’ [White Faces], Lebanese novelist Elias Khoury recounts the fictional murder of Khalil Ahmad Jaber, a telecom worker residing in Mazraa,

Ukraine in Syria, Syria in Ukraine

Yassin Swehat 4 March 2022

By Yassin Swehat, translated from the Spanish by Joey Ayoub, itself a translation from the original Arabic by Naomí Ramírez Díaz. What is

How Syria Fell into Irrelevance for the West

Karam Shaar 24 February 2022

A Policy of Disengagement Furthered Apathy Towards Syrians

To Samira al-Khalil: A Plant Blooms in the Dead of Winter

Mohammad Al-Attar 8 December 2021

I have hesitated to write about Samira al-Khalil, or to write to her. Samira’s story is a shared open wound for Syrians, a

Post-Merkel Syrians: Facing the German elections

Sham Al-Ali 23 September 2021

On the eve of the German elections, Sham Al-Ali meets with Syrian-Germans and discuss with them their options, arguing that there’s hardly anything uniquely “Syrian” about their highly political choices.

One year on from Beirut’s explosion, Lebanon is more broken than ever

Bissan Fakih 3 August 2021

Writing in the dark without electricity, Bissan Fakih recounts the blast that devastated Lebanon’s capital one year ago, and charts the country’s dizzying collapse into utter dysfunction and despair ever since.

In this place: Specters and memories of genocide in North America

Neveser Köker 30 July 2021

From her ancestral homelands in the Eastern Mediterranean to her new home in Canada, a descendant of genocide survivors discovers the ghosts of mass murder are with us wherever we go.

Human rights on demand: The contradictions of Germany’s Syria policy

Sascha Ruppert-Karakas 8 July 2021

After Denmark’s recent steps to deport Syrian refugees, calls for similar measures are now on the rise in Germany; Syrians’ largest European haven. Is Europe steadily abandoning its human rights obligations?

Worldless Syria: Depopulated discourses and denied agency

Yassin Al-Haj Saleh 6 July 2021

The prevailing Western discourses about Syria are fundamentally flawed, and should be discarded in favor of “new, emancipatory” alternatives, writes Yassin al-Haj Saleh.

The Danish limbo

Yassin Swehat 6 July 2021

[Editor’s note: This article was published on Al-Jumhuriya Arabic on 6 July. It is also available in Arabic.] A Danish court issued a ruling to

From Assad’s to ISIS’ prisons: A Syrian Pride Month story

Hammoodi 30 June 2021

[Editor’s note: The below text has been compiled from an interview with a Syrian activist identified as Hammoudi, conducted by The Syria Campaign

In Gaza’s rubble, Syrians see their own

Yassin Swehat 19 May 2021

The sight of Syrian revolution supporters demonstrating in solidarity with the Palestinians in various cities across the diaspora, and voicing this solidarity in

Rethinking the concept of revolution through the Syrian experience

Charlotte Al-Khalili 5 May 2021

Based on years of fieldwork with displaced Syrians, anthropologist Dr. Charlotte Al-Khalili finds that while the Syrian revolution may not (yet) have produced political regime change, it has nonetheless brought about profound and likely permanent social transformations.

Chemical weapons in Syria: No more red lines

Mohamad Katoub 12 April 2021

On Wednesday, the member states of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) voted to strip Syria of its voting rights

Scamming Syria’s most vulnerable

Maysa Saleh 8 April 2021

The world we live in never ceases to amaze in its capacity for injustice, ugliness, and pain day after day. At times, this

Erasing people through disinformation: Syria and the “anti-imperialism” of fools

Group Of Athors 27 March 2021

In an open letter marking ten years since Syria’s uprising began, over 300 signatories from Syria and 34 other countries decry the dehumanizing propaganda and disinformation with which Syrians are too often smeared in the name of left-wing or “anti-imperialist” politics.

Here and there: On de-provincializing the Syrian Revolution

Joachim Haeberlen 19 March 2021

Ten years on from Syria’s revolution, it’s high time Europeans grasped that Syrians’ struggle is also their own, and that Europe’s future cannot be roped off from the Middle East’s, argues Prof. Joachim C. Häberlen.

An hour of patience: Reimagining the Syrian revolution

Noor Ghazal Aswad 18 March 2021

Declarations of the Syrian revolution’s “failure” overlook the profound ways in which the past ten years have positively transformed and empowered Syrians, argues Noor Ghazal Aswad.

The struggle for life: An interview with Yassin al-Haj Saleh

Christophe Ayad 16 March 2021

Syrian writer and former political prisoner Yassin al-Haj Saleh talks revolution, Europe’s Syrian diaspora, and being “tragically hopeful” with Le Monde’s Christophe Ayad on the occasion of ten years since the Syrian uprising.

We’re still here

Mona Rafea 11 March 2021

[Editor’s note: This article is the first of several that will be published in the coming days to mark ten years since the

In memoriam: Hassan Abbas

Mohammad Al-Attar 8 March 2021

This is not a confession, dear Hassan, nor a eulogy. These are fragments of postponed conversations and letters. Your battle with illness held

Samira’s Syria

Francesca Scalinci 4 March 2021

Wejdan Nassif, a friend and former cellmate of Samira al-Khalil, the Syrian democracy activist imprisoned by Hafez al-Assad and then abducted by Islamists, recalls their time together inside and outside prison.

The greater jail: The politics of prison in Syria

Yassin Al-Haj Saleh 19 February 2021

In a talk co-organized by the assassinated activist Lokman Slim, former Syrian political prisoner Yassin al-Haj Saleh argues that “the politics of prison” are central to understanding the “politicide” of the Syrian people at the Assad regime’s hands.

“I don’t like talking about fear”

Anton Mukhamedov 11 February 2021

In a previously-unpublished interview from 2019, the late Lokman Slim—assassinated last week—and his wife Monika Borgmann discuss living in Hezbollah’s Beirut; their film about Syria’s notorious Tadmor prison; the nature of political violence; and the question of fear.

Can the January revolution still surprise us?

Ahmad Shukr 10 February 2021

[Editor’s note: This article is the ninth in a series published in collaboration with Mada Masr to mark the tenth anniversary of the Egyptian revolution. It

Syrian refugees in the German labor market

Kamal Qassam 10 February 2021

After the outbreak of the Syrian revolution in 2011 and the brutal civil war that followed, a large proportion of the Syrian population

Identity as narrative: story-telling and self-making after the Arab Spring

Wendy Pearlman 10 February 2021

[Editor’s note: This article is the eighth in a series published in collaboration with Mada Masr to mark the tenth anniversary of the Egyptian revolution.

An incomplete revolutionary tradition

Elham Eidarous 9 February 2021

[Editor’s note: This article is the seventh in a series published in collaboration with Mada Masr to mark the tenth anniversary of the Egyptian revolution. It

The uncowable Lokman Slim

Alex Rowell 4 February 2021

Lebanon awoke Thursday to the gruesome news that Lokman Slim, an outspoken Hezbollah critic and pillar of civil society, had been assassinated in his car.

On revolutionary tradition: From Alaa to Kant

Yasmeen Daher 4 February 2021

[Editor’s note: This article is the sixth in a series published in collaboration with Mada Masr to mark the tenth anniversary of the Egyptian revolution.

An Arab revolutionary legacy?

Yassin Al-Haj Saleh 2 February 2021

[Editor’s note: This article is the fifth in a series published in collaboration with Mada Masr to mark the tenth anniversary of the Egyptian revolution.

Revolutions without a revolutionary promise

Morris Ayek 1 February 2021

[Editor’s note: This article is the fourth in a series published in collaboration with Mada Masr to mark the tenth anniversary of the Egyptian revolution.

Remembering, not commemorating, creates life

Nayla Mansour 27 January 2021

[Editor’s note: This article is the third in a series published in collaboration with Mada Masr to mark the tenth anniversary of the Egyptian revolution.

Absurd history, absolute future

Sarah Rifky 26 January 2021

[Editor’s note: This article is the second in a series published in collaboration with Mada Masr to mark the tenth anniversary of the

How not to remember the revolution

Lina Attalah 25 January 2021

[Editor’s note: This article is the first in a series published in collaboration with Mada Masr to mark the tenth anniversary of the

“This is finally happening”: Syria’s torturers on trial

Al-Jumhuriya Collective 14 December 2020

In the small German city of Koblenz, at the intersection of the Rhine and Moselle rivers, half way between Frankfurt and Bonn, a

Towards a Syrian “politics of life”

Malek Rasamny 18 November 2020

A new book by Yasser Munif conceives of the Syrian revolution and later war as nothing less than a battle for life itself against a vast state-operated machinery of death.

On the crisis of Islam: Muslims and the question of equality

Abdul-Wahab Kayyali 2 November 2020

[Editor’s note: This article is a response to “On the crisis of Islam: In defense of discussion,” by Farouk Mardam Bey, Ziad Majed,

On the crisis of Islam: In defense of discussion

Ziad Majed 27 October 2020

[Editor’s note: This article is one of two published by Al-Jumhuriya English today on the “crisis of Islam;” the second is a rejoinder

One year on, a path forward for Lebanon’s uprising

Alex Rowell 17 October 2020

As the French President Emmanuel Macron strolled down a Beirut street named after the first French High Commissioner in Syria and Lebanon, Gen.

Fascism: A forced regression to patriarchy

Theo Horesh 16 October 2020

Whether in Hitler’s Germany, Putin’s Russia, or Assad’s Syria, fascism is everywhere accompanied by a violent assertion of patriarchy, writes Theo Horesh.

Approaches to Syrian civil society

Yassin Swehat 15 October 2020

Since the revolution broke out in 2011, Syrian civil society and its many groups and organizations have emerged as a novel phenomenon. Ever

Civil society: A tool for resistance

Nour Abu-Assab 15 October 2020

This article seeks to expand the definition of civil society to include all individuals and groups that operate outside of oppressive state structures,

Civil society and the institutionalization of feminist movements

Nof Nasser-Eddin 15 October 2020

This article seeks to express a set of impressions that have been derived from conversations and discussions with friends and colleagues from across

Perseverance and strategic feminist work

Leen Alabed 15 October 2020

Since the beginning of the Syrian revolution in 2011, women have played significant leadership roles.The traditional leadership’s norms and values often entrench hierarchical

CSOs and victims’ associations: Partnership and rivalry

Oula Ramadan 15 October 2020

The rise of victims’ associations in 2016 was connected with civil society organizations (CSOs) in one way or another. Such organizations sometimes provided

International and civil society organizations in Homs

Majdi Maher 15 October 2020

The beginning When the dark-skinned, twenty-something-year-old man who had just graduated from engineering school was offered a small job at a civil society

Syrian civil society: “Strategic litigation” with no strategy

Mohammad Al Abdallah 15 October 2020

Ever since they dared to launch a revolution for freedom and dignity in 2011, the Syrian people have been subjected to a myriad

Beyond “yes” and “no”: Syrian civil society and the sanctions challenge

Ibrahim Olabi 14 October 2020

Many issues in the past ten years have been dealt with by Syrian civil society as black or white; forcing people into a

The great Lebanese exile: Chronicles of a perpetual return

Sara Mourad 8 October 2020

Is it time to leave Lebanon? The question, posed with renewed urgency after Beirut’s port explosion, is as old as the country itself, writes Dr. Sara Mourad, who returned in 2016 after seven years abroad.

What does “peace” even mean for the peoples of the Middle East?

Rahaf Aldoughli 7 October 2020

Recent “peace” deals between Israel and Gulf Arab states herald not a more just and harmonious region, but a more militarized, securitized, and repressive one, argue Orwa Ajjoub and Rahaf Aldoughli.

A letter to the Progressive International

Yassin Al-Haj Saleh 21 September 2020

When a new “Progressive International” invited Syria’s Yassin al-Haj Saleh to join, he was happy to accept. When he then submitted this letter for their publication, they ceased contacting him without explanation.

Grave atrocities

Orwa Khalife 21 September 2020

The testimony delivered last month in a court in Germany’s Koblenz by the man who has come to be known as the “gravedigger”

Jinn and tonic: Medieval Islam’s celebrity doctors

Kevin Blankinship 21 August 2020

Doctors are rightly cherished in our Covid-plagued world, but can they write poetry? A new translation of a 13th-century Syrian classic recalls a time when physicians were also rockstar musicians, celebrated authors, and public intellectuals.

State of starvation

Yassin Al-Haj Saleh 19 August 2020

The famine looming today in Syria is caused not by a lack of food, but by policies consciously adopted by the Assad regime for many years, argues Yassin al-Haj Saleh.

Before we rebuild

Mac McClenahan 17 August 2020

Beirut’s wounds are starting to heal, but its system is more broken than ever. That must change before rebuilding becomes feasible, writes the owner of a popular hostel, café, and bar destroyed in the giant port blast.

“Where do we go now?”

Alex Rowell 13 August 2020

“Beirut doesn’t look like herself this time.” – Mahmoud Darwish Now that the sheer panic and adrenaline of the initial seconds have

We, the eyes of Syria

Aram Abu-Saleh 23 July 2020

This text is inspired by the testimonies of many Syrians imprisoned by the Israeli occupation. Some are my own experiences, while others I

Syria’s parliamentary appointments

Orwa Khalife 20 July 2020

Ever since the Assad family seized power in Syria almost fifty years ago, the national parliament has been reduced to an object of

Child’s play: Discovering womanhood, between Damascus and London

Farrah Akbik 16 July 2020

From nuns in London to Sufi shaykhas in Damascus, Farrah Akbik recalls the women who shaped her childhood—and the dear friend who helped her escape them.

Among the condemned in Istanbul

Mosab Al Nomairy 16 July 2020

We crossed the Galata bridge at a hundred kilometers an hour. Like all his peers, the Turkish taxi driver didn’t know what made

Fighting for graves we can visit

Yassin Swehat 2 July 2020

[Editor’s note: This interview was translated from Arabic in partnership with The Syria Campaign.] Syrians have been reeling from the so-called “Caesar photos”—images of

How Caesar will impact Syrian civil society

Al-Jumhuriya Collective 29 June 2020

Last month’s new US sanctions in Syria, commonly known as the Caesar Act, have sparked widespread discussion of their possible political, economic, and

Surviving monstrosities: An interview with Yassin al-Haj Saleh

Marina Naprushkina 25 June 2020

Syrian writer and former prisoner of conscience Yassin al-Haj Saleh speaks to Belarusian activist Marina Naprushkina about the global rise of authoritarians, the “plague” of Putinism, and why the time is ripe for new political movements.

Two views of Caesar

Al-Jumhuriya Collective 18 June 2020

So powerful are Washington’s new sanctions on Syria that even some opponents of Assad are unsure about them. Our own Syrian reporters have a range of views, two of which are presented head-to-head in this article.

The US protests: Lessons from Syria

Laila Al-Shami 5 June 2020

As Trump threatens to turn the army on peaceful demonstrators, Syrian activist and author Leila Al-Shami writes what Americans might learn from Syria’s nine-plus years of revolutionary struggle.

Fiction: Karkobia and the Alleged Pandemic

Marcell Shehwaro 28 May 2020

The head of Karkobia’s security forces has caught a deadly virus. How will he hide the news from the Palace? A short piece of satirical fiction by Marcell Shehwaro.

Covid-19 in Idlib: The doomsday scenario

Al-Jumhuriya Collective 7 May 2020

Earlier this month, an in-depth study was published by a group of Syrian and international health experts assessing the likely outcomes in the

Bullets and burning banks as Lebanon reopens

Al-Jumhuriya Collective 6 May 2020

Angry demonstrations have returned to the streets of Lebanon with a vengeance, following an interruption brought about by Coronavirus lockdown measures, now being

Chemical crime and no punishment

Orwa Khalife 22 April 2020

Earlier this month, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) announced that its new Investigation and Identification Team (IIT) had completed

South Syria: The return of state failure

Haley Schuler-McCoin 16 April 2020

Rather than developing south Syria economically, having recaptured it militarily, the Assad regime has reverted to the same old neglect and misgovernance that pushed the region to revolt in the first place.

Notes from Damascus’ Coronavirus lockdown

Karam Mansour 2 April 2020

The time is 10pm. Darkness enshrouds me as I write these words, after the last candle ran out half an hour ago. Electricity

Helping Syria’s displaced prepare for Coronavirus

Al-Jumhuriya Collective 30 March 2020

With the decline in international NGO activity in Syria over the past two years, it has become necessary for local civil and youth

On quitting coffee

Alex Rowell 27 March 2020

After a high blood pressure diagnosis, Al-Jumhuriya’s English editor did the unthinkable: he stopped drinking coffee. What followed was weeks of physical, mental, even spiritual torment.

Idlib is off the World Health Organization’s map

Yehya Massoud 24 March 2020

“The northwest [of Syria] is not a country,” said a spokesman for the World Health Organization’s office in southern Turkey, in remarks to

Syria’s decade of death

James Snell 20 March 2020

Now in its tenth year, Syria’s war has seen an entire generation of reporters come and go, exposing its crimes in minute detail to a world that only ever grows more indifferent.

COVID-19 in Syria: The disaster waiting to happen

Al-Jumhuriya Collective 17 March 2020

On Monday, the World Health Organization’s emergency director for the Middle East, Dr. Rick Brennan, declared the organization would begin testing for COVID-19,

Daycare for the displaced

Andrew Hirsh 6 March 2020

Millions of Syrian children have lived their entire lives in war. At The Wisdom House, a kindergarten displaced along with its staff and pupils from Idlib to Aleppo, Moumena and her colleagues attempt the colossal task of providing for these children’s educational and emotional needs.

The temporary lives of Syrians

Yassin Swehat 3 March 2020

To comment on the recent events at the Greek-Turkish border requires conjuring sentiments that go beyond mere, but necessary, disgust. A new low

Syrians in Tripoli: Anxiety and aspirations

Kareem Chehayeb 26 February 2020

Lebanon’s Tripoli has been among the most welcoming cities to Syrian refugees, though tensions exist. In this special audiovisual report, Kareem Chehayeb profiles three members of Tripoli’s Syrian community, now caught between a Lebanon in crisis and a homeland still at war.

The lady in the chair

Bahloul 20 February 2020

In my psychotherapist’s office, a painting hangs on the wall that I often find myself staring at during the sessions. The purely minimalist

Lessons in citizenship: What Syrians can teach Germans

Joachim Haeberlen 18 February 2020

Too rarely does it occur to Westerners, worried about the erosion of their democracies, that refugees from Syria and elsewhere have valuable experience striving for civic values against authoritarian forces.

Ariha: An ancient Syrian town emptied and destroyed

Fatima Hajj Musa 3 February 2020

[Editor’s note: This article was originally published in Arabic on 3 February, 2020. Since that date, the city of Saraqeb and its surroundings

Silent observers: How Turkish troops watch Syrians’ slaughter up close

Sadek Abdul Rahman 29 January 2020

While Assad regime forces and their Russian allies continued their war of displacement in the countrysides of Idlib and Aleppo last week, reports

Lebanon’s new government can’t shoot its problems away

Al-Jumhuriya Collective 27 January 2020

During the handover ceremony at Lebanon’s interior ministry last Thursday, incoming Interior Minister Brig. Gen. Mohammed Fahmi declared he would not permit “attacks

Fields of destruction: Assad’s cluster munitions crimes

Mustafa Abu Shams 16 January 2020

Last Wednesday, an elementary school in the north Syrian city of Sarmin was struck with cluster munitions, killing three pupils along with five

Soleimani in Syria: A legacy of death and devastation

Al-Jumhuriya Collective 6 January 2020

In many ways, the life of Qassem Soleimani—the immensely powerful Iranian operative killed by a US Reaper drone near Baghdad airport on 3

Syrians under airstrikes: You’ve got email

Sadek Abdul Rahman 24 December 2019

This morning, the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) sent an email to various NGOs working in northern Syria’s Idlib

Syria’s forbidden cities

Maya Boty 20 December 2019

A new book of artworks tackles the Syrian regime’s use of public space as a tool of oppression, from 1980 to the present day.

Saving the Syrian pound: Mission Impossible

Qasem Albasri 12 December 2019

The Syrian regime has taken various ad hoc measures in the past two months to control the value of the Syrian pound (SYP)

Army of scam

Orwa Khalife 9 December 2019

[Editor’s note: Last week, a former spokesman of the Syrian “Army of Islam” militia was arrested in Marseilles, France, on war crimes charges.

Letters to Samira (15)

Yassin Al-Haj Saleh 8 December 2019

“Do you see how beautiful the moon looks?” I ask you while we’re on our way home at night, crossing between the last

Syrian melancholy in Lebanon’s revolution

Joey Ayoub 6 December 2019

Syrians in Lebanon have greeted the country’s uprising with a complex blend of joy, envy, melancholy, and fear, write Dara Foi’Elle and Joey Ayoub.

When money disappears

Alex Rowell 4 December 2019

Notes on life without cash in Lebanon.

The return to Martyrs Square: An interview with Michael Young

Alex Rowell 12 November 2019

Al-Jumhuriya talks to veteran Lebanese journalist Michael Young about the parallels and distinctions between today’s mass protests in Lebanon and the 2005 “Cedar Revolution.”

A festival of inanity

Orwa Khalife 4 November 2019

Last Wednesday, the Syrian “Constitutional Committee” gathered for the first time to hold its inaugural meeting in Geneva. After an opening statement by

The left today: A group portrait

Stephen Hastings-King 1 November 2019

A diverse and often divided family, the international left is on the rise today in response to economic failures and right-wing demagoguery. A new collection of 77 interviews captures the contemporary leftist zeitgeist, revealing its promises and weaknesses alike.

Lebanon’s uprising, between hope and hard truths

Alex Rowell 24 October 2019

It’s never easy to be optimistic about Lebanon, but the uprising of the past week offers a real chance for lasting change—if the protest movement plays its cards well.

Letters to Samira (14)

Yassin Al-Haj Saleh 19 October 2019

With your abduction and disappearance for more than six years now, I have experienced the worst that any man can experience. It has

An unpeaceful week in Syria

Al-Jumhuriya Collective 16 October 2019

One week on from the Turkish military’s launch of “Operation Peace Spring” in northeast Syria, Ankara’s forces and their Syrian allies have made some

Lebanon, our painfully ordinary country

Joey Ayoub 11 October 2019

A new book by Cambridge University’s Andrew Arsan arguing Lebanon is “a microcosm of the contemporary world” successfully analyzes the country’s ills, offering a helpful framework for Lebanese seeking change, writes Joey Ayoub.

24 long hours east of the Euphrates

Al-Jumhuriya Collective 8 October 2019

The statement on Syria issued by the White House on Sunday evening EDT (early Monday morning in Syria) restored the situation in the

Makhlouf, Inc.

Kelly Grotke 2 October 2019

How a scion of the Assad regime’s inner circle placed flattering profiles of himself in Western publications, and what this bodes for the future of online media.

Terror, genocide, and the “genocratic” turn

Yassin Al-Haj Saleh 19 September 2019

[Editor’s note: The below is an edited version of a talk given by the author in Paris on 4 September. An extended version

Weekly coverage round-up (Sep 9 – 13)

Al-Jumhuriya Collective 14 September 2019

A quick English summary of our Arabic news coverage this week.

Weekly coverage round-up (Sep 2 – 6)

Al-Jumhuriya Collective 6 September 2019

A quick English summary of our Arabic news coverage this week.

Cold Turkey

Amin Noor 5 September 2019

A young member of Syria’s Türkmen minority, living as a refugee in Istanbul, writes of the fears sparked by the Turkish government’s new crackdown on Syrians, and his broader disappointment at the breakdown of communal relations between Turks and Syrians, brought on by xenophobes left and right.

Weekly coverage round-up (Aug 26 – 30)

Al-Jumhuriya Collective 30 August 2019

A quick English summary of our Arabic news coverage this week.

North Syria’s displaced pay to sleep under trees

Al-Jumhuriya Collective 26 August 2019

The bombing campaign waged in northern Syria by the Assad regime and its Russian and Iranian allies between late April and 18 August

Weekly coverage round-up (Aug 5 – 9)

Al-Jumhuriya Collective 9 August 2019

A quick English summary of our Arabic news coverage this week.

Almost home

Eric Reidy 7 August 2019

Alia Malek’s often-powerful portrait of her Damascus home sheds light on the perils and pleasures of Syria’s pre-war society, but also leaves questions unresolved, writes Eric Reidy.

Weekly coverage round-up (Jul 29 – Aug 3)

Al-Jumhuriya Collective 4 August 2019

A quick English summary of our Arabic news coverage this week.

Republic of Violence

Robin Jones 1 August 2019

A recent book argues violence is not merely an incidental feature of the Assad regime’s rule in Syria, but rather an inseparable component of its governance strategy, consciously pursued and pervading almost every detail of citizens’ interaction with the state.

Weekly coverage round-up (Jul 22 – 26)

Al-Jumhuriya Collective 26 July 2019

A quick English summary of our Arabic news coverage this week.

How the UN failed to save Syria’s hospitals

Mohamad Katoub 24 July 2019

A Syrian doctor says the UN’s plan to stop attacks on hospitals in Syria has failed. If it can’t be fixed, it should be abandoned.

Weekly coverage round-up (Jul 15 – 19)

Al-Jumhuriya Collective 21 July 2019

A quick English summary of our Arabic news coverage this week.

Weekly coverage round-up (Jul 8 – 12)

Al-Jumhuriya Collective 12 July 2019

A quick English summary of our Arabic news coverage this week.

Baath Party all night long

Robin Jones 11 July 2019

Using videos of Western-style parties in Syria, the Assad regime has sought to portray itself as a defender of liberal modernity against benighted “terrorist” opponents. Yet these crude and dishonest propaganda efforts only underscore the oppression at the heart of Assad’s state, writes Robin Jones.

Empty stomachs for Syria

Mosab Al Nomairy 7 July 2019

For Syrians, each passing day seems worse than the one before it. The more regional and international forces shape affairs in the country,

My flight on Assad Airways

Kinan Kebbeh 26 June 2019

They told me I had cancer in my tongue. Just like that. I don’t know how. Neither did they. I toured Aleppo’s hospitals

Weekly coverage round-up (Jun 17 – 21)

Al-Jumhuriya Collective 21 June 2019

A quick English summary of our Arabic news coverage this week.

Weekly coverage round-up (Jun 10 – 14)

Al-Jumhuriya Collective 14 June 2019

A quick English summary of our Arabic news coverage this week.

The days of Abd al-Basit

Al-Jumhuriya Collective 13 June 2019

The mourning over the loss of Abd al-Basit Sarout, the larger-than-life Syrian opposition figure killed fighting Assad regime forces earlier this month, has

Weekly coverage round-up (Jun 3 – 7)

Al-Jumhuriya Collective 7 June 2019

A quick English summary of our Arabic news coverage this week.

Narrative war is coming

Uğur Ümit Üngör 7 June 2019

Like many genocidal regimes before it, the Assad regime is now formally engaged in a pseudo-academic re-writing of history. A genocide researcher outlines how a credible and rigorous study of the Syrian conflict might instead be approached.

Weekly coverage round-up (May 27 – 31)

Al-Jumhuriya Collective 1 June 2019

A quick English summary of our Arabic news coverage this week.

Confirming the worst

Alex Rowell 30 May 2019

An essential new book by the only international journalist to have lived full-time in Damascus post-2011 shows the Assad regime’s criminality to be even worse than previously understood.

The blood of Idlib’s people speaks

Al-Jumhuriya Collective 30 May 2019

It isn’t true that victory for the Assad regime is an inescapable certainty. It has never been true since the start of the

Syria’s oil crisis: No easy way out for Assad

Salam Alsaadi 28 May 2019

Iran has little incentive to help the Assad regime resolve its acute oil crisis, while any help from Moscow will come at a steep price, argues Salam Alsaadi.

Weekly coverage round-up (May 20 – 24)

Al-Jumhuriya Collective 24 May 2019

A quick English summary of our Arabic news coverage this week.

For Sama: Motherhood under siege in Aleppo

Victoria Yan 23 May 2019

A new documentary shines rare light on a private battle waged quietly by millions of Syrian women, forced to balance responsibility for their children’s wellbeing with a sense of duty to their community under attack.

Reconciliation without justice? An Israeli-Palestinian experiment

Joey Ayoub 22 May 2019

A recent book explores the conditions under which Palestinians and Israelis might be able to reconcile. The challenges are immense, but worth studying, writes Joey Ayoub.

What would Democrat candidates do about Syria?

Charles Davis 21 May 2019

Our writer asked seven U.S. Democrat presidential candidates about their policy proposals for Syria. Only one, Elizabeth Warren, had anything to say.

Weekly coverage round-up (May 13 – 17)

Al-Jumhuriya Collective 17 May 2019

A quick English summary of our Arabic news coverage this week.

Children of the unknown

Mustafa Abu Shams 16 May 2019

[Editor’s note: This investigation has been nominated for the 2020 Samir Kassir Award for Freedom of the Press. It was originally published in

Weekly coverage round-up (May 6 – 10)

Al-Jumhuriya Collective 10 May 2019

A quick English summary of our Arabic news coverage this week.

Regime preservation: How US policy facilitated Assad’s victory

Michael Karadjis 8 May 2019

A close examination of eight years of US policy in Syria shows Washington’s objective has never been regime change, but rather “a modified form of regime preservation,” writes Dr. Michael Karadjis in a comprehensive review of the record.

Weekly coverage round-up (Apr 29 – May 3)

Al-Jumhuriya Collective 3 May 2019

A quick English summary of our Arabic news coverage this week.

The waiting game: Life as a Syrian refugee student in Germany

Yassin Swehat 2 May 2019

Survivors of the events in Syria are today trying to regain control of their lives in their countries of asylum. For many, it’s

Still Recording: An interview with Syrian director Ghiath Ayoub

Emily Lewis 30 April 2019

Co-director of prize-winning film Still Recording tells Al-Jumhuriya about filming under chemical attacks in Eastern Ghouta, and the untold stories of life in revolutionary Syria.

Weekly coverage round-up (Apr 22 – 26)

Al-Jumhuriya Collective 26 April 2019

A quick English summary of our Arabic news coverage this week.

Weekly coverage round-up (Apr 15 – 19)

Al-Jumhuriya Collective 19 April 2019

A quick English summary of our Arabic news coverage this week.

Lebanon’s “Others,” Part 1: Palestinians and Syrians

Joey Ayoub 17 April 2019

44 years ago this month, Lebanon descended into civil war. In the first of a three-part series, Joey Ayoub draws on the work of James Baldwin to explore the “Othering” that resulted from that war and its aftermath, which is now a central component of Lebanese identity.

In Assad’s dictionary, “reconciliation” means retribution

Mosab Al Nomairy 16 April 2019

The term “reconciliation” has become widespread in Syria in recent years, describing a concept promoted by the Assad regime as a means of

Weekly coverage round-up (Apr 8 – 12)

Al-Jumhuriya Collective 12 April 2019

A quick English summary of our Arabic news coverage this week.

Weekly coverage round-up (Apr 1 – 5)

Al-Jumhuriya Collective 5 April 2019

A quick English summary of our Arabic news coverage this week.

The double misrepresentation of Syrian refugees

Maya Boty 5 April 2019

From the xenophobes who demonize them to the well-meaning friends who assume they must be devout conservatives, Syrian refugees in the West face stereotypes from all sides. Worse, some have begun internalizing and turning these prejudices on their compatriots, writes a Syrian in Paris.

Weekly coverage round-up (Mar 25 – 29)

Al-Jumhuriya Collective 29 March 2019

A quick English summary of our Arabic news coverage this week.

Syria’s new loyal opposition: Demanding participation in exclusion

Salam Alsaadi 28 March 2019

As the costs of Assad’s Pyrrhic “victory” become clearer, even die-hard loyalists are increasingly speaking out about economic and other woes. The regime’s response makes clear it will not tolerate even this highly watered-down form of dissent.

Weekly coverage round-up (Mar 18 – 22)

Al-Jumhuriya Collective 22 March 2019

A quick English summary of our Arabic news coverage this week.

Russia’s chemical witness intimidation

Orwa Khalife 21 March 2019

Last month, the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) published a report confirming the use of a “toxic chemical contain[ing] reactive

The weaponization of Syrian civilians’ suffering

Bente Scheller 18 March 2019

Disinformation peddled by the Assad regime and its supporters blames Western sanctions for Syria’s economic woes. In reality, sanctions primarily target Assad’s inner circle; it is the regime’s own misrule that causes civilian suffering, writes Bente Scheller.

Weekly coverage round-up (Mar 11 – 15)

Al-Jumhuriya Collective 15 March 2019

A quick English summary of our Arabic news coverage this week

Sexual violence against males in Syria

Haley Bobseine 11 March 2019

While females remain the primary victims of sexual violence in Syria, the rape and sexual abuse of male detainees by the Assad regime and others is more widespread than commonly understood, representing not just a grave human rights violation but another powerful disincentive for refugees to return.

Weekly coverage round-up (Mar 4 – 8)

Al-Jumhuriya Collective 8 March 2019

A quick English summary of our Arabic news coverage this week.

Letters to Samira (13)

Yassin Al-Haj Saleh 7 March 2019

Sammour, I’ve written to you before about unpleasant things; happenings that shouldn’t have happened, and a world whose horizons have become dimmer in

Weekly coverage round-up (Feb 25 – Mar 1)

Al-Jumhuriya Collective 1 March 2019

A quick English summary of our Arabic news coverage this week.

Terror’s wars of words

James Snell 15 February 2019

The Assad regime’s “Terrorism Financing Commission” recently accused Turkey’s president, Lebanon’s prime minister, and a host of other politicians, judges, academics, and ordinary citizens of supporting jihadism. The laughable charges better describe Assad’s own record, writes James Snell.

The constitutional con job

Sadek Abdul Rahman 13 February 2019

In recent days, a leaked list emerged online purporting to name the members of a committee set up with UN backing, and the

Waiting for “amnesty”

Leen Farah 7 February 2019

1999 The telephone rang. Thanks to the caller ID service newly introduced to Syria’s telecommunications system, we could see it was a

Dreams in a UN tent

Warda Al-Yassin 4 February 2019

[Editor’s note: All events, dates, and places mentioned in this text are real; the names used for people, however, are pseudonyms.] Near

Letters to Samira (12)

Yassin Al-Haj Saleh 1 February 2019

The only day I’ve ever celebrated since your disappearance has been your birthday. I spend it, alone, with you. For weeks leading up

“Reconciling” with the regime: A deadly game

Fidaa Al-Saleh 1 February 2019

After the Assad regime and its allies recaptured the south Syrian province of Daraa from opposition hands last summer, large numbers of rebel

Suffocating in south Lebanon

Walaa Saleh 23 January 2019

To walk the streets of south Lebanon is to smell the Palestinian orchards nearby, and to sense the weight of the long years

The left’s Warriors on Terror

Michael Degerald 17 January 2019

When the self-styled “anti-imperial” left adopts the language and logic of Bush’s War on Terror, something has gone badly wrong, analytically and morally, argues Michael Degerald.

A Syrian Oedipus complex

Hussam Eddin Mohammad 16 January 2019

Just as Oedipus, an immigrant of Phoenician descent, had to solve the Sphinx’s riddle to save his besieged people, so Syrians today—and, in fact, all of us—face a new set of perplexing, life-or-death questions.

Eastern Ghouta: How a fighter chose his fate

Fadi Amin 15 January 2019

One March morning in 2018, Muhammad Abu Ahmad left his shelter after hearing of a “humanitarian truce” declared by Russia for a few

The Syrian revolution in the occupied Golan

Aram Abu-Saleh 8 January 2019

When discussing the fable known as the “October War of Liberation,” the Syrian regime, in its rhetoric and propaganda, invariably leaves out a matter

Stone cold

James Snell 8 January 2019

Aside from all the lives it’s extinguished, the Assad regime has destroyed or damaged multiple UNESCO World Heritage sites across Syria. Why do archaeologists and professed heritage-lovers continue to laud it as a defender of civilization?

How the shadows became faces

Samar Abdallah 2 January 2019

To a beauty in a black veil…An allusion to a famous line of Arabic poetry that begins, “Say to the beauty in the

The Syrian-Turkish border: The closed open door

Muhammad Jalal 26 December 2018

Since the outbreak of the Syrian uprising and the ensuing militarization and bombardment by the Bashar al-Assad regime, large numbers of Syrians have

In Homs, “re-embracing the homeland”

Mona Rafea 19 December 2018

[Editor’s note: This article was produced as part of Al-Jumhuriya’s Fellowship for Young Writers. It was originally published in Arabic on 19 December,

An idea called Daraya

Joey Ayoub 9 December 2018

Five years on from the kidnapping of the ‘Douma 4’ activists, Joey Ayoub pays homage to another Damascus suburb symbolic of Syria’s peaceful, democratic revolution.

Letters to Samira (11)

Yassin Al-Haj Saleh 9 December 2018

[Editor’s note: This article was originally published in Arabic on 9 December, 2018] Five years. Sixty months. 260 weeks. 1,826 days. Sammour, I

Letters to Samira (8): Four years, four words

Yassin Al-Haj Saleh 5 December 2018

[Editor’s note: This article was first published by Amnesty International. It is also available in Arabic.] I listen to your favorite song: “Oh

Lebanon’s militarized masculinity

Joey Ayoub 5 December 2018

[Editor’s note: This article is part of Al-Jumhuriya’s “Gender, Sexuality, and Power” series. It was also published in Arabic on 6 December, 2018.]

Language and sexuality

Nayla Mansour 28 November 2018

[Editor’s note: This article is part of Al-Jumhuriya’s “Gender, Sexuality, and Power” series. It was also published in Arabic on 29 November, 2018.]

Letters to Samira (10)

Yassin Al-Haj Saleh 26 November 2018

[Editor’s note: This article was originally published in Arabic on 26 November, 2018] On this day, twenty-seven years ago, you were released from

In memoriam: Raed Fares and Hammud Junayd, giants of Syrian civil society

Mustafa Abu Shams 25 November 2018

In Aleppo in early 2012, at a discussion between opposition activists, the banners used in demonstrations in a small town called Kafranbel were

Erdogan’s queer moment

Yanar Bayramoğlu 22 November 2018

[Editor’s note: This article is part of Al-Jumhuriya’s “Gender, Sexuality, and Power” series. It was also published in Arabic on 22 November, 2018.]

Samer Foz, Assad’s new favorite handyman

Orwa Khalife 19 November 2018

How do you kill a man in Turkey and get out of prison? Do business with both Islamic State jihadists and the Kurds?

I, the “abnormal”

Raeef Al-Shalaby 15 November 2018

[Editor’s note: This article is part of Al-Jumhuriya’s “Gender, Sexuality, and Power” series. It was originally published in Arabic on 15 November, 2018.]

Gender, sexuality, power

Karam Nashar 7 November 2018

On October 20th of this year, a young Syrian woman named Rasha Bassis was murdered by her brother over her alleged relationship with

Between universalism and narrow culturalism: An interview with Tunisian historian Sophie Bessis

Nayla Mansour 1 November 2018

[Editor’s note: This article is part of Al-Jumhuriya’s new “Gender, Sexuality, and Power” series. It was originally published in Arabic on 8 November,

Syria’s Rukban camp, where the world perpetuates a catastrophe

Sadek Abdul Rahman 31 October 2018

The recent videos coming out of the Rukban camp for internally displaced Syrians at the extreme northeastern tip of the Jordanian-Syrian border send

Nothing special

James Snell 26 October 2018

The departing UN special envoy to Syria was not merely feckless or naïve about the Assad regime; he was an active facilitator of its survival strategy.

The curious case of Idlib’s “extremists”

Orwa Khalife 15 October 2018

Ever since Turkey and Russia reached an agreement in the city of Sochi last month on averting a military offensive in Syria’s Idlib,

Jamal Khashoggi humanizes Saudi’s victims

Alex Rowell 11 October 2018

The disappearance and possible murder of the Saudi Arabian writer has struck such a nerve because, for a change, Westerners are able to see themselves in the victim’s shoes.

An update on the Douma Four

Yassin Al-Haj Saleh 3 October 2018

Earlier this year, between the summer and fall, I spent several months in Turkey following up on the case of the “Douma Four”

In sight of Sochi

James Snell 25 September 2018

Though the pro-regime axis has its own reasons for wanting to avoid an Idlib offensive, there is ultimately no reason to think last week’s cessation of hostilities has any more chance of holding than its predecessors, argues James Snell.

What’s in a (Friday) name

Mustafa Abu Shams 25 September 2018

Ever since the Egyptian “Friday of Rage” on January 28, 2011, the Arab Spring revolutions in general—and the Syrian revolution in particular—were distinguished

Israel’s air war in Syria: No danger to Assad

Al-Jumhuriya Collective 19 September 2018

The Israeli air force targeted a number of sites in Latakia Governorate late Monday night, chief among them a warehouse linked to the

Towards partnership: A rejoinder to Yassin al-Haj Saleh

Jules Etjim 18 September 2018

The problems of solidarity recently outlined by Yassin al-Haj Saleh are indeed part of a wider, historic breakdown in the values and impact of the Western left, writes Jules Etjim, who offers a “sketch” of one possible way forward.

Open letter: If the UN can’t stop Assad’s crimes, it needs to change

Al-Jumhuriya Collective 17 September 2018

In an open letter to the United Nations, over 100 prominent writers, academics, and activists say the time has come to consider radical reform of the U.N. Security Council, given its abject failure to protect Syrians from the Bashar al-Assad regime’s mass violence.

The Bibi boom

Alex Rowell 12 September 2018

A new biography lays bare the extremist ideology that drives Benjamin Netanyahu, an early champion of the demagoguery that has now brought us his old friend, Donald Trump.

Syrians need a fresh start, not ugly appeasement

Yassin Al-Haj Saleh 7 September 2018

Jimmy Carter’s proposal to rehabilitate Assad and ignore Syrians’ demands for justice isn’t just morally bankrupt in the extreme, it also would fail to produce even the “ugly peace” of his imagination.

The Tehran summit: Finalizing Syria’s tripartite tutelage

Orwa Khalife 5 September 2018

All eyes in the region are on Friday’s tripartite summit bringing together the Turkish, Russian, and Iranian presidents in Tehran, which is expected

Does Washington now have a strategy in Syria?

Orwa Khalife 29 August 2018

[Editor’s note: This article was originally published in Arabic on 29 August, 2018] One could say the objectives of the United States in

Dissidents of the left: In conversation with Yassin al-Haj Saleh

Andy Heintz 28 August 2018

Islam, culture, nationalism, revolution, exile, and the West’s anti-democratic Middle East policies are just part of the ground covered in this in-depth interview, to be published in the upcoming book, Dissidents of the International Left.

The Rojava Reconquista

James Snell 17 August 2018

The “Syrian Democratic Council”—ostensibly a vehicle for Kurdish-Arab coexistence in former ISIS territories—is increasingly looking to normalize ties with the Assad regime, spelling disaster for the displaced residents of Raqqa and elsewhere, with no apparent opposition from its Western sponsors.

Syria’s society of the spectacle

Anton Mukhamedov 13 August 2018

How a late French thinker gave us a framework with which to view Syrians as complex individuals, rather than central-casting actors in our grand-narrative fantasies.

Disappeared justice

Al-Jumhuriya Collective 13 August 2018

[Editor’s note: This article was originally published in Arabic on 13 August, 2018] Recent weeks have seen thousands of Syrian families notified of

The looting years

Rafya Salamah 9 August 2018

[Editor’s note: The below article was produced as part of Al-Jumhuriya’s 2017 Fellowship for Young Writers. It was originally published in Arabic on

The lion’s den: A brief animal history of the Syrian conflict

Uğur Ümit Üngör 6 August 2018

Animals have not fared well at militants’ hands in Syria over the past seven years, though civilians have been kinder. Dr. Uğur Ümit Üngör traces the shifting role and symbolism of animals in Syria’s recent history.

Three ways of looking at Idlib’s future

Orwa Khalife 3 August 2018

In the ongoing conversations about the fate of Syria’s Idlib Province, and the areas surrounding it, more than three million people’s lives are

The world at the fascist moment

Yassin Al-Haj Saleh 1 August 2018

[Editor’s note: The below is the foreword to a new book, The Holocausts We All Deny: Collective Trauma in the World Today, by

The humane mobility manifesto: A response

Kester Ratcliff 30 July 2018

A recent manifesto signed by academics and activists called for a “reimagining of migration” in response to the new UN Migration Compact. Kester Ratcliff proposes further concrete steps toward a more humane—and sustainable—approach by the international community.

Refuge from the law

James Snell 27 July 2018

Work bans, endemic delays, and no translation assistance are just some of the extensive legal and bureaucratic obstacles faced by Syrian and other refugees seeking asylum in Britain. Al-Jumhuriya speaks to lawyers and civil society activists trying to help those trapped in legal limbo, in the UK and across Europe.

A farewell to May Scaff

Al-Jumhuriya Collective 24 July 2018

[Editor’s note: This article was originally published in Arabic on 24 July, 2018] On Monday morning, the 49-year-old Syrian artist May Scaff passed

Daraa under siege, as Russia resumes bombardment

Al-Jumhuriya Collective 9 July 2018

[Editor’s note: This article was originally published in Arabic on 9 July, 2018] The early hours of Sunday morning witnessed intense bombardment carried

Inside the Assad regime’s juvenile prisons

Karam Mansour 6 July 2018

[Editor’s note: The below article was produced as part of Al-Jumhuriya’s 2017 Fellowship for Young Writers. It was originally published in Arabic on

Between hellfire and a closed border

Sadek Abdul Rahman 29 June 2018

[Editor’s note: This article was originally published in Arabic on 29 June, 2018.] A war of this scale in Syria’s southern Hawran region—the

Rebels hold firm in south Syria as Russia enters the battle

Sadek Abdul Rahman 25 June 2018

[Editor’s note: This article was originally published in Arabic on 25 June, 2018] Russian fighter jets commenced military operations in southern Syria’s Daraa

Beirut and the making of Anthony Bourdain

Eric Reidy 13 June 2018

Seeing Beirut slide into war in 2006 transformed the late TV presenter, moving him to humanize peoples—in the Middle East and beyond—whose voices were rarely heard in the US mainstream.

Assad’s land grab has Lebanese allies worried

Makram Rabah 31 May 2018

For years, the Syrian regime’s allies in Lebanon have spread crackpot conspiracy theories about plots to prevent the country’s more than 1 million refugees returning. Now they belatedly realize Assad’s own actions may turn their scarecrow into reality.

Idlib’s “observation posts”: Astana powers mark their territory

Al-Jumhuriya Collective 28 May 2018

[Editor’s note: This article was originally published in Arabic on 28 May, 2018] Last Wednesday, the Russian defense ministry announced the finalization of

Inside ISIS’ prison for women and children

Falak Al-Faraj 24 May 2018

[Editor’s note: The below article was produced as part of Al-Jumhuriya’s 2017 Fellowship for Young Writers. It was originally published in Arabic on

How international law helps Assad and Putin

Laila Al-Sibai 22 May 2018

From colonial France’s bombing of Syria in the 1920s to Assad’s massacres today, international law has always been stacked against non-state actors, protecting even the bloodiest regimes and denying their victims justice.

A critique of solidarity

Yassin Al-Haj Saleh 18 May 2018

[Editor’s note: This article was first published in Arabic on 21 May, 2018] There is no reason why one shouldn’t be able to

Moscow invests in Tehran’s troubles

Orwa Khalife 18 May 2018

[Editor’s note: This article was originally published in Arabic on 18 May, 2018] The latest Astana conference; officially the International Meeting on Syria;

Syria and Palestine: Eternity, exceptions, and massacres

Yassin Swehat 15 May 2018

[Editor’s note: This article was originally published in Arabic on 15 May, 2018] On the day commemorating the founding of Israel and the

Espero Café: Our space that fell apart

Mohammed Nabhan 11 May 2018

[Editor’s note: The below article was produced as part of Al-Jumhuriya’s 2017 Fellowship for Young Writers. It was originally published in Arabic on

In the belly of the beast

Alex Rowell 9 May 2018

Al-Jumhuriya talks to journalist Gareth Browne about his week in Syria last month observing a “crazy club” of pro-Assad British parliamentarians and priests.

Lebanon’s elections: Independents’ day?

Alex Rowell 5 May 2018

Who are the independents hoping to challenge Lebanon’s establishment on Sunday; what do they stand for; and can they win any seats? Al-Jumhuriya’s guide to the 2018 parliamentary elections.

The coalition that could have been

James Snell 4 May 2018

There was a real opportunity after last month’s chemical atrocity to amass a powerful international coalition against Assad, Russia, and Iran—an opportunity the West squandered, argues James Snell.

State extermination, not a “dictatorial regime”

Yassin Al-Haj Saleh 30 April 2018

[Editor’s note: This article was originally published in Arabic on 30 April, 2018] To refer to the Assad regime in Syria as “dictatorial”

Syria’s shock doctrine

Laila Al-Shami 23 April 2018

Having expelled whole communities en masse from numerous Syrian cities and towns, a new law now allows the Assad regime to confiscate their properties, rendering their displacement permanent and radically transforming the country’s demography.

Historicizing mass violence in the Middle East

Vicken Cheterian 19 April 2018

With over 600,000 Armenians slaughtered on future Syrian territory in 1916, the Armenian Genocide ought to be more than a footnote in Arab history, argues Vicken Cheterian in response to Yassin al-Haj Saleh.

My name is Sun

Wa'el Abd Al-Hamid 18 April 2018

[Editor’s note: The below article was produced as part of Al-Jumhuriya’s 2017 Fellowship for Young Writers. It was written by Wa’el Abd al-Hamid

A fish in dirty water: Love, loss, and self-improvement in Lebanon

George Khoury 12 April 2018

Twenty-five years after returning to post-war Lebanon, our writer reflects on the disappointed hopes of a generation, and how the country “somehow feels worse now than it did then.”

From Herat to Homs, the Western left’s decades-long zeal for Russian bombs

Emran Feroz 11 April 2018

Enthusiasm on the left for Vladimir Putin’s bombing campaign in Syria has strong echoes of the Soviet invasion and occupation of Afghanistan that killed and displaced millions, including relatives of this author.

Douma: Exodus of a story

Ibrahim Al-Fawwal 11 April 2018

[Editor’s note: This article is the fourth in a series of four originally published in Arabic by Al-Jumhuriya during the siege and bombardment

Damascus’ shelters for Ghouta’s displaced: A new kind of prison

Jana Salem 8 April 2018

[Editor’s note: This article is the third in a series of four originally published in Arabic by Al-Jumhuriya during the siege and bombardment

An appeal: Where are the Douma Four?

Friends Of The Douma4 7 April 2018

[Editor’s note: This appeal is also published in Arabic] As tens of thousands of Eastern Ghouta residents are in the process of being

Shell shock

Robin Yassin-Kassab 4 April 2018

Mustafa Khalifa’s largely autobiographical, newly-translated novel The Shell, set in Syria’s infamous Tadmor prison, vividly captures the absurdity and ultrasadism that are the Assad regime’s lifeblood, writes Robin Yassin-Kassab.

Letters to Samira (9)

Yassin Al-Haj Saleh 3 April 2018

[Editor’s note: This article was originally published in Arabic on 3 April, 2018] Are you aware of what’s happening around you, Sammour? No

Ghouta’s displaced in north Syria: Awaiting the unknown

Mustafa Abu Shams 2 April 2018

[Editor’s note: This article is the second in a series of four originally published in Arabic by Al-Jumhuriya during the siege and bombardment

Eastern Ghouta’s choice: Water or dignity

Osama Nassar 2 April 2018

[Editor’s note: This article was originally published in Arabic on 2 April, 2018] DOUMA, Eastern Ghouta: Today, all that the people of Eastern

Living in the temporary

Yassin Al-Haj Saleh 29 March 2018

[Editor’s note: The below is an edited version of a talk given by the author at Berlin’s Thinking Together conference on 25 March

Working with NGOs in Damascus: The escape from helplessness

Bisan Al-Saeed 28 March 2018

[Editor’s note: This article was produced as part of Al-Jumhuriya’s 2017 Fellowship for Young Writers. It was originally published in Arabic on 29

Ghouta: Forced displacement after a war of extermination

Orwa Khalife 27 March 2018

[Editor’s note: This article is the first in a series of four originally published in Arabic by Al-Jumhuriya during the siege and bombardment

Awaiting “peace” in Eastern Ghouta

Osama Nassar 22 March 2018

[Editor’s note: This article was originally published in Arabic on 22 March, 2018] DOUMA, Eastern Ghouta: “Because strait is the gate, and narrow

Syria’s “inside” and “outside”: How they became “them”

Rafya Salamah 21 March 2018

[Editor’s note: The below article was produced as part of Al-Jumhuriya’s 2017 Fellowship for Young Writers. It was originally published in Arabic on

Fair-weather friends

James Snell 15 March 2018

Assad was never going to save Syria’s Kurds from the Turkish army. That the Kurds sought a devil’s bargain with him anyway was a mistake in more than one way, argues James Snell.

The use and misuse of genocide denial

Yassin Al-Haj Saleh 11 March 2018

[Editor’s note: The below is a response to Vicken Cheterian’s article, ‘How do you say “genocide” in Arabic?’, published on 2 March, 2018]

In defense of accurate categories: A rejoinder to Loubna El Amine

Rima Majed 8 March 2018

While the existence of sectarianism is of course not to be denied, ‘sects’ themselves remain unhelpful concepts that cannot form bases of effective policymaking, argues Dr. Rima Majed.

Facile talk

James Snell 5 March 2018

The French president has talked a tough game on Syria lately, especially as regards the regime’s chemical weapons crimes. But these words, much like those of his American counterpart, are ultimately so much hot air, argues James Snell.

How do you say “genocide” in Arabic?

Vicken Cheterian 2 March 2018

One of the first genocides in modern history took place, in part, in the Arab world, including in Syria. That mass murder is happening again in Syria today offers a chance to draw new attention to this long-neglected subject, and explore the ties that may exist between the two exterminations.

Portraits of Syria’s protagonists

Eric Reidy 28 February 2018

Rania Abouzeid’s forthcoming book, No Turning Back: Life, Loss and Hope in Wartime Syria, succeeds in humanizing the individual participants in Syria’s agony—victims as well as villains.

Fake Newsweek

Alex Rowell 20 February 2018

In a final death knell for the once-great magazine, Newsweek has stooped in recent days to printing crackpot conspiracy theories about chemical weapons in Syria.

For Syrian refugees in Lebanon, love is not free for all

Makram Rabah 19 February 2018

With Lebanon’s authorities now obliging Syrian refugees to sign pledges not to have relationships with Lebanese women, the country has further debased its once-proud tradition of human rights, argues Makram Rabah.

Failing to respond

James Snell 13 February 2018

By declining to link their attack on pro-Assad forces earlier this month with the regime’s ongoing chemical weapons use, the US has failed to deter the latter, argues James Snell.

The women fighting for Syria’s vanished

Anton Mukhamedov 7 February 2018

Al-Jumhuriya speaks to three women from the Families for Freedom movement about their campaign to free Syria’s 200,000-plus missing detainees; a campaign they say makes the Assad regime “really angry.”

Why we joined ISIS

Muhammad Al-Khatib 2 February 2018

[Editor’s note: The below article was produced as part of Al-Jumhuriya’s 2017 Fellowship for Young Writers. It was originally published in Arabic on

Sochi: No place for feminists

Mayya Al-Rahbi 1 February 2018

[Editor’s note: This article was originally published in Arabic on 1 February 2018] “As a feminist movement, you should go to Sochi,” said

No surprise

Emran Feroz 1 February 2018

Recent footage of US soldiers drive-by shooting an Afghan truck driver fits a well-established pattern of cruelty and criminality—yet Afghans who report these abuses are still invariably met with disbelief.

Snubbing Sochi: A message to more than one address

Orwa Khalife 30 January 2018

[Editor’s note: This article was originally published in Arabic on 30 January 2018] Tuesday marked the launch of the so-called Syrian National Dialogue

When Aleppo’s widows speak

Mustafa Hazouri 24 January 2018

I returned to it, and was determined to rebuild my relationship with it. Was I broken at the time? Why? I don’t know,

The states that saved al-Qaeda

Kyle Orton 24 January 2018

While Iran and its regional proxies pose today as moderates combating “terrorism,” a new book shines further light on the role of state actors—Tehran and Pakistan above all—in facilitating al-Qaeda’s operations, from 9/11 up to the present day.

Rhetorical questions

James Snell 23 January 2018

The recent chest-thumping by a top US Army officer about slaying ISIS fighters with shovels inadvertently captures the pitfalls of Washington’s policy in the Fertile Crescent, writes James Snell.

Raqqa, the booby-trapped city

Abdul Qader Lela 23 January 2018

[Editor’s note: This article was originally published in Arabic on 23 January, 2018] In winter, Abu Inad used to work as a fisherman

A chilling injustice to one of Lebanon’s bravest women

Alex Rowell 18 January 2018

The shocking jail sentence issued by Lebanon’s military court against journalist Hanin Ghaddar has been called “one of the worst free speech violations in years.”

The trouble with Deneuve

Lama Abu-Odeh 15 January 2018

The tired critique of #MeToo in France last week serves only to underscore why the new movement is so necessary, argues Prof. Lama Abu-Odeh.

“May there be relief”: On food in Adra Women’s Prison

Leen Farah 10 January 2018

[Editor’s note: The below article was produced as part of Al-Jumhuriya’s 2017 Fellowship for Young Writers. It was originally published in Arabic on

On the edge of Damascus, a win for Syria’s rebels

Orwa Khalife 9 January 2018

[Editor’s note: This article was originally published in Arabic on 10 January, 2018] The battle continues for the eighth straight week now in

In defense of groups, and (some) consociational solutions

Lobna Al-Amin 8 January 2018

[Editor’s note: The below is a response to Dr. Rima Majed’s article, ‘Consociationalism: A false remedy prescribed on a misdiagnosis.’] In her recent

The common enemy

Robin Yassin-Kassab 3 January 2018

Syrian democrats are natural allies of the demonstrators currently being gunned down across Iran. May this mark a new chapter in regionwide, cross-sectarian solidarity, says Robin Yassin-Kassab.

Twelve years a ghost

George Khoury 29 December 2017

Reflections on the Cedar Revolution and Lebanon’s loss of hope.

Gardenia Road, Homs

Wa'el Abd Al-Hamid 27 December 2017

[Editor’s note: The below article was produced as part of Al-Jumhuriya’s 2017 Fellowship for Young Writers. It was originally published in Arabic on

Why can’t a wine poem be Islamic?

Alex Rowell 21 December 2017

In this exclusive extract from his upcoming book, Alex Rowell argues there is no reason the Arabic wine poetry of Abu Nuwas cannot be called ‘Islamic’.

Islamists and the Douma Four

Yassin Al-Haj Saleh 16 December 2017

On the 18th and 19th of July this year, I attended a workshop in Istanbul on dialogue between Islamists and secularists, organized by

Consociationalism: A false remedy prescribed on a misdiagnosis

Rima Majed 12 December 2017

To treat the Syrian conflict as essentially sectarian is to mistake a symptom for a root cause—and to risk entrenching societal divisions further, argues Dr. Rima Majed.

Editorial: What’s the story with Jerusalem today?

Al-Jumhuriya 10 December 2017

[Editor’s note: This editorial was originally published in Arabic on 11 December, 2017] The story is not the Donald Trump administration’s recognition of

Echoes: A poem for Samira al-Khalil

Faraj Bayrakdar 9 December 2017

To mark four years since the disappearance of the ‘Douma 4’ activists, Al-Jumhuriya publishes a poem dedicated to Samira al-Khalil by the award-winning poet Faraj Bayrakdar.

Federal misgovernment

James Snell 7 December 2017

Syria’s Kurds are mistaken if they imagine Assad will let them flourish as equal partners in a federalized post-war settlement, argues James Snell.

A letter to Osama Nassar

Marcell Shehwaro 4 December 2017

[Editor’s note: This article is a response to an earlier Al-Jumhuriya article, ‘Siege versus prison in Assad’s Syria: a comparison,’ written by the

The Syrian filmmaker who leaves marines in tears

Anton Mukhamedov 30 November 2017

Feras Fayyad talks to Al-Jumhuriya about his award-winning documentary, the destruction of Aleppo, the daily abuse he receives from Putin fans, and film as a tool for achieving justice.

Siege versus prison in Assad’s Syria: a comparison

Osama Nassar 28 November 2017

[Editor’s note: This article was originally published in Arabic on 29 November, 2017. The author is a former political prisoner currently living in

Lebanese Independence Day: The joke that needn’t be

Alex Rowell 22 November 2017

November 22 is always an occasion for black humor in Lebanon, but perhaps this year more than ever. There’s a way out, however, for those feeling the blues: Election Day in May 2018.

Riyadh, too?

Orwa Khalife 21 November 2017

[Editor’s note: This article was originally published in Arabic on 22 November, 2017] With just two days to go before the launch of

A climate change for Assad

Yassin Swehat 19 November 2017

[Editor’s note: This article was originally published in Arabic on 20 November, 2017] Earlier this month, on the sidelines of the UN Climate

Jean-Pierre Filiu to Al-Jumhuriya: No stability without liberty

Karam Nashar 13 November 2017

In the latest installment of our interview series, Al-Jumhuriya speaks to Jean-Pierre Filiu, a French historian, Arabist, and professor of Middle East studies

Nightmares of “reconstruction” in and around Damascus: Part II

Jana Salem 10 November 2017

Displaced Damascenes fear “reconstruction” is a fig leaf for the permanent transformation of their former home neighborhoods—and their exclusion therefrom.

Al-Qaeda’s war against a medieval Syrian poet

Mustafa Abu Shams 6 November 2017

[Editor’s note: This article was originally published in Arabic on 7 November, 2017.] MA’ARRAT AL-NU’MAN, Syria – The house had grown old after

A brief glimpse inside a Beirut “killing machine”

Alex Rowell 3 November 2017

Al-Jumhuriya joins a rare guided tour of Beirut’s restored Barakat building, an aristocratic villa-turned-sniper-nest, which has finally opened to the public—but only temporarily.

Nightmares of “reconstruction” in and around Damascus: Part I

Jana Salem 2 November 2017

[Editor’s note: The following is the first in a two-part report from Damascus and its surrounding province, originally published in Arabic on 3

Against oblivion: Samira al-Khalil and Anna Akhmatova in Douma

Hind Rifai 2 November 2017

Hind Rifai reflects on the parallels between Samira al-Khalil’s diary under siege in Douma and the poems of Anna Akhmatova.

Bente Scheller to Al-Jumhuriya: Europe should not expect concessions from Assad

Alex Rowell 25 October 2017

In our second English-language podcast, Al-Jumhuriya speaks to Dr. Bente Scheller, director of the Heinrich Böll Foundation’s Middle East office, based in Beirut.

In “Butcher’s” killing, a reminder for Syria’s Druze

Makram Rabah 24 October 2017

The death of prominent Druze general Issam Zahreddine should remind the community Assad is not their savior, argues Makram Rabah.

River of blood

Firas Allawy 19 October 2017

[Editor’s note: This article was first published in Arabic on Thursday, 19 October, 2017.] The southern bank of the Euphrates River in

Sarin in print

Alex Rowell 17 October 2017

Why do reputable Western publications keep giving Iran’s foreign minister free rein to spew toxic falsehoods?

Frederic Hof to Al-Jumhuriya: Trump has no Syria strategy

Alex Rowell 12 October 2017

The former US ambassador to Syria talks Raqqa, Russia, reconstruction, and more in this half-hour Al-Jumhuriya podcast.

In Daraa, getting your house back is subject to negotiation

Warda Al-Yassin 11 October 2017

[Editor’s note: This article was originally published in Arabic on 12 October, 2017] Namer, al-Kutayba, Khirbat Ghazala, al-Shaykh Miskeen, Ataman: five towns and

Assad’s team, Syria’s supporters

Sadek Abdul Rahman 11 October 2017

Al-Jumhuriya’s Arabic editor ponders the political and emotional dilemmas of supporting Syria’s—or is it Assad’s?—soccer team.

Officially incompetent

James Snell 5 October 2017

Why Western officialdom is inherently stacked against unexpected democracy movements such as the Arab Spring.

Being an east Syrian laborer in Lebanon

Khalifa Al-Khodr 4 October 2017

Khalifa al-Khuder reports on the aspirations, sufferings, and occasional joys of the largely voiceless Syrian worker community in Lebanon.

Bleeding hearts at home, bleeding skulls abroad

Charles Davis 3 October 2017

At a recent talk in California, Charles Davis encountered a microcosm of the left’s rupture on Syria.

Saudi driving U-turn shows how political religion really is

Alex Rowell 29 September 2017

At the stroke of a royal pen, the Saudi clergy dropped the principles of a lifetime. All religion is equally subservient to politics.

East Aleppo’s people, from headlines to oblivion

Zaina Ibrahim 28 September 2017

They were the world’s top story less than a year ago. Today Aleppo’s displaced are already forgotten.

Letters to Samira (7)

Yassin Al-Haj Saleh 27 September 2017

The seventh in a series of letters written by Yassin al-Haj Saleh to his missing wife, Samira al-Khalil, who was kidnapped in Douma in December 2013.

In Lebanon, “it’s the Syrians’ fault”

Makram Rabah 26 September 2017

At the UN last week, Lebanese President Michel Aoun made a dishonest case for the safety of Syrian refugees’ return.

The socio-economic roots of Syria’s uprising

Alice Bonfatti 21 September 2017

While the outbreak of revolution in 2011 took many by surprise, the pre-conditions for such an upheaval had accumulated for decades.

Letters to Samira (6)

Yassin Al-Haj Saleh 20 September 2017

The sixth in a series of letters written by Yassin al-Haj Saleh to his missing wife, Samira al-Khalil, who was kidnapped in Douma in December 2013.

The limits of social media: lessons learned from Syria

Jana Salim 19 September 2017

While social media was invaluable in the early days of Syria’s revolution, hopes that it alone could topple the regime proved ill-founded.

In Iraq and Syria, ISIS plays the long game

Kyle Orton 14 September 2017

By ceding terrain to the extremist forces of Iran and the Assad regime, ISIS seeks to turn military defeat into political gain.

Letters to Samira (5)

Yassin Al-Haj Saleh 13 September 2017

The fifth in a series of letters written by Yassin al-Haj Saleh to his missing wife, Samira al-Khalil, who was kidnapped in Douma in December 2013.

Nassim Taleb, the DNA Demagogue

Makram Rabah 12 September 2017

How a once-celebrated author descended into sinister racial politics and pro-Assad propaganda

Letters to Samira (4)

Yassin Al-Haj Saleh 8 September 2017

The fourth in a series of letters written by Yassin al-Haj Saleh to his missing wife, Samira al-Khalil, who was kidnapped in Douma in December 2013.

The return of Lebanese-Syrian ‘Brotherhood’

Alex Rowell 7 September 2017

Beyond recent military cooperation between Beirut and Damascus, a deeper realignment is in motion.

The re-enchantment of the world

Yassin Al-Haj Saleh 30 August 2017

[Editor’s note: This article was originally published in Arabic on 25 August, 2017. Earlier this month, it was adapted into a talk given

Yassin al-Haj Saleh Contextualizes the Syrian Tragedy

Alex Rowell 3 August 2017

Alex Rowell reviews Yassin al-Haj Saleh’s new book, recounts the “Syrianization” of our world and concludes that we had better all start becoming Free Syrians.

Letters to Samira (3)

Yassin Al-Haj Saleh 29 July 2017

Even it were possible for you to imagine our deteriorating situation, you may still be wondering, Sammour, how come you are still disappeared

Letters to Samira (2)

Yassin Al-Haj Saleh 16 July 2017

Sammour, do you happen to think –like I do– about the fatal consequences that befell us? You became wanted by the regime a

Dramatic escapes: The improbable story of Syria’s secret prison theater

Malek Daghestani 14 July 2017

[Editor’s note: This article was originally published in Arabic on 10 July, 2017] Is it possible for beautiful things to happen in prison?

Letters to Samira (1)

Yassin Al-Haj Saleh 14 July 2017

In your long and impenetrable prison, dearest Sammour, you might be wondering: how is it that I was not able to help you

The Palestinization of Syrians

Yassin Al-Haj Saleh 27 June 2017

Due to similar predicaments, Syrians’ belief in the Palestinian cause has transformed from a merely Arab identitarian solidarity into more humane, emancipatory joint struggle.

Who Cares About Islamic Law?

Lama Abu-Odeh 20 June 2017

The Islamic law project that found a friendly home in US academia, in conjunction with the Islamic Awakening, has reached a dead end.

Let’s help the UNHCR find Syria

Yassin Swehat 7 June 2017

In early 2016, during a ceremony by the National Commission for the Syrian Science Olympiad at the Opera House in Damascus, Mrs. Asma

Defeat and the state: June 1967 and Hafez al-Assad’s Syria

Yassin Al-Haj Saleh 4 June 2017

[Editor’s note: The below was one of a collection of articles written for the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the June 1967

Dehumanizing the Afghan People

Emran Feroz 1 June 2017

Afghanistan’s dystopian reality on the ground, and what the West is doing there, is worthy of far more than a side note on daily news coverage.

Editor’s Weekend Picks

Aljumhuriya-en 29 April 2017

Al-Jumhuriya English will now be publishing a weekly press digest every Saturday, bringing readers the most read-worthy English-language essays, features and op-eds from around the web. We’ve bookmarked your weekend reads so you don’t have to.

The Athenians No Longer Know the Megarians

Kelly Grotke 27 April 2017

In her talk for Stanford University’s conference on the subject of ‘Cruelty’, Kelly Grotke examines friendship, universality, and cruelty between the European past and the Syrian present.

Stop Instrumentalizing Women’s Rights

Maria Al Abdeh 21 April 2017

The international community is not listening to us. It must depoliticize the fight against sexual violence and humanize the countering violent extremism strategy.

Civil Marriage in Lebanon: The Political Developments

Stephanie Khouri 20 April 2017

An in-depth look into the constitution of distinctive rationale around legal reform revolving around civil marriage in Lebanon.

Civil Marriage in Lebanon: The Legal Environment

Stephanie Khouri 13 April 2017

An in-depth look into the constitution of distinctive rationale around legal reform revolving around civil marriage in Lebanon.

Syria, The Left, and The World

Emran Feroz 6 April 2017

Syrian intellectual Yassin al-Haj Saleh talks with Emran Feroz about his criticism of Western experts who claim that there is no alternative to Assad and that shoring up the regime would be the lesser of two evils.

Why Can’t We Criticize Islam?

Aljumhuriya-en 3 April 2017

Can Islam be criticized as a centralized system or is the mere generalization of the religion a misunderstanding of its structure?

The Interdependent Consciences of Syria

Abdul Hamid Youssef 22 March 2017

Every March, since that of 2011, has invited us to ask a new question about the revolution, one of existential significance to us,

On Rising Apostasy Among Syrian Youths

Sham Al-Ali 15 March 2017

The Syrian revolution was accompanied by a surge in religious fervor, and an inflamed popular sentiment, particularly manifested in slogans such as “It

Riot, Not Celebrate

Zuhour Mahmoud 8 March 2017

Should International Women’s Day be an occasion to celebrate womanhood or a reason to riot against the system?

One Regime, Multiple Revolutions

Ali Bahlol 8 March 2017

Since the consolidation of the Assad state in the 1970sٕ, Syrians have been drowning in a raging sea of authoritarian symbols brought forth

How the Islamic State Perceives Society

Khalifa Al-Khodr 1 March 2017

When a young man at the prime of his age takes his own life in a fiery explosion, leaving behind his family and

The Syrian Cause and Anti-Imperialism

Yassin Al-Haj Saleh 24 February 2017

In memory of Michel Seurat, our martyr. I was in Istanbul for about ten days when I met a Turkish communist who explained

Syrian Youth: Why is Political Action Still Missing?

Adel Al-Ayed 22 February 2017

An amalgam of unease and dread overwhelm me as I write this piece, especially after a friend warned me that this issue is

A Day of Silence

Yassin Al-Haj Saleh 13 February 2017

We, the Syrians, cannot stop speaking, and yet we cannot speak. The grotesque has challenged our words, time and time again, and destroyed

The Drone Effect

Dana Dawud 9 February 2017

Dana Dawud explores the drone as a politically charged and ambiguous concept and a weapon for media wars.

Western Far-Right and the Question of Refugees

Lama Rajeh 8 February 2017

The victory of Donald Trump’s bid for US president, and his populist political rhetoric, have significantly revived the aspirations of right-wing political parties

The Case For Reporting From Assad’s Syria

Sam Heller 6 February 2017

Assad’s Syria has now re-opened its doors to some foreign journalists and analysts, whether to provide a sort of narrative counter-programming or to make its case for diplomatic normalization and foreign economic investment.

Will the Kurdish Dream Come True in Syria?

Fadel Al-Homsy 1 February 2017

Syrian Kurds can be considered among the biggest beneficiaries of the conditions that have ensued since the outbreak of the Syrian revolution. They

The Surge of Religion in Syria: A Family Portrait

Sham Al-Ali 25 January 2017

The sun gathers its rays and recedes, carrying its light elsewhere and leaving it to electricity generators to dispel the darkness of the

My Journey with Al-Qubaysiat Sisterhood

Lama Rajeh 18 January 2017

Fearful of the emergence and spread of dissident Islamism, the Syrian regime has encouraged apolitical Islamic movements. It has permitted certain religious leaders

Interview with Yassin al-Haj Saleh

Aljumhuriya-en 13 January 2017

An interview with Yassin al-Haj Saleh, the ‘voice of conscience’ of the Syrian revolution, translated from Flemish into English by: Jorn Decock.

Yarmouk Anniversary: Nakbas New and Old

Tom Rollins 11 January 2017

It’s been four years since a Syrian Air Force MiG jet bombarded Yarmouk camp, marking the beginning of a new nakba for the 150,000-200,000 Palestinians living there.

Tal Rifaat: A Hill With Many Flags

Fadel Al-Homsy 11 January 2017

In February 2016, a number of websites published an aerial photograph showing trucks in Tal Rifaat, purported to belong to the Kurdish People’s

Things That Keep Me Awake At Night

Ruba Muhaisen 5 January 2017

Rouba Mhaissen explains what it’s like to manage a local humanitarian organization working with Syrians and the difficulties that come with the role.

Gaziantep: The Making of a Home Away From Home

Zeina Ibrahim 4 January 2017

Laughter of young children, the sounds of their feet racing across the building stairs, finally arrived and concluded with a few words addressed

Yemen Through a Syrian Lens

Yazan Al-Saadi 29 December 2016

Yazan Al-Saadi writes a heart-filled narration of his experience in Yemen and a comparison between the struggles of the Syrian and Yemeni people with their fight for freedom and dignity.

Fighting on All Fronts: Women’s Resistance in Syria

Laila Al-Shami 26 December 2016

As eastern Aleppo falls, pounded by regime and Russian airstrikes, and stormed by Iranian sponsored militia on the ground, one young woman risks everything to communicate to the outside world the horror of the last days in the liberated part of the city.