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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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Between Exile and Return: Deiries in Search for a Political Umbrella

Adel Al-Ayed 21 December 2016

Perhaps the first question that would come to the reader’s mind is, “why say “Deiris” instead of “the people of Deir ez-Zor? Why use

Hameesh Checkpoint: Business in the Time of Truce

Jana Salem 14 December 2016

Marwa and Zahra climb onto the minibus, which is supposed to take them from Hameesh bus stop to Al-Salam Mosque within Barzeh district,

I Once Had a Hometown Called Al-Midan

Lama Rajeh 7 December 2016

Whenever I talk about my Damascene neighborhood, al-Midan, I struggle against myself and my own mind as not to forget its features. Any

Victories in Fictitious Battles

Abdul Hamid Youssef 30 November 2016

We can hear the roar of helicopters this morning, as on most mornings here in the city of Tartus. A few people gathered

Gaziantep: the Closest and the Furthest

Adel Al-Ayed 23 November 2016

Few are the Syrians who express a definitive opinion regarding the Turkish city of Gaziantep. It is a “problematic” city for most: some

Qudsaya: The Last Sanctuary Declared Dead

Arya Omri 16 November 2016

I pack my suitcase and prepare to leave. Among the things I carry with me is the smell of blood and gunpowder, which

Abu Khalid’s Tea

Khalifa Al-Khodr 9 November 2016

“… So, Asma al-Assad brings in a silver-colored aluminum tray, on which is a plate of fried eggs with meat, a dish of

Five More Minutes

Fadel Al-Homsy 2 November 2016

Five and a half years have passed since the Syrian revolution had erupted, almost half of which I have spent outside of my

The Afflicted With Safety

Abdul Hamid Youssef 12 October 2016

There are aircrafts swarming over the Syrian city of Aleppo as I write this; aircrafts that hail death and horror, and provide brief lessons

Majoritarian Syria: Justice in Conflict Resolution

Yassin Al-Haj Saleh 15 August 2016

This article is addressed to an unidentified, moderately informed and well-meaning reader, and it suggests to them a vision for a just Syrian

Portrait of a Revolution: The Journey of Faiek al-Meer

Budour Hassan 13 October 2013

Budour Hassan narrates the story of Syrian leftist activist and veteran struggler Faiek al-Meer, who had been active in the Syrian revolution up until his detention by the Syrian security forces in October 2013.