Even in Syria Dreams Can Come True
My sister Maha, the youngest in the family, is an English language teacher. Past the age of 30 she started losing hope in getting...
Al-Nusra Front and the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria: a Cold War in Raqqa
(Raqqa, Syria) – The Free Syrian Army (FSA) has been effectively driven out of Raqqa. Three Salafist groups now dominate the city: the Islamic...
The Free Syrian Army and Armed Kurdish Parties: Perpetual Conflict or Episodic Tension?
By Raed Khalil* (Tal Abyad, Syria) – Clashes between rival militias have become the norm in the town of Tal Abyad and neighbouring villages....
The Remaining Jews of Damascus Isolate Themselves from Syrian Crisis
By Raheel Ibrahim * (Damascus, Syria) – Sisters Firdaous and Sila live in a modest house with crumbling walls in the Amine neighbourhood...
The Crossing of Death
It was July 10, 2013 and I stood at the Bustan al-Qasar crossing: the crossing of death, as I called it. A siege had...
Activists in Raqqa under Daily Threat
(Raqqa, Syria) – “Our families and people in Raqqa, please forgive us. We love nothing more than to enter a bit of joy and...
Kfar Nabel’s Schools Re-Open Despite Shelling
By Abdallah Kleido (Kfar Nabl, Syria) – School openings this fall in this town of 30,000 people began with a deep divide between the...
An Alternative to Government Institutions: the General Committee for Civil Defence in Daraa
By Shumra Ali* Editors’ Note: All names have been changed. (Daraa, Syria) – Reports indicate that the Syrian opposition is advancing rapidly in Daraa,...
Fallen Regime Soldiers Spark Funerals Debate
Opinion is split on whether those who remain loyal to the government in opposition-held town should be granted funeral rites. Abdallah Klido (Kafr Nabel...
Relief Organisations Replace Government Bakeries in Kfar Nabel
By Hazzaa al-Adnan (Kfar Nabel, Syria) – In August, in the town of Kfar Nabel, around 50 people gathered one morning in front of...
The Eastern Ghouta: Where Animal Feed is Allowed but Bread Is Forbidden
(Eastern Ghouta, Syria) – The line of buses and cars waiting to enter East Ghouta at the Syrian Army’s Mleha checkpoint on the road...
Syrian Civil Society Takes Root in Lebanon
By Malath al-Zoubi (Beirut, Lebanon) – Hundreds of thousands of Syrians are living in Lebanon today–refugees fleeing the armed conflict at home, activists who...
Journalists Face ISIS Kidnap Threat
Just carrying a camera is dangerous in areas controlled by powerful militant group Piroz Perik (Ghaziantep, Turkey) — Words of prayer and longing are...
Jaramana Residents Angry at Opposition Rockets
By Raheel Ibrahim* (Jaramana, Syria) – The anger is clear on the face of Motaz, 34, who works as a waiter in a restaurant...
A Normal Working Day in a Syrian Field Hospital: Deciding Who Receives Oxygen and Who Dies
Abdul Karim Jaafar (Raqqa, Syria) – Marwan is a 30-year-old volunteer doctor in a field hospital in the city of Raqqa in northeast Syria....
Zabadani’s Trees Victims of Bombing and Siege
The City of Zabadani was once the most prolific producer of apples, pears, peaches, and cherries in Syria. At one time, Zabadani’s farmers exported...
