A New Start Despite Difficulties for Raqqa’s Local Council
(Raqqa, Syria) – In late November dozens of volunteers wearing blue suits and white helmets roamed the streets of the city with cleaning supplies,...
Raqqa’s Displaced between Death by Shelling or Death by Cold
(Raqqa, Syria) – Um Mar’ey, a woman in her forties, stands amid scattered tents after washing her children’s clothes in water warmed by wood...
Aleppo between the Cold Winter and Fuel Shortage
By Lina al-Hakim* (Aleppo, Syria) – The snowstorm that swept through the Middle East in December exacerbated the tragic situation in Syria. After it...
The Trials of Being a Journalist in Aleppo
Reporter describes harsh conditions for all those living amid conflict in Syrian city By Lina al-Hakim* (Aleppo, Syria) – Journalism is one of the...
Consumer Fraud Leads to Deaths in Qamishli
By Vyan Mohammad (Qamishli, Syria) – A day after Seebar didn’t show up for work, his colleagues learned of his death at the Qamishli...
Raqqa Subject to Imposed Islamisation
(Raqqa, Syria) – New Islamist regulations in Raqqa are felt by students every day on a bus that transports them from Raqqa city to...
Electricity Rations Plunge Damascus into Darkness
By Salam al-Saadi (Damascus, Syria) — These days, it requires more patience and fortitude than usual for 12-year-old Samer to do his homework,...
Syrians Struggle To Find Refuge in Egypt
By Salam al-Saadi (Damascus, Syria) – Standing in the rain, hemmed in by cement blocks and military checkpoints, Syrians of all ages congregate around...
Secularism Appeals to Some as ISIS Withdraws from Kfar Nabel
Hazzaa Adnan al-Hazzaa (Kfar Nabel, Syria) – Mohammad al-Salim, a French literature student from Kfar Nabel at the University of Aleppo, is critical of...
Al-Nusra Front – The Face of Al-Qaeda in Syria
A prominent development in the ongoing Syria conflict is the ascent of radical Islamists, both Syrian and foreign, who advocate a puritanical form of...
Syrians Facing “Coldest” Winter Yet With No Diesel
By Salam al-Saadi (Damascus, Syria) – Forty-five-year-old Abu Khaled’s three sons stand in a long line extending dozens of meters on a cold December...
Displacement Crisis Worsens in Jaramana
(Jaramana, Syria) – On the bleachers of the municipal stadium in the Damascus suburb of Jaramana, families sit and wait; not to see their...
ISIS Hunts Down Kfar Nabel Activists as Agents of the West
By Hazzaa Adnan al-Hazzaa (Kfar Nabel, Syria) – The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, also known as ISIS, did not interfere in the...
Used Clothing Stores Are Destinations for Both Rich and Poor
(Damascus, Syria) – The outrageous inflation of prices in Syria has driven the poorest and richest members of Syrian society to shop at second-hand...
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...
Refugees Struggle with Health Issues
Note: All names have been changed for the safety of the interviewees. (Sahnaya, Syria) – Wael, 8, walks with a limp – the result...
