Merry Christmas and chag sameach to all those celebrating this week. Here is a thread on writings on Syria by Syrian writers to be read by everyone in the world, some videos and films, who to follow etc - in addition to a few links on how to help people in Idlib.
First, to donate visit @molhamteam and @ActionForSama. Please do donate whatever you can these holiday seasons as those fleeing the horrors of Assad and Putin in Idlib won't get much time to relax. Also: idliblives.org/2019/12/24/fiv…
Since it is Christmas, start with this piece written by @Marcellita during Christmas 2016: What Christ Is Born Among Us Today? globalvoices.org/2016/12/23/wha…
Also since it's Christmas: Please watch Bassel Shehadeh's "Merry Christmas Homs" (2012) here: (14 minutes long).
Bassel was killed during the regime's bombardments of Homs on May 28th.
Bassel was killed during the regime's bombardments of Homs on May 28th.
Also since it's Christmas: January 2013 interview with Father Paolo Dall'Oglio, Italian Jesuit priest from the Deir Mar Musa monastery in Syria, exiled for criticizing President Bashar al-Assad. He was kidnapped by ISIS in 2013 and is still missing. en.qantara.de/content/interv…
The Price of a Voice: Inside Syria, political voices emerged from repression. Outside, they resist appropriation. by @Marcellita adimagazine.com/articles/the-p… for @Adi_Magazine
.@Marcellita also has a whole Dispatches from Syria from March 11, 2014 to December 25, 2017 from Aleppo to the lands of exile globalvoices.org/specialcoverag… on @globalvoices
Razan Zeitouneh's message to the world from Eastern Ghouta shortly before she was kidnapped by Jaysh Al Islam alongside Samira Al Khalil, Wael Hamada, and Nazem Hammadi (#Douma4)
Razan Zeitouneh's piece from Eastern Ghouta in 2013 in which she accuses the West of trading the Syrian regime’s chemical weapons against the Syrians’ demand for democracy and freedom – with the West giving up humanity adoptrevolution.org/en/why-the-wes… @AdoptRevolution
Ameenah Sawwan, living in exile in Germany: Only we can bring peace to Syria adoptrevolution.org/en/only-we-can… @AdoptRevolution
18 Diaries from Besieged Eastern Ghouta ghouta.com/index.php/cate… @ActForGhouta
The doctors, nurses and aid workers rebuilding Syria ted.com/talks/rola_hal… by Dr. Rola Hallam of @CanDoAction
A look at Syria's long history of feminist movements globalvoices.org/2019/02/21/a-l… by @SFJnetwork for @globalvoices
From Syria to the world: Notes on tyranny, war and despair globalvoices.org/2019/10/04/fro… by Jihad Eddin Ramadan for @globalvoices
How a Syrian photo collective is resisting Assad's narrative from within globalvoices.org/2019/01/14/how… by @IsraHazel for @globalvoices
One Syrian's harrowing journey to freedom, @firasabdullah_'s story globalvoices.org/2018/09/14/one… by @Alreemk
Four women icons of the Syrian revolution: Fadwa Suleiman, Razan Zeitouneh, Lama Albasha, May Scaff globalvoices.org/2018/08/09/fou… by @leila_na
Suleiman and Scaff died in exile in Paris, Albasha was tortured to death in the Assad regime's gulags aged 25, Zeitouneh is still missing
Suleiman and Scaff died in exile in Paris, Albasha was tortured to death in the Assad regime's gulags aged 25, Zeitouneh is still missing
Lama Albasha was a college student in Damascus who was arrested by the Assad regime in 2014 and killed in prison. Her family only found out in 2018 when the regime released thousands of death certificates (h/t @liberated_t) theintercept.com/2018/09/10/syr… via @mariamaelba/@MazMHussain
.@aljumhuriya_eng's tribute to May Scaff: "salute to the artist, activist, and revolutionary, for whom death did not tarry" aljumhuriya.net/en/content/far…
.@Budour48's tribute to May Scaff: "For Syrian artist May Scaff, the struggle against the Assad regime and Israel were the same struggle" aljazeera.com/indepth/opinio…
When Fadwa Suleiman lead chants against the Assad regime in Homs, 2011
Homs, March 7, 2014: “Remember, when we were still human? Homs, do you remember it?”
Revolutionary Echoes From Syria: Conversations With Two Anarchists From Aleppo resonanceaudiodistro.org/2017/02/13/rev…
(cc @crimethinc/@libcomorg/@IGD_News/@lausanhk)
(cc @crimethinc/@libcomorg/@IGD_News/@lausanhk)
Syria’s Women Prisoners, Drawn by an Artist Who Was One: "Azza Abo Rebieh got her guards to give her pencils and paper, then began sketching the faces and habits of fellow inmates in Syria’s notorious detention system." nytimes.com/2018/08/07/art…
Bosnia's Lessons for Syria: War Criminals Cannot Be Part of the Solution syriauntold.com/2017/10/09/bos… from a workshop attended by Syrian, Bosnian and Iraqi journalists and hosted by @forfreemedia (@syriauntold_en)
@forfreemedia @syriauntold_en For Survivors of Aleppo Siege, the News From Syria Is Especially Painful nytimes.com/2018/04/16/wor…
The world at the fascist moment by aljumhuriya.net/en/content/wor… by @YassinHSaleh aljumhuriya.net/en/content/wor… for @aljumhuriya_eng
Enab Baladi: Citizen Chronicles of the Syrian Uprising (Free PDF) hummusforthought.com/2019/05/06/ena… @EnabBaladi_Eng
Sednaya Prison.. Factory of Death and Enforced Disappearances in Syria admsp.org/sednaya-prison… by the Association of Detainees and The Missing in Sednaya Prison (ADMSP)
The Syrian Cause and Anti-Imperialism aljumhuriya.net/en/content/syr… by @YassinHSaleh in memory of "Michel Seurat, our martyr". Seurat was murdered by Islamic Jihad Organization (Hezbollah's precursor) in Beirut in 1986. His wife is the Syrian novelist Marie Seurat.
Ammar Al Maamoun on the tyrant’s ghost in my head: a Syrian writer in exile reflects on totalitarianism raseef22.com/article/107273…
Idlib resists, by @LeilaShami leilashami.wordpress.com/2019/11/09/idl…
The Syrian revolution in the occupied Golan by Aram Abu-Saleh: aljumhuriya.net/en/content/syr…
Aram Abu-Saleh is a writer from the Israeli-occupied Syrian Golan Heights village of Majdal Shams.
Aram Abu-Saleh is a writer from the Israeli-occupied Syrian Golan Heights village of Majdal Shams.
Syria from Revolution to Civil War communemag.com/syria-from-rev… by @Loubnamrie
Syria, refugees, and solidarity crisismag.net/2019/10/01/syr… by @LeilaShami
Terror, genocide, and the “genocratic” turn aljumhuriya.net/en/content/ter… by @YassinHSaleh
Forsaking the Syrian Revolution: An Anti-Imperialist Handbook aljumhuriya.net/en/content/for… by Fadi Bardawil (via @ziadmajed)
My review of Assad or We Burn the Country by Sam Dagher blogs.lse.ac.uk/mec/2019/10/16… on @LSEMiddleEast
Joseph Daher: The fate of the Kurds and Palestinians in Syria and elsewhere are inextricably linked to the dynamics of the popular movements of the region and resistance from below antidotezine.com/2018/05/29/our… via @AntiDotePharma
.@ZouhirAlShimale: "I hope that one day I can see Syria under democratic rule" indexoncensorship.org/2019/04/zouhir… @IndexCensorship
A New Wave of Syrian Films Exposes the Failure of Images hyperallergic.com/323265/a-new-w… on @hyperallergic
Syrians resist extremists and military offensive against Idlib wagingnonviolence.org/2018/09/syria-… on @wagingnv by @
Collective piece by @SynapsNetwork’s Syria team synaps.network/picking-up-the…
With dark humor and codewords, East Ghoutans unlearn ‘vocabulary of the revolution’ as Assad reasserts control
syriadirect.org/news/with-dark… @syriadirect
syriadirect.org/news/with-dark… @syriadirect
On the Syrian Revolution: An anarchist initiative from within Korydallos prison, Greece antidotezine.com/2018/07/12/on-… via @AntiDotePharma
Syrians have seen their lives destroyed as the international community stood by and watched, but they still cling to the hope that one day justice will be served middleeasteye.net/opinion/im-syr… by @RazanSpeaks
‘Tyrants across the world know now they can maintain power through mass slaughter.’ Interview with @LeilaShami for Open Left criticatac.ro/lefteast/inter…
Afrin After the Turkish Invasion: Expulsion, resettlement, and revanchism rosalux.de/en/publication… by @Loubnamrie for @rosaluxbeirut
In the Box edgeofsyria.com/2018/11/18/in-… by @Marcellita
Syrian reporter @ZainaErhaim on training citizen reporters and the importance of documenting the Assad regime’s atrocities newint.org/features/2018/… Interview by @Ignostic199 for @newint
@ZainaErhaim @Ignostic199 @newint A tale of two artists separated by war: @andrewhirsh's profile of @firasabdullah_ and @MireamSalame
brightthemag.com/a-tale-of-two-… for @brightthemag
brightthemag.com/a-tale-of-two-… for @brightthemag
Everything on @SyriaNotes: syrianotes.org
.@waadalkateab’s Archived Footage to be Submitted as Evidence of War Crimes actionforsama.com/afs-news/waad-… via @ActionForSama
Everything by @abounaddarafilm
Also: ‘The Revolution Is Never Over,’ Syrian Filmmaking Collective States variety.com/2019/film/glob…
Also: ‘The Revolution Is Never Over,’ Syrian Filmmaking Collective States variety.com/2019/film/glob…
And speaking of films:
The War Show
For Sama @forsamafilm
Last Men in Aleppo
Return to Homs
The White Helmets
Silvered Water, Syria Self Portrait
Still Recording
Our Terrible Country
Mr Gay Syria
The War Show
For Sama @forsamafilm
Last Men in Aleppo
Return to Homs
The White Helmets
Silvered Water, Syria Self Portrait
Still Recording
Our Terrible Country
Mr Gay Syria
The inaugural issue of @MagCrisis was dedicated to Syrian migration crisismag.net/2019/10/01/iss… by @DonyaAlinejad and @MsSaskiaBaas
Yours Truly, From Idlib lb.boell.org/en/2019/02/15/… by @TAlsiofi, Syrian writer Douma, and Hani Al Sawah, Syrian writer and rapper from Homs, for @boell_meo (via @BenteScheller)
@TAlsiofi @boell_meo @BenteScheller Joseph Daher offers a materialist perspective after reviewing the contributions to @syriauntold_en's special series on Oral Culture and Identity in Syria. syriauntold.com/2018/10/31/pop…
Mutual struggle, mutual solidarity. @LeilaShami on her time in Gaza during the first two years of the Syrian revolution leilashami.wordpress.com/2014/07/29/mut…
The story of Ahmad Helmi and Islam Dabbas. Islam was executed in Saydnaya by the Assad regime.
amnesty.org.uk/blogs/campaign… via @KreaseChan
amnesty.org.uk/blogs/campaign… via @KreaseChan
Still Recording: An interview with Syrian director Ghiath Ayoub by @EmCLew and @Ignostic199 aljumhuriya.net/en/content/sti… via @alexjrowell
What happened to the beloved libraries that we left behind in our land? How do our personal book collections comfort us in exile? syriauntold.com/2019/01/09/bet… by @dellair_youssef for @syriauntold_en
Also by @dellair_youssef, on the eight year anniversary of the Syrian revolution for @Raseef22En
What ISIS did to my village by @hxhassan, who was raised in Deir Ezzor theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/…
A Syrian Filmmaker’s Urgent, Intimate View of Exile Deserves a U.S. Release - on Sara Fattahi’s “Chaos” by @tnyfrontrow for @NewYorker newyorker.com/culture/the-fr…
A Revolution’s Course Through a Revolutionary’s Trajectory: The path and fate of Abdul Baset al-Sarout publicseminar.org/essays/a-revol… by @YassinHSaleh
@YassinHSaleh and Merry Christmas
@YassinHSaleh A Syrian Visiting A Nazi Camp: Questions about the meaning of memory and being a refugee in Germany today
syriauntold.com/2019/09/25/syr… by Inana Othman for @syriauntold_en
syriauntold.com/2019/09/25/syr… by Inana Othman for @syriauntold_en
Raed Fares: Building a Free Syria one town at a time (2017) Fares was from Kafr Nabel and responsible for several civil society initiatives. He was gunned down in 2018 alongside Hamoud Jneed.
Some stories from Daraya in particular (context: aljumhuriya.net/en/content/ide…)
"After being arrested I knew the meaning of injustice and I am more willing to ask for freedom." enabbaladi.net/archives/15121
Before the fall of Daraya, a group of women from the town wrote an open letter stating: "We are demanding action from the international community" middleeasteye.net/columns/open-l…
On the fall of Daraya by @LeilaShami globalvoices.org/2016/08/26/dar…
Many of the people currently fleeing Idlib have already been displaced, some of them multiple times. As of last year around half of everyone in Idlib was a refugee from elsewhere in Syria. reliefweb.int/report/turkey/…
Upon arriving in Idlib, Mohamed Abou Faris was told that he came from a special place. When he went looking for a job, a brick factory owner told him "you're from Daraya, sir. You have everything. You're our teachers." english.enabbaladi.net/archives/2016/… @EnabBaladi_Eng
Razan Zaitouneh called Daraya "a star before the revolution and a star during" diary.thesyriacampaign.org/daraya-the-tow… @TheSyriaCmpgn
But Daraya also became famous for its 'bottles and roses', and Yahya Sharbaji, and Ghiyath Matar. They marched to the supportive sounds of church bells and handed roses to soldiers, the ones who later shot at them mashallahnews.com/water-bottles-… @MashallahNews
Protesters in Daraya had even marched against the 2003 invasion of Iraq, and the Assad regime arrested them. Even though it was officially opposed to the invasion its top priority was always crushing *any* movement that *might* hurt its survival.
In Daraya, the Free Syrian Army rebels were under the authority of the civilian Local Council darayacouncil.org
As the council correctly noted in January 2016, UN Security Council Resolution No. 2165 of July 14, 2014, “authorizes the delivery of humanitarian aid without requiring approval” from the regime.
The UN ignored this.
facebook.com/daraya.council…
The UN ignored this.
facebook.com/daraya.council…
In his usual fashion, 2 weeks after the people of Daraya were forced to say goodbye to their buried loved ones and leave the city, Bashar Al Assad himself went to the city to 'pray' there nbcnews.com/news/world/syr…
Alongside Bashar was Mufti Hassoun, aka the Mufti of Barrel Bombs. Mr Barrel Bombs is one of those who signs off on the executions of prisoners of Saydnaya. Between 2012 and 2017 alone, at least 13,000 Syrians were exterminated there. middleeasteye.net/news/syrian-gr…
So with all these horrors, why would Syrians flee to regime-held areas? It's simple. The regime doesn't bomb regime-held areas. hummusforthought.com/2018/05/13/ass…
And I didn't even start talking about Daraya's amazing underground library. 40 Syrians gathered over 15,000 books and made it available to all buzzfeednews.com/article/borzou… article by @borzou/@SarahDadouch
There are already two books on the Daraya library:
Syria's Secret Library by @ThomsonRadio and Les Passeurs de Livres de Daraya by @DelphineMinoui
Syria's Secret Library by @ThomsonRadio and Les Passeurs de Livres de Daraya by @DelphineMinoui
And speaking of books, here are some book recommendations on Syria.
I always recommend starting with these three:
1- 'We crossed a bridge and it trembled' by @Wendy_Pearlman,
2- 'burning country' by @LeilaShami/@Qunfuz1 and
3- 'the impossible revolution' by @YassinHSaleh
I always recommend starting with these three:
1- 'We crossed a bridge and it trembled' by @Wendy_Pearlman,
2- 'burning country' by @LeilaShami/@Qunfuz1 and
3- 'the impossible revolution' by @YassinHSaleh
For some background on the precursors of the 2011 uprising, this 10 min BBC report on the 'Damascus Spring' of 2000-2001: bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00…
This is the context to this Samir Kassir quote, recently drawn in Idlib. Kassir was assassinated in Lebanon in 2005.
This is the context to this Samir Kassir quote, recently drawn in Idlib. Kassir was assassinated in Lebanon in 2005.
Fitting to end this thread with @YassinHSaleh's very moving piece for his wife Samira Al-Khalil who remains missing along with the #Douma4. Please read this. middleeasteye.net/opinion/syria-…
