[This is a roundup of news articles and other materials circulating on Syria and reflects a wide variety of opinions. It does not reflect the views of the Syria Page Editors or of Jadaliyya. You may send your own recommendations for inclusion in each week`s roundup to syria@jadaliyya.com by Monday night of every week.]
Inside Syria
Why the Syrian regime`s recapture of Palmyra was a political move Assad has shifted the narrative around in an attempt to showcase his forces as a bulwark against radicalism.
Syria`s loss of students to rebuild future While the Syrian refugee crisis grabs the headlines, a less visible story with equally calamitous implications is unfolding in its shadow.
Palmyra: family of Syrian scholar beheaded by Isis describe his final moments “Our father was a man who served his city and country for decades. His murder was ugly and shameful.”
Meet the Group Enabling Syria`s Female Journalists The Syrian Female Journalists’ Network is a non-profit initiative that trains Syrian female journalists and promotes their role in the region’s media. Syria Deeply spoke to co-founder Milia Eidmouni about the network’s work and its plans for women working in Syria’s media.
The Working Children of Eastern Ghouta Violence, poverty and displacement have affected millions of Syria children, sometimes forcing them to become the sole providers for their households.
Stranded Syrians Celebrate Nowruz in Idomeni Hundreds of Syrian Kurdish refugees celebrated the holiday of Nowruz, marking the beginning of the Persian New Year, along Greece’s border with Macedonia.
Assad`s Oppression in Numbers: Regime Agencies Issue Over Half a Million Arrest Warrants Zaman al-Wasl reveals the activity of each intelligence apparatus and its position inside the Assad authoritarian system.
Assad’s Other War: Winning on the Ground, Defeated by the Pound? Aron Lund gives his insight on the political dimension in Syria. Reversing the decline of the government’s financial writ is just as important to Bashar al-Assad as winning the battles on the ground. So far, he has seemed considerably more successful at the latter than the former.
Rebel gains show regime’s reliance on foreign forces Over the weekend, the Syrian rebels went back to fighting. Their development can help us understand the extent to which the Russian intervention in Syria has helped prop up Bashar Al Assad’s army, especially in light of the regime’s hyped seizure of Palmyra last week.
Syria: Regime Forces Say They are on Verge of Retaking Palmyra Syrian state media are reporting that Syrian Army elite troops and their Hizbullah allies are on the verge of recapturing the city of Tadmur and the ancient ruins of Palmyra.
Displaced From ISIS-Controlled Areas Arrive in Border Town of Azaz Families fleeing the Islamic State forced to gather by the hundreds of thousands near the northern border as Azaz is overwhelmed with up to 150 new arrivals each day.
Absence of Advanced Weaponry Allows ISIS to Regain Liberated Villages: Military Source Islamic State militants retake Tel Bataal with car bombs and suicide bombers as opposition forces struggle to hold onto liberated villages in Aleppo`s countryside.
Isis second-in-command Haji Imam killed by US forces Officials are set to announce that the man known as Haji Imam, considered to be the deputy of ISIS leader Omar al-Baghdadi, was killed by US forces.
The comedians mocking IS from inside Syria and Iraq A group of Iraqi and Syrian comedians, some of whom live in areas controlled by ISIS, are mocking the extremists online. In one skit, the IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi appears as the animated star of the "Bigh Daddy Show".
Isis driven out of Palmyra as Syrian state forces retake `complete control` of ancient city Monitoring groups call it the biggest single defeat for Isis since it declared a caliphate in June 2014.
I`m from Palmyra, and I can tell you after what I`ve seen that the Assad regime is no better than Isis Mohamed Alkhateb claims that Palmyra has not been liberated. It has just been transferred from one tyranny to another.
Syria: Human rights defender Jdea Abdullah Nawfal arbitrarily arrested and detained The Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR) is very concerned following the arbitrary arrest and detention of Syrian human rights defender Jdea Abdullah Nawfal. He is the executive director of the Syrian Centre for Democracy and Civil Rights.
Syria cease-fire at risk as heavy fighting erupts Syria`s partial cease-fire appeared to be unraveling Saturday (2 April) as fierce fighting between government forces and opposition fighters, including members of the al-Qaida affiliated Nusra Front, erupted outside the country`s second largest city of Aleppo and other parts in the country`s north.
Syria: Mass grave uncovered in recaptured Palmyra At least 40 bodies found in a grave in Palmyra this week, the Syrian Arab News Agency says. Many were women and children, SANA reports, and some show signs of torture. Syrian army forces and militias chased out ISIS on March 27, state-run media said.
Syrian Alawites distance themselves from Assad In a deeply unusual move, leaders of President Bashar al-Assad`s Alawite sect in Syria have released a document, obtained by the BBC, that distances themselves from his regime and outlines what kind of future they wish for the country after five years of civil war.
One woman’s battle to heal her home city of Homs As bombs fell around her, Syrian architect Marwa al-Sabouni stayed in Homs throughout the civil war, making plans to build hope from carnage. Her ideas are now laid out in a visionary memoir. But will anyone listen?
Testimony of a Syrian metalhead with a camera and a stick Syrian, alawite, opposition, war photographer, war wounded. Artino is all, and more. This is his story how he lived the Syrian revolution till now.
Islamic State Planted Thousands of Mines in Palmyra: Syrian Army ISIS militants retreating from Palmyra laid thousands of mines that they planned to set off simultaneously as the army moved in, a Syrian officer told Reuters in the ancient city after its recapture from the jihadist fighters.
Regional and International Perspectives
Assad’s London fixer uses offshore firms to hold luxury London flats Panama Papers reveal businessman linked to Syrian president invested in UK property after his name was taken off EU blacklist.
Report: Russia withdrawal due to disappointment with Iran and Hezbollah Russian forces did not receive the backing on the ground that it expected, and the leadership had deep differences with the Iranians on the direction of the conflict.
Why ISIS Propaganda Works Charlie Winter and Jordan Bach-Lombard write that: “The Islamic State expends huge amounts of energy building this composite narrative because its propaganda is being created for, and directed to, a number of audiences: potential members, sympathizers, enemies, general publics—the list goes on.”
Syria continues to bleed while the Middle East closes its doors Host states impose greater restrictions on refugees’ rights at least partly because Western states aren’t fulfilling their responsibilities.
Daesh and other psychopathic cultures Cleansing every system of pathological tendencies is the only route to peace.
Squeezed At Its Base, ISIS Grows More Dangerous Elsewhere ISIS has been steadily losing territory in its self-declared caliphate in Syria and Iraq. Yet the Brussels bombings again demonstrated the group`s potency much farther afield, from terror attacks in Western Europe and North Africa to seizing control of Libya`s coastal city of Sirte.
How the Kurds Will Save Syria Vijay Prashad and Alter Net write that the minority Syrian Kurds emerges as a likely force for a united Syria.
Turkish officials: Europe wanted to export extremists to Syria Officials point to Europeans arriving in Turkey with weapons and on watchlisted passports and say warnings were ignored.
Syrian refugee children deserve the same welcome I was given in 1939 Alf Dubs writes: on the eve of the second world war Britain offered sanctuary to 10,000 unaccompanied Jewish children. We must show similar compassion now.
Pope Francis washes feet of refugees for Easter Week The traditional Easter Week foot-washing ceremony by the pontiff is meant as a Catholic gesture of service.
The effects of the Syrian crisis demands action, so what role can the fashion industry play? Brandee M. Butler argues that as governments and communities grapple with how to protect and resettle millions of Syrian refugees, global fashion brands have an opportunity to be part of the solution.
In Syria, militias armed by the Pentagon fight those armed by the CIA Syrian militias armed by different parts of the U.S. war machine have begun to fight each other on the plains between the besieged city of Aleppo and the Turkish border, highlighting how little control U.S. intelligence officers and military planners have over the groups they have financed and trained in the bitter five-year-old civil war.
ISIL has its eyes on Al Qaeda’s global network Hassan Hassan writes that "ISIL knows that battle-hardened, experienced and dogmatic Al Qaeda operatives are more valuable to it than the new recruits it has relied on, or the children it is training to become the next generation of committed and resilient adherents."
Hackers with `Syria Ties` Infiltrate Water Utility’s Control System According to The Register, a UK-based news site about tech security and related issues, hackers who had ties to Syria "infiltrated a water utility’s control system and changed the levels of chemicals being used to treat tap water.”
It`s impossible to beat ISIS so long as Erdoğan remains in power in Turkey Michael Rubin writes: "Turkey’s authoritarian president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, is in Washington to participate in a conference regarding strategies to defeat the Islamic State militant group (ISIS). That’s like inviting Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei to a conference about fighting anti-Semitism."
Policy and Reports
Long Sidelined, Women Raise Voices in Geneva “Women are bearing the brunt of the war and keeping the country together,” according to Randa Slim, director of the Middle East Institute`s Initiative for Track II Dialogues. But after years of neglect at the international diplomatic level, Syrian women are finally being heard at the negotiating table in Geneva
De-Urbanising the Syrian Revolt This paper looks at the different social and regional constellations within Syrian society: urban dwellers, provincial inhabitants, tribes, and most notably the immigrants from the countryside to the slums on the outskirts of major cities. It argues that militarising the revolution, which began as a reaction to the heavy handed oppression of the regime, has brought the rifts between these various groups into the open and set the Syrian revolt into a class of its own compared to the other revolts in the Arab world.
Islamic State`s money problems: Column Although airstrikes have hit ISIS hard, coalition must retake territory to attack other ISIS funding.
US Sends the Wrong Message to Turkey Bill Frelick and Alison Parker writes that :"the U.S. has resettled only 955 Syrian refugees this fiscal year. Instead of providing support for the blocking of refugees and asylum seekers, it should improve the asylum process, while working collaboratively to bring an end to the violence and human rights abuse at the root of forced displacement."
Long Sidelined, Women Raise Voices in Geneva “Women are bearing the brunt of the war and keeping the country together,” according to Randa Slim, director of the Middle East Institute`s Initiative for Track II Dialogues. But after years of neglect at the international diplomatic level, Syrian women are finally being heard at the negotiating table in Geneva
New Report Details Rape in Syria`s War (Live Stream) As the war in Syria enters its sixth year, the Syrian Accountability Project (SAP) at Syracuse University College of Law is set to release a groundbreaking report on Thursday about rape throughout the conflict. Syria Deeply will provide a live stream of the presentation and discussion
Gulf Pulse While Gulf states may all be united under the Gulf Cooperation Council name, their individual policies on foreign intervention vary greatly.
Regional Crisis and the War on ISIS An expert panel, by the Middle East Institute (MEI) on Capitol Hill, examines the political crises and armed conflicts in the Middle East and their impact on terrorism, refugee flows, and international security.
UNESCO Director-General and President Vladimir Putin discuss the protection of Palmyra`s cultural heritage Following the liberation of Palmyra, the Director-General of UNESCO, Ms Irina Bokova, discussed with HE Mr Vladimir Putin, President of the Russian Federation, during a telephone conversation on 27 March 2016, the protection and preservation of the cultural heritage of Palmyra.
Documentaries, Special Reports, and Other Media
Syrians rescue German far-right candidate from car crash wreckage NPD thanks asylum-seekers in Hesse who administered first aid to Stefan Jagsch for their ‘humane deed.’
Syrian Teenager Who Pushed Sinking Boat To The Coast Plans To Compete In The Olympics Nine months ago, Yusra Mardini was forced to swim for her life. Now she could be competing in this summer’s Rio Olympics.
New ISIS Video 2016 - Food Security - Agriculture - Administration ISIS published (on Mar 10, 2016) a new propaganda video about Food Security near Aleppo and some aspects that show the work of the Agriculture Administration.
Glenn Greenwald: Cruz, Trump, Clinton "Playing into the Hands" of ISIL After Brussels Bombings Amy Goodman interviews Glenn Greenwald on the US election, the attacks in Brussels and more.
Diala Brisly: Paintings of hope for Syria`s children Artist Diala Brisly fled Syria in 2013. She now lives in Beirut but she`s well known inside Syria for her work on a children`s magazine that, amazingly, is still printed and distributed inside the country. Here`s her story in her own words, followed by some examples of her work.
Isis releases propaganda video celebrating the Brussels attacks Entitled `Humiliation of the Crudaders of Europe`, the film features two Belgian jihadis praising the attacks.
The Unknown Journey of Syria`s RefugeesThe dangerous sea and land crossings that Syrian refugees are making to Europe have been well-documented, but less well known are the equally perilous journeys people take to leave Syria itself. In this first installment of a two-part series, Syria Deeply examines the illegal journey from Damascus to Turkey
Syria civil war: Palmyra damage in pictures New images have emerged from Palmyra, hours after Syrian troops recaptured it from the Islamic State group (ISIS).
Syria conflict - Aleppo`s destruction seen from above Drone footage reveals how much of the rebel-held eastern part of Aleppo - once Syria`s commercial centre - now lies in ruins.
Who’s Killing Civilians In Syria? A look at the data behind the headlines of what the UN calls the “world’s largest humanitarian crisis”
Meet the Group Enabling Syria`s Female Journalists The Syrian Female Journalists’ Network is a non-profit initiative that trains Syrian female journalists and promotes their role in the region`s media. Syria Deeply spoke to co-founder Milia Eidmouni about the network’s work and its plans for women working in Syria’s media.
Here’s What Canadian Winter Looks Like Through The Eyes Of A Syrian Refugee Hani Al Moulia and his family arrived in Regina from a refugee camp. They just experienced their first Canadian winter.
Deconstructing the Refugee Narrative A conversation between Lina Sergie Attar and Molly Crabapple on misrepresentation in the media and the power of storytelling in a war zone.
Arabic Links:
إذًا داعش يرتكب إبادة جماعيّة. ما الخطوة التالية؟ Julian Pecquet writes that Congress expects the US secretary of State`s determination to mean something.
An English version of this article can be found here: So IS is committing genocide. Now what?
أسرى تنظيم الدولة الإسلاميّة في سجون كرديّة... يحاكمون في محاكم خاصّة في سوريا In the Kurdish-controlled areas of Syria, special courts prosecute the Islamic State fighters captured during the battles between the organization and the People`s Protection Units.
An English version of this article can be found here: How Kurds treat Islamic State prisoners
فيلم “نوستالجيا” السوري يحصل على جائزة أفضل فيلم “أنميشن” قصير في مهرجان أفلام دولي A Syrian movie called "Nostalgia" directed by Sofia Maya Dawoudi was awarded Best Animated Short Film in TMC London Film Festival (TMCLFF).
"أنا ضد بشار وضد الثورة" Dalal Bizri criticizes the type of Syrian intellectuals who say they are against both the opposition and the Syrian regim.
شباب الداخل السوري Sawsan Jamil Hassan argues that young people inside Syrian are the most marginalized and underrepresented group in Geneva talks.
«الجيش السوري الإلكتروني» يشغل أميركا: ثلاثة قراصنة على لائحة المطلوبين Two members of the Syrian Electronic Army (SEA) Amad Umar Agha, known online as “The Pro,” and Firas Dardar, known as “The Shadow,” have been placed on FBI most wanted list after charged with multiple conspiracies related to their alleged roles in hijacking the websites and social media platforms of media organizations and the U.S. military.
كيري يطلق «معركة الدستور»... ودمشق تريد انتخاب الرئيس في البرلمان Ibrahim Hamidi writes that the Syrian Regime has prepared new Constitution that suggests president position to be elected in Parliament.
مسؤولية مشتركة عربية غربية عن نمو «داعش» Raghida Dergham argues that the Arab responsibility is on par with others’. The ISIS scourge will haunt generations to come, not only because the Arabs will pay the price for the terrorism being exported from their cities to Europe, the US, Russia, and elsewhere, but also because the terrorism equally targets Arab aspirations to join modernity.
An English translation of this article can be found here: The Joint Responsibility for the ISIS Scourge
الليرة السورية: «نص الألف دولار» Ziad Haidar about the changes of Dollar exchange rate to Syrian pound after the Russian withdrawal from syria.
المراقب العام للجماعة في سوريا لـ «القدس العربي»: الإخوان المسلمون ليسوا إرهابيين وهم أصحاب فكر وسطي وأداء الهيئة العليا للتفاوض مرتبك ومقلق This is an interview with Mohammed Walid, the leader of the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood by Mustafa Mohammed.
انقسام سوري حول إعلان الاكراد (النظام الفيدرالي) شمال البلاد Five years into the Syrian war, Syrian Kurds declare a federal region in the north of the country, which was quickly rejected by Assad’s regime and the Syrian opposition.
An English version of this article can be found here: Who opposes Syrian Kurdish self-rule?
إنقاذ عشرات السوريات من أكبر شبكة دعارة في لبنان Lebanon`s security forces have dismantled the country`s largest known sex trafficking ring and freed 75 women, most of them Syrians.
تدمر.. والسلوك الحضاري Samir Aita reflects on the recent defeat of ISIS in Palmyra and priorities to find peaceful solution for the conflict.
الصراع المعلّق في سورية يفسّر انسحاب روسيا الجزئي Yezid Sayigh comments on the partial Russian military pull-out from Syria announced by President Vladimir Putin on March 14.
An English version of this article can be found here: Suspended Conflict in Syria: Reinterpreting Russia’s Partial Pull-Out