[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
Currency crash adds to Syrians’ woes The crash in the Syrian pound’s value against foreign currencies has resulted in higher food prices and increased demand for other currencies.
Syrian PM says Russia to back new Aleppo attack; opposition says truce near collapse The Russian air force and Syrian military are preparing a joint operation to take Aleppo from rebels, the Syrian prime minister was quoted saying on Sunday, and an opposition official said a ceasefire was on the verge of collapse.
‘Panama Papers’ Expose Dirty Dealings in Syria The leak of millions of documents from Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca shows how Syrian companies and regime insiders were able to hide their assets in offshore companies. One of the worst offenders is none other than Bashar al-Assad’s cousin Rami Makhlouf.
ISIS captures hundreds of Syrian cement factory workers, report says ISIS-affiliated militants captured more than 300 workers and contractors at a cement factory in Syria near Damascus.
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.
Palmyra experts fear relics will be rebuilt as ancient Disneyland Some of the world’s leading experts on Syrian archeology have warned against hastily rebuilding monuments shattered by Islamic State for fear of creating a “Disneyland” in Palmyra.
Daraya Women: We are on the verge of witnessing deaths from starvation An urgent call to the world by the women of the besieged town of Daraya; followed by a letter in solidarity with the women of Daraya.
No Safety in the City of Salamiyya! The city of Salamiyya lives in fear these days. People are too scared to leave their homes. The streets are empty and quiet, and most of the city’s young men have left in order to avoid serving in the regime’s army.
Fears for more than 300 civilians `captured by Isis` at cement factory in Syria ISIS militants overran the Al Badia cement plant during an advance north-east of Damascus.
Where Is My Brother, Adel? Ali Barazi writes the story of his brother Adel Barazi who “was 28 years’ old when he was arrested on 11 August 2012. A group of armed uniformed men raided his family’s house and arrested Adel and three other family members and friends without presenting any official warrant or giving any information about the reason for their arrest.”
Regional and International Perspectives
Finding Alternative Routes to Europe Following the plan by the EU and Turkey to turn back refugees, many are looking for alternative ways to reach Europe. Syria Deeply explores a new path to the continent that starts on the other side of the Atlantic, in South America.
Does the removal of top jihadists weaken ISIL? Hassan Hassan argues that the killing of top jihadists does not have a significant impact on the battlefield, but rather, impacts the changing ideological outlook.
Can the Islamic State be defeated without Kurds? Turkey insists Rojava’s People’s Protection Units must be excluded from the fight against the Islamic State on the Menbic-Jarablus front.
How the Middle East and North Africa can benefit from low oil prices Low oil prices are inducing substantial policy changes in the Middle East and North Africa that will help the region overcome many of the problems it has been plagued with for a while.
Syria: Al-Assad Family’s Massive Stolen Wealth in Panama Papers helps explain Revolution Juan Cole writes: "The revelation in the leaked Panama Papers that Mossack Fonseca and Swiss bank HSBC serviced the companies of corrupt Syrian billionaire Rami Makhlouf (first cousin of dictator Bashar al-Assad) long after the US imposed sanctions on him is a reminder of why Syrians revolted against the regime in 2011 in the first place."
Bashar Assad`s Pivot to Palmyra Paul Salem argues: "There are currently three tracks in the Syrian civil war: the cessation of hostilities between the government and the opposition; the negotiations in Geneva; and the war against the Islamic State group."
Islamic State nets millions from antiquities - Russia Islamic State militants in Syria and Iraq are netting between $150 million and $200 million a year from illicit trade in plundered antiquities, Russia`s ambassador to the United Nations said in a letter released on Wednesday (6 April, 2016).
Syrians Struggle to Find Place to Bury Their Kin in Lebanon With many cemeteries almost full, Syrians are facing difficulties finding places where they can bury their loved ones who die in Lebanon.
Iraqi forces push Islamic State out of key city in Anbar province Iraqi security forces pushed Islamic State fighters from the western city of Hit on Monday 11 April, raising the Iraqi flag over the local municipal building and dealing another blow to the group’s weakening self-proclaimed caliphate.
A better way to keep kids from joining ISIS: talk to them Navaid Aziz’s own grassroots work offers a potential blueprint for effectively preventing homegrown extremism.
Syrian journalist attacked by ISIL in Turkey dies Mohammed Zahir al-Sherqat, a Syrian journalist who was shot in the Turkish city of Gaziantep in an attack claimed by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) has died from his wounds.
Fragile Syria cease-fire under strain Laura Rozen writes about the ways in which the US and Russia are trying to salvage an increasingly fragile Syria cease-fire.
Policy and Reports
Rights Advocates Demand Safety for Syrian Women Following Lebanon Human Trafficking Reports Calls for greater protection of Syrian refugee women following reports of human trafficking ring operating out of Lebanon.
Syrian Academics in Exile As the turmoil in Syria boils over and millions of people flee to relative safety abroad, Syrian academia is in danger of being decimated.
Steps Toward Stabilising Syria’s Northern Border On both sides of the Syria-Turkey border, uncompromising strategies are propelling further escalation and spillover of a dangerous conflict. Turkey is confronting both an ever-more implacable insurgency of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) as well as advances in Syria of PKK affiliates like the People’s Protection Units (YPG).
Baby Steps on the Long Road to Justice for Atrocities in Syria JURIST Guest Columnist Neil Sammonds, a Syria Researcher at Amnesty International, discusses the upcoming negotiations and possible solutions regarding the violence in Syria.
The Assad Files Capturing the top-secret documents that tie the Syrian regime to mass torture and killings.
Documentaries, Special Reports, and Other Media
Surrounded on all sides, the Syrian revolution continues Authors Leila Al-Shami and Robin Yassin-Kassab explore the political and social landscape of revolutionary Syria - from the Assad regime`s suicide pact with the prospect of economic reform, to the enduring goals of Syrian civil society in the crossfire between the state and the jihadists it sustains - and explains why foreign intervention in the conflict has empowered the conflict itself, not the prospects for freedom and democracy that drive the Syrian revolutionaries.
Starvation in Syria remains weapon of war despite partial ceasefire NGOs say less aid reaching besieged areas, with reports of new deaths by starvation and widespread malnutrition.
Syrian independent media offers bold challenge to extremism On January 10, the Nusra Front, an al-Qaeda-affiliated terrorist group in Syria, stormed the headquarters of Radio Fresh in Kafranbel and arrested its director Raed al-Fares and journalist Hadi Abdullah.
The Kindness of Strangers Mohammad and Sahar found a second chance for their young family – thanks to five Canadian couples who have sponsored their resettlement to British Columbia.
Fleeing Violence, Syrian Women Try to Cope in Turkey and Lebanon The women, who are in their 40s, paid the equivalent of about $150 to people smugglers to bring them across the border to Turkey. Their arrival, however, did not offer much relief from violence as refugees and the countries in the region hosting them remains the most compelling humanitarian challenge facing the world today.
Finding Alternative Routes to Europe Following the plan by the EU and Turkey to turn back refugees, many are looking for alternative ways to reach Europe. Syria Deeply explores a new path to the continent that starts on the other side of the Atlantic – in South America.
Arabic Links:
ما بين جورج طرابيشي وأدونيس Musa Barhouma reflects on the death of Georges Tarabichi, and compares between his legacy and Adunis latest political stands.
مقتل القاضي الشرعي الأول في تنظيم “داعش” بالرقة Raqqa Is Being Slaughtered Silently reports that Abu Ali al-Shari a prominent ISIS judge was killed by airstrikes on Sunday 10 April.
نداء عاجل للعالم من نساء داريا: نحن على وشك الموت جوعاً Women from the Syrian town of Darya issue a public statement to save the town and its citizens.
معاناة نساء العراق تحت حُكم "داعش" The extremist armed group Islamic State should urgently release Yezidi women and girls they abducted in 2014, Human Rights Watch said on 5 April, following new research with recent escapees who were raped and traded between members before they fled.
An English version of this article can be found here: Iraq: Women Suffer Under ISIS
اليرموك: صراع الأجيال وتدمير مجتمع العصاة Faker Al Deen writes about conflict of generations among Palestinian refugees in Yarmouk Camp in Syria.
An English version of this article can be found here: Yarmouk: a disaster bigger than a camp
هكذا كانت الحياة في سوريا في التسعينيات، هل تذكرونها؟ An overview of social and cultural aspects of life in Syria during the 1990s.
دبلوماسية سورية وابنة أبرز وزير إعلام في عهد حافظ الأسد تروي قصة انشقاقها: كنت شاهدة على مجزرتين Lama Ahmad a Syrian diplomat, who defected from the Syrian regime and resides now in Germany, shares her story.
نساء معرة النعمان والخوف من المستقبل Ammar Daiub writes about the resistance of the women of Maarrat al-Nu`man against Al-Nusra Front.
الجسد المختوم أو عبء المرأة المسلمة Yassin al-Haj Saleh writes about extremist Islamist groups attempts to control Syrian women in public spaces.
انخفاض قيمة الليرة السوريّة يؤثّر سلباً على المواطنين The crash in the Syrian pound’s value against foreign currencies has resulted in higher food prices and increased demand for other currencies.
An English version of this article can be found here: Currency crash adds to Syrians’ woes