[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.]
Regional and International Perspectives:
The Syrian Uprising Through Palestinian Eyes Budour Hassan’s thought-provoking piece in which she deconstructs the myth “that supporting the Palestinian struggle and the Syrian intifada are mutually exclusive.”
October Peace Surprise in Syria Kaveh L Afrasiabi explores the feasibility of the ceasefire proposed by Brahimi.
Syria’s Lebanese Rebels: Trying Their Hand at Revolution Afif Diab says Lebanese fighters and smugglers are “playing a growing role in the Syrian civil war.”
Turkish Regional Test: Rhetoric and Actions Hosam Matar outlines a few factors that explain Turkey’s dilemma in dealing with the Syrian case.
Syrian Refugee Crisis: Expecting the Worse Nasser Charara says Lebanon has no plan to accommodate Syrians seeking refuge in the country.
Syrian Narratives:
Syria: Neo-anti-imperialism vs Reality Vicken Cheterian says “the classical leftist thinkers were always conscious of the interrelation between local struggles and the international balance of forces. Their modern successors tend to separate the two levels.”
Syria`s Revolution: Bloodied but Unbowed Simon Assaf argues that the revolution remains non-sectarian and popular.
The Violence of the Revolution Between Legitimacy and Deviance: Syria and the Need for Corrective Action Hoda Zein argues that “both sides — the ruler and the ruled, the oppressor and the oppressed— are today destroying the basis and foundations of the state, and are threatening the national unity of the country.”
Abdul Aziz al-Khayir: Decades of Confronting the Baath Thaer Deeb draws a portrait of this opposition figure who was arrested last month in Damascus.
The Lebanonization of Syria is a real possibility according to David Lesch.
The Syrian Sectarian Delusion James Casey says “the longer world leaders reduce Syria’s problems solely to sectarian conflict, the more unpredictable and dangerous the situation there could become.”
The Kingdom of Silence and Humiliation Ahed al Hendi remembers his childhood under Hafez al Assad.
Karl Remarks Calls on the SNC to Set up Base Inside Karl Sharro on Brahimi’s announcement, the US position and the potential post-Assad transition period.
In Syria`s war, Long-repressed Minority Finds New Freedom Alexander Christie-Miller on the new divides in Kurdish areas in the north of Syria.
Inside Syria:
A Night Tale – A True Story by Michel Kilo
Salafis in Syria: Half the Story Rita meets with fighters who explain that they adhere to the Salafi way not because they believe in a Salafi interpretation of Islam, but “to get funding from Gulf countries and some Salafi clerics based in Tripoli.”
Interview with Members of the “National Unity Brigades” of the FSA, a recently formed unit, which prides itself on being non-sectarian.
Guerilla Country Damien Spleeters follows a Syrian rebel around Jabal Zawiyah as he moves from village to village to find an affordable gun.
Daraya: A Town Haunted by the Price of Defiance Phil Sands returns to Daraya and asks its citizens about their recollection of the events.
Scenes from a Syrian City under Siege
Syrians Queueing to Escape Anas Zarzar on the precarious situation of the displaced refugees inside Syria.
Art and Social Media:
Syria’s Civil Conflict in Pictures A photo gallery provided by Maysun.
Assassination of Paradise A short clip on a lost childhood.
Syria’s Revolutionary Cartoons Featuring the work of the Facebook group Comic4Syria.
Syrian Artist Draws the Faults of a Divided Country Rima Marrouch speaks with Juan Zero, a Syrian caricaturist who “represents a new generation of political cartoonists in Syria who draw on a tradition of artistic satire that existed before the Baath Party came to power in the 1960s .”
Fatima’s Head Ziad Majed says the artwork that emerged on Facebook after the death of Fatima probably aimed to “compensate for this horrifying silence” after the death of this young girl from Jabal Zawiyah.
Skype Becomes Operations Center for Syrian Rebels
Video From Syria Alerts Activist To His Father`s Death
Syrian Writer Samar Yazbek: "A Woman Like me Makes Life Difficult" An interview with the writer who is now exiled in France.
The Media War in Syria Malik al Abdeh says the two opposite sides are fighting a war over images and narratives which is exacerbated by the use of social media.
Policy and Reports:
Tentative Jihad: Syria`s Fundamentalist Opposition International Crisis Group’s report on the Salafi strand among rebels “prematurely and exaggeratedly highlighted by the regime and belatedly and reluctantly acknowledged by the opposition.”
Syrian Jihadism Aron Lund’s report on the presence of jihadi groups in Syria.
HRW Calls on Turkey and Iraq to Open Borders to Syrian Refugees
Events:
NYC Event: Three Jadaliyya Co-Editors on The Uprising in Syria at The Brecht Forum (22 October 2012)
Arabic:
أنا أو لا أحـد
Hayfa Bitar writes in response to some letters attacking famous Arab artists and deems them to be traitors in the Syrian context.
«غربة» السوريين لم تعد مسرحية
Yousef Abadalaki writes about the detention of Abd Alaziz Al-Khayer.
البورجوازية السورية وقضايا الثورة
Munther Khaddam writes about the role of the Syrian bourgeoisie in the context of the current revolution in the country.
المؤتمر الوطني لإنقاذ سورية- الطموح والواقع
Majed Habbo writes a review about the national peace conference to save Syria.
Abd al-Bari Atwan writes about the political situation in Turkey
Asad Abu Khalil criticizes an article written by Hazem Saghiyeh on Al-Hayat.
استراتيجية النظام: سد أبواب التسوية سلمياً
Michel Kilo writes about the Assad regime`s strategy in facing the uprisings in Syria.
سـوريـون فـي مـصـر
Fayez Sarah writes about Syrians in Egypt.
Majed Habbo writes about the implications of the authoritarian regime on Syrian society.
الامريكيون في الاردن والهدف سورية
Abd Al-Bari Atwan writes about the presence of American special forces on the Jordanian border to Syria in order to "help the government with the extreme refugee flows it is experiencing."
عام على مجلس اسطنبول: من سيبقى في المركب الذي يغرق؟
Mohammad Sayyed Rasas writes about the Syrian opposition after a year since the creation of the Syrian National Council.
عنف الثورة بين الشرعية والانحراف: سوريا وضرورة التصحيح
Hoda Zein reframes the debate about armed vs. non-violent resistance in the context of the Syrian uprisings, and reasserts the need for correction and critical thinking among the opposition.
الانقسام السوري ليس طائفيا فحسب تصدعات ايدولوجية داخل العارضة
Assafir rejects the simplistic analysis of the Syrian struggle as being influenced by mere sectarian tensions between Sunnis and Alawites.
تركيا الحائرة بين الأكراد وسوريا
Kamal Deeb writes about the Turkish dilemma between its problems with the Kurdish minority in Turkey and the Syrian situation across the border.
معارضون يتساءلون... ومن يصلح «الجيش السوري الحر»؟!
Tarek Al-Abed criticizes militarization and the Free Syrian Army.
امل هنانو :نشوة الثورة
Amal Hanano writes a personal account about the deteriorating sense of euphoria that people used to feel when speaking about the revolution in Syria.