Life in Douma under the bombs By Basem Ameen As usual, the minibus stopped at Al-Jarra checkpoint, one of the many located at the entrances to Douma, in the countryside surrounding Damascus. While I was glancing at the slogans sprayed on walls and armoured vehicles, one neatly-painted phrase caught my attention – “Baba Amr will grieve for you, Douma.” This […]

Whatever goes on in Darayya, it is always full of colour. That is something we have come to expect from this inimitable city, in the governorate of Reef Dimashq, the countryside surrounding Damascus. It happened in 2003, when local activists were arrested for staging unauthorised protests against the American invasion of Iraq, and at the start of Syria’s revolution last […]

It was no accident that Farah was wearing black. She stood at the entrance to one of the security services headquarters where her brother was being held. His friends had told her he resisted arrest, and only gave up when his head and hands were bleeding. She looked at the guards at the information desk and said, “I’ve come to […]

There’s been no news of Fida for days now – nothing written up on the walls, no one has seen him at a demonstration, and there hasn’t been any news of him being arrested, either. Fida is a Salafi, a follower of the Muslim school of thought that seeks to emulate the “predecessors”, the companions and followers of the Prophet […]