Raheel Ibrahim The Latakia sports stadium has been transformed into a bustling tent city, as some 2,500 internally displaced Syrians taking refuge there struggle to eke out a living and rebuild a sense of normalcy for themselves and their families. Mohammad has turned his tent into a makeshift barber shop, while his neighbour, Ahmed, advertises telephone recharge cards on his. […]

Youssef Kanaan “We revolted against tyranny because it poisons and disregards our lives,” says the poet and writer Mohamad Dibo, 36, explaining why he stopped actively participating in the uprising after the initial peaceful protest movement devolved into war. “In a peaceful struggle, the probability of getting arrested is about ninety percent, with a ten percent chance of being killed,” […]

Syrian opposition supporters were angered by a speech made by Iranian clergyman Mehdi Taeb, the head of Ammar, a state-sponsored centre for strategic studies. Taeb was reported to have said on Thursday, February 14 that Syria is the 35th Iranian province, and that if Iran was forced to choose between defending either Syria or the southern Khouzestan province, it should […]

Raafat al-Ghanim Zahra is 25 years old and has never seen her hometown Aleppo, or any other part of Syria for that matter. Zahra was born in Baghdad after her family relocated following the Baath regime’s violent purge of the Muslim Brotherhood in the 1980’s. When the First Gulf War broke out in 1990, the family moved from Baghdad to […]

As an activist living inside Syria, I imagined Syrians living in Istanbul sleeping in fancy hotels and living comfortably. Activists inside Syria have even come up with a name for this kind of activist — the ‘hotel opposition’. They are said to receive unconditional material and political support from certain international parties involved with the Syrian revolution.

Alia Ahmed The Syrian constitution and laws contain many articles that are unjust to women and treat them unequally compared to men. Although the constitution was amended soon after the start of the protest movement in Syria, these changes did not abolish any of the discriminatory statutes, neither in the constitution nor in any other legal texts.

Damascus is witnessing an “Epic Battle”, according to the Free Syrian Army, FSA. This offensive was launched by the FSA on Wednesday, February 6 in an attempt to break the regime’s control over the Syrian capital. So far there has been no major breakthrough and reports about fighting inside and around Damascus became scarce as of yesterday (Tuesday, February 12). […]

Raheel Ibrahim A story is circulating among the people of Burjan, a village south of the coastal city of Jablah. It is the story of Abu Jaafar who went to Jablah when a family he knew was blessed with a baby boy. But this visit was not like any regular visit just to celebrate the birth of a child. Abu […]

Jean Boland Exhibitions dedicated to showcasing the work of Syrian artists have proliferated since the outbreak of the crisis, from Beirut to Cairo to the cities of the Gulf, not to mention the United States and Europe. However, this preoccupation with Syrian art ignores the reality that Syria is no longer big enough for this art.

Aleppo witnessed a horrifying scene on Tuesday, January 29; more than 80 dead bodies of men of different ages were pulled out from the Quweiq River in the rebel-controlled Bustan Al-Qasr area. Most of the bodies were hand-tied with a single shot in the head, which led to the belief that they were executed. The government accused the Al-Nusra […]