Syria: When war meets bushfires (The National)
My childhood friend, now a ghost
18 September 2020
“The images of bushfires in the US this month in California and Oregon were harrowing and apocalyptic. Orange, smoke-filled skies, blazing fonts of fire dotting the forested landscape, soot-covered firefighters sweating with exhaustion. This year has been unrelenting, and the scorched earth appeared to be a metaphor of the state of the world.”
The south Syria deal: Two years later (Center for Global Policy)
“Two years since the deal was struck, the region remains violent and insecure. Opposition leaders have been frustrated with a lack of local autonomy, Jordan is still unable to relocate refugees in large numbers, and Iran’s continued presence is prompting Israeli airstrikes. As diplomatic attention turns to Syrian opposition forces in the country’s northwest, it is important to examine Washington’s gambit in abandoning its support of local forces in the south.”
A letter to the Progressive International (Al-Jumhuriya)
“To understand Syria greatly helps us understand the world today, and I believe the failure of understanding and analysis is worse than the failure of solidarity with the subaltern millions in the country. I mean not to be harsh, but most of the prevailing analysis is truly pathetic, showing rare levels of oversimplification and poverty of knowledge: sheer ignorance, in short. One cannot but be amazed at the active worldlessness that has been rebellious Syrians’ lot: to be told that Putinist Russia’s protection of a genocidal regime is legitimate; or to hear sympathy expressed for a serial murderer like Iran’s Qassem Soleimani, rather than the victims on whose blood he walked victoriously in Aleppo and many other parts of Syria.”
Netherlands puts Syria on notice for human rights abuses (Deutsche Welle)
“The Netherlands on Friday said it would hold Syria responsible for ‘gross human rights violations,’ including the use of chemical weapons against civilians and systematic torture.
In an act that could trigger a case at the UN's top court, Dutch officials invoked the UN Convention against Torture, saying the Syrian regime led by President Bashar al-Assad must be held responsible for committing atrocities against the Syrian people.”
Syria’s 100 Dollar barrier to return (Human Rights Watch)
“One man, who has been living in Lebanon with his family, tried to return to Syria after losing his job, but having to pay $100 for each of his relatives was too much. As a day laborer in Lebanon, he barely made $150 a month before the devaluation of the Lebanese currency. He said he could have sold all his furniture and still would not have enough for them all to return.”
