[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
Education Suffers on Both Sides of Divided Aleppo Education suffers in Aleppo due to the continuous battle for control, school curriculums are constantly altered on both sides of divided Aleppo by the regime and its opponents.
Syria to UN: Peace-Loving Nations Must Act Against Terrorism Syrian Foreign Ministry urges the global community to work with the Syrian government and fight terrorism and extremist groups in a letter to the UN.
Syrian rebels `attack main Jordan crossing` “Syrian rebels fought fierce clashes with regime forces Wednesday over the last border crossing with Jordan still in government hands.”
Syria is blocking aid to thousands of its civilians, UN is warned Ruth Sherlock reports that although Bashar al-Assad says he is "open" to "dialogue", his government continues to besiege tens of thousands of civilians, who are at risk of starvation and death.
The Islamic State`s child soldiers The Islamic State has been recruiting child soldiers in preparation for a new generation of extremist fighters.
Mazen Darwish is imprisoned in Syria for speaking a language of freedom Yara Bader writes about her husband Mazen Darwish, a Syrian human rights activist and defender of journalism, who is about to mark his third year in detainment. She urges readers to stand up for him and others like him.
Mazen Darwish Honored With World Press Freedom Prize Detained Syrian journalist wins UNESCO World Press Freedom Prize.
Syrian girl `surrenders`: The story of the child who mistook a camera for a gun Megan Levy discusses a photograph of the four-year-old girl Hudea, at the Atmeh refugee camp in Syria, which has been described as the image that broke the internet`s heart.
As-Salamiyah Coordination Committee: A Response to Suleiman Hraki Coordination Committee issues statement denouncing remarks by Coalition member Suleiman al-Hraki regarding the massacre committed by ISIS against civilians in al-Maboujah (Salamiyah).
Regional and International Perspectives
To Go or Not to Go: Syria’s Opposition and the Paris, Cairo, and Moscow Meetings Aron Lund claims “Syrian exile politics always seemed a curiously virtual world, reflecting events on the ground while detached from them. But the splits and deals among the dissidents are not without importance.”
Syria pledging conference: Three key trends Elizabeth Dickinson discusses the key trends towards humanitarian relief for the Syrian Crisis.
Iraq and Syria are `finishing schools` for foreign extremists, says UN report The number of fighters joining the Islamic State and al-Qaida increases according to UN report.
Iraq Isn`t the Right Front A Syria-First Strategy to Fight ISIS Hassan Hassan comments on the battle for Tikrit against ISIS and argues that the real battlefield on which to fight ISIS is in Syria.
The Children of ISIS Janet Reitman follows the story of three American kids from the suburbs of Chicago who tried to join ISIS and questions if the Feds should treat them as terrorists.
Stop the ‘barrel bombs’ in Syria Raed al Saleh urges the international community to campaign to stop the bombs in Syria— with the imposition of a no-fly zone, if necessary.
Syria’s Romeo & Juliet at Zaatari Camp Syrian actor and director Nawwar Bulbul premiered “Romeo & Juliet” at the Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan, which was entirely performed by Syrian refugee children living in the camp.
What`s distracting us from the Syrian conflict? Omar Imady reflects on the fourth anniversary of the Syrian Uprising, and demonstrates that currently "the Syrian Uprising is far more about the fight against ISIL than about the suffering of Syrians on either side of the conflict" with no one adamant attempt to stop this suffering.
Syria is Rapidly Heading for De Facto Long-Term Partition: Idlib, the Stalemate and the Grand Bargain Shortly before the fall of Idlib, Samir Altaqi and Esam Aziz analyzed the possibility of a long-term de facto partition in Syria.
I nearly drowned in chocolate The BBC shares the story of a Syrian refugee who made his 18th attempt to stow away in a tank of melted chocolate bound for the UK.
Policy and Reports
ISIL’s Yarmouk offensive has profound implications Hassan Hassan on the strategic implications of the ISIS offensive in the Palestinian refugee camp in Yarmouk, and what this means for Syria’s civil war.
The hidden hand behind the Islamic State militants? Saddam Hussein’s Liz Sly on the similarities between ISIS’s ideology and Saddam Hussein’s Ba’ath Party rule. They overlap in their “reliance on fear to secure the submission of the people under the group’s rule.”
The State of the Islamic State Mona Alami discusses ISIS’s strategy and its rapid increase in the Middle East region.
The View From Without: Syria & Its Neighbours In this recent issue of Syria Studies journal, the focus is on recent political dynamics involving Turkey and Lebanon, and the findings consistently point to just how charged and often hostile Syria’s relationships with its neighbours have been. Özden Zeynep Oktav writes "The Syrian Civil War and Turkey-Syria-Iran Relations," Tine Gade writes "Sunni Islamists in Tripoli and the Asad regime 1966-2014," and Taku Osoegawa writes "Coping with Asad: Lebanese Prime Ministers’ Strategies"
Activism in Difficult Times: WILPF Holds a Side Event on Civil Society in Syria A few weeks ago, the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom. (WILPF) held a side event to the 28th session of the Human Rights Council on activism in Syria, which brought together two Syrian researchers and activists: Oula Ramadan and Rana Khalaf, co-authors of the Activism in Difficult Times report, which provides both a quantitative and qualitative mapping of civil society organizations in Syria during the period of 2011 – 2014.
The full text of the report can be found here: Activism in Difficult Times report
Documentaries, Special Reports, and Other Media
President al-Assad: The West has not changed policy, intervention in terrorists’ favor must stop for a solution to succeed Full Assad interview to TASS Russian new agency. Assad claims “West intervention must stop for a solution.”
Map: Which countries are giving their fair share for Syria? Interactive map of donor nations for Syria’s crisis.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on 60 Minute Charlie Rose interviews Bashar al-Assad as a four-year-old civil war drags on in which his regime has been accused of devastating attacks on civilians.
EARTH: IS ANYBODY OUT THERE? Planet Syria is a campaign by non-violent Syrian activists to engage people around the world in solidarity to stop violence and extremism.
Global Week #4Syria Crowdfunding Campaign In April, Syrian musicians alongside more than two hundred international musicians, visual and performing artists, cultural activists, philosophers and other European, American and Middle Eastern intellectuals will join in the Global Week for Syria, a multi-disciplinary call for peace and reconciliation in Syria.
Images, Ethics, Action: Online Video, Human Rights and Civic Activism in Syria Thomas Keenan moderates a discussion with Yassin al Haj Saleh and Eliot Higgins (Brown Moses), on the situation in Syria by focusing on images from the war in Syria.
Siege/ حصار “ "The Siege" is the outcome of a workshop via Skype with twelve young people under siege in South Damascus since almost a year and a half. This film expresses four daily realities of this siege. While finalizing their films, the situation in Yarmouk got worse and it became difficult for them to meet together. They persevered and here are their intimate reflections”
صور: قناصات الجيش السوري في الخطوط الأمامية في مواجهة المعارضين المسلحين France 24 reports about a squad of female Syrian army snipers that operates on Damascus front lines.
من طلائع البعث الى طلائع الدعش .. المدارس السورية في اسطنبول In this broadcasting of What`s up program at Watan FM, the presenter discusses the situation of Syrian schools in Istanbul and the case of expelling a Syrian girl due to “moral” accusations related to hijab and sexual orientation.
سالم أبو النصر من سجون النظام إلى سجون الثورة This Arabic video, with English subtitle, tells the story of a Syrian doctor Salem Abu-Nasr who was arrested twice, once by the Syrian regime and once by Syrian opposition in Aleppo.
Arabic
الإذاعات الثّورية لا تغطي المناطق المحررة ! Hossam Koafaty discusses the coverage of some revolutionary Radio stations inside "liberated areas."
فلسطينيات سوريات.. إلى غزة من جديد Tagrid Atallah highlights the suffering of Syrian Palestinian women.
السوريون في لبنان: شبح التطرف Mazen Azi writes about the depressing situation of Syrian refugees in Lebanon and the temptation of extremism.
واقع إغاثة دير الزور في عهد الخليفة Hussam Al-Jaber discusses the humanitarian situation in Deir ez-Zor under the domination of ISIS.
لا تتجدّد الثورة بحملة "ارفع علم ثورتك" وحدها Ammar Daioub discusses a recent campaign “raise your revolution flag.”
أم نزار تتحدى القدر قبل الثورة وبعدها Ekhlas Hamoud shares the story of Um Nizar and the challenges that she face before and after the uprising.
الفرق الموسيقية السورية: نصف تفاحة في يد الثورة Wafa Alloush writes about the identity of Syrian songs after the uprising.
هل قلتم "تحرير" إدلب؟ Tariq Azizeh questions the "liberation" of Idlib and draws some lessons learned from Raqqah.
الطيار السوري بين العصب العلوي والثقافة الأكثروية Hazem Amin comments on the news of shooting down a regime helicopter in Idlib by al-Nusra Front and capturing its crew including the pilot.
الطبقة، القوم، الجنس، الطائفة.. وكَتَبَةُ الثورة السورية Thaer Deep provides an insight into the definition of class, nation, gender and community, and criticizes the dominant misconception.
إلى داعش... الإنترنت أم الجدران العازلة؟ Fatima al-Issawi discusses the influences of factors like Internet usage and cultural isolation on ISIS`s online recruitment efforts that target young people.
ظهور داعش.... ربّ ضارة نافعة، آن الأوان لرفع الغطاء عن الاسلام الموروث Muhammad Shahrour criticizes the phenomenon of ISIS and the authority of hadith by providing Quranist analysis.
الديكتاتور ووالدتي وحذأئي..رحلة حذيفة من سوريا إلى هولندا The BBC shares the story of Huzaifa, a Syrian refugee who fled to Netherlands, who kept his favorite shoes as a reminder of Syria.
المبعوجة.. شهداء مدنيون أم شبيحة؟ Hasan Arfeh comments the massacre committed by ISIS against civilians in al-Maboujah Northeast Salamiyah City.