We, the Syria Page Editors at Jadaliyya, are furnishing this Syria Uprising post with resources that appeared on our pages since 2011, including articles, reviews, reports, and podcasts. No selection would come close to doing justice both to the Syrian calamity nor to the breadth of knowledge production produced on Syria. However, as many of us are enjoying the fruits of social-distancing, this selection might be welcome reading to recall and learn more about Syria’s past nine years.
After nine years of suffering where Syrians have been battered by multiple militaries, paramilitaries, and foreign fighters, with the Syrian regime leading the charge, the country is shattered. The uprising for democracy turned into a regional and international theatre of conflict, death, and destruction, with more than half a million Syrians dead, and more than half of the population displaced. The Syrian regime, with the support of its backers, remains standing yet severely incapacitated and presides over scars of a country. The last remaining stronghold of the rebels who spearheaded the military fight against the regime is the Idlib province, which continues to be bombarded by the regime and its Russian allies, punctuated by cease-fires and attempts at de-escalation, brokered primarily with Turkey. Beyond the battlefield, numerous social, economic, infrastructural, archeological, and psychological challenges confront Syrians and with the current crises in neighboring Iraq and Lebanon, as well as the impact of COVID-19, there does not seem to be a light at the end of the medium-term tunnel. However, we believe engagement with and attention to the plight of Syrians remains as important as ever.
Articles and Reports:
- Litmus Test Rowdiness in Damascus Today (Video) (February 17, 2011)
- Regional "Contagion" in the Arab World: For "Good" or "Worse?" (March 18, 2011)
- Conflict Risk Alert: Syria (March 26, 2011)
- Why Syria Is not Next . . . so far [With Arabic Translation] (March 9, 2011)
- The Meaning of "Syrian Opposition Figures Urge Peaceful Change" Story from Reuters (March 28, 2011)
- Waiting for Death: I Will Not Carry Flowers to my Grave (April 2, 2011)
- Protests on the Rise Again in Syria: A Report from Jadaliyya Affiliate in Damascus (April 8, 2011)
- Syria: Quickly Going Beyond the Point of No Return (May 5, 2011)
- Funeral of Tortured Syrian Child Hamza al-Khatib (Video) (May 31, 2011)
- The Largest Demonstration in Hama Ends with Blood, and Signals a Shift (June 5, 2011)
- Syria and Hizballah (June 12, 2011)
- That Was Hama in 1982. This Is Syria in 2011 (June 26, 2011)
- The Syrian Regime's Slow-motion Suicide (July 28, 2011)
- Fear of Arrest (August 6, 2011)
- The Space Between: March 14, March 8 and a Politics of Dissent (August 6, 2011)
- Syria's Torment (August 11, 2011)
- The Syrian "Common": The Uprising of the Working Society (August 14, 2011)
- The Makers of the Revolution (August 17, 2011)
- Report of the UN Fact-Finding Mission to Syria Pursuant to Human Rights Council Resolution S-16/1 (August 19, 2011)
- For Syria, What is "Left?" (Part 1) (August 30, 2011)
- Syrian Local Coordinating Committees on Taking Up Arms and Foreign Intervention (August 31, 2011)
- Escaping Mumana'a and the US-Saudi Counter-Revolution: Syria, Yemen, and Visions of Democracy (Interview with Fawwaz Traboulsi) (September 2, 2011)
- Deadly Detention: Deaths in Custody and Popular Protest in Syria (September 23, 2011)
- The Dynamics of the Uprising in Syria (October 19, 2011)
- Portraits of a People (October 31, 2011)
- Conflict Risk Alert: Syria's Tipping Point (November 3, 2011)
- Burhan Ghalioun Address to the Syrian People (Video and Translated Transcript) (November 5, 2011)
- A Syrian Activist in Hiding: Democracy Now! Interview with Razan Zaitouneh (November 14, 2011)
- Uncharted Waters: Thinking Through Syria's Dynamics (November 24, 2011)
- Religion/Morality, Syria/Resistance: For Syria, What is "Left?" (Part 2 of 3) (November 30, 2011)
- The Plot Thickens: Ghalyoun's “Ill-Conceived” Statements in the WSJ Interview (December 5, 2011)
- Quiet Crossings, Kinship, and Intimacy in Lebanon and Northeast Syria (December 6, 2011)
- American Empire and the Good Life: Hypocrisy and Fantasy at Home and Abroad (December 7, 2011)
- The Case Against Military Intervention in Syria (January 4, 2012)
- The Idiot's Guide to Fighting Dictatorship in Syria While Opposing Military Intervention (January 20, 2012)
- The Syrian Revolution on Four Packs a Day (February 7, 2012)
- The Israeli Position Toward Events in Syria (February 11, 2012)
- Syria's Cyber Operations (February 15, 2012)
- Sowing the Seeds of Dissent: Economic Grievances and the Syrian Social Contract’s Unraveling (February 16, 2012)
- Notes on the Syrian Uprisings (Part 1) (February 16, 2012)
- The Syria Leaks (February 22, 2012)
- The End of Taking the Syrian Revolution at Face Value (February 29, 2012)
- Hama: Post-Massacre (March 7, 2012)
- Opposition to the Syrian Opposition: Against the Syrian National Council (March 7, 2012)
- Syrian Pound at 90 per Dollar as Government Intervenes (March 10, 2012)
- The Syrian Regime's Business Backbone (March 22, 2012)
- The Day Hafez al-Assad Died (April 10, 2012)
- Hizbollah's Position on the Syrian Uprising: Julian Assange Interview with Hasan Nasrallah (Video) (April 17, 2012)
- Syria's Phase of Radicalisation (April 19, 2012)
- After Daraa; Syrian Art Today (April 29, 2012)
- Syrian Parliamentary Elections: Cynicism Wins The Day (May 8, 2012)
- Prelude to an Uprising: Syrian Fictional Television and Socio-Political Critique (May 17, 2012)
- Al-Jazeera's (R)Evolution? (May 20, 2012)
- Houla: Not a Game Changer (June 5, 2012)
- Syria's Creative Resistance (June 8, 2012)
- Syrian Refugee in Wadi Khaled (In both Arabic and English) (June 13, 2012)
- Hafez Al-Assad in 1976 (June 22, 2012)
- Ajamindustry (June 26, 2012)
- One Year of Hope (June 28, 2012)
- The Current Impasse in Syria: Interview with Haytham Manna' [Now with full English transcripts + all videos] (June 30, 2012)
- Slain Filmmaker Bassel Shahade: "It's very dangerous to hold a camera around this country" (Video) (July 8, 2012)
- Asad Apologists: The Ostrich Syndrome (July 10, 2012)
- Syrian Refugees: Lessons from Other Conflicts and Possible Policies (July 19, 2012)
- Imperialistic Sins (July 21, 2011)
- My 50 Minutes with Manaf (July 26, 2012)
- As Syria Free-Falls . . . A Return to the Basics (Part 1) (August 31, 2012)
- The Violence of the Revolution Between Legitimacy and Deviance: Syria and the Need for Corrective Action (October 10, 2012)
- Tentative Jihad: Syria's Fundamentalist Opposition (October 12, 2012)
- Syrian Hands Raised: User Generated Creativity Between Citizenship and Dissent (October 31, 2012)
- Syria: When Official Memory is Amnesia (November 9, 2012)
- How Syria Turned Off the Internet (November 30, 2012)
- Regional and International Players in Syria's Civil War, The Protest Movement In Bahrain: Interviews with Bassam Haddad and Toby Jones (December 19, 2012)
- All Armies - the Syrian Regime, the FSA and Islamist - Are Thieves (January 1, 2013)
- Syria's Kurds: A Struggle Within a Struggle (January 28, 2013)
- Two Years of Meta-Narratives: How Not to Cover Syria (February 5, 2013)
- Capital Flight and the Consequences of the War Economy (March 18, 2013)
- The Syrian Uprising: Two Years On (March 18, 2013)
- The Most Important Thing: Syrian Refugees (March 21, 2013)
- 'What Good Are Free Elections When A Country Is Destroyed?' (April 4, 2013)
- The Alawite Dilemma in Homs (April 8, 2013)
- Beyond the Banality of Evil: The Challenge of Professional Photography in Syria (May 4, 2013)
- Amidst a Violent Conflict, Syria’s Students Struggle for an Education (May 13, 2013)
- Why There Is No Military Solution to the Syrian Conflict (May 13, 2013)
- Death from the Skies: Deliberate and Indiscriminate Air Strikes on Civilians (May 14, 2013)
- Syria's Inglorious Basterd (May 17, 2013)
- The Growing Challenge to The Syrian Regime and the Syrian Uprising (June 30, 2013)
- Sectarianism in Syria: Myth and Reality (July 24, 2013)
- Letter to a Syrian Friend Who Said: ‘Your Opposition to the US Attack on Syria Means You Support the Asad Regime’ (September 2, 2013)
- Does an Anti-War Stance Suffice in Syria? (September 12, 2013)
- Sleeping with the Enemy: The Global Left and the 'No to War' Discourse (September 15, 2011)
- Chemical Attacks and Military Interventions (August 27, 2013)
- US Strike on Syria & the Futility of Military Intervention (August 29, 2013)
- Malaise Over Syria (September 21, 2013)
- Rojava's Political Structure (September 23, 2013)
- From Reagan to Obama: Secrecy and Covert Operations in the Fight against “Terrorism” (September 23, 2013)
- An Activist's Reflections on the Syrian Uprising: Interview with Abdul-Qader Al-Dhoun (September 30, 2013)
- Palestinians Torn Over the Syrian Crisis (November 6, 2013)
- The Civilian Administration of the Insurgency in Aleppo (November 15, 2013)
- Displaced Again: Palestinian Refugees from Syria (November 29, 2013)
- A Case of Censorship: 'Syria: The Revolution That Never Was' (December 1, 2013)
- What Do You Miss Most? Syrian Refugees Respond (December 12, 2013)
- Stories of Refuge: Oral Histories of Syrian Asylum Seekers in Germany (January 20, 2014)
- Reflections on Not Writing about the Syrian Conflict (February 5, 2014)
- Women's Activism and the Polio Epidemic in Syria (March 31, 2014)
- The Strands of the Military Opposition in Syria: An Interview with Yasser Munif (Part 1) (March 31, 2014)
- Tartus in the Present Crisis: A Mirror of the Syrian Regime (April 13, 2014)
- #SaveKessab, #Save Aleppo, and Kim Kardashian: Syria’s Rashomon Effect (April 24, 2014)
- The Everyday Experience of Humanitarianism in Akkar Villages (Part One) (April 24, 2014)
- A Creative Upsurge; Syrian Art Today (Part One) (June 2, 2014)
- ABOUNADDARA’s Take on Images in the Syrian Revolution: A Conversation between Charif Kiwan and Akram Zaatari (Part One) (July 8, 2014)
- Online and Offline Maneuverings in Syria's Counter-Revolution (September 5, 2014)
- The BBC and User-Generated Content: How Syrian Grassroots Information Shaped Newsroom Roles (September 5, 2014)
- ISIS: The Explosion of Narratives - The Land of the Revolution Between Political and Metaphysical Eternities (October 3, 2014)
- ISIS Kills Gays: A History of Violence (February 10, 2015)
- Syrian Refugees Collectivizing in Jordan Becomes a Security Issue (February 20, 2015)
- Refugees in Turkey: Implications of Increasing Politicization (June 5, 2015)
- 'I must save my life and not risk my family’s safety!': Untold Stories of Syrian Women Surviving War (Part 1) (June 26, 2015)
- Report: Criminal Revenues and Warlords in Syria (June 7, 2015)
- No Decisive Outcome on Syrian Horizon (August 4, 2015)
- The Reality of Ethnic Cleansing and Kurdish State in Syria (August 26, 2015)
- Between Wind and Water: A Dialogue with Members of MSF/Greenpeace’s SAR Team in Molyvos (January 24, 2016)
- Syria’s Leopard (Part 1) (March 8, 2016)
- Urban Conflicts and Multiple War Narratives: The Case of Aleppo (September 14, 2016)
- The Debate Over Syria Has Reached a Dead End (October 27, 2016)
- The Left and the Syria Debate (December 10, 2016)
- What the West Owes Syrians: US and European Arms Sales to the Middle East 2011-2014 (December 21, 2016)
- Displacement and Identity: Exploring Syrian Refugees’ Lived Experiences (April 3, 2017)
- Toward A Vocabulary for Syria’s Opposition (April 27, 2017)
- An Untold Economic Success Story in Syria (May 20, 2017)
- Kurdish Blood for Arab Lands?: Prospects for Raqqa (September 29, 2017)
- Mass Hangings and Extermination at Saydnaya Prison, Syria (February 8, 2017)
- Donald Trump’s “Unbelievably Small” Attack on Syria (April 10, 2017)
- Education Controversy in Wartime Syria (January 31, 2018)
- The Roofed Souk in Homs… A Memory that Has Awakened a Dream (August 28, 2018)
- The U.S. Debt to Syria (August 28, 2018)
- Syria: Donor Conditionality, Sanctions, and the Question of Justice (March 13, 2019)
- What You Need to Know About Trump’s Syria Decision (October 9, 2019)
Resources:
- New Texts Out Now: Joshua Stacher, Adaptable Autocrats: Regime Power in Egypt and Syria (February 8, 2012)
- New Texts Out Now: Roger Owen, The Rise and Fall of Arab Presidents for Life (May 2, 2012)
- Against Orthodoxy: The Story of Alawi Origins (July 24, 2012)
- New Texts Out Now: Myriam Ababsa, Baudouin Dupret, and Eric Denis, Popular Housing and Urban Land Tenure in the Middle East (October 10, 2012)
- New Texts Out Now: Paul Aarts and Francesco Cavatorta, Civil Society in Syria and Iran (March 13, 2013)
- New Texts Out Now: Thomas Pierret, Religion and State in Syria (June 12, 2013)
- New Texts Out Now: Daniel Neep, Occupying Syria under the French Mandate (June 12, 2013)
- New Texts Out Now: Rebecca Joubin, The Politics of Love: Sexuality, Gender, and Marriage in Syrian Television Drama (January 15, 2014)
- Month-by-Month Summary of Developments in Syria (Updated) (June 7, 2014)
- ISIS in the News: Extensive Media Roundup (August-September 2014) (September 26, 2014)
- كتاب "فلاحو سورية": مدخل أساسيّ لفهم نظام الأسد (March 11, 2015)
- Declassified 2012 Defense Intelligence Report on Syrian Uprising, Gulf Intervention, and Potential for al-Qa'ida Gains (May 21, 2015)
- New Texts Out Now: Joseph Sassoon, Anatomy of Authoritarianism in the Arab Republics (May 11, 2016)
- Reading Resource on Sykes-Picot Agreement (Signed in May 1916) (May 19, 2016)
- التناول السردي للحرب والعنف في سوريا (August 10, 2016)
- Aleppo: Impending Battle [Ongoing Post] (January 1, 2017)
- Power, Sect, and State in Syria (February 19, 2017)
- Available Now: The Political Theology of ISIS by Ahmad Dallal (May 22, 2017)
- Forced Dispersion: A Demographic Report on Human Status in Syria (New Texts Out Now) (April 15, 2018)
- الموسيقى التقليدية في سوريا (April 10, 2019)
- طاولة مستديرة: ما الذي تبقى من اليسار السوري؟ (May 28, 2019)
- Lisa Wedeen, Authoritarian Apprehensions: Ideology, Judgment, and Mourning in Syria (New Texts Out Now) (November 15, 2019)
Podcasts:
- Is It Time to Intervene in Syria? NPR Discussion with Bassam Haddad and Others (February 16, 2012)
- الاختفاءات في سوريا وحملة باص الحرية: مقابلة لمجلة الوضع مع فدوى محمود (November 29, 2017)
- (December 22, 2014) استراتيجية النظام السوري أثناء الانتفاضة: محادثة لـ “الوضع” بين خضر خضور وبسام حداد
- Syrian Refugees and the Map of a Dangerous Journey: A STATUS/الوضع Conversation with Alia Malek (April 26, 2016)
- Causes and Dynamics of the Syrian Uprising: From Civil Protests to the Implications of the Russian Intervention - A STATUS/الوضع Lecture by Bassam Haddad (May 2, 2016)
- ISIS and Women: A STATUS/الوضع Conversation with Rafia Zakaria(May 18, 2016)
- التعليم في سوريا أثناء الحرب: مقابلة لبرنامج الوضع (June 9, 2016)
- Yasser Munif on the State of the Syrian Uprising(December 9, 2016)
- حكاية ما انحكت: مدن ثائرة - مقابلة لمجلة الوضع مع محمد ديبو (January 28, 2017)
- Syria’s Rebels, Before and After Aleppo: A STATUS/الوضع Conversation between Bassam Haddad and Aron Lund(June 20, 2017)
- واقع الآثار في سوريا: مقابلة لمجلة الوضع مع مصطفى السكاف (September 17, 2017)
- The Conflict In Syria: Past, Present, and Future - A STATUS/الوضع Interview with Nikolaos Van Dam(September 20, 2017)
- مشاريع موسيقي فلسطيني سوري في المنفى: مقابلة لمجلة الوضع مع الفنان أبو غابي (January 7, 2018)
- التأثيرات النفسية للحرب السورية: مقابلة لمجلة الوضع مع حسام جيفي بهلول (January 12, 2018)
- (February 12, 2018) الأبحاث حول سوريا وما يريده السوريون: حوار لمجلة الوضع مع ربيع نصر
- Research on Syria and What Syrians Want - A Conversation between Bassam Haddad and Rabie Nasr (February 20, 2018)
- No Turning Back: Life, Loss and Hope in Wartime Syria with Rania Abouzeid (July 10, 2018)
- سوريا، تنظيم الدولة الإسلامية والحرب الأهلية: مقابلة لمجلة الوضع مع ماهر إسبر(March 1, 2018)
- جهاد عبدو وفادية عفاش: رحلة فنانيين سوريين في المنفى(February 14, 2019)
- Drawing the Syrian Revolution - An Interview with Dima Nashawi(April 17, 2019)
- Syrian Musalsalat During the Ongoing Conflict(September 20, 2019)
- Structured Precarity: The Plight of Syrian Refugees in Turkey (October 22, 2019)
Arabic:
- عن سورية: لقاء مع ياسين الحاج صالح [On Syria: Interview with Yassin Al Haj Saleh (April 4, 2011)
- سوريا تشهد ثورة شعبية سلمية لأجل الحرية والكرامة (July 8, 2011)
- برهان غليون: الشعب السوري هو من يقرر مصير سوريا وليس القوى الاجنبية (July 21, 2011)
- ميشيل كيلو: تطورات يجب أن تتوقف.. الثورة لا يصنعها الملائكة ولا حملة السلاح (September 13, 2011)
- أين "اليسار" من سوريا؟ الجزء الأول (September 21, 2011)
- المجلس الوطني وهيئة التنسيق: استعصاء الاداة ام اقتسام العجز؟ (November 11, 2011)
- من التخلف إلى الإستبداد (December 19, 2011)
- الدين/الأخلاق، سوريا/المقاومة : أين ”اليسار“ من سوريا؟ (December 21, 2011)
- ديناميتان للثورة السورية: المستقبل في الحاضر(January 26, 2012)
- الثورة السورية نحو مزيد من التعقيد: تصريحات برهان غليون "غير المدروسة" للوول ستريت جورنال (January 26, 2012)
- بدأت ثورة شعبية، ولكن هل استطاعوا حرفها؟ (February 2, 2012)
- في الشبّيحة والتشْبيح ودولتهما (February 22, 2012)
- الاستفتاء على الدستور السوري: النظام الفردي كما هو (February 23, 2012)
- عن ساحاتنا ومآلاتها (April 17, 2012)
- عن الوضع الحالي في سوريا: مقابلة مع هيثم منّاع (May 2, 2012)
- نجـاح الثـورة يتوقـف علـى تصحيـح مساراتهـا (May 5, 2012)
- الطاغية إبن الطاغية (September 14, 2012)
- عنف الثورة بين الشرعية والانحراف: سوريا وضرورة التصحيح (October 5, 2012)
- في جذور الأسباب البنيوية للانتفاضة السورية (November 16, 2012)
- الضحك في الزمن المظلم: مقابلة مع ممدوح حمادة (December 11, 2012)
- تزييفُ الوعي وتطييفُ التاريخ في سياقات الثورة السوريّة (January 24, 2013)
- حسن عباس: معنى العنف وحدوده (March 18, 2013)
- محمد العطار: هل هناك طرق لم تسلك في سوريا؟ (March 18, 2013)
- بدرخان علي: "الانتخابات الحرّة" ليست شيئاً عظيماً، بعد خراب البلد (April 7, 2013)
- الأم شجاعة": خطاب أسماء الأسد في عيد الأم" (April 17, 2013)
- حوار مع نعوم تشومسكي حول الثورة السورية (July 5, 2013)
- الكارثة السورية (May 25, 2013)
- الهجمات بالسلاح الكيمياوي والتدخلّات العسكرية (August 31, 2013)
- تأملات ناشط حول الانتفاضة السورية: حوار مع عبد القادر الدهون (October 7, 2013)
- ما هو أكثر شيء تشتاق إليه؟ أجوبة اللاجئين السوريين (January 23, 2014)
- مآلات النزف البطيء: وداعاً سورية دولة مركزية (April 10, 2014)
- المهجرون السوريون ونظام اللجوء في تركيا (October 6, 2014)
- بؤس المعارضة السورية (December 2, 2014)
- لا بشرٌ ولاحجر... تدمر وسرديات الحرب على الآثار (January 24, 2015)
- دور النشر السورية: مأساة الورق والحبر والدم (February 6, 2015)
- عن «يسار النُّصرة» و «يسار النِّظام» وعن اليسار في سوريا (May 14, 2015)
- تدمر، واحة للظلام (August 26, 2015)
- اللاجئون السوريون والخليج: لحظة فك السحر (September 18, 2015)
- كابوس دمشـق وســماواتها: يوميات سورية (September 23, 2015)
- حرستا (October 28, 2015)
- اللاجئون السوريّون في المدن الألمانيّة: آليّات إعادة توطينهم وآثارها على البنى العمرانيّة في المدينة (January 4, 2016)
- ثمن انعدام الجنسية: اللاجئون الفلسطينيون الفارون من سوريا (April 17, 2017)
- نكبات اليوم ونكبة 1948 في سورية (May 14, 2016)
- أهلاً بكم في ليسبوس (June 21, 2016)
- سنديان السويداء ولعنة الحرب السورية (June 23, 2017)
- مشاهدات يومية واجتماعية من السويداء: من حركة الاعتصام... إلى اغتيال البلعوس (August 13, 2017)
- المِثلية والهوية الجِنسِيَّة في الفن الشعبي السوري (October 10, 2017)
- سَفَراتُ الموتِ واللّقاءِ تَقُصُّها ابنةُ ناجٍ من الإبادة الأرمنية (January 13, 2018)
- الجغرافي الفرنسي رومان فوا: نهاية مشروع التحديث البعثي أنذر بزعزعة النظام (February 5, 2018)
- تشظيات (March 31, 2018)
- عفرين: الأهداف التركية والدور الروسي والمقاومة المحليّة (April 6, 2018)
- النسوية التقاطعية وكيف يمكن تطبيقها على الوضع السوري (April 10, 2018)
- الدواء… شكل آخر للموت السوري (May 3, 2018)
- قصة قريتين (May 3, 2018)
- مخيم اليرموك: أمل العودة يتبخر (May 7, 2018)
- السوريّون يَشْهقون الموت ويُزَفّرون الحياة (June 9, 2018)
- وطن.. بالعين المجردة: معبد عين دارة ضحية أخرى للحرب السورية (June 10, 2018)
- القبيسيات في السياق المجتمعي السوري (July 4, 2018)
- من تورا للوادي: عن جوبر والأحياء الشرقية في دمشق (July 19, 2018)
- 1 عندما كنتُ في جوف الوحش في مدينة الرقة (July 26, 2018)
- مقاهي دمشق: بين رماة النرد والإنترنت وسجادات الصلاة (September 15, 2018)
- الانتفاضة السورية وتهميش نساء حوران (December 29, 2018)
- القبر حلم ثمين لسكان دمشق (February 7, 2019)
- في وداع الطيب تيزيني (May 27, 2019)