Al Jumhuriya [Editor's note: This article is the fifth in a series published in collaboration with Mada Masr to mark the tenth anniversary of the Egyptian revolution. It is also available in Arabic.] A tradition is unchanging rules that govern human action, a revolution is a transformative event that follows no predetermined path. As far…
We, As Syrians, Are Allowed to be ‘Witnesses’
A letter to the Progressive International
Al Jumhuriya [Al-Jumhuriya Editor’s note: In April, the Syrian writer and Al-Jumhuriya co-founder Yassin al-Haj Saleh was invited to join the advisory council of the Progressive International, a new movement seeking to “unite, organize, and mobilize progressive forces” around the world, involving well-known figures such as Noam Chomsky, Arundhati Roy, and Yanis Varoufakis. The below…
State of starvation
Al Jumhuriya According to recent UN estimates, some 90% of the Syrian population lives under the poverty line of US$2 a day. 9.3 million Syrians need food assistance, while 1.4 million suffer from basic nutritional shortages. At this juncture, it is no exaggeration to talk about an imminent threat of famine; it may even be…
Surviving monstrosities: An interview with Yassin al-Haj Saleh
Al Jumhuriya The below is an interview with the Syrian writer and Al-Jumhuriya co-founder Yassin al-Haj Saleh, conducted by Marina Naprushkina, a Belarusian artist and democracy activist. The interview took place in Berlin in April 2020. Marina Naprushkina: Yassin, I would like to ask you so much about the Syrian revolution; the war and the…
Coronavirus in a Syrianized World
Letters to Samira (14)
Al Jumhuriya – Translated by Alex Rowell With your abduction and disappearance for more than six years now, I have experienced the worst that any man can experience. It has also been the most unusual of all the many crimes and brutal acts committed in our world. We were not—you and I, specifically—strangers to unusual…
The love of my life disappeared six years ago, but still I cling to hope
Letters to Samira (15)
Assad’s “eternal rule:” the long prelude to genocide
Crisis Mag - Translation from Arabic by Yasser Al Zaiat Sectarianism in Syria and the region is considered a socio-political defect, one that weakens states and societies, and inhibits any rational analysis of social and political conditions. The prevailing thought on this matter, both in our countries and in the West, tends to explain sectarianism…