Diwan Carnegie Endowment for Carnegie Middle East Center - Interviewed by Michael Young In an interview, Yassin al-Haj Saleh describes how Syrians have been denied any meaning for their suffering. Yassin al-Haj Saleh is a Syrian intellectual who has just published The Impossible Revolution: Making Sense of the Syrian Tragedy, an English translation of an earlier…
Letters to Samira (3)
Aljumhuriya – Translated by: Murhaf Fares In his third letter to his kidnapped wife Samira, Yassin al-Haj Saleh expresses deep dissatisfaction with unfaithful allegedly revolutionary figures who showed little or no interest in the cause of Douma4 Even it were possible for you to imagine our deteriorating situation, you may still be wondering, Sammour, how…
Letters to Samira (2)
Aljumhuriya – Translated by: Murhaf Fares The second letter in a series of letters written by Yassin al-Haj Saleh to his kidnapped wife, reflecting on what has happened since her absence. Sammour, do you happen to think –like I do– about the fatal consequences that befell us? You became wanted by the regime a few…
Letters to Samira (1)
Aljumhuriya – Translated by: Murhaf Fares Note from the translator: In this letter, Yassin says that he is writing to and for Samira, but he adds that other disappeared friends might want to read it to understand what happened in their absence. I think everyone should read Yassin’s letters to Samira, not only because they…
The Palestinization of Syrians
Aljumhuriya - Translated by: Buthaina Shaheen It might seem heretical to claim that the destiny of Syrians is worse than that of the Palestinians, or even to compare the Assadist state to the Israeli state. Traditional Arab nationalist doctrine does not accept this comparison – it even considers it blasphemous and profane. For Arab nationalists,…
Syria and the Global Crisis of Liberal Democracy
Muftah.org - Translated and edited by Riad Alarian. This article first appeared in the pan-Arab newspaper, Al-Quds Al-Arabi, on May 13, 2017. The recent victory of Emmanuel Macron in the French presidential election, although significant, cannot cloak the fact that there is a crisis afflicting the core of democracy today. While liberal democracy may have…
Syria and the Three Impossibilities
Translated and edited by Riad Alarian - Muftah It seemed virtually impossible for Syria to experience a popular revolution—but it happened. By the same token, the revolution’s demise, and the disintegration of Syria, seemed to be inconceivable. But these events also happened, and are still unfolding before our eyes today. Now, paradoxically, a just…
The Syrian Cause and Anti-Imperialism
Translated By: Yaaser ElZayyar - Al Jumhuriya In memory of Michel Seurat, our martyr. I was in Istanbul for about ten days when I met a Turkish communist who explained to me that what was going on in Syria was nothing but an imperialist conspiracy against a progressive, anti-imperialist regime. The Turkish comrade’s talk contained no…
Syria, The Left, and The World
Emran Feroz - Al Jumhuriya, 06 April 2017 In a conversation with Enrab Feroz, Syrian intellectual Yassin al-Haj Saleh talks about his criticism of political observers and experts in the West who claim that there is no alternative to Assad and that shoring up the regime would be the lesser of two evils You have…
Freedom: Home, Prison, Exile…and the World
Muftah - 3 April 2017 - Translated by Rana Issa To Samira, My absent Imam, always present.* No special excuse is needed to engage the concept of freedom. Yet, it is not an evident concept or an ahistorical human faculty, or a universal political demand without contradictions. Freedom is an act of coming out, of…