PULSE, 25 April 2014 In the West, Robert Fisk and Seymour Hersh are considered critical journalists. They occupy dissident positions in the English-speaking press. Among Syrians, however, they are viewed very differently.The problem with their writings on Syria is that it is deeply centered on the West. The purported focus of their analysis – Syria,…
Interview with 1in.am Armenian News & Analyses
1in.am Armenian News & Analyses, 16 April 2014 Crimean issue and anexion of Crimea has drop shadow on the crisis in Syria, but that has returned to the agenda of the world with the displacement of Kessab Armenians. What has happened in Kessab and why now? Why has Turkey decided to enter Kessab now? As a Syrian,…
Pour une religion fondée sur la morale
Courrier international – 20 mars 2014 Dans un article récent publié dans Al-Hayat, [le prédicateur chiite irakien] Ali Taliqani, évoquant le groupe djihadiste Etat islamique en Irak et au Levant [Daech, selon l’acronyme arabe], note que leur notion de l’Etat est réduite à l’idée de sauvegarder par-dessus tout les assises de leur clan. Taliqani, qui…
L’industrie du meurtre en Syrie
L'Express - 16 mars 2014 Le centre de documentation des violations des droits de l'homme en Syrie, dirigé par l'avocate et écrivaine Razan Zaitouneh, ne donnait que le chiffre précis de 2826 personnes (identifiées) ayant succombé à la torture dans les prisons syriennes jusqu'à fin août 2013. Or, il s'est avéré qu'à cette date, 11…
Assad’s Killing Industry and the Role of Intellectuals
Al-Jumhuriya, 16 March 2014 Originally published in L’Express The worst estimates of incarceration and torture victims in the prisons of the Syrian regime put the number at around 3000. As of late August 2013, the Violations Documentation Center (VDC) run by human rights activist and writer Razan Zaitouneh –a reliable organization that does not engage…
Syrian In Exile Writes On Despite Threats, Kidnappings
NPR, 15 March 2014 This weekend marks the third anniversary of the Syrian uprising. We wanted to get some perspective on what that means for Syrians both inside their country and out. So we've managed to reach Yassin Haj Saleh, a Syrian writer who spent 16 years in Syrian prisons and now lives in partial…
Syrian In Exile Writes On Despite Threats, Kidnappings
The Conscience of Syria
Boston Review, 12 March 2014 Yassin al-Haj Saleh is often called the conscience of the Syrian revolution. Born in Raqqa in 1961, he was arrested in 1980, while a medical student in Aleppo, and imprisoned for his membership in a left-wing organization. He remained a political prisoner until 1996, spending the last of his sixteen years behind…
From the Kingdom of Assad to the Third Republic – Statehood & Participation
The Syrian Shabiha and Their State – Statehood & Participation
Heinrich Boell Foundation - Middle East, 3 March 2014 Syrian regime thugs, more commonly know as ‘shabiha’ mirror the structure and goals of the Assad regime which relies on raw force to accumulate personal wealth and ensure its own survival at all costs. In this article, Yassin al-Haj Saleh, dissects the functioning, motivations, funding and…