alQuds Newspaper, 19 September 2015. Translated by The Free Syrian Translators Since the early days, the West’s handling of the Syrian conflict has had a set of characteristics that raise questions about the political and intellectual credibility of the elite and political leaders in the West. The first of these characteristics is dealing with outcomes, not the…
A tomb for one’s all being: The alterations of Syrian’s death and the changes of their life
Al-Jumhuriya, 17 July 2015. Translated by Murhaf Fares When individual humans die singly, among their living communities, they get buried individually. One grave for each person, no one shares ones grave with others. This could be a definition of humans, and it seems to be universally accepted, even though humans only agree a few things. We…
On the exiles of Syrians and Syria as exile
Why Zahran Alloush stands accused
Douma4 (Originally published on Al-Jumhuriya), 31 May 2015 When he was asked about the case in August 2014, Zahran Alloush barely even denied his group’s responsibility for the kidnapping of Samira Al-Khalil, Razan Zaitouneh, Wael Hammadeh and Nazem Hammadi. Rather than a direct and straight forward denial he preferred to give the kind of answer Bashar…
Syria as a Global Metaphor
L’Internationale, 25 April 2015 The Syrian population has long suffered from under-representation. Three instances of under-representation can be pinpointed: it occurs with regards to their labour, their political participation, and the conceptual and aesthetic representation of their reality.These are interrelated. Devaluing labour was associated with crippling the political power of the labour community. By labour…
Samira, Razan,Wael, Nazem, and the other absolute others
L’Internationale, 10 February 2015 About fourteen months ago, a group of masked gunmen kidnapped my wife and partner, Samira al Khalil, in Douma, which is a few kilometers to the east of Damascus. Abducted along with her were RazanZeitouneh, Wael Hamadeh, and Nazem Hammadi. Since that time, we - the families of “Douma 4”- have…
Forty-four months and forty-four years: 5- Confiscation: A class portrait
L'Internationale, 19 January 2015 In the early days of this year, Dae’sh (ISIS) seized our family house in Raqqa. This fascist organization forced a relative who was living in the house to leave and appropriated everything within it (beds, carpets, kitchen utensils, cupboards…) - all was given to “mujahids” from Tajikistan. Dae’sh seized other houses…
Islam, Islamists, and Violence, Part II
L’Internationale, 13 January 2015 Where Does The Violence Come From? The question under examination here is not whether or not it is possible for diverse religious movements to claim that they derive from a religious totality that is in turn diverse, convincing all others that they were born from it as its only legitimate child.…
Forty-four months and forty-four years: 4- Palestinization of Syrians and the present world condition
L’Internationale, 2 January 2015 The United Nations estimates that the total number of Syrian refugees will be around 4.1 million by the end of 2014. But a larger number emerges when data from neighboring countries are combined: 1.23 million in Jordan, 1.5 million in Lebanon, more than 1.6 million in Turkey, 140,000 registered refugees in…
Forty-four months and forty for years: 3- Islamic resistance, resisting Islamists
L’Internationale, 15 December 2014 On December 10, Jabhat an-Nusra executed two young Palestinian men in Yarmook, Zakariya Mar’ei and Ahmed Seyam, on accusations of being kuffar (infidels). The day before this heinous crime marked the first anniversary of the abduction of four well-known political and human rights activists - Samira al Khalil, Razan Zeitouneh, Wae’l…