Nèdeem Elmahjoub's blog

Facebook and Policing the War of Narratives

"More than seven years after the beginning of the popular uprising in Syria, which increasingly turned into an international war, the causes of this eruption are often forgotten. When they are discussed, the vast majority of authors reduce the uprising to a struggle against authoritarianism while neglecting its socio-economic roots almost entirely." Syria: the social origins of the uprising

Syria: Hundreds of detainees died in custody, according to the regime Hundreds??

Ghani's statistics on armed groups show that most of them also involve cases of violence against women – and the Syrian government heads that list. Women are deliberately targeted, he says, because they always played an important role in the opposition against Assad. The regime sees torture and sexual abuse of women as a war strategy, Ghani argues. "Break the women and you break the family – and with it opposition in society. That's the goal." Syrian women in Assad's prisons

Dear Basha'r al-Assad apologists, ...

Essential Readings: The Syrian Uprising

Mohamad Malas, memory and life

"What Assad needs in order to survive ...  is, someday, the end of resistance," says Valerie Szybala, executive director of the Syria Institute. "The only way he can get that, in certain places — certainly strategic ones like Damascus — is by repopulating them with people who will not oppose him." "Plan to rebuild Syria could be a recipe for another war"

Syria, the uprising and the media scene

We crossed a bridge and it trembled

"Syrians roll back extremism in Idlib"

In Tartous, Syria, women wear black, youth in hiding and bitterness grows If you are one of those who got confused about who, how, and why in the Syrian war and have given up taking a clear judgment and position, or you are like the majority who have taken the mainstream Shi'a-Sunni war(or conflict) as a given, you should think again.  Here is a background to start with: Syria: from authoritarianism to upheaval   (pdf fomat)

As long as the Assad regime remains in place, and millions of Syrians remain at its mercy , Isis and al-Qaeda will have a lot going for them.