People

In September 2019 on a visit to Damascus, I interviewed Athar, a Syrian woman who has been in her church scout group since she was 15 years old. We chatted in Beit Jabri, a popular restaurant in old Damascus. Athar explained that her scout group meets once a week for band practice and for activities for the children. Also, at their...

What makes you proud to be Syrian? For me, being Syrian is an honor in itself. Syria is a traditional society with a long cultural history and Syrians have a taste for traditional arts and craft. We have contributed much to Arabic Literature and have a proud tradition of oral and written poetry. There is much else that makes me proud, such...

Part 2: Tima Kurdi, author of ‘The Boy On The Beach’ (Simon & Schuster, 2018), speaks to Sarah Nachar and Susan Dirgham about: Women in Syria  COVID-19 and Sanctions on Syria  Syria - Our Good-Hearted Mother  Women In Syria Today Tima describes the dramatic changes that have taken place since she grew up in Syria, when women mainly stayed at home...

What makes you proud to be Syrian? I am proud that Syria still exists on the political map of the world. Syria is a secular country. Can you explain what this means to a non-Syrian? For me, secularism means living together in the same land, speaking the same language while having different beliefs and religions. Our beliefs are a private matter, and...

In Damascus last September on a journalist's visa, I had the opportunity to interview some truly impressive women in different fields of work. This impromtu chat in a school yard was the most spontaneous and delightful of interviews. The students were thrilled to meet a 'real' journalist and, as it happened, I was thrilled to show off the little bit...

In his 1988 LA Times article below, journalist and columnist Charles Wallace captured beautifully Syrians' love for the game of backgammon; the magic of it. (However, in 2020, it should be noted that today if Syrian women don't enter a cafe, it is because they choose not to, not because they dare not.) This game of backgammon in Beit Jabri was...

This interview with Mahdi Al Mahdi took place on 24 September 2019, my last evening in Damascus before I flew out of Syria on my return trip to Australia.  I just chanced upon the ‘White and Black Quartet’ when I sat outside my hotel to chat with friends. It was a ‘magic moment’ for me.   https://youtu.be/oYcsQFdU9-g Here, 'White and Black Quartet'...

What makes you proud to be Syrian? Sometimes I feel shame when I see the crimes that some Syrians are doing in the name of God, but when I remember how Syria used to be and how the Syrian people are facing this crisis and how they build hope and life from the ashes I feel so proud to be...

Once upon a time, There was a paradise. It was on earth. It was in Syria. It was a haven for great civilisations.  It was a haven for Mother Nature. It was a generous land with generous people.  It was an incubator of remarkable inventions. It was the land where life was lived richly. It was the theatre where love danced joyfully. It was the place where million-year-old souls...