Written by Chris Ray, this article was first published by Monthly Review Online, 10 January 2020
Sanctioning Syria
By Chris Ray
The United Nations was willing to pay for doors, windows and electrical wiring in Alaa Dahood’s apartment but not for repairs to her living room wall torn open by a mortar strike. That was deemed to be ‘reconstruction’—an aid category forbidden...
Written by Alex Ray and first published in Middle East Eye, 26 May 2019
The capital's green spaces symbolise how many are trying to revitalise the environment amid the blood of war.
By Alex Ray in Damascus
26 May 2019
Fareed Notafji sips the sweet, strong labourer’s tea as we sit in front of the guard shed at the SEA Environmental Garden in Damascus.
When...
Article by Rasha Milhem
22 April 2020
Above image: Church in Daraa, empty of its congregation for the Orthodox Easter Sunday service because of COVID-19 restrictions. (Ref: SANA, Christian denominations in Syria that follow Eastern calendar celebrate Easter)
Only international solidarity and cooperation among States can slow down and eventually defeat the common enemy
Professor Dr Alfred de Zayas
Syria’s Minister of Health, Nizar...
14 October 2019
Last month, I was in Damascus for just 8 full days. I had a journalist's visa which ensured I had the chance to interview some distinguished Syrians as well as some 'ordinary' Syrians, all of them impressive people, and most of them women.
Most evident was the fact that the war has led to women in Syria finding...
Written by Chris Ray, this article was first published in the print edition of The Saturday Paper on Jan 25, 2020 as "Ode to Damascus".
It may seem like an unlikely holiday destination, but as peace returns to Syria, the struggling nation hopes tourists will too. By Chris Ray
Tourism in Damascus, Syria
Nour Neema at the Sah al-Naum hotel, which...
Syria extends from desert landscapes to fertile plains. There are undulating hills with olive groves that stretch to the Mediterranean Sea. Under the night skies, the lights of villages twinkle. Snow-capped mountains look down on modern suburbs, but also on ancient columns, khans, castles and places of worship.
There is evidence of earthquakes and invasions stretching back millennia, but for...
Our new series features Syrian cafés and restaurants in Melbourne and the Syrian Australians who have established them.
We recently had the pleasure of interviewing Safi Ayoush, the Syrian Australian owner of Raqwa Café and Beer Garden. Safi was born in Australia, but he spent his formative years in Syria, hence his close connection to Syria.
Safi hopes to attract members of the Syrian...
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...
The Statement below can be sourced from the Office of the High Commissioner, United Nations Human Rights, 10 Nov 2022:
UN expert calls for lifting of long-lasting unilateral sanctions ‘suffocating’ Syrian people
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النتائج الأولية التي قدّمتها المقررة الخاصة المعنية بالتأثير السلبي للعقوبات أحادية الجانب على التمتع بحقوق الإنسان الأستاذة الدكتورة ألينا دوهان بعد الانتهاء من زيارتها
إلى الجمهورية العربية السورية
دمشق في 10...
