By Rasha Milhem
One lonely night recently, during a particularly hard time of the coronavirus quarantine, a high school friend and I reviewed our lives and recalled the 2000s with some nostalgia.Â
We are millennials, born in the early 1980s, when Israel invaded and occupied parts of Lebanon and conflict between the state and the Muslim Brotherhood Movement threatened to destabilise...
In 1992, The Washington Post published a favourable review of Dr Bouthaina Shaaban’s book, ‘Both Right and Left Handed; Arab Women Talk About Their Lives’ (first published in 1988).
Dr Bouthaina was born in the 1950s and grew up in a village in countryside Homs. When the Washington Post review was published, she had a PhD in English Literature from...
What makes you proud to be Syrian?
I’m proud to be Syrian because Syria has been always an important country since the beginning of humanity.
Syria is a secular country. Can you explain what this means to a non-Syrian?
As a Christian, I can say that in Syria I lived the same life I’m living in Italy and I had the same freedom. In...
October 2019
In Syrian cities and towns, it is normal for primary school students to attend a co-educational school and then for students to be streamed into single-sex secondary schools. (This isn't possible in many small regional schools, so high school students in the countryside often attend mixed classes.) Universities generally have mixed classes.
Last month, on my visit to Dar...
As a teacher, I have always asked myself what sets us apart from other professions. Is it possible to 'leave' our work at work and not to bring it into our private lives? How not to get involved and treat it just as 'work'? To tell you the truth, it’s not possible!
No matter how much we try, we DO...
‘Beloved Syria’ is honoured to present this beautiful documentary featuring the Gardenia Choir, a women’s choir based in Syria which has performed both in Syria and abroad.
At the start of the film, the choir sings 'Barcarolle' from Jacques Offenbach's ‘The Tales of Hoffman’, a song that must be familiar to tens of thousands of choir members and opera lovers...
What makes you proud to be Syrian?
I feel proud to be Syrian because I believe we have a special stable identity however much we shift from one place to another. Our identity is represented by the way we interact, engage, behave and move towards a vision. It does not relate to the material things we have. From a vision...
Born and raised in Australia, Leo (Soltan) Alhalabi identifies both as a proud Aussie and a proud Syrian. On visits to Syria, he has noted the love and support people show each other in moments of celebration and crisis. Most of Leo’s extended family still lives in Syria.
Leo is CEO of LGT Tutoring and is a former Victorian, Australian...
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...
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...
