Human Rights

By Silvia Boarini | (Inter Press Service) | – – ZARQa, Jordan (IPS) – Emelline Mahmoud Ilyas is an outgoing 35-year-old mother of three from Syria. Sitting in a community centre in Zarqa, Jordan, where she just held a meeting with Jordanian and Syrian parents on the subject of childcare, she remembers the ‘journey of […]

Displaced and Refugees

Yemen: Coalition Drops Cluster Bombs in Capital: Indiscriminate Weapon Used in Residential Areas

contributors

Human Rights Watch | – – (Beirut) – Saudi Arabia-led coalition forces airdropped cluster bombs on residential neighborhoods in Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, early on January 6, 2016. It is not yet clear whether the attacks caused civilian casualties, but the inherently indiscriminate nature of cluster munitions makes such attacks serious violations of the laws of […]

Featured

Syrian Army lets food Aid into Starving Madaya

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – France24 Arabic reports that the Syrian government agreed Thursday to allow humanitarian aid into Madaya and two other besieged towns near the Lebanese border northwest of Damascus. The step was praised by the United Nations. The siege of Madaya, pop 40,000, has been going on for […]

Human Rights

Saudi Arabia: Prominent Shia Cleric dead in largest mass execution since 1980

contributors

Human Rights Watch | – – (Beirut) – Saudi authorities carried out the largest mass execution in the country since 1980, putting 47 men to death on January 2, 2016. According to the Saudi state news agency, all of the men were convicted on terrorism charges, and most were members of Al Qaeda. The mass […]

Christianity

Would Syrian Refugee Baby Jesus be allowed to immigrate to the US?

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – In this political season in which Syrian refugees have become a political football, it is worthwhile remembering that baby Jesus is depicted by the Bible as being a Syrian political refugee not once but twice. In ancient times, “Syria” referred not to the area of the […]

Displaced and Refugees

Syrian Refugees from Civil War spiraling down into Extreme Poverty

contributors

By Thalif Deen | (Inter Press Service) | – – UNITED NATIONS, Dec 16 2015 (IPS) – When German Chancellor Angela Merkel defended her immigration policies early this week — and announced plans to absorb about one million refugees, mostly from Syria — she was apparently greeted with a nine-minute standing ovation by members of […]

Human Rights

If the Dead could Speak: The Real People Syrian Regime Tortured to Death

Juan Cole

By Human Rights Watch | – – "If the Dead Could Speak" reveals some of the human stories behind the more than 28,000 photos of deaths in government custody that were smuggled out of Syria and first came to public attention in January 2014. “Just about every detainee in these photographs was someone’s beloved child, […]

censorship

Turkish Dr. faces Prison for Comparing Pres Erdogan to Gollum of Lord of the Rings

contributors

AJ+ | (Video news report) | – – “Turkish doctor Bilgin Ciftci posted a meme with side-by-side pictures comparing President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey to “Lord of the Rings” character Gollum. Ciftci faces a two-year sentence for “insulting the head of the state” – and trilogy director Peter Jackson lends his expert opinion. ” […]

Displaced and Refugees

Syrian Refugees in Jordan’s Camps Reply to Dr. Ben Carson

contributors

AJ+ | (Video report) | – – “After a recent visit to the Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan, Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson described it as “really quite nice.” We went to the camp to ask refugees there what they thought of his comment.” AJ+: “We Asked Syrian Refugees To Respond To Ben Carson’s Comments […]