Syria

The USG Open Source Center translates or paraphrases comment in the Gulf Arab press on the alleged use of chemical weapons by the Syrian Baathist regime. Note that these governmental establishments are Sunni, Wahhabi or Ibadi and often have a hostile attitude to Shiite Islam and Iran, and generally support the rebellion against the regime, […]

Syria

Obama’s Limited Options: Bombing Syria unlikely to be Effective

Juan Cole

As pressure on President Obama to bomb Syria over its alleged use of chemical weapons ramps up, it is worth revisiting parts of a post I did last June in response to a similar push by the Clintons. It should be remembered that Israel has already bombed Syria a few times, to little apparent effect. […]

Syria

Does the World Care? 1 Mn Syrian Children Refugees & Aid Money Running Out

Juan Cole

The Syrian conflict has produced a massive refugee problem, and it reached a new level of horror this week with news that the UN High Commission on Refugees estimates that there are a million children refugees alone. UN resources for dealing with this problem are fast dwindling and donor pledges are falling short. Note that […]

Barack Obama

Syria: Will Killing of Hundreds with Sarin Gas force Obama’s Hand?

Juan Cole

Syrian sources on the ground and expatriate human rights organizations are alleging Wednesday morning that Syrian aircraft have killed hundreds of people in rebel-held East and West Ghouta and some other areas outside the capital with bombings and poison gas. The attack comes as international observers are in the country to investigate past alleged use […]

Syria

Syrian Farmers Face Shortfall because of Fighting

Juan Cole

The war in Syria is interfering in farmers’ ability to bring in the wheat and other crops. It is a sad Eid al-Fitr (the feast to mark the end of the fasting month of Ramadan) for millions of Syrians VOAnews reports: The World Food Program reports of one twice-displaced Syrian family made internally displaced persons: […]

Syria

Syrian Regime takes Key Homs Neighborhood in advance against Rebels

Juan Cole

The Syrian military has taken an important Homs neighborhood that had been in the hands of the rebels for over a year, as part of its counter-offensive in the strategic center of the country. With the help of the Lebanese militia, Hizbullah, it recently took al-Qusayr, a town near Homs. And now it is taking […]

Iran

Syria: Attack on Sayyida Zainab Provokes Sunni-Shiite Tensions in Lebanon, Iraq, Pakistan

Juan Cole

The rocket attack on the Shrine of Sayyida Zaynab in the suburbs of Damascus on Friday has intensified the sectarian overtones of the Syrian civil war and exacerbated Sunni-Shiite tension in Iraq and elsewhere. Shrapnel killed the venerated caretaker of the shrine. ( Sayyida Zaynab [d. 682 AD] was the granddaughter of the Prophet Muhammad). […]

Syria

Remembering Syria: Homs ‘Ghost Town’ Under heavy Regime Bombardment

Juan Cole

In winter of 2012, the world was mesmerized and horrified as the Syrian Baath regime drew up artillery pieces and its tanks and fired on non-combatant civilian districts. Now, non-combatantants are under artillery barrages, and it seems as though the world is paying no attention. In Homs, according to the official newspaper al-Watan, there was […]

Egypt

Feminist Revolutionary Narratives from Egypt and Syria: Hopes and Disappointments (cook)

Juan Cole

miriam cooke writes for ISLAMiCommentary * *REVOLUTIONARY NARRATIVES: NAWAL EL SAADAWI AND SAMAER YAZBEK ISLAMiCommentary Editor’s Note: This paper was written by miriam cooke and presented at the international forum—“Mediterranean Women’s Rights in the Aftermath of the Arab Uprisings” — on June 21, 2013 in Fez, Morocco, and shared with ISLAMiCommentary and TIRN. Note, that […]