none

CM11: Syria

Peter Clark explores the roots of the Syrian crisis, Robin Yassin-Kassab explores revolutionary culture, Sam Hamad dissects the Islamist opposition, Rasha Omran rejects the notion that sect can be a homeland, Ella Wind pursues an inside perspective on the Syrian uprising, Malu Halasa samples the local lingerie of Aleppo, Afra Jalabi agonises over a photograph of a lost child, Amal Hanano recalls the massacre of Hama, Frederic Gijsel visits a pre-revolution House of Poetry, Ross Burn is concerned about the loss of cultural property, Brigid Waddams remembers Old Damascus, Hania Mourtada has a disturbing encounter on Skype, Boyd Tonkin finds it difficult to distinguish between volunteers and terrorists, Itaz Azzam gets the refugee women involved in a production of ‘Trojan Women’, Maysaloon chides Syrian drama for its complicity, Yasmin Fedda and Daniel Gorman praise the underground cinema of defiance, and Laurens de Rooji reads two recent books on Syria.

Also in the issue: five very short stories by Zakariya Tamar, poems by Golan Haji, Moniza Alvi and Ruth Padel, Ehsan Masood on religion and environment, and ten things you ought to know about Syria.

In this issue

The Roots of the Syrian Crisis by Peter Clarke

In the 1890s a twenty-year-old Englishman was in the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus. He had been travelling for a year in Palestine and Syria and ...

Revolutionary Culture by Robin Yassin Kassab

In ‘Assad’s Syria’, as the slogans at the borders and in the streets called it, schools taught by rote and intimidation. The ...

The Lost Child in Oversized Shoes

Wars are crowded with male faces, weapons and gruesome images. We know there are other things happening but we are struck anew when we are ...

The Sect as Homeland by Rasha Omran

On the telephone in Damascus, or via Facebook with Tartus (the Mediterranean coastal city and surrounding region with an Alawi ...

Ten Things to Remember About Syria

Ten Things to Remember About Syria In the pre-revolution days, Syrians were ever ready to list ten of their favourite picnic spots, ten of ...

From Hama to Daraya by Amal Hanano

1982 There is a woman who lives alone in Hama, Syria. She has been in mourning for thirty-two years, tormented by memories of her survival. One ...