Download or read book Dissident Syria written by miriam cooke and published by Duke University Press. This book was released on 2007-08-14 with total page 212 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An account of dissidence in Hafiz Asads Syria, describing how intellectuals tried to navigate between charges of complicity with the state and treason against it.
Download or read book Dissident Syria written by miriam cooke and published by Duke University Press. This book was released on 2007-08-14 with total page 206 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From 1970 until his death in 2000, Hafiz Asad ruled Syria with an iron fist. His regime controlled every aspect of daily life. Seeking to preempt popular unrest, Asad sometimes facilitated the expression of anti-government sentiment by appropriating the work of artists and writers, turning works of protest into official agitprop. Syrian dissidents were forced to negotiate between the desire to genuinely criticize the authoritarian regime, the risk to their own safety and security that such criticism would invite, and the fear that their work would be co-opted as government propaganda, as what miriam cooke calls “commissioned criticism.” In this intimate account of dissidence in Asad’s Syria, cooke describes how intellectuals attempted to navigate between charges of complicity with the state and treason against it. A renowned scholar of Arab cultures, cooke spent six months in Syria during the mid-1990s familiarizing herself with the country’s literary scene, particularly its women writers. While she was in Damascus, dissidents told her that to really understand life under Hafiz Asad, she had to speak with playwrights, filmmakers, and, above all, the authors of “prison literature.” She shares what she learned in Dissident Syria. She describes touring a sculptor’s studio, looking at the artist’s subversive work as well as at pieces commissioned by the government. She relates a playwright’s view that theater is unique in its ability to stage protest through innuendo and gesture. Turning to film, she shares filmmakers’ experiences of making movies that are praised abroad but rarely if ever screened at home. Filled with the voices of writers and artists, Dissident Syria reveals a community of conscience within Syria to those beyond its borders.
Download or read book Syria written by and published by . This book was released on 1995 with total page 54 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book We Are Syrians written by Naila Al-Atrash and published by University of New Orleans Press. This book was released on 2017-07-06 with total page 184 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What would you do to protect your freedom? Would you risk your reputation? Undergo interrogation, detainment, and abuse? Would you continue even when your friends and colleagues started going missing? Continue despite the threats? Would you leave everything behind, leave the only home you've ever known, before silencing yourself? In We Are Syrians, Naila Al-Atrash, Radwan Ziadeh, and Sana Mustafa share their harrowing accounts about working to protect freedom of expression under an authoritarian government. While these are individual stories of courage and defiance, together they tell the larger story of the Syrian conflict and the conditions that brought about the worst humanitarian crisis in recent history.
Download or read book The Impossible Revolution written by Yassin al-Haj Saleh and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2017-07-27 with total page 317 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Yassin al-Haj Saleh is a leftist dissident who spent sixteen years as a political prisoner and now lives in exile. He describes with precision and fervour the events that led to Syria's 2011 uprising, the metamorphosis of the popular revolution into a regional war, and the 'three monsters' Saleh sees 'treading on Syria's corpse': the Assad regime and its allies, ISIS and other jihadists, and Russia and the US. Where conventional wisdom has it that Assad's army is now battling religious fanatics for control of the country, Saleh argues that the emancipatory, democratic mass movement that ignited the revolution still exists, though it is beset on all sides. The Impossible Revolution is a powerful, compelling critique of Syria's catastrophic war, which has profoundly reshaped the lives of millions of Syrians.
Download or read book Real Life Stories About Syria History written by Rodrick Mercurio and published by Independently Published. This book was released on 2021-04-23 with total page 222 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The book takes you through the life of an Assad dissenter who despite all the many dangers campaigned and stood up for human rights and what is right in general. In this syrian history book, you will discover: - Palestine's Intelligence Branch, April 1995 - Al Halbuni Intelligence Branch, May 1980 - Beirut, 1975 - Syria, 1965 - The Hiding, 1979 - Kafarsouseh Branch, May 1980 - My Grandfather And so much more! It's certainly not for the faint hearted, but it is a wonderfully uplifting tale of courage and stamina. Scroll up, click the "Buy Now with 1-Click" button and Start Reading Now!
Download or read book Destroying a Nation written by Nikolaos Van Dam and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2017-07-30 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Following the Arab Spring, Syria descended into civil and sectarian conflict. It has since become a fractured warzone which operates as a breeding ground for new terrorist movements including ISIS as well as the root cause of the greatest refugee crisis in modern history. In this important book, former Special Envoy of the Netherlands to Syria, Nikolaos van Dam, explains the recent history of Syria, covering the growing disenchantment with the Asad regime, the chaos of civil war and the fractures which led to an immense amount of destruction in the refined social fabric of what used to be the Syrian nation. Through an in-depth examination, van Dam traces political developments within the Asad regime and the various opposition groups from the Arab Spring to the present day, and provides a deeper insight into the conflict and the possibilities and obstacles for reaching a political solution.
Download or read book The Impossible Revolution written by Yassin al-Haj Saleh and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2017 with total page 332 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Yassin al-Haj Saleh is a leftist dissident who spent sixteen years as a political prisoner and now lives in exile. He describes with precision and fervour the events that led to Syria's 2011 uprising, the metamorphosis of the popular revolution into a regional war, and the 'three monsters' Saleh sees 'treading on Syria's corpse': the Assad regime and its allies, ISIS and other jihadists, and Russia and the US. Where conventional wisdom has it that Assad's army is now battling religious fanatics for control of the country, Saleh argues that the emancipatory, democratic mass movement that ignited the revolution still exists, though it is beset on all sides.'The Impossible Revolution' is a powerful, compelling critique of Syria's catastrophic war, which has profoundly reshaped the lives of millions of Syrians.
Download or read book Dancing in Damascus written by miriam cooke and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2016-10-04 with total page 155 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: On March 17, 2011, many Syrians rose up against the authoritarian Asad regime that had ruled them with an iron fist for forty years. Initial successes were quickly quashed, and the revolution seemed to devolve into a civil war pitting the government against its citizens and extremist mercenaries. As of late 2015, almost 300,000 Syrians have been killed and over half of a total population of 23 million forced out of their homes. Nine million are internally displaced and over four million are wandering the world, many on foot or in leaky boats. Countless numbers have been disappeared. These shocking statistics and the unstoppable violence notwithstanding, the revolution goes on. The story of the attempted crushing of the revolution is known. Less well covered has been the role of artists and intellectuals in representing to the world and to their people the resilience of revolutionary resistance and defiance. How is it possible that artists, filmmakers and writers have not been cowed into numbed silence but are becoming more and more creative? How can we make sense of their insistence that despite the apocalypse engulfing the country their revolution is ongoing and that their works participate in its persistence? With smartphones, pens, voices and brushes, these artists registered their determination to keep the idea of the revolution alive. Dancing in Damascus traces the first four years of the Syrian revolution and the activists’ creative responses to physical and emotional violence.
Download or read book Syria Speaks written by Malu Halasa and published by Saqi. This book was released on 2014-06-16 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Syria, culture has become a critical line of defence against tyranny. Syria Speaks is a celebration of a people determined to reclaim their dignity, freedom and self-expression. It showcases the work of over fifty artists and writers who are challenging the culture of violence in Syria. Their literature, poems and songs, cartoons, political posters and photographs document and interpret the momentous changes that have shifted the frame of reality so drastically in Syria. Moving and inspiring, Syria Speaks is testament to the courage, creativity and imagination of the Syrian people. 'Syria Speaks is a remarkable achievement and a remarkable book – a wise, courageous, imaginative and beautiful response to all that is ugly in human behaviour. This extraordinary anthology gives a voice to those we may have forgotten, or whom we may classify as simply passive and silent victims. The people shown living, dreaming and speaking here are far more than victims and only silent if we refuse to hear them.' A.L. Kennedy 'An extraordinary collection, revealing a dynamic and exciting culture in painful transition – a culture where artists are really making a difference ... You need to read this book.' Brian Eno
Download or read book Family Law in Syria written by Esther van Eijk and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2016-05-18 with total page 312 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The current Syrian crisis has its roots in the sectarian nature of the country's multi-religious society. Since Ottoman times, the different religious communities have enjoyed the right to regulate and administer their own family relations. Matters of personal status including marriage, divorce, child custody and inheritance continue to be managed by a variety of religious laws and courts operating simultaneously within the legal system of the state. However, this complex system of competing jurisdictions has also affected inter-communal relations and has been used to deepen communal divides. Esther van Eijk discusses socio-legal practices in Syria by focusing on three courts: a shar'iyya, a Catholic court and a Greek-Orthodox court. While the plurality of Syrian family law is clear, she shows how - irrespective of religious affiliation - it is nevertheless characterised by the prevalence of shared cultural or patriarchal views and norms on marital relations, family and gender. Based on extensive fieldwork, Family Law in Syria offers a detailed analysis of a country that has in recent years been inaccessible to researchers.The book is a vital contribution to the growing literature on personal status laws in the Middle East and sheds light on the historical, socio-political and religious complexities and fault-lines that mark contemporary Syria.
Download or read book Syria from Reform to Revolt written by Leif Stenberg and published by Syracuse University Press. This book was released on 2015-12-01 with total page 250 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As Syria’s anti-authoritarian uprising and subsequent civil war have left the country in ruins, the need for understanding the nation’s complex political and cultural realities remains urgent. The second of a two-volume series, Syria from Reform to Revolt: Culture, Society, and Religion draws together closely observed, critical and historicized analyses, giving vital insights into Syrian society today. With a broad range of disciplinary perspectives, contributors reveal how Bashar al-Asad’s pivotal first decade of rule engendered changes in power relations and public discourse—dynamics that would feed the 2011 protest movement and civil war. Essays focus on key arenas of Syrian social life, including television drama, political fiction, Islamic foundations, and Christian choirs and charities, demonstrating the ways in which Syrians worked with and through the state in attempts to reform, undermine, or sidestep the regime. The contributors explore the paradoxical cultural politics of hope, anticipation, and betrayal that have animated life in Syria under Asad, revealing the fractures that obstruct peaceful transformation. Syria from Reform to Revolt provides a powerful assessment of the conditions that turned Syria’s hopeful Arab spring revolution into a catastrophic civil war that has cost over 200,000 lives and generated the worst humanitarian crisis of the twenty-first century.
Download or read book Surviving the War in Syria written by Justin Schon and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2020-10-08 with total page 247 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Demonstrates how civilian behaviour in conflict zones involves repertoires of survival strategies, not just migration.
Download or read book The Struggle for Power in Syria written by Nikolaos Van Dam and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2011-05-30 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the midst of turmoil in the Middle East, and in the face of protests and demonstrations from Homs to Damascus and other places all over Syria, the Ba'th Party and Bashar al-Asad are truly caught up in a struggle to hold onto power in Syria. In this important book, Nikolaos van Dam explores and explains how the Asad dynasty has come to rule Syria for about half a century and keep the complex patchwork of minorities, factions and opponents securely under control for such an unprecedented long period. Through an in-depth examination of the role of sectarian, regional and tribal loyalties, van Dam traces developments within the Ba'th party and the military and civilian power elite from the 1963 Ba'thist takeover up to the present day.
Download or read book The Alawis of Syria written by Michael Kerr and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2015-01-12 with total page 404 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Throughout the turbulent history of the Levant the 'Alawis - a secretive, resilient and ancient Muslim sect - have aroused suspicion and animosity, including accusations of religious heresy. More recently they have been tarred with the brush of political separatism and complicity in the excesses of the Assad regime, claims that have gained greater traction since the onset of the Syrian uprising and subsequent devastating civil war. The contributors to this book provide a complex and nuanced reading of Syria's 'Alawi communities -from loyalist gangs (Shabiha) to outspoken critics of the regime. Drawing upon wide-ranging research that examines the historic, political and social dynamics of the 'Alawi and the Syrian state, the current tensions are scrutinised and fresh insights offered. Among the themes addressed are religious practice, social identities, and relations to the Ba'ath party, the Syrian state and the military apparatus. The analysis also extends to Lebanon with a focus on the embattled 'Alawi community of Jabal Mohsen in Tripoli and state relations with Hizballah amid the current crisis.
Download or read book Creating Consent in Ba thist Syria written by Esther Meininghaus and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2016-03-31 with total page 400 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The challenge of maintaining dictatorial regimes through control, co-option and coercion while upholding a facade of legitimacy is something that has concerned leaders throughout the Middle East and beyond. Nowhere is this more evident than in the Syria ruled by the Asads, both Hafiz and his son Bashar. Drawing on the example of the General Union of Syrian Women (founded in 1967), Esther Meininghaus offers new insights into how the Syrian Ba'thist regimes attempted to move beyond mere satisfaction with the compliance of the citizenry and to consolidate their rule amongst the local population. Meininghaus argues that this was partially achieved through providing welfare services delivered by the Union as one of the state-led mass organisations. In this way, she suggests, these regimes did not only aim to undermine opposition and to create the illusion of consent, but they factually catered to local needs and depended on consent. Based on archival material, interviews and statistics, Creating Consent in Ba'thist Syria will shed new light on mass organisations as a crucial institution of Ba'thist state building and, more broadly, the construction of the Asad regimes.
Download or read book Power Sect and State in Syria written by A. Maria A. Kastrinou and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2016-03-31 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Syrian state's rhetoric of Arab nationalism left little room for the official recognition of minority identities in pre-war Syria. Yet in practice, the state continually engaged with the Druze and other minorities to reinforce its legitimacy, often through cultural policy. Uncovering this neglected aspect of pre-war Syrian politics, Kastrinou explores the cultural politics of marriage in Syria, primarily among the Druze, to reveal how practical rituals of marriage inform sectarian and national identity formation.Challenging the assumed inherence of sectarianism and Druze endogamy, the book provides an historical and ethnographic account of political power and its relation to social control in Syria. It demonstrates the centrality of the body to Druze cosmology and how ritual performances of birth, marriage and death maintain and negotiate sectarian cohesion. Connecting these struggles to national and international politics, Kastrinou examines how both the Syrian government and the European Union have sponsored marriage-themed dance performances in Syria, each leveraging its cultural importance to legitimise their own policy goals. The book establishes marriage as a pervasive idiom for the construction of collective identity in Syria, which is appropriated by individuals, sects, states and intergovernmental organizations alike. Its conclusions are relevant to scholars of Middle East studies, sectarianism, anthropology and politics.
