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This is a roundup of news articles and other materials circulating on Syria and reflects a wide variety of opinions. It does not reflect the views of the Syria Page Editors or of Jadaliyya. You may send your own recommendations for inclusion in each week's roundup to syria@jadaliyya.com by Monday night of every week.]
Inside Syria
Gunfight shows demise of moderates on Syria’s southern front Another blow to the more moderate opposition after the killing of Capt Al Qatahneh, who headed the Omari brigades in Deraa, part of the powerful Syrian Revolutionary Front (SRF), at the hands of another member of the opposition, Qaisar Habib, an opposition media activist in Deraa.
ISIS, Jihadi Groups Make U.N. Aid Harder to DeliverKristyan Benedict answers the ubiquitous question: what is still needed to secure aid operations in Syria? And what are the main risks and obstacles to providing this aid?
On Golan, Israelis grab a front-row seat to the war in Syria In recent days, Quneitra Overlook has become a tourist attraction site for Israeli visitors who come to get a quick look on the ongoing civil war in Syria.
IS attacks force thousands to flee from Aleppo Mohammed al-Khatieb writes about the suffering and grievances of the Syrian refugees at the makeshift camps near the Turkish border. Syrian refugees, who fled their country following the Syrian government's barrel-bomb campaign in Aleppo and the Islamic State's attacks in the northern Aleppan countryside, are living in severe conditions.
A plague on all those houses “On August 27th Jabhat al-Nusra, al-Qaeda’s affiliate in Syria, overran the Syrian army’s positions at the Quneitra border-crossing on the Golan Heights, which Israel has occupied for almost half a century.”
Local struggles in Syria’s northeast Kevin Mazur writes about the overshadowed activities of the Islamic State in northeastern Syria, where the struggle continues between the Islamic State and other forces on the ground. According to Mazur, the resistance against the Islamic State " is laying bare alliances among local forces and the Syrian government" which raises important questions about how civil war processes should be understood.
Arts and Social Media
Arts + Culture: Documenting Syrian Lives, in Long Form Syrian NGO, Bidayyat, produced the documentary film “Our Terrible Country.” It has since then been classified as one of the first films to expose the early effects ISIL/ISIS had on Syrian residents.
An Independent Syrian Media Comes of Age at a Time of War Before the Syrian Uprising, Syria had only three government controlled-national newspapers, and only state radio and TV. Charlotte Eager writes about the spontaneous journalistic movement, such as Halab Today TV, Radio Fresh and SMART, in opposition-held parts of Syria and the challenges that confront it.
Economy and Agriculture
Syria’s war changes Damascus’ economic map Mawada Bahah reports that “the events in Syria did not only change the demographics in the country, but also brought major changes to the economic map and the geographic distribution of different professions.”
Regional and International Perspectives
Educational Aftershocks for Syrian Refugees in Lebanon Young Syrian refugees in Lebanon who make an effort to continue their education face traumatic economic, social and bureaucratic difficulties. Parents worry that their children will not be prepared to face the physical and economic needs for an emerging Syria.
Obama Pledges Syria Air Strikes to eliminate Islamic State US President Barack Obama vows to put a stop to the Islamic State, and orders a series of airstrikes in Syria and “expanded operations in Iraq to ‘destroy’ the militants.”
Kerry Makes Unannounced Stop in Iraq on Anti-IS Tour“The US Secretary of State, John Kerry, heads to Saudi, via Baghdad, where he will try to woo Arab nations to support the US-led campaign against Islamic State militants”
Policy and Reports
Confronting the Islamic State Hassan Hassan explores the positive impact airstrikes on the Islamic State will have on the Syrian opposition. Hassan points out the “opportunity for the opposition to work alongside countries that long doubted its ability to rule a post-Assad Syria.”
Syrian National Coalition backs US Intervention against ISIS Syrian National Coalition prepared to work alongside the US against the Islamic State, following
Some terrorists are better than others Michael Weiss shares the lesser of the two evils arguments as he states that transparencies of President Obama’s priorities have never been more vivid.
ISIS too extreme for the extremists?“A European Jihadist tells Clarissa Ward why he left Syria.”
The Syrian enemy of my Syrian enemy Hassan Hassan makes an interesting point by saying that the common enemy, the Islamic State, is a global threat. This threat could bring together some of the conflicting political factions if the US seizes the opportunity.
Nusra Front releases UN peacekeepers, demands nothing in return“UN peacekeepers are safe and have now crossed into Israeli territory, while Nusra Front denies it demanded to be taken off US terror list.”
Intelligence Gaps Crippled Mission in Syria to Rescue Hostages James Foley, Steven Sotloff Adam Entous, Julian E. Barnes and Siobhan Gorman write about the covert operation by Army Delta Force commandos in eastern Syria to neutralize the ISIS guards and rescue American journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff and other hostages.
Syria’s Ahrar al-Sham Leadership Wiped Out in Bombing Huge explosion in a town in northwest Syria wiped out most of the senior leadership of the powerful Ahrar al-Sham Islamic Movement, including the scholar-warrior Hassan Abboud, better known by his nom de guerre Abu Abdullah al-Hamawi. Aron Lund writes about the emergence of Ahrar al-Sham and its pragmatic strategies and the consequences of this exposition on the future of Ahrar al-Sham’s fighters.
Deaths of Ahrar al-Sham Leaders Could Shift Dynamics Within the Syrian Insurgency Oscar Webb writes about the potential consequences of the assassination of Ahrar al-Sham senior leaders.
Syria's 'Blood Diamonds': A nation's war on culture Christian C. Sahner write about the most pronounced manifestation of Syria's war on cultural heritage, that is, the illicit trade of treasures looted from archaeological sites and museums for guns and cash...the blood diamonds of Syria.
Documentaries and Films
HUMAN TO HUMAN - Short Biography Film About The Humanitarian Situation in Syria A short biography film about the humanitarian situation in Syria
بلا قيود: مع برهان غليون الرئيس الأسبق للمجلس الوطني السوري المعارض
Without restrictions: BBC interviews Burhan Ghalioun, former President of the Syrian National Council. According to Ghalioun, Gulf donors have contributed in the islamization of the popular movement in Syrian; and thus the islamization was an artifical process in Syria.
Arabic:
عودة السجال حول "تسمية سوريا" بعد بيان لممثلية الائتلاف في عنتاب
A statement issued by the Representation of the Syrian Coalition in Gaziantep (Turky) revives controversy regarding using the “Syrian Arab Republic” in its statement instead of theterm the "Syrian republic", which was one of demands by the Kurdish opposition.
المقاتلون الأجانب بسوريا..من ضمن 25 دولة توفرت معلومات حولها ..تونس فالسعودية فالمغرب
According to the CNN infographic, Tunisia has become the main supplier of foreign terrorists fighting in Syria with estimated at 3,000 jihadists, followed by Saudi Arabia with 2,500 jihadists, followed by 1,500 Moroccan jihadists.
إجرءات تحقيق النهج الشامل للعدالة الانتقالية في سوريا ما بعد النزاع
In this article, Katty Alhayek describes how transitional justice can be achieved in future Syria and what are the main conditions that should be exist to facilitate the implementations of the transitional justice mechanisms.
العدالة والعقد الاجتماعي
Jad al-Karim al-Jebaai, the Syrian thinker, writes about Justice and the need of a new “Social Contract” in post-war Syria.
خيوط اللعبة ماذا تريد أمريكا من إيران والأسد وحزب الله ؟
Sami kleib writes about the reasons that led the American administration to declare its support to the Sunnis in the regions that are threatened by ISIS and the importance of the Saudi- Iranian agreement in this regard.
وادي النصارى في ريف حمص الغربيّ...الخوف يطرق أبوابه مجدداً
An Al-Monitor Correspondent in Syria writes from Wadi al-Nasara, a strategic area in the countryside of western Homs, about the fear of Christian residents from the Islamic State and Jabhat al-Nusra and the reasons that led many of them to support the Syrian army.
The English translation of this article
المعارضة تكسر هدوء الجولان في أوسع معركة تشنها جنوباً
Khaled Atallah writes for al-monitor about the last clashes in Quneitra, which has broken the calm in the Golan Heights that prevailed for decades.
The English translation of this article
"الآثار السورية" ساحة معارك وميدان للسرقة والنهب..واسترداد 6 آلاف قطعة مهربة
6000 archaeological artifacts were recovered by the Directorate-General for Antiquities and Museums. According to Professor Maamoun Abdulkarim, general director of antiquities and museums at the Ministry of Culture in Damascus, Ahrar Alsham, Syrian opposition armed group, has moved three boxes containing 527 archaeological artifacts from the Museum of Raqqa to unknown location in 2013 under the pretext of protecting them.
الثقافة السورية الجديدة في زمن ال" إن.جي. أوز"
In his review of a recent book titled «Syria talk: Culture and Art for Freedom», Yazan al-Haj citizens the role of the NGOs in the Syrian culture and how that affected the content of the book.