[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
Coalition must seek a common goal in Syria As the anti-ISIS coalition now turns attention to Syria, Hassan Hassan claims that the way to defeat the them starts in Aleppo.
Displaced refused entry to Lattakia, regime orders return to fight Civilians that have fled al-Ghab are prohibited from entering the coastal region due to “lack of shelter.”
Rebels unlikely to find success in Aleppo Mona alami reports on the Aleppo battle scene, and explains why Syrians rebels are unlikely to succeed as they did in Idlib.
Nusra Front attacks Western-backed rebels in northern Syria Nusra front accused of abducting US trained rebel fighters, only adding to the mounting doubts about the US program.
Syrian Kurds fear territorial gains are at risk after Turkish action“Turkey’s formal entry into Syria’s war and its renewed attacks on the militant Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) has alarmed Syrian Kurds battling ISIL.”
Abductions hurt U.S. bid to train Anti-ISIS rebels in Syria Problems with recruitment, screening, dismissals and desertions haunt the US bid to train anti-ISIS rebels in Syria.
Syria’s Makeshift Doctors In Syrian areas where fighting is most severe everything becomes improvised. Residents live in makeshift homes, send their children to learn in makeshift schools and send their injured to be treated at makeshift hospitals; even by makeshift doctors. Everyone has to adapt, and everyone has to contribute wherever it’s possible.
Syria conflict: 'Unprecedented' assault on Zabadani Zabadani, in the Qalamoun mountains north-west of Damascus, close to the Lebanese border, has been under attack for weeks by the Syrian army and fighters from Lebanon's Hezbollah movement. The UN envoy for Syria says Syrian government air strikes have caused "unprecedented levels of destruction" and death there.
Leader of Qaeda Cell in Syria, Muhsin al-Fadhli, Is Killed in Airstrike, U.S. Says A military drone strike this month killed the leader of a shadowy Qaeda cell in Syria that American officials say has been plotting attacks against the United States and Europe.
Tribal massacre victims forced to negotiate with IS A year after a deadly attack by the Islamic State, tribesmen in Syria's Deir ez-Zor are trying to bring civilians back to their homes.
3 Spanish Journalists Missing in Syria and Feared Abducted Three Spanish journalists, Antonio Pampliega, José Manuel López and Ángel Sastre, have been missing for several days in northern Syria, according to a Spanish journalism organization, amid growing fears that they may have been abducted.
Syria Hopes Russia to Co-Finance New Thermal Power Plant Construction The Syrian government hopes an agreement with Russia will be reached to allocate funds for the construction of the Tishreen-3 power plant, Russia’s Ambassador to Syria Alexander Kinshchak said.
Turkey stages first airstrikes on Islamic State in Syria Turkish warplanes pounded Islamic State targets in Syria for the first time on Friday, with President Tayyip Erdogan promising more decisive action against both the jihadists and Kurdish militants.
Regional and International Perspectives
Why the U.S. can't build an opposition army in Syria“An attack on an American-funded military group epitomizes the Obama administration’s logistical and strategic failures in the war-torn country.”
US moves to quash reports on Syria trainees captured by al-Nusra US denies reports that Syrian US-trained rebels have been captured by al-Nusra, and emphasizes that these rebels must focus on pushing out ISIS.
Turkey and U.S. plan to create Syria ‘safe zone’ free of ISIS“The plan would significantly intensify American and Turkish military action against Islamic State militants in the country.”
Syria Increasingly Disintegrates in Crucible of War Anne Barnard argues "Syria is falling apart, as warring groups carve it into de facto fiefs, and it is increasingly hard to see how its disintegration can be reversed."
'I'm Not a Butcher': An Interview with Islamic State's Architect of Death Christoph Reuter interviews Abu Abdullah who was, for one and a half years, responsible for organizing Islamic State's suicide bombings in Baghdad. He is one of the organization's rare leading figures to be captured alive. The interview conducted in a high-security prison in Baghdad.
It's more likely that Isis will achieve statehood than Cameron coming to the rescue Memphis Barker discusses British policy on Syria and argues that "a gulf has been growing for months between Western policymakers and experts on the topic of Syria, and yet both the British and American governments seem happy to carry on regardless – even if the voice of dissent comes from within."
Scenes from Inside Aleppo: How Life Has Been Transformed by Rebel Rule Marwan Hisham, a Syrian writer, revisits Aleppo city where he attended college, with sketches by Molly Crabapple.
The Islamic State's secret recruiting ground in Turkey Bombers from two separate incidents have hailed from Adiyaman province.
Policy and Reports
It’s time the West understood why Syria matters H. A. Hellyer describes the role the Iran deal has on the Muslim world, and why the West’s presence is significant for Syria.
No Turkish Safe Zone in Syria The intensification of Turkish military action against the self-proclaimed Islamic State does not equate to an established “safe zone” in Syria, Yezid Sayigh reports.
U.S. shoots down idea of Syria safe zone Josh Rogin argues that after the US and Turkey claim to forge an ISIS-free zone together, there is no safe zone in Syria.
Innovation at Za’atari: how do refugees make tents and caravans into homes? The largest refugee camp in Jordan is on its way to becoming a permanent settlement. A new report shows how people fleeing Syria have brought creativity and innovation to their new homes.
Click at this title to read the full report Refugee Innovation: Humanitarian Innovation that Starts with Communities, by Alexander Betts, Louise Bloom and Nina Weaver at the Humanitarian Innovation Project.
The Syrian Refugee Crisis: What’s Next? Elizabeth Ferris summarizes possible scenarios of “What’s going to happen to the Syrian refugees?” in the next years.
David Cameron’s fatal mistakes on Syria and ISIS Chris Doyle argues that Cameron’s approach on Syria is aggressive, ill thought-out and based on misguided surface-level assessment of the issue.
Economy and Agriculture
How war has destroyed Syria's economy in four charts A series of statistical charts show Syria’s rapid decline has spread since the beginning of its civil war in 2011.
Adults before their time, Syria’s refugee children toil in the fields of Lebanon Thousands of Syrian children have been forced to become farm labourers and provide for their families, at the cost of skipping school and being exposed to dangerous chemicals and pesticides.
Syria: bread prices up nearly 90 per cent, pushing more people into hunger, UN report warns Livestock production is extremely affected by the conflict, food is scarce, and the price of bread alone has jumped almost 90 percent.
Is ISIL running out of oil?"Fighters may lost Iraq's Beiji refinery, but they still control a number of oil wells and continue to exploit them."
Documentaries, Special Reports, and Other Media
Grand Prize – Hosam Katan This photography project title is “Syria.” It is conducted by Hosam Katan a 21 year old photographer from Syria. The images in this portfolio document the struggles that people are facing in their daily lives in Syria.
The Yazidi women held as sex slaves by IS It is almost a year since thousands of Yazidis fled to Mount Sinjar, in northern Iraq, as Islamic State fighters entered their villages. This video sheds lights on the stories of three survivors.
Living with IS 'nothing but pain, rape and war' Three Yazidi girls who were held captive by Islamic State (IS) group told schoolchildren in the UK of their experiences. One explained that living with IS was "nothing but pain, rape and war."
Victims of ISIL attack in Turkey in personal stories These photos share stories of the victims of the Suruc massacre.
IS Uses Chemical Weapons in Syrian Attack Islamic State militants have added a new weapon in their arsenal of fear: chemical weapons. VOA Kurdish service reporter Zana Omer was on the scene within hours of a recent attack in Hasakah, Syria, and has details of the subsequent investigation, in this report narrated by Miguel Amaya.
As Challenges Shift, Syria's Moderates Navigate Unexpected Territory"What we are doing now has nothing to do with what we expected to be doing," says Rami Jarrah, who protested against the Assad regime in Damascus in 2011 and now runs a radio station from southern Turkey that broadcasts to civilians in rebel-controlled territory in northern Syria.
آساييش المرأة في تل أبيض Arab and Kurdish women of the Asayish guarding a checkpoint around Tall Abyad.
تسجيل ولادات النازحين السوريين ... ولادة ازمة جديدة Gebran Bassil, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants Incumbent in Lebanon, refuses the possibility of registering Syrian refugee births in Lebanon.
Arabic:
اختطاف ثلاثة صحفيين إسبان في حلب This article reports that three Spanish journalists have been abducted in Aleppo.
بالصور..داعش يضع 7 شروط صارمة لخروج المرأة من بيتها This article discusses recent Da'ash signboards in Libya that police women's appearance in public places.
جوازه مزور.. مادة نشرتها "زمان الوصل" تنقذ شاباً سورياً من "حجز" مطار "أتاتورك" Zaman Alwsl website reports that one of the videos that was published on the website helped a young Syrian refugee to not be imprisoned in Istanbul Atatürk Airport.
السوريون يتصدرون القطاع الأجنبي في تركيا Syrian investors in Turkey won one-third share of all companies with foreign capital in the country during the first six months of this year.
إجراءات لم الشمل في ألمانيا: 7 أخطاء شائعة يقع فيها السوريون! This article outlines seven common mistakes that Syrian asylum seekers commit in their application process to Germany.
سوريون ينقلون العيد إلى مخيمات اللاجئين في لبنان Hasan Arfeh reports how Syrian activists in lebanon celebrated Eid al-Fitr with disadvantaged Syrian refugee children.
حزب الاتحاد الديمقراطي: نتاج ثوري أم وريث الاستبداد؟ This article questions if the Democratic Union Party, a Rojava political party established in 2003 by Kurdish activists in Northern Syria, is a production of the revolution or a heir of tyranny.
لبنان: تراجع عدد مسلحي «داعش» و«النصرة» إلى 700 This article states that ISIS and al-Nousra Front lost many fighters in Lebanon who escaped from the eastern Lebanese - Syrian border area after Hezbollah tightened siege on the Syrian side of Tmrkzhma areas, and colliding Lebanese army from the Lebanese side.
ما بعد انهيار الإطار الوطني للصراع السوري Yassin Al Haj Saleh discusses the internationalization of the Syrian war as well as the post-collapse of the national framework of the Syrian struggle, and argues for a wider regional revolution.
داعش يشن حملات تفتيش على مقاهي الإنترنت في الرقة ISIS launches a new campaign that restricts Internet use in the public and private spaces of Al-Raqqah.
إيران على مفترق طرق في سورية Ibrahim Hamidi argues that there are two choices for Iran in regard to Syria after the Iran nuclear deal. The first choice supports a political solution in Syria. The second choice supports Syria's partitioning.
صورة مسربة من مبايعة لداعش.. تكشف هوية الزعيم والأمير الشرعي A new collection of photos that documents Alambayaat to Da'ash in southern Damascus reveals the true identity of one of Da'ash's leaders who was released by the Syrian regime in March 2012 from Sednaya prison.