Middle East 4 ChangeAfter ISIS
Friday, February 5, 2021
Patrick Cockburn Alend Shoresh is a Kurdish farmer and teacher from north-east Syria who was conscripted into fighting Islamic State in 2018: he joined the Syrian Democratic Forces…
How the Assad regime has exploited “evacuation deals” to redirect Isis against the rebels
Wednesday, January 30, 2019
Omar Sabbour. In September 2018, when the Assad regime was preparing to launch its (now on-hold) offensive against rebel-held Idlib in northern Syria, a rather surprising report emerged in the…
The Women of the Revolution: inside the Kurdish Rojava Revolution
Tuesday, October 23, 2018
David Pratt. A remarkable story is unfolding that defies the usual narrative about Syria. In contrast to the misogyny and anti-democratic values of the jihadists of the Islamic…
Playing with Fire: Trump, the Saudi- Iranian Rivalry, and the Geopolitics of Sectarianization in the Middle East
Wednesday, October 17, 2018
Danny Postel and Nader Hashemi. Sectarian conflict has been on the rise in the Middle East in recent years. From the catastrophic wars in Syria and Yemen to…
Nadia Murad: I tell my story because it is the best weapon I have
Sunday, October 7, 2018
Nadia Murad. The slave market opened at night. We could hear the commotion downstairs where militants were registering and organising, and when the first man entered the room,…
Nobel Peace Prize winner Nadia Murad speaks with National Geographic
Sunday, October 7, 2018
Romy Roynard. The young Yazidi woman, the victim of horrific crimes, has spoken out worldwide in her campaign to end sexual assault as a weapon of war. Nadia…
Turkey: A vindictive and pitiless regime
Monday, October 1, 2018
Esen Uslu. The Turkish army of the modern republican era has never withdrawn from any piece of land it has occupied on whatever pretext. A former British army…
Lebanon is on a tightrope, balancing the Saudis, Iran and the West
Wednesday, September 5, 2018
Robert Fisk. Posted on Zcommunications and the Independent September 4, 2018. Facing possible invasion from both Britain and Germany in 1940 and determined to remain neutral, the Irish government in Dublin asked one of…
The Syrian War in Five Sieges
Wednesday, July 18, 2018
Patrick Cockburn. Posted on London Review of Books Vol 40, July 19, 2018. The road to Raqqa, once the de facto Syrian capital of Islamic State, looks surprisingly…
Women are at the forefront of challenging extremism in Idlib
Friday, July 6, 2018
Leila Al Shami. Posted on Leila’s Blog July 5, 2108. This was originally published at Chatham House. Here is a longer, un-edited version. In May, SMART News Agency,…
Yazidi women: in defense of human rights sympathy is not enough
Monday, June 4, 2018
Richard Falk. Posted Richard Falk June 1 2018. Ten days ago, while attending the opening ceremony of a conference in Vienna commemorating the 25thanniversary of the Vienna Declaration…
Syria is not exceptional: interview with Joseph Daher | Part 2
Thursday, May 31, 2018
Joe Hayns & Joseph Daher. Posted on RS21 May 10, 2018. This is Part 2 of an interview with Joseph Daher, on revolution and counter-revolution in Syria. In…
Exclusive emails show how the White Helmets tried to recruit Roger Waters with Saudi money
Thursday, April 26, 2018
Max Blumenthal. Posted on MRonline (April 22, 2018). Originally published: Gray Zone (April 19, 2018). During a Barcelona concert on April 13, Roger Waters denounced the Syrian White Helmets…
Seven years after: what is next for Syria?
Saturday, April 21, 2018
Syrian playwright Mohammad Al Attar moderates a panel on seven years of the Syrian revolution featuring the great Yassin al-Haj Saleh, Thomas Pierret and Kristin Helberg. The 18th…
Bread, water and roses: The guerrillas of Shengal (Sinjar)
Sunday, April 8, 2018
Marcel Cartier. Posted on The Region on April 4, 2018. Powerful, sobering and heart-wrenching images are once again to be seen from the Yazidi heartland of Shengal, otherwise…
Survivors of the Syrian Wars
Thursday, April 5, 2018
Patrick Cockburn. Published in London Review of Books Volume 40 number 7 April 5, 2018. When I first visited Kurdish-held territory in northern Syria, early in 2015, it…
Patterns of civilian and child deaths due to war-related violence in Syria: a comparative analysis from the Violation Documentation Center dataset, 2011–16
Friday, March 2, 2018
Posted on Lancet Global Health volume 6, number 1. Background Since March, 2011, the Syrian civil war has lowered life expectancy by as much as 20 years. We…
America Loves Islamic Terrorists (Abroad): ISIS as Proxy US Mercenaries
Wednesday, February 21, 2018
Geoff Dutton. Posted in CounterPunch on February 16, 2018. By all accounts, wherever the Islamic State has gained and held territory, its residents suffer terrible oppression and deprivation….
The Wounds of Afrin, the Promise of Rojava: an Interview with Nazan Üstündağ
Tuesday, February 20, 2018
Nazan Üstündağ. Posted LeftEast Februry 14, 2018. LeftEast interviewed sociologist and feminist Nazan Üstündağ on Afrin, Rojava and the social stakes of the resistance to Turkey’s current military…
As my recent trip to Syria proved, wars can be at their most dangerous when they’re coming to an end
Friday, February 2, 2018
Robert Fisk. Posted on Independent February, 1, 2018. Debts will have to be paid for the casualties of this war, and some soldiers are becoming rather too over-confident….
Showdown in Afrin: Turkey’s Attack on Syria’s Kurds Threatens That Country’s Most Democratic, Pluralist Force
Saturday, January 27, 2018
Meredith Tax. Posted on the Nation 26th January 2018. The Kurds have said they will fight to the death before they give up an inch of Afrin. Last…
Donald Trump will spark a war with Iran – which is great news for Daesh
Thursday, December 21, 2017
Patrick Cockburn. Posted on Independent February 2017. We reproduce it on ME4Change as a useful summary of US involvement in the Middle East President Trump made great play…
A War Within a War: Chechnya’s Expanding Role in Syria
Tuesday, December 19, 2017
Neil Hauer. Posted on Souciant on December 4, 2017. TBILISI – International actors have been positioning themselves to exploit new realities in Syria and solidify their involvement in…
The Smart Weapons Fallacy: Civilian Casualties From “Precision” Air Strikes in Iraq and Syria
Saturday, December 9, 2017
Patrick Cockburn. Posted on Counterpunch December 4, 2017. The final elimination of Isis in Iraq and Syria is close, but welcome though the defeat of these monstrous movements may be, it has…
The Ossington Circle Episode 16: The Destruction of Syria and Solidarity with Max Ajl
Friday, December 8, 2017
Max Ajl and Justine Podur. Interview transcript posted on podur.org on April 29, 2017. In this episode of The Ossington Circle, academic, activist, and editor at Jadaliyya Max…
Book review: War of All Against All
Friday, November 24, 2017
Lindsey Hilsom Posted on New York Review of Books, 23 November 2017 The Impossible Revolution: Making Sense of the Syrian Tragedy by Yassin al-Haj Saleh, with a foreword…
Ten Conflicts to Watch in 2017
Tuesday, November 21, 2017
Jean-Marie Guéhenno. Published in Foreign Policy . The world is entering its most dangerous chapter in decades. The sharp uptick in war over recent years is outstripping our…
Revolution, counterrevolution, and imperialism in Syria: Interview with Yassin al-Haj Salah
Wednesday, November 8, 2017
Yassin al-Haj Saleh interviewed by Ashley Smith. Posted on International Socialist Review, Issue 107 Yassin al-Haj Saleh is one of the pivotal figures in the Syrian Revolution. He…
Syria: Underground in Raqqa
Thursday, October 12, 2017
Patrick Cockburn. Published on London Review of Books October 2017, volume 39 number 20 pp15-17. Shortly before the siege of Raqqa began in June, Islamic State officials arrested…
Iraqi Kurdish referendum: Why international powers fear independence vote could derail fight against Isis
Thursday, September 21, 2017
Patrick Cockburn. Posted on Independent on line on September 19, 2017. The Kurdish leadership is coming under intense international pressure to postpone the referendum on independence due to…