Syria Update, May 7, 2013 (Institute of Middle Eastern, Islamic and Strategic Studies. By Sherifa Zuhur)

Reblogged from sherifazuhur:

Syria Update May 7, 2013. (Institute of Middle Eastern, Islamic and Strategic Studies. By Sherifa Zuhur)

Monday’s death toll: 130 Syrians were killed yesterday including 37 civilians, 48 opposition fighters, and 29 regular soldiers

Internet connections in Syria were cut off today. Many websites were unreachable. It is thought that the government has initiated the shut-down.

Syria’s Children: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfqT3ioJ02g

Anthony Cordesman of CSIS discusses Syria’s air defense capabilities in light of Israel’s recent attacks.

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On "Hearsay" vs. Casualties - Sherifa Zuhur

Reblogged from sherifazuhur:

Yes, the Israeli airstrikes deserve some extended comment but they may not signal that further military intervention is forthcoming.
But first I want to address the issue of casualties and their accuracy.

Recently, an old friend commented on my feed that reports of Syrians killed were “hearsay.” I found that terribly insulting and misleading, as I’ve been following casualties by governorate on a daily basis since the SOHR and the LCCs and other news outlets began reporting them and issued daily reports from July of last year.

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Guernica is memorialized but who remembers Hariqa?

Reblogged from Hidden Cities:

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In 1925 the French bombed Damascus from the air for 48 hours, killing nearly 1,500 people and leveling whole historic neighborhoods. It was fifteen years before the Luftwaffe destroyed a town in northern Spain for Franco. Fifteenth century architecture was reduced to rubble – one contemporary photograph shows the ornate wall of a courtyard house teetering around ruins, its doorways opening up to a pile of stones.

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A Wintry Day in Damascus: Syrian Stories available in NYC bookstores

Tags

Damascus, fiction, humanitarian aid, refugees, Syria

Dear Friends and Readers,

A Wintry Day in Damascus: Syrian Stories is now available for purchase at Book Culture books, located at 536 W 112th St, New York, NY 10025 (212) 865-1588. A limited number of signed editions of the book are available at a special discount price.

You may also find copies at Shakespeare & Co. 939 Lexington Avenue (at 69th Street), New York, NY 10065 (212) 570-0201, and at McNally Jackson Books, 52 Prince Street, New York, NY 10012 (212) 274-1160.

Support your local book stores! If you do not live in the NYC area, print and Kindle versions are available on Amazon.com.

As ever, all proceeds from book sales will go toward humanitarian relief for Syrian refugees (outside of Syria for the moment, as there is some debate about the availability of funds for Syrians inside Syria donated by international not-for-profict agencies, many of which are required to operate under the authorization of the national government. It is kind of like asking the fox to grant you access to the hen house). So far the charities I have supported include the UNHCR, the ICRC, Handicap International, and a few direct humanitarian and medical initiatives in Syria itself. Every little bit of assistance can help.

Echoes from Aleppo: أصداء من حلب

For those of you who are not familiar with Syrian music, here is a short sample of some of the finest playing you will ever hear, by the great master Muhammad Qadri Dalal. Dalal, who hails from Aleppo, is not only a master of the instrument, he is also a distinguished composer and educator, an important scholar of the music, and and all around great person.

Have a listen to these Aleppine strings, and may they tug your heart strings with their sonorous beauty.

 

Click here to listen.

Stories from Hama: Memories of Painter Khaled Al-Khani. Part 3

Reblogged from Walls حيطان:

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Lest we forget-31 years (Introduction by OTW)

Nearly a year ago, I posted my translation of several segments of the memoir of Khaled Al-Khani, a Syrian painter who lived as a six-year old child the horrors of Hama. Then, I hoped to post all of Khaled’s memoirs, which were originally written by him as eight letters sent to his friends in the early days of the Syrian Revolution, on three installments on 7ee6ab.

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Book Launch: A Wintry Day in Damascus, Tuesday January 22nd, 2013

Tags

Syrian stories

Dear friends,

I will be reading from A Wintry Day in Damascus: Syrian Stories Tuesday January 22nd, 2013, from 6:30-8:30 PM at the “Diwan,” Middle East and Middle Eastern American Center, The CUNY Graduate Center (365 Fifth Avenue @ 34th Street, room 6304.24). There will some light Syrian food and drinks as well as book for purchase. All proceeds from book sales will support humanitarian relief of Syrian refugees via the UNHCR (UN Refugee Agency).

If you cannot attend, send a friend! You may also purchase the book on Amazon.com or at McNally Jackson Books, 52 Prince Street, New York.

Thanks for your support.

May peace come soon to the Syrian people.

Syria Update, January 15, 2013 (Institute of Middle Eastern, Islamic and Strategic Studies

Reblogged from sherifazuhur:

Syria Update, January 15, 2013 (Institute of Middle Eastern, Islamic and Strategic Studies. By Sherifa Zuhur)

Early death toll: 119

Monday’s death toll: 150 including 82 civilians.

Other women’s accounts of the war and civil organizations are framed differently than this article (providing more evidence of activism) which outlines a mostly supportive role for women. http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/role-of-syrian-women-evolves-as-war-rages-on/2013/01/09/5308512e-559b-11e2-bf3e-76c0a789346f_story.html

A Jordanian salafist leader announced that Riyadh Hdeib, known as Abi Hamza, a leader of Jabhat al-Nusra had been killed in Syrian army shelling of the village of Tafas in Dar`a.

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A Wintry Day in Damascus.Syrian Stories.

Tags

Stories, Syria

A Wintry Day in Damascus.Syrian Stories.

A Wintry Day in Damascus. Syrian Stories is now available in both Kindle and paperback versions. Copies can be ordered via Amazon.com and affiliated Amazon sites worldwide (the UK, Continental Europe, Asia and South Asia included).

Proceeds from the sale of the book will be earmarked for humanitarian relief in Syria.

Spread the stories, and spread the love.

Thanks for your support.

A Wintry Day in Damascus: Syrian Stories. Now available in print!

Tags

Damascus, literature, revolution, Syria

Dear readers,

A Wintry Day in Damascus: Syrian Stories is now available in print from Amazon.com and local bookstores near you worldwide!

All proceeds will go toward humanitarian relief for Syrian refugees. I will send reports quarterly, depending on sales. Please share this with interested friends.

Order now and your copy of the first edition will arrive just after the new year.

Thanks to everyone for their support. I hope to begin Volume II soon!

Please follow the link below for more information.

A Wintry Day in Damascus: Syrian Stories, by Jonathan Shannon http://www.amazon.com/dp/0615743005/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_1.D0qb0JD9F0J

A Wintry Day in Damascus: Syrian Stories

David, a Syrian-American living in Damascus, wakes one wintry morning to rare snowfall in the Syrian capital. The snow is a harbinger of things to come as David makes his way through the city…

Amazon.com Books @amazonbooks