Syria
Palmyra Fights To Survive
In Palmyra, residents returning after years of war face a scorched oasis, broken infrastructure and dwindling hope. The city’s revival hinges on water, tourism and aid — of which it has seen little.
The Politics of the Dead
Syria’s long and storied history has left it home to shrines for multiple religions and sects. Many are of great symbolic importance and have become flash points in the country’s conflicts since 2011. Once places of prayer and memory, they have been turned into tools for propaganda and recruitment.
Assad’s Prisons and the Need for Justice
After years of war, reconciliation with Syria’s past and between the country’s sects and factions cannot be achieved without some measure of justice being done. The first step is to establish the facts by documenting the prisons and mass graves, as well as the massacre sites and destroyed cities.
Syria’s Druze Are Wary in the Wake of Attacks
Syria’s Druze have been targeted in attacks that have left them wary of trusting the state with their security, while Israel is exploiting the tensions to pursue its own aims. Interviews with those who have experienced the violence reveal a community under pressure and vigilant about its prospects.
A Syrian Village Fights To Save Aramaic, the Language of Jesus
The living language closest to that spoken by Jesus is a version of Aramaic that persists In the Syrian village of Maaloula. Yet war, emigration and changing traditions threaten its survival, despite efforts by a few dedicated individuals to preserve it.
Postwar Syria Is Still Suffering Under US Sanctions
Syria is open for business, its people eager to invest, rebuild and consume. But the U.S. economic sanctions originally placed on the now-ousted Assad regime remain in place, preventing any significant postwar rebuilding from moving forward.
The Existential Challenge for Syria’s Alawites
The recent massacres of Syria’s Alawites mark a painful end to a long chapter in the community’s history and highlight the existential challenges it faces following Assad’s fall.