Essays and Features

The Legacy of Western Colonialism, Arab Authoritarianism, and Islamic Extremism Taints Image of Secularism

By Elie Chalala

Since the fall of the Assad regime, Syrians have been discussing the kind of future government they desire. These discussions have occurred on Facebook and at conferences inside and outside Syria. The 14-year war has intensified these debates, and the identity of the new power in Syria, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), led by Ahmed al-Sharaa, has further influenced them. This formerly extremist Islamic group has recently moderated its positions and become more open to various political perspectives. However, the latest development has raised skepticism: the new government has adopted a temporary declaration of constitutional law as its legal foundation, asserting that Islam should be the source of legislation and the president's faith. This has intensified the heated debates surrounding the new state's stance on Islam.

Essays and Features

With Assad’s Fall, a Syrian Blogger Finds New Freedom to Bond with Her Family

By

Elie Chalala

Syrian blogger Mayada Tishori illustrates the challenges Arab women face regarding their personal and political rights in a compelling essay, “My Country Was Liberated… and Now It’s My Turn,” written in Arabic for the online Lebanese newspaper Al Modon.

SHALL I RETURN?

Syrian Poet Rasha Omran Examines the Dilemma Facing Displaced Syrians

By Elie Chalala

“Will the Syrians return?” remains a loaded question as Syria takes its first steps on the long road to recovery after half a century under tyranny. Syrian author and poet Rasha Omran poses that very question in the title of her article, “Will the Syrians Return?” published in Arabic in Diffah 3. Her story resonates with many Syrians who left the country, but rather than focus on why many chose to leave, Omran touches on the delicate issues faced by those considering returning from displacement once conditions allow.

Essays and Features

From Harem to Civil Society: The Journey of Fatima Mernissi

Yassin Adnan

Restoring Lebanon’s Former Glory from the Clutches of ‘Dante’s Hell’: The Key to the Future Lies in the Present, Not Past

By

Elie Chalala

Lebanon stands on the precipice of change with its election of a president independent of the corrupt old elite and the nomination of a reformist prime minister-designate. These tides of change usher in a new wave of enthusiasm and even optimistic euphoria among some, as expressed by many intellectuals, both Lebanese and Arab. The Algerian novelist Amin Zaoui stands out among some of these optimistic intellectuals, recalling Beirut’s ‘golden years’ of the 1950s, 1960s, and part of the 1970s.

‘About the Happiness of the Oppressed’:

As the Assad Regime’s Collapse Looms, Riham Essa Reflects on the Complex Emotions Among Syrians

By Elie Chalala

In a blog essay published in Al Modon newspaper, Syrian short story writer and author Riham Essa touches the surface of the complex emotions she, and perhaps other Syrians, have felt in the wake of the Assad regime’s fallout as the country contemplates its new beginning. Syria, she writes, “has never been a homeland, especially after 2011."

Essays and Features

Reality Check: A Newly Elected Administration Navigates Lebanon's Oligarchy to Address Reforms and Reconstruction

By

Elie Chalala

Lebanon has recently elected a president, and the immediate response might be, “So what?” On top of this, the parliament also chose its prime minister-designate. The difference between the level of news from Syria last month and Lebanon this month sounds almost incomparable. At least regarding Syria, the fact that Bashar al-Assad is no longer the country's leader while the incumbent has not yet been elected still maintains an element of surprise for the future.

In the Face of Syria’s Suffering, Basma al-Khatib Calls for Silence from the Bystanders and Naysayers

By Elie Chalala

“The least we can do at this critical historical moment is to respect the suffering of the Syrians (and the suffering of everyone who was tortured by the Syrian Baath regime, regardless of their nationality) and to remain silent for a while. To come to grips with all this suffering, pain, loss of reason, and torture, we perhaps need a long time,” writes Basma Al-Khatib, a Lebanese writer and novelist.

Essays and Features

Reflecting on Yara Nahle's 'In the Presence of Rubble'

By

Elie Chalala

Yara Nahle, a Lebanese writer, begins her blog with the image of the ‘angel of history,’ described by the German philosopher Walter Benjamin (1892-1940) as a figure who “sees only one catastrophe, a pile of rubble before his feet." For Benjamin, history is not a continuous progression toward the future but a pile of ruins accumulated by wars, conflicts, and disasters.

"Ruins" has more meaning for Benjamin than its literal definition, which combines rubb

Assad's New Front: When Words Become Weapons

Elie Chalala

In addition to being a prominent Syrian leftist with a significant presence in the revolution, Michel Kilo is also a great short story teller. His anecdotes are found not in novels, but in newspaper columns, which Kilo calls "Stories from the World of Ghosts." These stories are multi-dimensional: funny, ironic, tragic, real, and autobiographical. Ahmad, a character from "Stories from the World of the Ghosts," published in a column in Asharq Alawsat, has a gripping story. The story, I recall, featured Kilo himself in the same Al Maza prison as Ahmad. Even though it is painful to hear how unjustly Ahmad was treated, the circumstances that landed Ahmad in prison offer some comic relief.

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