A Journey to Damascus: The City, the Books, the People, and a Little Politics
The battered Iranian-made taxis that rattle through the streets remain a visible relic of the so-called era of resistance, Youssef Bezzi writes in Al-Modon.
The battered Iranian-made taxis that rattle through the streets remain a visible relic of the so-called era of resistance, Youssef Bezzi writes in Al-Modon.
The proposal follows a three-day tour of Israel, Cyprus, and Lebanon by Jens Spahn, the parliamentary leader of the Christian Democratic Union, al-Hal writes.
A report contends that Syria’s long-term stability depends on genuinely opening the political system — empowering parliament, clarifying the role of political parties and social groups, integrating Kurdish communities on equal footing with others, and reducing the dominance of former HTS figures in decision-making.
With the SDF file nearing resolution, attention is shifting southward to Suweida province, Ultra Syria writes.
Between 2016 and the fall of the former regime in late 2024, allegations of corruption within Aleppo’s city council deepened the problem, as oversight weakened and enforcement faltered.
Informed sources told Al-Modon that senior officials in the U.S. administration have warned the Israeli government against providing any form of support to the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), amid rapidly shifting political and security dynamics in Syria—particularly in the country’s north and east.
A striking paradox lies in the fact that the PKK—long a military tool of the former regime —now opposes a system that has officially recognized the Kurds as an integral component of society, Abdul Hakim Bashar argues in Al-Thawra.
Repeated statements by U.S. officials emphasized support for the new Syrian authority and for a unified Syrian state, Faisal Alloush argues in Ultra Syria.
This assault also lays bare the regime’s complete subservience to Turkey, Mohammad Dibo claims.
Well-informed Syrian-American sources with knowledge of the negotiations told Al-Modon that “the discussions have advanced far beyond what many imagine”
The convergence of these American statements and Israeli military actions has heightened Syrian concerns that a new, entrenched occupation reality is taking shape in southern Syria.
If the struggle for daily sustenance once diverted broad sectors of society from democratic concerns, the situation has since grown immeasurably worse as a result of the catastrophic war Syria has endured, Faisal Allouche argues.
Available information indicates that the U.S.-led International Coalition is now encouraging the SDF to engage in security coordination with the Syrian government.
Technologies that in other nations are deployed to protect citizens or combat organized crime were twisted into instruments of repression.
Hussam Taleb, a political analyst based in Damascus, told 963+ that the Beit Jin assault, and the Israeli aggression that followed—met with local resistance—marks a turning point in the nature of Israel’s military operations.
Dozens of factories have shuttered in the face of cheaper imports, al-Hal writes.
The village of Beit Jinn now bears the latest scars of incursion and confrontation, drawing international attention from Paris to Washington, according to al-Modon.
For Trump, insiders suggest, the ultimate signal of engagement lies not in hosting but in visiting.
The Russian leadership sees an opportunity to support Syria’s calls for calm in the occupied Golan and to contain Israeli actions, Syria TV argues.
What remains of Israel’s leverage is largely rhetorical, Iyad al-Jaafari argues in Syria TV.
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