Pigeons over Damacus
The Undimmed Passion of Damascus’ Pigeon Fanciers The centuries-old tradition survived wartime’s rooftop snipers, but is struggling to inspire the young Alex Martin AstleyAlex Martin Astley…
Tag: Syria
What makes politics in the Middle East so unstable?
In The Great Betrayal, Fawaz Gerges examines the reasons for consistent political instability in the Middle East since the early 20th century. Examining Western intervention, domestic authoritarian ru…
Maria Kastrinou: Looking at ethnic cleansing in Palestine from the occupied Syrian Golan
The unfolding genocide in Palestine today is a continuation of Israel’s 75-year-old occupation and ethnic cleansing. This article provides a perspective on the ongoing tragedy from the vantage…
The Golden Passport: Global Mobility for Millionaires – review
In The Golden Passport: Global Mobility for Millionaires, Kristin Surak investigates how selling citizenship to the uber-rich has transformed from an anomalous activity offered by a handful of microst…
Mamluk Studies Conference
For details, click here.
The Syrian Mark Twain
Read the article here.
Loti on Palestine
First English translation of ‘La Galilée’, an account of Pierre Loti’s travels in the Holy Land from Jerusalem to Beirut, via Damascus and many other interesting places, in…
Egypt in 1876
The British diplomat Sir Valentine Chirol (1852-1929) wrote a memoir entitled Fifty Years in a Changing World (New York: Harcourt and Brace, 1928). Among the areas in the…
Online Books in Halle
At least 337 Books published in Germany on Islam and history of the Middle East are available to read online or download. Most are in German but a…
Damascus Heritage
For an impressive website devoted to the heritage of Damascus, check out “Damascus Heritage.” There are several Youtube videos accessible from the website. I especially like the im…
Images from the 19th century “Bible World”
There were many books written by Christian missionaries and clergy during the 19th century. While the text itself has long since been outdated, the engravings are still fascinating…
Animal Displacement from Syria: A Story Yet to be Written
During the Syrian war, which has now raged for a decade, the attention of scholars, media commentators and activists has primarily focused on human displacement. More than 60%…
A different perspective on “child marriages” among Syrian refugees in Jordan
By Marina de Regt For years, humanitarian organisations in Jordan and Lebanon have been concerned about the increasing number of “child marriages” among Syrian refugees. While early marriages…
In the Journals – Conflict and Captivity
POW release to UN authorities was the first step in repatriation. Here, communists turn over UN troops at the POW receiving center at Panmunjon, on the border of…
Ep #49: Intolerable Ads, Introvert Anthros, Irrevocable Ties & Indigenous Symbols: This Month on TFS
This month, Kylie [0:50] kicks off our conversation by reflecting on our blog about racism in sport and asks us about the ethics of ad targeting on social…
“It’s a lot of sand”: An anthropological take on Trump’s Syrian withdrawal
That Syria has “a lot of sand” is meant to stand in for its lack of value. As a place that is sandy, it is not worth US…
Girls, Groupies, and Grim Reapers: The Religious Politics of Mass Response
Following a week at the UN and ensuing climate change “protests” (state-sanctioned, party-approved, media-praised, university-endorsed, “protests”), in which we were yet agai…
Out of Sight, Out of Mind: The No-Map and the Fear of Being in the No Go World
The NGO personnel in Gaziantep’s office (Turkey) was in shock. Little groups were talking loudly in Arabic, or keeping their lips firmly closed. “It was an air-strike”, my…
Americans Can Do Two Things at the Same Time
Surely we have heard and seen enough by now that any lingering “optimism” about Trump governing as an anti-interventionist in foreign affairs has totally evaporated. What Trump promised…
Trump’s Coup in Venezuela
Last year in our final report on 2018, we closed with this warning: “one of the things we must all look out for then are the prospects of…
Review of 2018, Part 4 (October–December): Nationalism, Deglobalization, plus the US exit from Syria
OCTOBER Where US–Canada relations were concerned, as well as Trump’s trade strategy, NAFTA was the leading event opening the month of October. The US–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA) On Monday,…
Review of 2018, Part 3 (July–September): The Trade War plus Cold War II
JULY June was a month so heavily saturated with key turning point events, that it seemed like the longest month of the year—but then July came. Already, on…
Review of 2018, Part 2 (April–June): Dealing in Danger and Diplomacy
APRIL The Trade War Begins? April continued many of the same themes from March, beginning with the apparent start of a trade war between China and the US…
Review of 2018, Part 1 (January–March): Unloading the American Empire
In memory of James Laxer, n. December 22, 1941, d. February 23, 2018, prolific author, and an inspiration to all Canadian academics to think for ourselves. JANUARY A…