July 2011
4 posts
Life without social media!
by Alma Hassoun
While I was abroad in the summer of 2009, a friend of mine warned me: “this is your last chance to create your Facebook account to keep us updated, and especially to see pictures of you over there. If you don’t, I’ll make one for you.” Most of my friends started using the social networking site since 2007, I guess. Hesitantly, and only to save face, I started using...
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Clearing Things Up
Tomorrow, I leave Syria. I am an American who has lived here for a year-and-a-half, and will return to a place where Syria is widely feared and misunderstood. Because I know nobody wants to get stuck sitting next to the know-it-all Orientalist, I’ll have to keep to a minimum my defenses – and criticisms – of Syria while out in social situations.
I have plenty of each, and few people back home...
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On Distrust of the Media
by Nadia Muhanna It has never been easy to be a journalist in Syria. Hell no! Getting an interview means repeated calls, faxes and emails and a series of delays but finally you’d get what you want. Since the unrest began this March, this is no longer the case.
The unrest has shaken everyday Syrians’ views of the press. The authorities’ decision to limit local and foreign journalists’ access to...
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My Interview with a Street Cleaner
by Abdulhamid Qabbani
When I was in school my mum used to warn me that if I don’t work hard enough I will become zabbal (sloppy) – a derogatory term used to describe rubbish collectors. I grew up with the negative connotation of the word in my mind. Rubbish collectors remain for me the people I often see on the streets of Damascus but know little. Once I was walking down the street and bumped...