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August 4, 2011 - Syria News Blog: A Roundup of International Reportage
In the News
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04-08-2011

Syria's Protest Movement

Grave military campaigns in Hama, Homs, Daraa and Deir ez-Zor ushered in the first week of Ramadan. The Sunday crackdown, the worst since the start of the Syrian revolution in March, resulted in the deaths of an estimated 136 - some 100 of whom, were killed in Hama. Though the month of Ramadan is meant to be characterized by charitable acts and well wishes, fears of broad scale unrest and violence following daily prayers have only been confirmed as no day since August 1, the first day of Ramadan, has passed without considerable fatalities. As the city of Hama reportedly lay in severe duress, and after months of diplomatic wrangling, the United Nations Security Council responded to the crisis in Syria with a Presidential Statement condemning the "widespread violations of human rights and the use of force against civilians by the Syrian authorities" and calling for an "immediate end to all violence". 
 

July 28, 2011 - Syria in the News: A Roundup of International Reportage
In the News
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28-07-2011

Syria's Protest Movement

Last Friday, some 1.2 million Syrians engaged in demonstrations across the country. Though the day was less violent than many that came before it, another 11 people were killed in security crackdowns against protestors in the days that followed. At the same time, the Syrian government issued new draft laws on political parties and elections - moves interpreted by some as significant efforts toward reform and by others as empty gestures. Debate over the future of the crisis continues, with key thinkers maintaining that sectarian conflict is largely off the table - if sectarian woes were going to overtake the country, they would have done so ages ago - and others declaring such an outcome nothing short of inevitable. Tomorrow will bring another day of mass after-prayers protests and Ramadan is only a handful of days away. Many believe that the nature of the unrest that will ensue in the coming month, is key to understanding the country's future.
July 21, 2011 - Syria in the News: A Roundup of International Reportage
In the News
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21-07-2011

Syria's Protest Movement

Highly conflictual reportage on the nature of the outbreak of violence in the central city of Homs over the weekend has dominated international headlines since Saturday, while opposition talks scheduled to meet simultaneously in Istanbul and Damascus on July 16 hit significant obstacles amid opposition divisions and a security crackdown against the Damascus meeting point. The Qatari government withdrew its Ambassador from Syria and closed its embassy on Monday, while Syrian Foreign Minister Wallid Moallem imposed travel restrictions against the US and French ambassadors on July 20. As the month of Ramadan quickly approaches and disturbing levels of violence in Homs carry on amid the impasse between the government and opposition, there is no sign of respite from pervasive tensions across the country.

July 15, 2011 - Syria in the News: A Roundup of International Reportage
In the News
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15-07-2011

Syria's Protest Movement

The last 10 days saw international media coverage of the ongoing revolutionary tumult in Syria, largely hijacked by reportage on the increasing diplomatic tensions between Syria and the United States and France. While Syrians continue to take to the streets in massive numbers across the country, a controversial trip by US and French Ambassadors Ford and Chevallier to Hama on July 7- 8, followed by mob attacks on the US and French embassies on July 11, and harsh verbals exchanges between Damascus and Washington in the hours that ensued, took centre stage in foreign reportage. In the comparative background, the planning meetings of the government-led national dialogue started and finished with inconclusive results as the protest movement, now officially in its fifth month, carries on with another 19 protestors killed in unrest in Damascus, Idlib, and Deir ez-Zor today, July 15. 

July 6, 2011 - Syria in the News: A Roundup of International Reportage
In the News
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06-07-2011

Syria's Protest Movement

After 300,000 protestors took to the streets of Hama in reportedly peaceful protest on Friday July 1, and thousands of others demonstrated in towns across the country, it seems the Syrian protest movement is now gaining critical mass. Nevertheless, while members of the opposition grow increasingly organized, the chasm between older dissidents and young protestors widens. The date set by President al-Assad for the start of the National Dialogue - July 10 - is rapidly approaching, yet many members of the opposition refuse to participate. The stalemate between the government and the protestors drags on, with the economy in tatters and growing concern that anticipated unrest during the upcoming month of Ramadan will bring the country to its knees.

June 29, 2011 - Syria in the News: A Roundup of International Reportage
In the News
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29-06-2011

Syria's Protest Movement

In a development hailed as a sign of change in Syria by some, and deemed a mere PR exercise of the Syrian government by others, Syrian opposition met for the first time in public in Damascus on Monday June 27. The same day, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad set July 10, 2011 as the start date for national dialogue, stating that participation would be open to all "national and political figures". Simultaneously, however, violence continued across the country. Another 15 people died in unrest on June 24 as thousands continued to flow across the border into Turkey and Lebanon. Meanwhile, the diplomatic spotlight remains firmly on Turkey, with many continuing to view its response to the turmoil in Syria, as the ultimate indicator of its future role in the region.

June 22, 2011 - Syria in the News: A Roundup of International Reportage
In the News
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22-06-2011

Syria's Protest Movement

On Monday, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad made his third address to the nation since the start of the unrest on March 15. The President attributed the country's unrest to conspirators and proclaimed the economic crisis as Syria's most pressing problem. Protestors continued to take to the streets throughout the week, irregardless of reforms either implemented or forthcoming. An estimated 24 died in anti-government protests across the country on Friday June 17. At the same time, hundreds of thousands came out in Damascus and a number of locations across the country on Tuesday June 21, in a show of support for the government. As the crisis stretches into the summer, Syria's frustrated populace is becoming increasingly polarized. 
 

June 16, 2011 - Syria in the News: A Roundup of International Reportage
In the News
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16-06-2011

Syria's Protest Movement

The death toll from the unrest in Syria now exceeds an estimated 1,400. Tensions across the country continue to mount as talk of sectarian strife and impending civil war increasingly dominate local and international commentary on the crisis. Growing numbers of Syrians have sought refuge in neighboring Turkey, with official Turkish estimates putting the figure at around 8,500. Many fear that tensions between Syria's religious communities, which have lived in relative balance for decades, will seep into Turkey and Lebanon, thus catalyzing the large-scale destabilization of the surrounding region. 

June 8, 2011 - Syria in the News: A Roundup of International Reportage
In the News
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08-06-2011

Syria's Protest Movement

Protests across Syria on Friday June 3 were among the most violent thus far in the country's near 12 weeks of revolutionary unrest. The death toll from Friday sits at over 80, with between 40 and 60 people killed in the central city of Hama alone. In a foreboding development, violence worsened in the days that followed, as the northern city of Jisr al-Shughour became the scene of an alleged massacre of police and military forces - with estimates suggesting that more than 120 were killed in the city on Monday. To date, over 1,300 Syrians have died in the country's turmoil since March 15. Protracted conflict in Syria has undoubtedly begun and as grim videos and accounts of the last week of unrest seep across the internet and out into the international media, contradictory accounts of the nature - and perpetrators - of the violence only prompt more dismay, outrage and confusion across the country.

June 1, 2011 - Syria in the News: A Roundup of International Reportage
In the News
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03-06-2011

Syria's Protest Movement

The Syrian protest movement appears both resilient and increasingly skilled. Though its numbers are still dwarfed by those found in Egypt in Tunisia only months ago, it is nevertheless spreading to a growing number of locales across Syria. On the Friday May 27 alone, protestors gathered in 91 cities, towns and villages across the country. Syrian opposition outside of the country has also become more organized, holding a controversial organizational conference in Turkey this week amid mixed international and local reception. At the same time, two well-respected rights groups, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, issued troubling reports on the management of the unrest in Syria, while reports emerged on May 31, that protestors in Homs had taken up weapons to fight against Syrian security forces. Turkey, arguably the international community's greatest hope for inspiring a reduction of tensions and violence in Syria, has failed in its efforts to bring Damascus in from the fray.