We've barely begun to skim the surface of Assad's crimes against humanity. There is abundant evidence not just in the blood-soaked soil but also under mountains of rubble all over Syria, and in the tortured memory of Syrians still waiting for accountability. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Yes, and like Netanyahu’s Iran war, so was Khamenei's long-planned, recklessly pursued, and perilous war in Syria and the greater Levant for the better part of the last two decades. Israel’s impunity sets a dangerous precedent - and so did Iran's. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

This could have been Bashar Assad's silver jubilee on the throne of the hereditary republic. 25 years ago today, Hafez Assad died and bequeathed Syria to his son who could hardly wait to bury him and rule. The rest is history.

Some thoughts on the occasion of the 6th monthiversary of Syrian liberation from 54 years of Assad regime rule, with a few key points on where we stand, from my perspective, since the genocidal maniac fled Syria precipitately on December 8. www.rime-allaf.com/mosaics-all/...

The full Gaza report of EU Special Representative for Human Rights is linked in the piece. It gives EU citizens in 27 countries facts & legal background needed to demand from elected representatives justice & accountability before June 23 EU foreign ministers meeting. euobserver.com/eu-and-the-w...

It was always clear that the abduction of Austin Tice had been staged, very badly, by the brutal Assad regime, and they had been lying about him since 2012. There are still some 200,000 Syrians and others whose fate remains unknown. www.bbc.com/news/article...

Still talking Syria on Monday where I'll be joining Adam Tooze, Ibrahim Al-Assil and Aydın Selcen. Details here: www.linkedin.com/events/73317...

It seems Syrians are destined to cry, even rare tears of joy. Thank you President Trump, thank you Saudi Arabia, thank you Turkey for giving Syria a chance to surmount the hell they endured for nearly 15 straight years. 🍀💚 Please save Gaza and save Ukraine, because you can.

Les enjeux sont importants. J'espère que l'équipe syrienne s'est bien préparée pour répondre de manière convaincante aux démarches diplomatiques de la France et pour s'engager avec les médias français. Merci au Président Macron d'avoir initié cette rencontre clé. www.francetvinfo.fr/monde/syrie/...

This was Syria's flag as founding UN member in 1945. After nearly a million killed & 15 million refugees & the country was razed by Assad enablers, our Independence - and Revolution - Flag flies again at the UN. May it bring Syrians the peace and freedom for which they sacrificed everything.

On misogyny in the legal world, where the struggle for equality in treatment continues for both female practitioners and women seeking justice. A great overview of the issues and of the context of Charlotte Proudman's book that is published next week.

Thank you to the United Kingdom for lifting the sanctions on Syria today, and thank you to all our British friends who stood by the Syrian people all these years. Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you! ❤️🇬🇧

Sharing without commenting in depth except to say that this was more an NYT summary piece than an interview, in this published form at least. It included only a few direct quotes from Sharaa and revealed absolutely nothing new on the Syria situation.

Two hours of terror: "Our findings contradict not only Israel's initial account of the attack, but its subsequent accounts as well."

The Assad regime bled Syria dry for 54 years, and the genocidal maniac spent his last days in Damascus smuggling even more out. Operation Assad: the air mission to smuggle the Syrian despot's valuables

South Korea and Syria have established diplomatic relations for the first time, a great development. Assad Senior had loved North Korea's (and Romania's) authoritarianism, media, and personality cult of the eternal leader. May we now collectively learn to love South Korea's democratic culture.

Israel continues to invade and illegally occupy the Syrian Golan Heights and other Syrian territory, and then continues to provoke Syrians by organizing tours on their own land. So much for the "fear" of attack and the "need" for a demilitarized zone. www.theguardian.com/world/2025/a...

أتمنى للحكومة الجديدة القوة والعزيمة والتوفيق في الأشهر والسنوات القادمة. نجاحها في دفع سوريا إلى الأمام وتحسين بلدنا هو نجاحنا أيضًا. لديّ ملاحظة: لقد وعدتمونا بأن الحكومة الجديدة ستشبهنا. ٥٠٪ من الشعب السوري نساء، لذا كان ينبغي أن يكون لديكم ما يقارب ١١ وزيرة. مع ذلك، تهانينا!

A beautiful image from Idlib of the unadulterated joy of children feeling safe, with good tidings flowing from above instead of the bombs our most vulnerable endured in Syria for nearly 15 years. May the children of Gaza soon be free too of terror from the skies.

A piece I wrote for @engelsbergideas.bsky.social on many Syrians' wish for unity despite various actors pushing for an imaginary divided and conquered nation, that even colonial powers did not achieve at the height of their hegemony one hundred years ago. engelsbergideas.com/notebook/the...

A snapshot from UNICEF's 100 Days Report published this week on the state of Syrian children.

Small enlightening steps in a sea of dark Syrian misery. Natural gas = electricity, light, power, heat. Thank you Qatar, الله ينور علينا و عليكم. www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/3/...

As fate would have it, I had finished writing 90% of my book when Assad fled, with two chapters left before sending the manuscript to my publisher. Nothing changed except the last chapter, written after a few weeks to take in our momentous emotions, and our collective Syrian fears and aspirations.

Putin tried for months to get Assad to meet with Erdogan and wrap things up between Syria and Turkey when everyone wanted to rehabilitate the genocidal maniac. He refused, because he thought he had won and needed to do nothing. He wasn't just a war criminal - he was a stupid one.

Ilham Ahmed of PYD also wants sanctions to remain in place on Syria.

One of the most important developments in the region in 20 years, a welcome first step in restoring the Syrian-Saudi cooperation that Assad broke with the assassination of Rafic Hariri and the transformation of Syria into a massive Iranian base. Saudi Arabia's leadership is back.

Contested is one way to put it; discredited conspiracy theorist is another. "Trump’s pick for director of national intelligence disregarded U.S. assessments of chemical weapons attacks and instead looked to contested academic research."

It would be a miracle if SANA achieves some leeway, let alone freedom. The only period when Syria has ever known free speech and free media was after independence from France; before the military coups and the Baath, we had dozens of independent publications.

Nawaf Salam is now Prime Minister, and Joseph Aoun is President - none of that would have happened if Assad had still been in power. Mabrouk Lebanon.

Congratulations to Lebanon 🇱🇧 on the election of President Joseph Aoun, the first such election in decades without Syrian regime interference.

Wow. A 1992 report from General Ali Douba to Hafez Assad on Syrian intelligence surveillance of Bashar in UK. It says Asma Akhras & her mother met with MI5 people at a hotel & at a social event at their home. The last underlined name is my father's name, stating Bashar was asked if he knew him.

Next Monday at @chathamhouse.bsky.social to discuss Syria after the fall of the Assad regime, with @haidhaid22.bsky.social, Paul Salem, Sir John Sawers and myself. www.chathamhouse.org/events/all/r...

This makes me so happy. 4 years later, she's still laughing, without the Assad regime's bombs falling on Syrians who dared demand dignity.

The quicker, the better. The UN's role in Syria with regard to the Assad regime has been nothing but deplorable, and we have had ample documentation for years. Get out, you leeches. aljumhuriya.net/en/2025/01/0...

Dr. Maysaa Sabrine is the first woman in the institution's history to be named Governor of the Central Bank of Syria. A great move for the banking sector, and for the country.

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha is in Damascus. May Ukrainians celebrate liberation from Russian aggression soon, as Syrians finally have. #SlavaUkraini

A Syrian Christmas with Linda Bittar, Ramah Shalghin, and Lamita Aishou in Damascus. ينعاد عليكن بالفرح والمحبة 🎄🤍

Christmas & other Christian holidays have always been and will always be celebrated in Syria, just like Muslim holidays. The new authorities have accordingly announced December 25 & 26 will continue to be a public holiday, as they have been since independence. Merry Christmas!

A busy day in Damascus today, with the visit of Lebanese Druze leader Walid Jumblatt, and a Druze delegation to Ahmad Sharaa.

The same place in Damascus and the same chairs, today vs. 19 days ago.

Friday December 27 will be a day of national mourning in Syria, to honor the memory of all those who gave their lives for a Free Syria.

The concern shown by many observers and journalists over alcohol while Syrians are frantically searching for their tens of thousands of disappeared loved ones in secret prisons and mass graves, while trying to find homes in mountains of rubble, is frankly nauseating.

"L’abandon des démocraties occidentales est un affront pour les Syriens qui restera dans l’histoire, témoignant de la faillite morale et stratégique des puissances libérales face à l’autoritarisme." Tribune de Firas Kontar dans La Croix.

The drive for a civil and secular state has kept Syrians going for years. This Syrian National Covenant Document is based on the 2012 version which many Syrian men and women participated in creating, and which many others are now signing as well.

This is a wonderful interview with a thoughtful and talented Syrian artist in the US, touching on some of the emotions of those of us in exile and the rock solid connections we maintain with Damascus, with home.

I hoped he and Obama would never mention Syria again. Such hubris! There was no question of troops after the 21st century's first chemical massacre in 2013 and Assad's nerve gas suffocating 1,400 Syrians to death. Miliband blocked accountability - imagine if he hadn't.

Question to Geir Pedersen and the UN Envoy to Syria team: 3 women in your meeting with Ahmad Sharaa wore a head cover. Do they always wear it? Because the one woman meeting Sharaa with Syrian journalist Mousa Al Omar's team didn't and was not asked to. Please clarify, Syrians want to know.

It's nice to do radio interviews that give a bit more time to elaborate vs shorter TV ones. I spoke to Andrew Mueller on his programme The Foreign Desk on Monocle Radio, and enjoyed listening to engaging expert perspectives on the spectacular fall of the Assad regime.

Non-Syrian 'analysts' keep explaining that Syrians do not have a national identity. Really? Here's Hama today with Janna - paradise, our nation is paradise, the song Abdelbasset Sarout used to sing in Homs as everyone sang and swayed along during the first months of the revolution.

Today all of Syria was ALIVE for the first time in more than half a century. No people bussed in by the regime. No coercion, and no photos or empty slogans brandished by anyone. Just seas of people freely celebrating their country under the Independence Flag, chanting SOURIA.