The Aleppo Project

Narratives about Aleppo’s Revolutionaries are Largely Absent from Western Media.

by The Aleppo Project on January 20, 2017

In an article in The New Arab Loubna Mrie explains how history of the conflict is being re-written by western mainstream media. Those who were before defined as revolutionary are now either portrayed as vile extremist or as though they never existed. With time those who gave their lives to fight against the regime will be forgotten making the uprising in Aleppo as it never happened. Any serious attempt to understanding the Syrian conflict has to take into consideration the point of view of its revolutionaries.

You can find the full article here

read more
The Aleppo ProjectNarratives about Aleppo’s Revolutionaries are Largely Absent from Western Media.

Both Structural Damage and Social Divisions Have to be Taken into Consideration When Reconstructing the City of Homs

by The Aleppo Project on January 19, 2017

Alice Fordham walks around the city of Homs with local Architect Marwa al-Sabouni analysing reconstruction. The city was highly damaged during the war, some areas where turned into slums after the conflict. Areas previously held by rebel forces are deserted and left untouched since the citizens don’t have permission to reside there. Post conflict reconstruction not only has to take into account the structural damage but also the social divide entrenched since the start of the conflict.

You can find the article here

read more
The Aleppo ProjectBoth Structural Damage and Social Divisions Have to be Taken into Consideration When Reconstructing the City of Homs

Turning Heritage Sites Into a Platform for Voice and Collective Identity

by The Aleppo Project on January 16, 2017

Sina Zekavat in Mangal Media writes about a new relationship forming with the Syrian people and their heritage. It expands upon the idea that heritage doesn’t have to be just a place for historical preservation but also a place for identity and socio-political representation. Heritage spaces like Bosra al-Sham allow for political expression and collective memory, in a place where the voices of these Syrian people are being erased. This is redefining the way we look at historical sites but also the process of protest and reconciliation.

See the full article here

read more
The Aleppo ProjectTurning Heritage Sites Into a Platform for Voice and Collective Identity

Are Foreign Government Courts More Effective Than International Courts?

by The Aleppo Project on January 12, 2017

Source: Syrian Justice and Accountability Centre

In an article in Al-Jumhuriya, Rudaina Baalbaki, outlines four mechanisms for justice for the people of Syria. He explains that war crimes could be prosecuted through national and international means. Syrian national mechanisms for justice are ineffective. Foreign courts prosecuting war crimes would be the most feasible option for effective justice. However, international organizations such as Human Rights Watch are still fixated on conventional methods of reconciliation.

See the article here 

read more
The Aleppo ProjectAre Foreign Government Courts More Effective Than International Courts?

SYRIAN ARMY ENGAGES IN WIDESPREAD LOOTING IN ALEPPO

by AlHakam Shaar, The Aleppo Project on January 5, 2017

While the Syrian government and its Russian allies were claiming that eastern Aleppo had been liberated by its forces, its soldiers were engaged in widespread looting of private property. This adds to the long list of war crimes carried out by the Damascus government, including the deliberate targeting of civilians, deliberate starvation, and forced displacement. Government troops did not even spare those civilians supportive of the regime or people in the western half of the city that was always under state control. This has prompted a surge of anger, much of it expressed on social media in the past month.

read more
AlHakam Shaar, The Aleppo ProjectSYRIAN ARMY ENGAGES IN WIDESPREAD LOOTING IN ALEPPO

Cultural heritage scholars condemned colleagues’ participation in Damascus conference

by The Aleppo Project on December 23, 2016

A group of Syrian and international cultural heritage scholars issued a statement condemning the participation of European and American colleagues in a conference hosted recently in Damascus by the Syrian Ministries of Culture and Tourism. The signatories of the statement criticised what they believed constituted support and participation in the “propaganda victory for the regime in Damascus” at a time when much of Aleppo’s historical heart is reduced to rubble and Palmyra is lost to ISIS again.

Below is the full text of the statement.

read more
The Aleppo ProjectCultural heritage scholars condemned colleagues’ participation in Damascus conference

IT IS NOT OVER YET

by The Aleppo Project on December 13, 2016

Aleppo is likely to fall into government hands soon. Russian jets and Iranian fighters have crushed the hopes of many for a better life and greater freedom. Now the Syrian forces, skilled at little but the killing of unarmed civilians, are setting to work rounding up young men. Many will never be seen again. Meanwhile, ISIS has retaken Palmyra, showing how Assad and his allies have never been interested in fighting that enemy, only the threat of democracy and progress.

read more
The Aleppo ProjectIT IS NOT OVER YET

I AM SALEM THE HUMAN — THIS MIGHT BE OUR LAST MESSAGE

by The Aleppo Project on December 6, 2016

This morning two additional districts of eastern Aleppo fell. Other besieged districts were under continued bombing that is draining life out of those who have survived. Dentist Salem Abualnaser made what might be his last cry for the protection of civilians in those areas:

read more
The Aleppo ProjectI AM SALEM THE HUMAN — THIS MIGHT BE OUR LAST MESSAGE

PARACHUTES: FOR AID, NOT BOMBS — JPADS ARE SAFE AND URGENTLY NEEDED FOR BESIEGED ALEPPO

by Abdulrahman and Amr Shayah on December 2, 2016

Aleppo has been under siege for about a hundred days. Food stocks are running out. Price are up 20-fold. Medical and civil defence equipment destroyed by regime and Russian bombing cannot be replaced. The injured are sent home without even painkillers and the dead are carried to graveyards on food carts.

Parachutes have been used by the Russian and Syrian air forces to drop bombs, such as the parachute-retarded ODAB-500PM, on civilian areas of the besieged city. Parachutes could be used to send urgently needed food and medical aid instead.

read more
Abdulrahman and Amr ShayahPARACHUTES: FOR AID, NOT BOMBS — JPADS ARE SAFE AND URGENTLY NEEDED FOR BESIEGED ALEPPO