I fell asleep early, after a longer than usual day at work. In my dream, I was walking on a small windy road with scattered trees on both sides, and the rising sun at the horizon. I eventually made my way to a village plaza with a small fountain and many large tables, with men […]

Religious moderation is Syria’s distinctive characteristic. The cultural heritage of the Syrians reflects the evolved cultures of the East and the West over the long sweep of history. Of particular significance is the tolerant attitude of the average Syrian towards other religions and ethnicities. In a Middle East afflicted by religious dogma, extremism, bigotry, discrimination, […]

On a stormy night in February 1960 another child was born. The egress from the womb could have occurred at any place but chances were that I was born in Syria, in a sleepy little town by the sea known as Tartous. A geographical accident, no more, made me a Syrian. I grew up in […]

Due to the various foreign forces that have occupied our land and the ensuing division and fragmentation that resulted from such occupations, our national identity has been compromised, and as such the true meaning of the name of our homeland, namely Syria, has been lost.  While historians and other intellectuals continue to identify Syria, albeit […]

In the small town of Ma’arra in northern Syria, lies an obscure little museum of ancient art that sees disappointedly low visitor traffic. The facility houses magnificent artwork from ancient Syrian towns, including a number of large mosaic floor and wall panels. The ancient artists were so skillful in their use of the naturally colored […]

I love Syria. Apart from stating the obvious which countless millions of fellow Syrians and I feel; this, to me, represents more than a word sequence with a romanticized sentimental value. For Syria, to me, is far more than its mere land area 185,800 km2. It is far more than the truncated Sykes-Picot creation, the […]

Perhaps you’d question the right of an expat to write about Syria while he lives most of his life thousands of miles away. I ask you, my dear readers, to hold your guns until I am finished. For you will realize that the images and connections we expats have with our home country aren’t less […]

Last year, a U.S. news celebrity called Tim Russet passed away at the age of fifty-eight of obesity and some minor co-morbidities of obesity. At that moment, I came to the conclusion that I was sick and tired of being overweight. I feared I would share his fate in a few years. I investigated the […]

In my other persona, I deal with numbers, hard facts and computer codes. Yet, once in a while an untested, naïve and highly romantic child-poet finds its way out. These are becoming further apart, and your question of “Syria is” was so powerful and emotional that it awakened that irrational part of me. Long ago, […]

Syria is a living myth in each and every person who wants to be called Syrian. It is as unique as our souls and as diverse as our thinking. It is the radical, the liberal and everything in-between, you can see it in our courtesy and in our offensiveness, in our passion, our emotions, in […]

Syria is a cartographic abortion. Why must it be so? She was conceived centuries ago, practically at the dawn of history. Poets, prophets, and troubadours alike knew of her and wrote for her. She captivated the mind of civilization since its dawn, nourished it and cradled it. Before being born in the age of nationalism, […]