Until recent years, Syria’s Idleb governorate was largely unknown even to most individuals familiar with the Middle East — let alone to Western policymakers and political commentators. The mostly rural province had several towns of moderate size, but the provincial capital (which was bypassed by the major highways linking nearby Aleppo to Lattakia and Damascus)…
Read more
Eleven years ago, I took part in a wonderful trek between the two Syrian towns of al-Qaraya and Bosra, in the southwest of the country. Hiking for pleasure was not an activity that had been well established in Syria, but a committed group organized by Father Frans van der Lugt – a Jesuit Catholic priest…
Read more
For over five years, horrific stories and images from war-torn Syria have redefined the country as a place of senseless destruction, brutal violence, sectarian hatred, and religious extremism. This is the primary context through which most Americans have been exposed to Syria, a country that seldom received media coverage prior to 2011. For those of…
Read more
Recent Comments