· August, 2007

Stories about Syria from August, 2007

Syria: Arab Bread Basket

  31 August 2007

Syria is the Arab bread basket of the Middle East, writes Egyptian D.B. Shobrawy, who adds that the Arab country is sharing the spoils with neighbours hit by a wheat shortage.

Syria: How Can Expats Help?

  27 August 2007

This month's topic of Creative Syria's Blogger Forum was solely dedicated to the Syrian expatriate community. "What role could expatriates play in building a better Syria? Are you satisfied with the government legislations concerning them? Are you satisfied with the performance of the Minister of Expatriates' Affairs Dr. Buthayna Shaaban?" were the questions waiting to be answered. Syria's expatriate community, albeit dispersed, counts for almost 16 million, with a very high percentage of highly educated individuals. This makes the topic ever more relevant, as their contributions can help speed up the social and economic changes in the country and help rebuild it, writes Yazan Badran.

Syria: Journalists Arrested in Occupied Golan

  23 August 2007

“Two Syrian journalists have been arrested by Israeli Occupation Forces. Ata Farahat and Yousef Shams – correspondents for Al Watan – have been detained on unknown charges. They are Syrians, working on Syrian territory,” Sasa reports.

Syria: Ambassador's Summer Holiday

  23 August 2007

Syria's Ambassador to the USA Mr. Imad Mustapha, takes some time off from Washington DC, hops on a plane back to Syria and spends his summer holiday with his family water-parachuting in Latakia's Cote d'Azure. He writes about his time here.

Syria: On PM Maliki's Visit

  23 August 2007

Sasa from The Syria News Wire reports that Iraqi PM Nouri Maliki praises Syria's cooperation, during his three-day visit to Damascus this week. “He says Syria's co-operation is helping to stabilise Iraq. The US accuses Damascus of the exact opposite.”

Syria: On Expatriates

  23 August 2007

Medaad [AR] brings up the topic of an expat's sense of belonging. “Maybe we forgot that most of us are expats in our own countries, as is the case for most of our Arab people. And maybe we forgot that expats don't eat with golden spoons, that they also have...

Blogging for democracy around the world

  22 August 2007

Antony Loewenstein is a Sydney-based freelance journalist, author and blogger. He is currently writing a book on "Democracy and Blogging" and recently traveled to Cuba, Egypt, Iran, Syria, Saudi Arabia and China to meet with bloggers.

Syria: Iraqi Refugee Crisis

  22 August 2007

Alive in Baghdad brings us yet another heartbreaking story about the suffering of Iraqi refugees in Syria and suggests ways of helping them in this post.

Syria: On Lebanon and Motorcycles

  19 August 2007

Just as the heat is cooling from an inter-Arab spat involving Jordanians and Iraqis, we move on to the Syrian blogosphere where bloggers are fanning the flames of a Palestinian-Lebanese virtual stand-off. Read Yazan's Badran round up to learn more.

Syria: Occupied Golan Heights Campaign

  16 August 2007

Golaniya posts a link to a new campaign for solidarity with Syrian prisoners in Israeli jails. With links to a complete list of known prisoners and their photos.

Syria: US Afraid of Arabic

  14 August 2007

Syrian blogger Yaman asks: Who is afraid of the Arabic language, following an outrage in the US over a T-shirt which has the Arabic inscription Intifada written on it.

Syria: The Bloggers

  13 August 2007

Yazan Badran dedicates this must-read post to the lives of some of the wonderful individuals that make the Syrian blogsphere.

Syria: Lebanese Border and Toilet Etiquette

  9 August 2007

Yazan Badran takes us on a tour of Syrian blogs where bloggers are discussing the worsening of conditions of Syrian workers and families at the Lebanese-Syrian border, calls for the return of the Golan Heights occupied by Israel to Syria, the Czech machine gun and toilet etiquette.

Syria: Change in Syria

  8 August 2007

This month's topic on Creative Syria's Blogger Forum was titled, "If you had the choice what would you change in Syria?"... The views ranged from those that advocated the political reform as base, to those that saw that social reform should be the kickstart.

Syria: Dead Cities

  8 August 2007

Hovic takes us on a photo tour in Surkania, one of the Dead Cities in the Syrian desert between Damascus, Aleppo and Hama.