I hold a MA in Comparative Cultural Analysis, a Post Graduate certificate in Translation and a Bachelor in Fine Arts. I haven't lived in my home country for over a decade, and now I'm not even sure where home is. The flames that have been eating up the Middle East forced me out of the comfort of ignorance and indifference into the realms of involvement and activism.
I enjoy writing, and to me translation is a form of it. I am interested in documentaries as ways of cultural manifestation, especially those coming from the conflict in Syria. Also certain topics have become pressing priorities, such as digital rights, combating surveillance and ensuring technology is an empowering tool rather than an enabler of further exclusion and polarization.
Latest posts by Lara AlMalakeh
Crossing the Syrian-Turkish border: risks by the hour
"They sprinted over the 50-meter stretch between the asphalt road and the mountain... 30 minutes later, the guide stopped and told them that they had just crossed the danger zone."
Eastern Ghouta's displaced residents are stuck between a rock and a hard place
The displaced masses of Ghouta arrive in northern Syria tired, broken and burdened by unbearable memories and the pressure to begin their migratory lives with difficult choices.
Did Syrians really have a choice? Final days in Ghouta: Caught between an immediate death and a delayed one
"Should we leave the land of our childhood? How can I take my wife and kids from a dark reality to an unknown one? Many questions and no definitive answers."
‘I wanted my grandchildren to grow up in that house': Testimony of a 61-year-old Syrian woman from Zamalka
I wanted my grandchildren to grow up there, so that they would add to that home a new life, just like every generation of our ancestors did.
What Christ Is Born Among Us Today?
"Yes, we are Christians, but we don’t want a Christ that doesn’t look like us...."
Sleeping or Dead – Part 6: Do Not Forget Them
"There are others who haven’t had the chance to bring their stories to an end, but are at this moment still stuck in them. Do not forget them."
Sleeping or Dead – Part 5: This Farce Called a Homeland
"You’re lucky, as some were transferred out today, before we had shifts for standing and sitting....we are managing by squatting and sleeping on each others’ shoulders.”
Sleeping or Dead – Part 4: “We Declared It a Revolution For Freedom”
"For them our triumphant chants for freedom have been a sort of rape, and now is their chance for revenge."
Sleeping or Dead – Part 3: Thought is the Crime
"Even if they don’t torture you, the mere act of waiting does. Have they forgotten us? Are we going to stay in here forever? Why haven’t they called us today?"
Sleeping or Dead – Part 2: Aghiad's Blue Jacket
"He pulls the chain till we are hanging by our hands, toes barely touching the ground. You’re mid-way between sky and earth, presented as a sacrifice of blood."
Sleeping or Dead – Part 1: “Everything Screams Death”
"An electric current that would be enough to re-power my neighborhood...ran through my body." The first in a six-part series by Sarmad Al-Jilane about his experiences in a Syrian prison.
I Am Lucky to Have a Syrian Passport
"Do I appear fidgety? Maybe it is because I don’t understand how someone would ever answer “Yes” to the question: 'Are you a member of a secret banned organization?'"
Aleppo Is Burning: Make Your Social Media Profile Photograph Red to Show You Care
Aleppo is being "wiped off the map" as you read these lines. Hundreds have been killed in recent days as activists appeal to the world to pay attention to their plight.
Syria: What Forgiveness Doesn't Mean
'I wish the soul of the revolution was enough for me to be able to pardon them all, if only in the “court in my head”.
Abu Majid, Syrian Visionary
"His vision was of a democratic Syria that ensures the freedom of all its people. This was his charge. This was his crime."
A Syrian Asks Herself: Am I Capable of Killing?
"With every story I remembered," writes Syrian activist Marcell Shehwaro, "the certainty that I was a person who neither kills nor wants to kill was gradually shrinking."
The Syrian Conflict Won't Steal My Christmas
In a country in the throes of war, celebrating Christmas can be an act of both profound naïvete and staunch resistance.
A Year Away From Syria
What happens to a Syrian activist and her ideals when she takes refuge outside her war-torn country?
