Rime Allaf

Thank you my dear Rima for your warm and kind words 💐

The book It Started in Damascus is shown, a hand holding it up under the arches of the Roman Temple of Jupiter and the minaret of the Umayyad Mosque of Damascus in the background.

Days before Assad fled Syria and his violent 54-year regime collapsed in December 2024, my book nearly fully written, I could not have imagined I would be there myself almost a year later, with my book, on the day of its release.

It Started in Damascus, in bookshops as of today.

20 days to go.

Out 6 November.

#Book #Syria #ItStartedInDamascus

How Syria’s Dictator Buried His Victims (Gift Article) A cemetery near Damascus was transformed into an industrial-scale mass grave for Syrians who opposed President Bashar al-Assad.

We've barely begun to skim the surface of Assad's crimes against humanity. There is abundant evidence not just in the blood-soaked soil but also under mountains of rubble all over Syria, and in the tortured memory of Syrians still waiting for accountability.
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

The Guardian view on Netanyahu’s Iran war: long planned, recklessly pursued – and perilous for all | Editorial Editorial: Israel’s strikes against Tehran risk spiralling conflict, flout legal norms and may permanently bury the last chance for nuclear diplomacy

Yes, and like Netanyahu’s Iran war, so was Khamenei's long-planned, recklessly pursued, and perilous war in Syria and the greater Levant for the better part of the last two decades. Israel’s impunity sets a dangerous precedent - and so did Iran's.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

This could have been Bashar Assad's silver jubilee on the throne of the hereditary republic. 25 years ago today, Hafez Assad died and bequeathed Syria to his son who could hardly wait to bury him and rule.
The rest is history.

Encouraging Syrian signs six months on, despite foreign belligerence and domestic questions — Rime Allaf As Syrians wait for reconstruction and stability, they have mostly been encouraged by the signs and the gestures of important international actors and the leadership of Ahmad Sharaa.

Some thoughts on the occasion of the 6th monthiversary of Syrian liberation from 54 years of Assad regime rule, with a few key points on where we stand, from my perspective, since the genocidal maniac fled Syria precipitately on December 8.

www.rime-allaf.com/mosaics-all/...

Leak of EU's full 2024 Gaza report piles pressure on Israel The leak of an internal EU paper from 2024 spelling out Israel's "war crimes" in Gaza will make it harder to claim Tel Aviv merits keeping free trade perks.

The full Gaza report of EU Special Representative for Human Rights is linked in the piece. It gives EU citizens in 27 countries facts & legal background needed to demand from elected representatives justice & accountability before June 23 EU foreign ministers meeting. euobserver.com/eu-and-the-w...

Austin Tice: Secret files show missing US journalist was imprisoned by Syria The BBC has uncovered top secret files that confirm Austin Tice was imprisoned by Syria's Assad regime.

It was always clear that the abduction of Austin Tice had been staged, very badly, by the brutal Assad regime, and they had been lying about him since 2012. There are still some 200,000 Syrians and others whose fate remains unknown.

www.bbc.com/news/article...

Syria's Transition and the Regional Power Realignments | LinkedIn Join the third webinar of our Shifting Paradigms Series! Recent developments in Syria are reshaping the political landscape of the wider Middle East, as regional actors reassess their strategies and ...

Still talking Syria on Monday where I'll be joining Adam Tooze, Ibrahim Al-Assil and Aydın Selcen.
Details here: www.linkedin.com/events/73317...

It seems Syrians are destined to cry, even rare tears of joy.
Thank you President Trump, thank you Saudi Arabia, thank you Turkey for giving Syria a chance to surmount the hell they endured for nearly 15 straight years. 🍀💚
Please save Gaza and save Ukraine, because you can.

"Une provocation", "pourquoi pas"... La classe politique divisée avant la réception du président syrien Ahmed al-Charaa à l'Elysée De part et d'autre de la classe politique, les réactions fusent après l'annonce de la visite du président syrien. L'extrême droite est contre, alors que le centre et la gauche sont plus modérés.

Les enjeux sont importants. J'espère que l'équipe syrienne s'est bien préparée pour répondre de manière convaincante aux démarches diplomatiques de la France et pour s'engager avec les médias français. Merci au Président Macron d'avoir initié cette rencontre clé.
www.francetvinfo.fr/monde/syrie/...

This was Syria's flag as founding UN member in 1945. After nearly a million killed & 15 million refugees & the country was razed by Assad enablers, our Independence - and Revolution - Flag flies again at the UN. May it bring Syrians the peace and freedom for which they sacrificed everything.

‘Why do they dislike me so much?’: the trials, trolls and triumphs of Britain’s most divisive barrister She has been called a ‘brave disruptor’ by campaigners and ‘rabid’ by internet critics. But for Charlotte Proudman, only one opinion matters: that of the women and children she defends in the family c...

On misogyny in the legal world, where the struggle for equality in treatment continues for both female practitioners and women seeking justice. A great overview of the issues and of the context of Charlotte Proudman's book that is published next week.

Thank you to the United Kingdom for lifting the sanctions on Syria today, and thank you to all our British friends who stood by the Syrian people all these years. Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you! ❤️🇬🇧

Syria’s Jihadist-Turned-President Seeks New Allies (Gift Article) In an interview with The New York Times, President Ahmed al-Shara urged the United States to lift sanctions and alluded to the possibility of future military support from Russia and Turkey.

Sharing without commenting in depth except to say that this was more an NYT summary piece than an interview, in this published form at least. It included only a few direct quotes from Sharaa and revealed absolutely nothing new on the Syria situation.

Two hours of terror: Sky News investigation reveals how Israel's deadly attack on aid workers unfolded New evidence unearthed by Sky News contradicts Israel's official account of the killing of 15 aid workers.

Two hours of terror: "Our findings contradict not only Israel's initial account of the attack, but its subsequent accounts as well."

Operation Assad: the air mission to smuggle the Syrian despot's valuables As his enemies closed in on Damascus, Bashar al-Assad, who ruled over Syria with an iron fist for 24 years, used a private jet to spirit away cash, valuables and confidential documents mapping the corporate web behind his wealth.

The Assad regime bled Syria dry for 54 years, and the genocidal maniac spent his last days in Damascus smuggling even more out.

Operation Assad: the air mission to smuggle the Syrian despot's valuables

South Korea and Syria have established diplomatic relations for the first time, a great development. Assad Senior had loved North Korea's (and Romania's) authoritarianism, media, and personality cult of the eternal leader. May we now collectively learn to love South Korea's democratic culture.

Israeli military organises tourist tours of newly occupied Syrian territory Twice-daily hiking trips for civilians in Golan buffer zone recently seized by Israel sold out almost immediately

Israel continues to invade and illegally occupy the Syrian Golan Heights and other Syrian territory, and then continues to provoke Syrians by organizing tours on their own land. So much for the "fear" of attack and the "need" for a demilitarized zone.
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/a...

أتمنى للحكومة الجديدة القوة والعزيمة والتوفيق في الأشهر والسنوات القادمة. نجاحها في دفع سوريا إلى الأمام وتحسين بلدنا هو نجاحنا أيضًا.
لديّ ملاحظة: لقد وعدتمونا بأن الحكومة الجديدة ستشبهنا. ٥٠٪ من الشعب السوري نساء، لذا كان ينبغي أن يكون لديكم ما يقارب ١١ وزيرة.
مع ذلك، تهانينا!

A beautiful image from Idlib of the unadulterated joy of children feeling safe, with good tidings flowing from above instead of the bombs our most vulnerable endured in Syria for nearly 15 years. May the children of Gaza soon be free too of terror from the skies.

The idea of Syria is worth saving The world has spent decades brandishing arbitrarily drawn maps depicting Syrians in sectarian and separatist terms. Yet this reductive approach ignores another, deeper tradition of Syrian communality ...

A piece I wrote for @engelsbergideas.bsky.social on many Syrians' wish for unity despite various actors pushing for an imaginary divided and conquered nation, that even colonial powers did not achieve at the height of their hegemony one hundred years ago.
engelsbergideas.com/notebook/the...

A snapshot from UNICEF's 100 Days Report published this week on the state of Syrian children.

Qatar begins supplying natural gas to Syria through Jordan Qatar will provide 400 megawatts of electricity daily to Syria, where authorities have struggled with power generation.

Small enlightening steps in a sea of dark Syrian misery. Natural gas = electricity, light, power, heat. Thank you Qatar, الله ينور علينا و عليكم.
www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/3/...

The book relates why and how Syrians got to where they are today, their patient and painful quest for dignity and freedom, and the regional and global factors that triggered their descent into the hell from which they now must emerge, together.
www.hurstpublishers.com/book/it-star...

As fate would have it, I had finished writing 90% of my book when Assad fled, with two chapters left before sending the manuscript to my publisher. Nothing changed except the last chapter, written after a few weeks to take in our momentous emotions, and our collective Syrian fears and aspirations.

Putin tried for months to get Assad to meet with Erdogan and wrap things up between Syria and Turkey when everyone wanted to rehabilitate the genocidal maniac. He refused, because he thought he had won and needed to do nothing. He wasn't just a war criminal - he was a stupid one.

Kurdish PYD leader urges Israeli 'intervention' in Syria The Kurdish leader has come under fire for calling on Israel to kickstart a 'peace process' despite its ongoing military operations in the West Bank

Ilham Ahmed of PYD also wants sanctions to remain in place on Syria.

One of the most important developments in the region in 20 years, a welcome first step in restoring the Syrian-Saudi cooperation that Assad broke with the assassination of Rafic Hariri and the transformation of Syria into a massive Iranian base. Saudi Arabia's leadership is back.