Category Archives: Middle East

12May/08

Syrian Peace Overtures: Timing is Everything

1/9/2005

Nir Boms and Elliot Chodoff

Since he abruptly returned from Britain to Syria five years ago to inherit the regime from his ailing father, thirty-six year old Syrian strongman Basher al-Assad has rarely smiled in public. After all – running Syria is a serious business. But lately, it seems that Assad is showing the world a different face. While visiting Cairo last week to discuss the situation in the Middle East he actually cracked a half-smile.

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12May/08

The Coming Fall of Assad?

Mar. 18, 2004
By NIR BOMS & ERICK STAKELBECK

Bashar Assad dodged another bullet by dispersing last weekend’s anti-government riots in northern Syria. And his Ba’ath Party continues to maintain a tyrannical grip over the lives of 22 million Syrians. For Syria’s democratic reformers, however, the widespread unrest may signify the calm before the storm.

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12May/08

The Kurdish Cry

Baathist oppression lives on in Syria.

March 25, 2004.

By Nir Boms & Erick Stakelbeck

While the anti-government riots that raged throughout the Kurdish-populated areas of Syria for much of the past week and a half appear to have subsided as of Monday, the recent unrest may prove to be the calm before the storm for Syria’s Kurdish pro-democracy advocates.

On March 21, amidst banners condemning the continued repression of Kurds by Syria’s ruling Baath party, some 50 protesters assembled in front of the Syrian embassy in Washington, D.C.

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12May/08

A Twist of Faith in Syria

By Nir Boms
Published July 28, 2006


Another bomb of Syrian origin exploded – but this time it did not hit Haifa, Israel, but rather Washington. Although its impact inside the corridors of the Capitol, where it was quietly detonated, was barely noticed, it was felt in the Middle East and has given Syrian dictator Bashar Assad another reason to worry. 

The “bomb”: a well-known and respected Sufi scholar from Syria, Sheikh Abdullah AlgharibAlhamadAltamimee, stepped off a plane in Washington and publicly called for Mr. Assad’s ouster. While the development may not appear significant on the surface, the sheikh has broken the thousand-year-old Sufi tradition of refraining from politics. 

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