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Tag: Damascus

Journalism, Syria

The Damascus Hostel

By Alex Ray

A chance Facebook encounter revives the story of a unique Syrian establishment after six years of war and tragedy.

My time as a foreign student of Arabic in Syria’s ancient capital began in typecast Damascene style.

Continue reading “The Damascus Hostel”
AlexMay 5, 2019March 1, 20208 Comments

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The second anniversary of the August 4, 2020 blast in Beirut Port was characterised by haunting reminders of the trauma still being inflicted on the Lebanese people by the country’s ruling elite. 

The damaged grain silos which have become a symbol of the site and memory burnt and slowly collapsed throughout the week right up to hours before the exact moment of the blast - 6.07pm. 

While Lebanese rallied in solidarity of each other and other sufferers of injustice and a lack of accountability around the world, a lone Lebanese Army helicopter made rounds dousing water on the latest silo to collapse. Engineers and the public had been deploring the government to do something about the fires emerging from the rotting grain in the silos for weeks, and to take measures to protect the silos as monuments to the tragedy. 

The public response to the blast has been recognised by many as the one of the most important moments of pan-Lebanese solidarity and collective responses to tragedy since the end of the civil war. However this year turnout for the rally and commemoration was much lower than 2021, when it had ended with violence confrontations with authorities.
Old #Havana (July 2019) ... another World Heritage site crumbling due to the US sanctions in place for nearly 60 years.
May (Ramadan) 2019 - #aleppo #syria
A repost from my work in Timor-Leste. Photo copyright: UNDP Timor-Leste

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