Sarajevo: How small, human stories have a huge impact Sarajevo has quite a few museums and memorials dealing with the war in the 1990’s. And while I have been in the city before, I never had the opportunity to visit some of them. Last month I made sure that I squeezed in a visit to […]
In Saraqeb, after “Black Tuesday,” the street is quiet. For three days, residents have been mourning ten young fighters from the Free Syrian Army who were killed during skirmishes in the countryside outside Hama. The shops and markets are closed. The silence is broken only by the sound of fighter jets and explosions in the […]
I wanted to talk to Ahmed today about how he celebrated the Eid al-Fitr, the festival ending the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. I had seen that his theater group had organized a party for the children in Saraqeb, with music, a puppet show and lots of confetti. But the war is inescapable. Ahmed needs […]
I hadn’t heard from Ahmed in the past week, so I texted him to see how he was doing. I had seen that Saraqeb had been attacked again, but I hoped that no news was good news. “Hi Ahmed, how are you?” “Thanks for asking, but this has been the worst week of my life. […]
On a sunny day in Kyiv, I happen to witness how thousands of people gather in the Mariyinskyi park for an unusual, well-guarded, press-covered meeting around the blue baroque palace. Some come with placards, some dressed in blue-and-yellow flags, some have their own passionate story to tell to all who will hear it. Most are […]
Last November, I had the opportunity to visit northeast Syria for the first time since 2011. This was the first visit since Kurdish political parties took control of the Al Jazeera region in 2013. Across northeast Syria, local authorities have established a system of governance based on a democratic ethnic inclusive model, which promotes equal […]
It feels like the script for the war in Idlib was written a long time ago and is being executed exactly as planned. No one can do anything about it. That’s at least how people in idlib experience it. Watching events from abroad, a sense of powerlessness prevails. So I call Ahmed to see how […]
In Ukraine (where orthodox Easter comes one week later for many), Easter Sunday was first and foremost the day of the second round of presidential elections. Elections in which comedian, tv producer and actor Volodymyr Zelenskiy gained almost three times as many votes as incumbent president Poroshenko. What does this mean for democracy and perspectives […]
Friday, April 5 Ahmed’s house in Saraqeb was hit by a missile on 10 March. Now that the White Helmets have cleared any unexploded ammunition from the area, Ahmed can begin repairing the damage. He hopes to be able to move back into his house, with his family, within a few days. “Hi, Ahmed, how […]
Presidential elections were held last week in Ukraine, a country where PAX works on peace building. Some were concerned about fraud. PAX intern Elsa Court was there as an election observer. “The election was run professionally, the mood of the voters was positive. It exceeded our expectations.” These are her observations. Taking the road from […]