DOCSLIB.ORG

Bab Al-Hara, Televising Morality and Everyday Life in the Levant Nassif, H

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Bab Al-Hara, Televising Morality and Everyday Life in the Levant Nassif, H WestminsterResearch http://www.westminster.ac.uk/westminsterresearch Home under siege: Bab al-Hara, televising morality and everyday life in the Levant Nassif, H. This is an electronic version of a PhD thesis awarded by the University of Westminster. © Ms Helena Nassif, 2015. The WestminsterResearch online digital archive at the University of Westminster aims to make the research output of the University available to a wider audience. Copyright and Moral Rights remain with the authors and/or copyright owners. Whilst further distribution of specific materials from within this archive is forbidden, you may freely distribute the URL of WestminsterResearch: ((http://westminsterresearch.wmin.ac.uk/). In case of abuse or copyright appearing without permission e-mail [email protected] Home Under Siege: Bab al-Hara, Televising Morality and Everyday Life in the Levant HELENA NASSIF A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment to the requirements of the University of Westminster for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy July 2015 The Arabic language evolved slowly across the millennia, leaving little undefined, no nuance shaded. Bayt translates literally as house, but its connotations resonate beyond rooms and walls, summoning longings gathered about family and home. In the Middle East, bayt is sacred. Empires fall. Nations topple. Borders may shift or be realigned. Old loyalties may dissolve or, without warning, be altered. Home, whether it be structure or familiar ground, is finally, the identity that does not fade. (Shadid, 2012: xiii) What disappointments await the naive traveller to the famous cities of the fabulous East! Were all those old story-tellers lying? Did they see things differently then? Can things and people have changed so much? The eagerly awaited wonders, the marvellous surprises, the ruins, the monuments, the stories from the Thousand and One Nights, the folksongs and dances - they are no longer enough to colour the spectacle and transform it for us. Naples, Baghdad, Calcutta: the same sun shines down on the same rags, the same running sores. The myths have disappeared, the rituals and magic spells have lost their glamour. All we can see now are the destitute masses, and the ignoble apparatus of domination which lies over them, the unlovely art of power. There is nothing left to seduce us. Everywhere a bare- faced display of force: rifles, armoured cars, policemen. (Lefebvre, 1991a: 44) I ABSTRACT This PhD research investigates the role of television in representing the past and constructing an idealized society using a case study of a phenomenal Ramadan drama series, Bab el-Hara. The television drama, a Syrian production, was funded by the pan- Arab satellite conglomerate, the MBC group, and it is set in a fictitious Damascus of the 1930s under the French Mandate. The series, airing its seventh season in Ramadan, 2015, succeeded in achieving pan-Arab fame and gave a boost to the “Damascene Milieu” drama genre. The study approaches this television phenomenon ethnographically, looking at the fiction's implicatedness in the everyday life of viewers and makers in Damascus and in Beirut, through a multi-sited approach investigating content, context and agency, engaging in questions on space, morality and patriotism. The objective is to investigate audiences, text and makers as distinct yet connected sites of meaning. This context based analysis of Bab al-Hara takes place against the backdrop of 2010/2011; the liminal state of a Levant entering deeper into a complex local, regional and international power struggle. The everyday life of Bab al-Hara’s viewers was characterized by a general sense of loss and mistrust, and an unclear and threatened future. Contrastingly, Bab al-Hara provided the nostalgic promise of ontological security, grounded as it was in the courtyard houses of Old Damascus. The Damascene courtyard house constituted the spatial anchor for an idealized moral past, an ahistorical Damascus- focused Arab cultural history, and an imagination of the domestic as sovereign. It thus promoted a view of the neighbourly, the city and the country as a system based on kin, or the family, as the frame in which to understand the collectivity. Bab al-Hara's cultural, moral and spatial telos, a fusion of religious and nationalist worldviews, amongst others, is negotiated by Bab al-Hara’s viewers. The older generation, with situated experience of the social relations during the 1930s, and the younger generation that is appreciative of the virility of the “real” Bab al-Hara man that they no longer encounter in their everyday life. The multiple generational readings in regard to the absent idealized strength and authority, became a dominant reading in relation to chastity and unity as two idealized values that are necessary to conserve, but that are facing serious challenges in the everyday. Bab al-Hara idealizes a moral domestic society that is set in the past and it aims to advance a discourse on unity and patriotism. In so doing, however, it only exposes the weakness of the national project. The Syrian social upheaval in 2011 shows how unity and patriotism as the binaries to sectarianism and treason, have not succeeded in protecting the inner domain of the house from external invasions or internal divisions. In fact, accusations of treason, instead of forcing the outsider to the outside and building solidarity within, accentuates mistrust between the insiders and reveals the power and the limits of t h e Bab al-Hara imaginary of a kin based collectivity, and the omnipresence of imperialism. II CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS...............................................................................................................VI A NOTE ON TRANSLITERATION.............................................................................................VIII DECLARATION............................................................................................................................. IX Chapter 1.......................................................................................................................................... 1 INTRODUCTION: ACCESSING THE NEIGHBOURHOOD GATE............................................. 1 1.1. The Present Cultural Tense.................................................................................................... 4 1.2. Arab Television Scholarship.................................................................................................. 8 1.3. Contribution to Arab Media/Cultural Studies...................................................................... 11 Chapter 2........................................................................................................................................ 15 THE POLITICS OF MEDIATING THE PAST.............................................................................. 15 2.1. The Past in “Arab Contemporary Thought”.........................................................................16 2.2. History in Postcolonial Literature........................................................................................ 21 2.3. Home in the past, present or future...................................................................................... 25 2.4. History as a Screen Discipline............................................................................................. 29 2.5. Arab Cultural Studies and Syrian Drama Series.................................................................. 31 2.6. Conclusion...........................................................................................................................33 Chapter 3........................................................................................................................................ 35 MEDIA ETHNOGRAPHY BETWEEN BEIRUT AND DAMASCUS.........................................35 3.1. The “Native” Researcher..................................................................................................... 36 3.2. Studying the Politics of Television Drama in Context......................................................... 39 3.3. The Research Journey.......................................................................................................... 48 3.4. Reflections on the Researcher’s Positionality...................................................................... 57 Chapter 4........................................................................................................................................ 64 BAB AL-HARA COURTYARD HOUSES: CONSTRUCTING THE MORAL HOME..................64 4.1. Damascene Courtyard Houses: The Place of Nostalgia....................................................... 66 4.2. The Production of Old Damascus........................................................................................ 72 4.3. Damascene Milieu Fantasia................................................................................................. 76 4.4. Domestic as Moral...............................................................................................................81 4.5. Conclusion...........................................................................................................................84 III Chapter 5........................................................................................................................................ 86 WATCHING BAB AL-HARA AT Q/AHWAT AL-RAWDA............................................................ 86 5.1. The Sea Café......................................................................................................................
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Syria and Repealing Decision 2011/782/CFSP
    30.11.2012 EN Official Journal of the European Union L 330/21 DECISIONS COUNCIL DECISION 2012/739/CFSP of 29 November 2012 concerning restrictive measures against Syria and repealing Decision 2011/782/CFSP THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, internal repression or for the manufacture and maintenance of products which could be used for internal repression, to Syria by nationals of Member States or from the territories of Having regard to the Treaty on European Union, and in Member States or using their flag vessels or aircraft, shall be particular Article 29 thereof, prohibited, whether originating or not in their territories. Whereas: The Union shall take the necessary measures in order to determine the relevant items to be covered by this paragraph. (1) On 1 December 2011, the Council adopted Decision 2011/782/CFSP concerning restrictive measures against Syria ( 1 ). 3. It shall be prohibited to: (2) On the basis of a review of Decision 2011/782/CFSP, the (a) provide, directly or indirectly, technical assistance, brokering Council has concluded that the restrictive measures services or other services related to the items referred to in should be renewed until 1 March 2013. paragraphs 1 and 2 or related to the provision, manu­ facture, maintenance and use of such items, to any natural or legal person, entity or body in, or for use in, (3) Furthermore, it is necessary to update the list of persons Syria; and entities subject to restrictive measures as set out in Annex I to Decision 2011/782/CFSP. (b) provide, directly or indirectly, financing or financial assistance related to the items referred to in paragraphs 1 (4) For the sake of clarity, the measures imposed under and 2, including in particular grants, loans and export credit Decision 2011/273/CFSP should be integrated into a insurance, as well as insurance and reinsurance, for any sale, single legal instrument.
    [Show full text]
  • Post-Reconciliation Rural Damascus: Are Local Communities Still Represented?
    Post-Reconciliation Rural Damascus: Are Local Communities Still Represented? Mazen Ezzi Wartime and Post-Conflict in Syria (WPCS) Research Project Report 27 November 2020 2020/16 © European University Institute 2020 Content and individual chapters © Mazen Ezzi 2020 This work has been published by the European University Institute, Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies. This text may be downloaded only for personal research purposes. Additional reproduction for other purposes, whether in hard copies or electronically, requires the consent of the authors. If cited or quoted, reference should be made to the full name of the author(s), editor(s), the title, the year and the publisher. Requests should be addressed to [email protected]. Views expressed in this publication reflect the opinion of individual authors and not those of the European University Institute. Middle East Directions Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies Research Project Report RSCAS/Middle East Directions 2020/16 27 November 2020 European University Institute Badia Fiesolana I – 50014 San Domenico di Fiesole (FI) www.eui.eu/RSCAS/Publications/ cadmus.eui.eu Funded by the European Union Post-Reconciliation Rural Damascus: Are Local Communities Still Represented? Mazen Ezzi * Mazen Ezzi is a Syrian researcher working on the Wartime and Post-Conflict in Syria (WPCS) project within the Middle East Directions Programme hosted by the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies at the European University Institute in Florence. Ezzi’s work focuses on the war economy in Syria and regime-controlled areas. This research report was first published in Arabic on 19 November 2020. It was translated into English by Alex Rowell.
    [Show full text]
  • The Illegal Excavation and Trade of Syrian Cultural Objects
    JOURNAL OF FIELD ARCHAEOLOGY, 2018 VOL. 43, NO. 1, 74–84 https://doi.org/10.1080/00934690.2017.1410919 The Illegal Excavation and Trade of Syrian Cultural Objects: A View from the Ground Neil Brodiea and Isber Sabrineb aUniversity of Oxford, Oxford, UK; bUniversitat de Girona, Girona, Spain ABSTRACT KEYWORDS The illegal excavation and trade of cultural objects from Syrian archaeological sites worsened Syria; looting; cultural markedly after the outbreak of civil disturbance and conflict in 2011. Since then, the damage to objects; coins; policy archaeological heritage has been well documented, and the issue of terrorist funding explored, but hardly any research has been conducted into the organization and operation of theft and trafficking of cultural objects inside Syria. As a first step in that direction, this paper presents texts of interviews with seven people resident in Syria who have first-hand knowledge of the trade, and uses information they provided to suggest a model of socioeconomic organization of the Syrian war economy regarding the trafficking of cultural objects. It highlights the importance of coins and other small objects for trade, and concludes by considering what lessons might be drawn from this model to improve presently established public policy. Introduction conflictantiquities.wordpress.com/). Nevertheless, most of what is known about illegal excavation and trade inside Like that of many countries in the Middle East and North Syria comes from some of the better media reporting, Africa (MENA) region, for the past few decades the archaeo- which has on occasion managed to access people with first- logical heritage of Syria has been robbed of cultural objects for hand knowledge or experience of the problem.
    [Show full text]
  • Iraqi Literary Response to the US Occupation
    Countering the Sectarian Metanarrative: Iraqi Literary Response to the US Occupation Chad Day Truslow Waynesboro, Virginia B.A. in International Relations & History, Virginia Military Institute, 2008 M.A. in Business Administration, Liberty University, 2014 A Thesis presented to the Graduate Faculty of the University of Virginia in Candidacy for the Degree of Master of Arts Department of Middle Eastern and South Asian Languages and Cultures University of Virginia December, 2019 1 Abstract Sectarian conflict is a commonly understood concept that has largely shaped US foreign policy approach to the region throughout the modern Middle East. As a result of the conflict between Shia and Sunni militias in Iraq and the nature of Iraqi politics since 2003, many experts have accepted sectarianism as an enduring phenomenon in Iraq and use it as a foundation to understand Iraqi society. This paper problematizes the accepted narrative regarding the relevance of sectarian identity and demonstrates the fallacy of approaching Iraq through an exclusively “sectarian lens” in future foreign policy. This paper begins by exploring the role of the Iraqi intellectuals in the twentieth century and how political ideologies influenced and replaced traditional forms of identity. The paper then examines the common themes used by mid-twentieth century Iraqi literati to promote national unity and a sense of Iraqi identity that championed the nation’s heterogeneity. The paper then surveys the Iraqi literary response to the 2003 invasion in order to explain how some of the most popular Iraqi writers represent sectarianism in their works. The literary response to the US invasion and occupation provides a counter- narrative to western viewpoints and reveals the reality of the war from the Iraqi perspective.
    [Show full text]
  • Irak Og Global Jihadisme Økonomi Og Politikk I Saudi-Arabia Miljømerking Og Bærekraft Ny Tid I Dansk UD Norge, Thailand Og Kina I 1971
    [4·05] Internasjonal politikk Irak og global jihadisme Økonomi og politikk i Saudi-Arabia Miljømerking og bærekraft Ny tid i dansk UD Norge, Thailand og Kina i 1971 Nr. 4 - 2005 63. Årgang Norwegian Institute Norsk of International Utenrikspolitisk Affairs Institutt Utgiver: NUPI Copyright: © Norsk Utenrikspolitisk Institutt 2005 Redaktør: Birgitte Kjos Fonn Bokmeldingsred.: Halvard Leira Red.sekr.: Jan Risvik Red.utvalg: Torgeir Larsen, Henrik Thune, Bent Sofus Tranøy, Ståle Ulriksen Red.råd: Helge Blakkisrud, Torkel Brekke, Laila Bokhari, Karin Dokken, Gro Holm, Lars Mjøset, Iver B. Neumann, Knut G. Nustad, Jarle Simensen, Stein Tønnesson, Nils Morten Udgaard Manus: Sendes elektronisk til: [email protected] Vennligst bruk malen på 3. omslagsside. Alle synspunkter i Internasjonal politikk står for forfatternes regning og kan ikke tillegges Norsk Utenrikspolitisk Institutt. Internasjonal politikk er Indeksert i The International Bibliography of the Social Sciences, International Political Science Abstracts og Gale Directory of Publications and Broadcast Media Medlem av Norsk Tidsskriftforening: www.tidsskriftforeningen.no Internasjonal politikk: 4 hefter i året Abonnement 2004: NOK 360 (innen Norden) NOK 480 (utenfor Norden) Enkelthefter: NOK 115 (+ porto/eksp.) Bestilling: www.nupi.no/Norsk/Publikasjoner/Bestilling/ Tel.: 22 99 40 00 Fax: 22 36 21 82 E-post: [email protected] Internett: www.nupi.no Adresse: Postboks 8159 Dep. 0033 Oslo Besøksadresse: C.J. Hambros plass 2 Design: Ole Dahl-Gulliksen Trykk: Hegland trykkeri as, Flekkefjord Omslagsbilde: Scanpix [4] Innhold 347 Forord: Irak-krigen og global jihadisme Birgitte Kjos Fonn 351 Irak-konflikten i radikal islamistisk ideologi Thomas Hegghammer 371 Saudi-Arabia − økonomisk pusterom under politisk usikkerhet Ådne Cappelen & Robin Choudhury 395 Miljømerking og bærekraftig fiskeri- og skog- forvaltning Lars H.
    [Show full text]
  • Saudi Arabia.Pdf
    A saudi man with his horse Performance of Al Ardha, the Saudi national dance in Riyadh Flickr / Charles Roffey Flickr / Abraham Puthoor SAUDI ARABIA Dec. 2019 Table of Contents Chapter 1 | Geography . 6 Introduction . 6 Geographical Divisions . 7 Asir, the Southern Region � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �7 Rub al-Khali and the Southern Region � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �8 Hejaz, the Western Region � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �8 Nejd, the Central Region � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �9 The Eastern Region � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �9 Topographical Divisions . .. 9 Deserts and Mountains � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �9 Climate . .. 10 Bodies of Water . 11 Red Sea � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 11 Persian Gulf � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 11 Wadis � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 11 Major Cities . 12 Riyadh � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �12 Jeddah � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �13 Mecca � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �
    [Show full text]
  • UCLA Electronic Theses and Dissertations
    UCLA UCLA Electronic Theses and Dissertations Title Exile, Place and Politics: Syria's Transnational Civil War Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/8b36058d Author Hamdan, Ali Nehme Publication Date 2019 Peer reviewed|Thesis/dissertation eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Los Angeles Exile, Place, and Politics: Syria’s Transnational Civil War A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in Geography by Ali Nehme Hamdan 2019 ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION Exile, Place, and Politics: Syria’s Transnational Civil War by Ali Nehme Hamdan Doctor of Philosophy in Geography University of California, Los Angeles, 2019 Professor John A. Agnew, Co-Chair Professor Adam D. Moore, Co-Chair This dissertation explores the role of transnational dynamics in civil war. The conflict in Syria has been described as experiencing one of the most brutal civil wars in recent memory. At the same time, it bears the hallmarks of a deeply “internationalized” conflict, raising questions about the role of transnational forces in shaping its structural dynamics. Focusing on Syria’s conflict, I examine how different actors draw on transnational networks to shape the geographies of “wartime governance.” Wartime governance has been acknowledged by many scholars to be an important process of civil wars, and yet it is frequently conceptualized as a “subnational” or “local” process. For Syria’s opposition, I investigate how it both produces decidedly transnational spaces in Syria’s Northwest, while also illuminating the role of a particular network of actors in doing so. For the global jihadi network Daesh (known also as the Islamic State), I illustrate the contrast between its rhetoric of transnational jihad and its practices of governance, which is considerable.
    [Show full text]
  • COUNCIL DECISION 2013/255/CFSP of 31 May 2013 Concerning Restrictive Measures Against Syria
    L 147/14 EN Official Journal of the European Union 1.6.2013 COUNCIL DECISION 2013/255/CFSP of 31 May 2013 concerning restrictive measures against Syria THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, products which could be used for internal repression, to Syria by nationals of Member States or from the territories of Having regard to the Treaty on European Union, and in Member States or using their flag vessels or aircraft, shall be particular Article 29 thereof, prohibited, whether originating or not in their territories. Whereas: The Union shall take the necessary measures in order to (1) On 27 May 2013, the Council agreed to adopt for a determine the relevant items to be covered by this paragraph. period of 12 months restrictive measures against Syria in the following fields, as specified in Council Decision 2012/739/CFSP of 29 November 2012 concerning 2. It shall be prohibited to: restrictive measures against Syria ( 1): — export and import restrictions with the exception of arms and related material and equipment which (a) provide, directly or indirectly, technical assistance, brokering might be used for internal repression; services or other services related to the items referred to in paragraph 1 or related to the provision, manufacture, main­ — restrictions on financing of certain enterprises; tenance and use of such items, to any natural or legal person, entity or body in, or for use in, Syria; — restrictions on infrastructure projects; — restrictions of financial support for trade; (b) provide, directly or indirectly, financing or financial assistance related to the items referred to in paragraph 1, — financial sector; including in particular grants, loans and export credit insurance, as well as insurance and reinsurance, for any — transport sector; sale, supply, transfer or export of such items, or for the provision of related technical assistance, brokering services or other services to any natural or legal person, entity or — restrictions on admission; body in, or for use in, Syria.
    [Show full text]
  • Oasis Brightens up MBC MBC Takes Broadcastpro ME on an Exclusive Tour of Its Refurbished Studio and Sheds Light on the New Technology at Its Facility
    PROLIGHTING The new studio at MBC. Oasis brightens up MBC MBC takes BroadcastPro ME on an exclusive tour of its refurbished studio and sheds light on the new technology at its facility of the kit was undertaken in-house, Dubai- facilities at MBC Group. based systems integrator Oasis Enterprises “I have worked in the news department Client: MBC was responsible for the lighting installation since 1998 and now instinctively know what Lighting SI: Oasis Enterprises at the studio. is suitable for our news operations. Our initial Key studio kit: Sony cams, Barco video walls. Lighting brands: ETC, DeSisti and Coemar The studio lighting is said to have been at plan was merely to design a temporary studio Location: Dubai least twelve years old and was in dire need but as the demand for it became stronger, of replacement. A brand new rigging system we felt the need to revamp the entire studio from DeSisti has replaced an older system so as to accommodate the needs of our news from the same manufacturer. channel. Everything, therefore, has been Early this year, MBC Group’s Al Arabiya news The installation includes a dimming and changed at the studio. channel went on air with a brand new look control solution from ETC and LED fittings “Of course, there are some expensive for some of its programmes thanks to a from Italian manufacturer Coemar. In addition, elements that could potentially be retained so completely refurbished studio and brand the studio sets are on wheels so they can be we have done that,” he explains.
    [Show full text]
  • Mbc Group Picks Eutelsat's Atlantic Bird™ 7 Satellite
    PR/69/11 MBC GROUP PICKS EUTELSAT’S ATLANTIC BIRD™ 7 SATELLITE TO SUPPORT HDTV ROLL-OUT ACROSS THE MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA Paris, 31 October 2011 Eutelsat Communications (Euronext Paris: ETL) and MBC Group announce the signature of a multiyear contract for capacity on Eutelsat’s new ATLANTIC BIRD™ 7 satellite at 7 degrees West. The lease of a full transponder will enable MBC to expand its platform of channels addressing viewers in the Middle East and North Africa, particularly new HD content which the Group is preparing to launch in January 2012. The announcement was made at Digital TV Middle East, the broadcast and broadband conference taking place in Dubai from November 1 to 2. The new contract cements a 20-year relationship between Eutelsat and MBC Group which began in 1991 with the launch of MBC1, the first pan-Arab free-to-air satellite station. Over the past 18 years, MBC has developed a network comprising ten TV channels, two radio stations and a production house to forge a leading media and broadcasting group in the Middle East, among other media platforms such as VOD (shahid.net), SMS and MMS services. The move into HDTV reflects the Group's commitment to delivering the latest technology and superior television content. Launched on September 24, ATLANTIC BIRD™ 7 brings first-class resources to 7 degrees West, an established video neighbourhood delivering Arab and international channels into almost 30 million satellite homes. The satellite’s significant Ku-band resources enable broadcasters to launch new Standard Digital and HD content.
    [Show full text]
  • Syria & Its Neighbours
    Syria Studies i The View From Without: Syria & Its Neighbours Özden Zeynep Oktav Tine Gade Taku Osoegawa Syria Studies ii Syria Studies An open-access, peer reviewed, & indexed journal published online by: The Centre for Syrian Studies (CSS) University of St Andrews Raymond Hinnebusch (Editor-In-Chief) & Omar Imady (Managing Editor) Syria Studies iii _______________ © 2014 by the University of St Andrews, Centre for Syrian Studies Published by the University of St Andrews, Centre for Syrian Studies School of International Relations Fife, Scotland, UK ISSN 2056-3175 Syria Studies iv Contents Preface v-vi Omar Imady The Syrian Civil War and Turkey-Syria-Iran Relations 1-19 Özden Zeynep Oktav Sunni Islamists in Tripoli and the Asad regime 1966-2014 20-65 Tine Gade Coping with Asad: Lebanese Prime Ministers’ Strategies 66-81 Taku Osoegawa iv Syria Studies v Preface Omar Imady In this issue of Syria Studies, we move to a regional perspective of Syria, examining recent political dynamics involving Turkey and Lebanon. Three contributions by scholars on Syria are included in this issue, and their findings consistently point to just how charged and often hostile Syria’s relationships with its neighbours have been. In The Syrian Civil War and Turkey-Syria-Iran Relations, Özden Zeynep Oktav takes us on a fascinating journey from 2002 when the Justice and Development Party came to power, and until the present. Oktav highlights the period when Turkey sought a state of ‘zero problem with its neighbours’ and the positive implications this had on its relationship with Syria in particular. The advent of the Arab Spring, and the events that unfolded in Syria after March 2011, caused a dramatic change in Turkey’s foreign policy.
    [Show full text]
  • Sorensen SYRIA
    Sorensen Last updated: July 11, 2008 Photo- Print Neg. Binder grapher Nation State Locale no. Description Year Neg. Sorenson Number Notes only ME Syria Dimashq City Damascus Looking west from Orient Palace Hotel. 1951 x Syria Damascus 1 ME Syria Dimashq City Damascus Looking west from Orient Palace Hotel, towards 1951 x Syria Damascus 2 ME Syria Dimashq City Damascus Looking northeast from Orient Palace Hotel. 1951 x Syria Damascus 3 ME Syria Dimashq City Damascus Front view of the Orient Palace Hotel. 1951 x Syria Damascus 4 ME Syria Dimashq City Damascus Looking down on traffic in road before Orient Palace 1951 Syria Damascus 5 x Hotel, and railroad station. ME Syria Dimashq City Damascus Bus stops east of Orient Palace Hotel. 1951 x Syria Damascus 6 ME Syria Dimashq City Damascus Photography lab near Orient Palace Hotel. 1951 x Syria Damascus 7 ME Syria Dimashq City Damascus Looking across city from hillside. 1951 x Syria Damascus 8 ME Syria Dimashq City Damascus Man sitting on hill crest over city in background. 1951 x Syria Damascus 9 ME Syria Dimashq City Damascus Downtown gas station, on Baroda Road. 1951 x Syria Damascus 10 ME Syria Dimashq City Damascus Man filling gas in white vehicle at filling station. 1951 x Syria Damascus 11 ME Syria Dimashq City Damascus Women and child walking along railroad tracks. 1951 x Syria Damascus 12 ME Syria Dimashq City Damascus New mosque built in embassy district of city. 1951 x Syria Damascus 13 ME Syria Dimashq City Damascus Men chiseling stone on sidewalk near new mosque.
    [Show full text]