DOCSLIB.ORG

Ideology, Media and Conflict in Political Discourse and Its Translation During the Arab Spring: Syria As a Case Study

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Ideology, Media and Conflict in Political Discourse and Its Translation During the Arab Spring: Syria As a Case Study Ideology, Media and Conflict in Political Discourse and Its Translation During the Arab Spring: Syria as a Case Study School of Languages, Cultures and Societies University of Leeds, Leeds, UK Submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy By Husam Haj Omar Supervised by Professor James Dickins Co-Supervised by Professor Jeremy Munday June 2016 1 DECLARATION AND STATEMENT OF COPYRIGHT The candidate confirms that the work submitted is his own and that appropriate credit has been given where reference has been made to the work of others. This copy has been supplied on the understanding that it is copyright material and that no quotation from the thesis may be published without proper acknowledgement. © 2016 The University of Leeds and Husam Haj Omar The right of Husam Haj Omar to be identified as Author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. 2 DEDICATION To the martyrs of the Syrian Revolution; to the thousands of tortured detainees; to the millions of displaced families and refugees, know that your sacrifices have not been in vain. To the martyrs of the Arab Spring, you will always be remembered. To my father, and my mother, thank you for everything. 3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Praise is due to almighty Allah whose compassion and mercifulness has allowed me to complete this Ph.D. thesis. I offer my sincerest gratitude to my supervisor, Professor James Dickins, who has supported me throughout my thesis with his patience and knowledge whilst allowing me the room to work in my own way. He has helped me through extremely difficult times over the course of the analysis and the writing of the thesis and for that I sincerely thank him for his confidence in me. I attribute the level of my Ph.D. degree to his encouragement and effort and without him this thesis, too, would not have been completed or written. One simply could not wish for a better or friendlier supervisor. I would also like to thank my co-supervisor Professor Jeremy Munday. The door to his office was always open whenever I ran into a trouble spot or had a question about my research or writing. He consistently allowed this thesis to be my own work, but steered me in the right the direction especially in the first stages of the writing process. I would additionally like to thank Dr. Sameh F. Hanna for his advice in the data analysis process that has led to this document. His knowledge and understanding of the subject has allowed me to fully express the concepts behind this research. I am thankful to Karen Priestley, Education Service Officer, who has offered her kind support and guidance throughout the Ph.D. journey. She has greatly facilitated all administrative work related to this research. I would like to extend my deepest gratitude to my parents, Jihad and Baraeh, my sisters, Lama and Nada, and my brother Muhammad Nour without whose love, support and understanding I could never have completed this doctoral degree. I owe my deepest gratitude and love to them for their dedication and the many years of support during my undergraduate and postgraduate studies that provided the foundation for this work. My parents made me the person I am now. To them I will always be in debt. Last but not the least, my words of gratitude go to my cousin Adnan Haj Omar, and dear friends, Momen Kanadil, Maher Turifi, Abdullah al-Anezi, Sara Tahboub, Dania Issa and the rest of my friends, who have supported me during my Ph.D. studies, and encouraged me to strive towards my goal. I would like to thank Susan Barber and her lovely family who have been very kind to me during my stay and studies in the UK. Without the help of the above and many others whom I cannot mention in one page, the writing of this thesis would not have been possible. 4 ABSTRACT Translation, although often invisible in the field of politics, is actually an integral part of political activity. Which texts get translated, from and into which languages is itself already a political decision. (Schäffner and Bassnett, 2010: 13) Translation has recently shifted its focus from the notions of originality and equivalence to those of power and patronage. This has proven essential, especially in relation to the translation of political discourse. Samuel Butler maintains that every person’s production, whether literature, music, pictures, architecture, or anything else, is a portrait of themselves. Translation is no exception. The translator’s role is no longer perceived as a transparent means of communication that is expected to relay the exact message of the original producer of the discourse. This thesis will view translation as a rewriting of the original text, recognising the translator as an author who modifies and changes the ST according to his or her ideology, political stand, or general interests. The translator is also foremost a reader who brings his or her own judgments, imposing them upon the text, perhaps reshaping the entire political discourse. Media outlets employ certain strategies and techniques to superimpose the media outlet’s agenda and objectives onto translations, promoting certain ideological convictions and political views. This thesis examines the relationship between a number of issues in relation to ideology, media, political discourse, language, and translation. Illustrative examples are extracted from the political discourse communicated during the Arab Spring. It uses Critical Discourse Analysis and narrative theory as a theoretical framework. It also aims to detect political tools and strategies often used in political discourse production and media discourse to analyse the data circulated on the Arab Spring. It seeks to look for the ideological influence of both translator and patronage on the outcome of the translation process. The data used for analysis in this thesis is taken from the political discourse communicated during the Arab Spring, in particular the Syrian revolution. The data corpus consists of translated interviews, political articles, and political speeches. Examples of revolutionary discourse produced by protesters are also included, alongside their translations. This is a qualitative study that lists and analyses representative samples of the translated political discourse, drawing conclusions and findings conclusions that apply to most of the data found in the context of the Arab Spring. 5 TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION AND STATEMENT OF COPYRIGHT ..................................................... 2 DEDICATION ......................................................................................................................... 3 ABSTRACT............................................................................................................................. 5 LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................................... 10 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................. 13 A Background to the Study ................................................................................................ 13 Research Scope and Statement of the Problem .................................................................. 15 Research Questions ............................................................................................................ 16 Significance of the Research .............................................................................................. 17 Methodology and Data ....................................................................................................... 17 Thesis Structure ................................................................................................................. 19 Significance of the Structure .............................................................................................. 21 CHAPTER ONE: THE STORY OF THE ARAB SPRING .................................................. 24 1.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................ 24 1.2 Democracy in the Arab World before the Arab Spring ......................................... 25 1.2.1 Democracy in Arab Thought .......................................................................... 25 1.2.2 Reasons for the Absence of Democracy in the Arab World .......................... 27 1.2.3 Arab Civil Society and Democratisation........................................................ 28 1.2.4 The Oppressive State and Human Rights in the Arab World ........................ 31 1.2.5 State and Political Opposition in the Arab World .......................................... 32 1.2.6 Full versus Liberalised Autocracy ................................................................. 34 1.2.7 Democratisation and the Arab-Israeli Conflict .............................................. 36 1.2.8 Islam, Islamism, and Democracy ................................................................... 36 1.3 Towards an Arab Spring ........................................................................................ 40 1.3.1 Lack of Political Reform ................................................................................ 40 1.3.2 Socio-Economic Decline ................................................................................ 42 1.3.3 The Media Revolution ................................................................................... 43 1.4 The People Demands
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Syria: "Torture Was My Punishment": Abductions, Torture and Summary
    ‘TORTURE WAS MY PUNISHMENT’ ABDUCTIONS, TORTURE AND SUMMARY KILLINGS UNDER ARMED GROUP RULE IN ALEPPO AND IDLEB, SYRIA Amnesty International is a global movement of more than 7 million people who campaign for a world where human rights are enjoyed by all. Our vision is for every person to enjoy all the rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international human rights standards. We are independent of any government, political ideology, economic interest or religion and are funded mainly by our membership and public donations. © Amnesty International 2016 Cover photo: Armed group fighters prepare to launch a rocket in the Saif al-Dawla district of the Except where otherwise noted, content in this document is licensed under a Creative Commons northern Syrian city of Aleppo, on 21 April 2013. (attribution, non-commercial, no derivatives, international 4.0) licence. © Miguel Medina/AFP/Getty Images https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/legalcode For more information please visit the permissions page on our website: www.amnesty.org Where material is attributed to a copyright owner other than Amnesty International this material is not subject to the Creative Commons licence. First published in 2016 by Amnesty International Ltd Peter Benenson House, 1 Easton Street London WC1X 0DW, UK Index: MDE 24/4227/2016 July 2016 Original language: English amnesty.org CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 4 METHODOLOGY 7 1. BACKGROUND 9 1.1 Armed group rule in Aleppo and Idleb 9 1.2 Violations by other actors 13 2. ABDUCTIONS 15 2.1 Journalists and media activists 15 2.2 Lawyers, political activists and others 18 2.3 Children 21 2.4 Minorities 22 3.
    [Show full text]
  • Conditionals in Political Texts
    JOSIP JURAJ STROSSMAYER UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES Adnan Bujak Conditionals in political texts A corpus-based study Doctoral dissertation Advisor: Dr. Mario Brdar Osijek, 2014 CONTENTS Abstract ...........................................................................................................................3 List of tables ....................................................................................................................4 List of figures ..................................................................................................................5 List of charts....................................................................................................................6 Abbreviations, Symbols and Font Styles ..........................................................................7 1. Introduction .................................................................................................................9 1.1. The subject matter .........................................................................................9 1.2. Dissertation structure .....................................................................................10 1.3. Rationale .......................................................................................................11 1.4. Research questions ........................................................................................12 2. Theoretical framework .................................................................................................13
    [Show full text]
  • Disaster, Terror, War, and Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, and Explosive (CBRNE) Events
    Disaster, Terror, War, and Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, and Explosive (CBRNE) Events Date Location Agent Notes Source 28 Apr Kano, Nigeria VBIED Five soldiers were killed and 40 wounded when a Boko http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/World/2017/ 2017 Haram militant drove his VBIED into a convoy. Apr-28/403711-suicide-bomber-kills-five-troops- in-ne-nigeria-sources.ashx 25 Apr Pakistan Land mine A passenger van travelling within Parachinar hit a https://www.dawn.com/news/1329140/14- 2017 landmine, killing fourteen and wounding nine. killed-as-landmine-blast-hits-van-carrying- census-workers-in-kurram 24 Apr Sukma, India Small arms Maoist rebels ambushed CRPF forces and killed 25, http://odishasuntimes.com/2017/04/24/12-crpf- 2017 wounding six or so. troopers-killed-in-maoist-attack/ 15 Apr Aleppo, Syria VBIED 126 or more people were killed and an unknown https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_Aleppo_suici 2017 number wounded in ISIS attacks against a convoy of de_car_bombing buses carrying refugees. 10 Apr Somalia Suicide Two al-Shabaab suicide bombs detonated in and near http://www.reuters.com/article/us-somalia- 2017 bombings Mogadishu killed nine soldiers and a civil servant. security-blast-idUSKBN17C0JV?il=0 10 Apr Wau, South Ethnic violence At least sixteen people were killed and ten wounded in http://www.reuters.com/article/us-southsudan- 2017 Sudan ethnic violence in a town in South Sudan. violence-idUSKBN17C0SO?il=0 10 Apr Kirkuk, Iraq Small arms Twelve ISIS prisoners were killed by a firing squad, for http://www.iraqinews.com/iraq-war/islamic- 2017 reasons unknown.
    [Show full text]
  • Mapping Accountability Efforts in Syria
    MAPPING ACCOUNTABILITY EFFORTS IN SYRIA Prepared by the Public International Law & Policy Group February 2013 PILPG Syria Transitional Justice Mapping Evaluation, February 2013 TABLE OF CONTENTS Statement of Purpose 1 Introduction 1 Background on the Syrian Conflict 2 Methodology 4 Legal Framework for Transitional Justice in Syria 5 Syria’s International Legal Obligations 5 International Criminal Law 5 International Humanitarian Law 10 International Human Rights Law 15 Syria’s Domestic Legal Framework 16 The Syrian Penal Code 16 Amnesties in Transitional Justice 18 Amnesties Issued by the Syrian Government 19 Structure of the Syrian Judicial System 22 Supreme Judicial Council 23 Syrian Court Structure 23 Judicial Independence 26 The Transitional Justice Evidence Documentation Process 27 TJE Collection 28 TJE Compilation 28 Facilitation and Training 29 Other Activities 29 TJE Collection in Syria 30 Syrian Groups and Organizations 30 Civil Society Organizations 30 News Agencies 31 International Organizations 31 Intergovernmental Organizations and Bodies 31 Governmental Initiatives 32 Non-governmental Organizations 32 PILPG Syria Transitional Justice Mapping Evaluation, February 2013 News Agencies 33 Needs and Challenges for TJE Documentation Efforts in Syria 33 Deteriorating Security Situation in Syria 34 Coordinating Efforts 35 Lack of Comprehensive International Legal Approach 36 Inconsistent Verification Standards 37 Reaching All Affected Areas and Populations 37 Rape and Sexual Violence 38 Unbiased Documentation of Violations by All
    [Show full text]
  • Representations of the Name Rectification Movement of Taiwan Indigenous People: Through Whose Historical Lens?
    LANGUAGE AND LINGUISTICS 13.3:523-568, 2012 2012-0-013-003-000320-1 Representations of the Name Rectification Movement of Taiwan Indigenous People: Through Whose Historical Lens? Sheng-hsiu Chiu1,2 and Wen-yu Chiang1 National Taiwan University1 Huafan University2 Within the theoretical and methodological framework based on the conceptual metaphor theory, the discourse-historical approach, and corpus linguistics, this article examines the various representations of Taiwan indigenous people’s name rectification movement in three major broadsheet newspapers, the United Daily News, the Liberty Times, and the Apple Daily in Taiwan. Using two-tier analysis, which incorporates the discourse-historical approach into the conceptual metaphor theory, we demonstrate that JOURNEY and CONFLICT metaphors, the two pre- dominant types identified in news coverage, are portrayed in divergent ways in different news media. By analyzing the cognitive characteristics of conceptual meta- phors in combination with other discursive/rhetorical strategies, we demonstrate that political orientations and underlying ideologies are ingrained in the corpora news reports, and the ways in which the newspapers’ publishers delineate the indigenous issue echo the different positions they take toward national identity. We hence posit that ‘Taiwan indigenous people as the positive Self’ construction is a pseudo-positive Self construction, which is merely a camouflage for the media’s real stance on viewing indigenous people as the Other. We argue that all of the representations of the name rectification movement in three different newspapers in Taiwan are based on intention, inextricably intertwined with the newspapers’ ideological stance of national identity, and are viewed through the historical lens of the Han people.
    [Show full text]
  • Reagan's Mythical America
    Reagan’s Mythical America This page intentionally left blank Reagan’s Mythical America Storytelling as Political Leadership Jan Hanska REAGAN’ S MYTHICAL AMERICA Copyright © Jan Hanska, 2012. Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2012 978-1-137-27299-7 All rights reserved. First published in 2012 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN® in the United States—a division of St. Martin’s Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010. Where this book is distributed in the UK, Europe and the rest of the world, this is by Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS. Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and representatives throughout the world. Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries. ISBN 978-1-349-44509-7 ISBN 978-1-137-27300-0 (eBook) DOI 10.1057/9781137273000 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Hanska, Jan. Reagan’s mythical America : storytelling as political leadership / by Jan Hanska. p. cm. 1. Reagan, Ronald—Oratory. 2. Political oratory—United States— History—20th century. 3. Discourse analysis, Narrative—Political aspects—United States. 4. Communication in politics— United States—History—20th century. 5. United States—Politics and government—1981–1989. I. Title. E877.2.H356 2012 973.927092—dc23 2012013075 A catalogue record of the book is available from the British Library. Design by Newgen Imaging Systems (P) Ltd., Chennai, India. First edition: October 2012 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 CPI Antony Rowe, Chippenham and Eastbourne This book is dedicated to professors Vilho Harle Ira Chernus Mika Luoma-aho .
    [Show full text]
  • Complaint for of the Estate of MARIE COLVIN, and Extrajudicial Killing, JUSTINE ARAYA-COLVIN, Heir-At-Law and 28 U.S.C
    Case 1:16-cv-01423 Document 1 Filed 07/09/16 Page 1 of 33 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA CATHLEEN COLVIN, individually and as Civil No. __________________ parent and next friend of minors C.A.C. and L.A.C., heirs-at-law and beneficiaries Complaint For of the estate of MARIE COLVIN, and Extrajudicial Killing, JUSTINE ARAYA-COLVIN, heir-at-law and 28 U.S.C. § 1605A beneficiary of the estate of MARIE COLVIN, c/o Center for Justice & Accountability, One Hallidie Plaza, Suite 406, San Francisco, CA 94102 Plaintiffs, v. SYRIAN ARAB REPUBLIC, c/o Foreign Minister Walid al-Mualem Ministry of Foreign Affairs Kafar Soussa, Damascus, Syria Defendant. COMPLAINT Plaintiffs Cathleen Colvin and Justine Araya-Colvin allege as follows: INTRODUCTION 1. On February 22, 2012, Marie Colvin, an American reporter hailed by many of her peers as the greatest war correspondent of her generation, was assassinated by Syrian government agents as she reported on the suffering of civilians in Homs, Syria—a city beseiged by Syrian military forces. Acting in concert and with premeditation, Syrian officials deliberately killed Marie Colvin by launching a targeted rocket attack against a makeshift broadcast studio in the Baba Amr neighborhood of Case 1:16-cv-01423 Document 1 Filed 07/09/16 Page 2 of 33 Homs where Colvin and other civilian journalists were residing and reporting on the siege. 2. The rocket attack was the object of a conspiracy formed by senior members of the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad (the “Assad regime”) to surveil, target, and ultimately kill civilian journalists in order to silence local and international media as part of its effort to crush political opposition.
    [Show full text]
  • Streets Songs from the Syrian Protests
    Orient-Institut Studies 2 (2013) Simon Dubois Streets songs from the Syrian protests <1> Since March 2011, the Syrian uprising has created spaces for popular expression that were restricted during the preceding four decades of dictatorship. Numerous productions of texts, poems, caricatures, and songs began to appear on social media sites, and activists then gathered them onto networks providing local alternative information. These networks included websites, blogs, YouTube channels, Facebook and Twitter accounts. They often contained sections titled "Art of the Revolution" or the like, which listed the cultural production of the protests. <2> This article is part of a study conducted online via networks (for instance, F.N.N,1 Deir Press2) and websites or YouTube channels that focused on the revolution©s music, such as "Music from the great or Dndne Indesasye.4 An initial survey of protest 3,( موسيقى الثورة العربية الكبرى) "Arab revolution songs, conducted between October 2011 and March 2012, revealed a vast production of protest music. This research presents some of the results of a global analysis carried out on a collection of material composed exclusively of demonstration chants, which represented cultural production in the service of protest. Videos of the demonstrations that frequently accompany these chants have a special status, since they are evidence that the protest rallies really took place, a fact that was repeatedly denied by the regime at the beginning of the protest movement. <3> In this research, demonstration chants are determined by two criteria. First, there must be interaction between the public and the singer; that is to say, the audience has to be active, repeating some lyrics that constitute the chorus.
    [Show full text]
  • Arabic Comics After the Revolution
    Strategics Sectors | Culture & Society Panorama Telling Graphic Stories of the Region: Arabic Comics after the Revolution Lina Ghaibeh most of the earlier comics targeted children and it Associate Professor and Director was not until the arrival of Shafei’s Metro in 2008, Mu’taz and Rada Sawwaf Arabic Comics Initiative, with its controversial content widely covered in the American University of Beirut media, and the long history preceding it, that the adult Strategics Sectors | Culture & Society graphic novel genre publicly emerged and comics targeting adults became more widespread in Egypt Comics: a Rich Heritage in the Region1 and the region. Comics, especially those for children, have been around in the Arab world for over 70 years. But re- A Decade of Growth: Paving the Way cent years have witnessed a sudden rise in the num- ber of comics that target adult audiences, particu- The foundations were laid for the spread of comics larly since the uprisings, and with it an unprecedented with the cautious revival of the genre in the mid- 324 growing interest and avid following. 2000s through a series of independent adult-fo- The comic genre in the Arab world has not grown cused comics. The unveiling of the personal narra- from nothing; its seeds stem from the region’s wealth tive Le Jeu des Hirondelles by Zeina Abi Rashed, of local heritage and experiences.2 Magazines of to- depicting her childhood during the Lebanese civil day, such as TokTok, like to remind their audiences war, the rise of the local superhero Malak from the of this history, regularly featuring comic figures from cedar trees of Lebanon in the form of a comics se- local heritage in its pages, in order to emphasise that ries, the formation of The 99, from Kuwait, depicting the art is rooted in a rich past, and not a mere repli- a more moderate face of Islam in the wake of 9/11, cation of the West (Bank).
    [Show full text]
  • Arab Reform Brief
    Arab Reform Brief 51 October 2011 The Dynamics of the Uprising in Syria Hassan Abbas* Most people interested in Syrian affairs used to believe that the country was extremely stable. The regime’s media fed this belief, constantly reiterating the assertion that Syria was the most secure and stable country in the world. In fact, however, this stability was merely a veneer. In reality, cracks and rifts appeared that damaged the Syrian society, undermined its cohesion, and created numerous social problems, generating frustration and anger that grew to unbearable proportions among broad sections of the population. The incident that took place in the emboldening the market traders to break the commercial market in Damascus on 19 barrier of fear that had held Syrians in a February 2011 was the first symptom of this stranglehold for forty years. underlying frustration. On that day, a traffic policeman reprimanded the son of one of the A few days after this incident, a number of traders. The young man rose up to defend his young men working in the culture field dignity and cursed the policeman, while other gathered in front of the Libyan embassy to traders gathered round to support him. The protest in solidarity with the martyrs in Libya. situation escalated, requiring the Minister of However, the political security forces swiftly Interior to intervene to persuade the traders to intervened to break up the gathering by force. end their protest. While the incident may Such gatherings recurred, however, once in appear unremarkable, the citizens’ response front of the Egyptian embassy to celebrate the was unprecedented and came as a surprise to ousting of the Egyptian president, for a the regime.
    [Show full text]
  • Is It Possible to Understand the Syrian Revolution Through the Prism of Social Media? Juliette Harkin University of East Anglia
    WESTMINSTER PAPERS VOLUME 9 ISSUE 2 / APRIL 2013 IS IT POSSIBLE TO UNDERSTAND THE SYRIAN REVOLUTION THROUGH THE PRISM OF SOCIAL MEDIA? Juliette Harkin University of East Anglia Juliette Harkin, M.Phil Oxon, is a researcher and consultant on the Arab media and a PhD student undertaking research on Syria in the School of Political, Social and International Studies at the University of East Anglia. Her M.Phil thesis (2009) focused on the changing practice of journalism in Syria. The aim of this article is to explore a renewed and radical ‘media culture’ that has developed in the extraordinary conditions of the Syrian revolution. The article quickly dismisses the focus on the technology and platforms while using small-scale ethnography to examine social networking sites like Facebook and to underscore the diversity of content being produced by Syrians. It notes how the Syrian media revolution is clearly well under way and how radical, alternative forms of media production are flourishing. KEYWORDS media, radical alternative media, revolt, semi-published, social media, social networking sites, Syria JULIETTE HARKIN: University of East Anglia 92 93 IS IT POSSIBLE TO UNDERSTAND THE SYRIAN REVOLUTION THROUGH THE PRISM OF SOCIAL MEDIA? Juliette Harkin University of East Anglia The Arab revolutions have reminded the world that radical change can be effected by the people, rather than by top-down regime change or ‘transitology’ models that have prevailed in much academic literature (see critique in the Latin American context by Sparks, 2010). For Syrians irreversible transformations happened in the maelstrom of the revolt; they did not wait for the regime to fall or for discussion to commence about media reform blueprints.
    [Show full text]
  • Re-Imagining Peace: Analyzing Syria’S Four Towns Agreement Through Elicitive Conflict Mapping
    MASTERS OF PEACE 19 Lama Ismail Re-Imagining Peace: Analyzing Syria’s Four Towns Agreement through Elicitive Conflict Mapping innsbruck university press MASTERS OF PEACE 19 innsbruck university press Lama Ismail Re-Imagining Peace: Analyzing Syria’s Four Towns Agreement through Elicitive Conflict Mapping Lama Ismail Unit for Peace and Conflict Studies, Universität Innsbruck Current volume editor: Josefina Echavarría Alvarez, Ph.D This publication has been made possible thanks to the financial support of the Tyrolean Education Institute Grillhof and the Vice-Rectorate for Research at the University of Innsbruck. © innsbruck university press, 2020 Universität Innsbruck 1st edition www.uibk.ac.at/iup ISBN 978-3-903187-88-7 For Noura Foreword by Noura Ghazi1 I am writing this foreword on behalf of Lama and her book, in my capacity as a human rights lawyer of more than 16 years, specializing in cases of enforced disappearance and arbitrary detention. And also, as an activist in the Syrian uprisings. In my opinion, the uprisings in Syria started after decades of attempts – since the time of Asaad the father, leading up to the current conflict. Uprisings have taken up different forms, starting from the national democratic movement of 1979, to what is referred to as the Kurdish uprising of 2004, the ‘Damascus Spring,’ and the Damascus- Beirut declaration. These culminated in the civil uprisings which began in March 2011. The uprisings that began with the townspeople of Daraa paralleled the uprisings of the Arab Spring. Initially, those in Syria demanded for the release of political prisoners and for the uplift of the state of emergency, with the hope that this would transition Syria’s security state towards a state of law.
    [Show full text]