Shirin Jaafari

2 weeks ago | theworld.org | Shirin Jaafari

As the sun set over central Damascus, laughter spilled out from the Karma Café. Inside, a young crowd gathered — some in headscarves, others without. But all were ready to experience stand-up comedy in a free Syria. Comedy is having a moment in the country. With the fall of the Assad regime, a new wave of artists is testing the limits of expression. Among them is Styria, a stand-up troupe whose name fuses Syria with hysteria, a nod to the absurdity and pain of living under dictatorship.

2 weeks ago | flipboard.com | Shirin Jaafari

5 hours agoSyria says ‘will never be threat to anyone in region’ after rocket fire on IsraelSyrian authorities insisted Wednesday they would “never be a threat” to anyone in the region, a day after two rockets were fired from Syria at the …NowIsrael, Fighting a War, Says It Sold More Weapons Than Ever Last YearThe exports show how Israel is pursuing new markets as its forces battle on multiple fronts.

2 weeks ago | theworld.org | Shirin Jaafari

The civil war is technically over, and the regime that ruled Syria with brutality for more than a decade is gone. But for survivors of chemical attacks conducted by forces loyal to ousted President Bashar al-Assad, the trauma is still very real. And so is the fight for justice. Just outside Damascus, in a neighborhood of destroyed buildings covered in endless dust, Reem al Dere walked down a narrow street. She arrived at a place where everything changed for her — on April 7, 2018.

3 weeks ago | theworld.org | Shirin Jaafari

On the dusty outskirts of Damascus, the dome of the Sayyida Zeinab shrine gleams in the midday sun. It’s covered in nearly 20 pounds of gold that was donated in the 1980s, according to Ahmad Tahir Mohsen, an engineer at the shrine. The shrine remains one of the most sacred pilgrimage sites in Shia Islam. It is believed to house the tomb of Zeinab bint Ali, the granddaughter of the Prophet Muhammad.

1 month ago | theworld.org | Shirin Jaafari

Alaa Hassan gripped the worn steering wheel of his 2008 sky blue Fiat Punto, which had kind of become his second home. “You know, I call it Fifi, right?” he asked as he watched for traffic on the congested Damascus road. Since he returned to Syria, a week after the fall of former President Bashar al-Assad, Fifi has been Hassan’s window to the country — a way to rediscover places he once knew intimately.