1- Colonial Origins of the Syrian Security State

Published Tuesday, October 4, 2011 Al-Alkhbar English.

The role of radical lawyers in anti-colonial struggles of the 20th century is obvious and well known. It should thus not be a surprise that revolutionary agitation in Syria was not the work of rebellious peasants and army veterans, but rather the work of intellectuals of a new and radical generation, raised under colonial rule after the end of the Ottoman state. Just as legal structures legitimated French mandate rule, the mandate’s most sophisticated critics used legal arguments to attack the hypocrisy and violence of France’s empire.

2- The Dynamics of the Uprising in Syria

Published Oct 19 2011 on Jadaliyya by Syrian film critic Hassan Abbas.

The uprising embraced the principle of non- sectarianism and called for the preservation of national unity. However, the regime is using sectarian mobilization in a continuous attempt to create sectarian strife, to allow it to achieve the same goals that it is pursuing by divesting the protest movement of its peaceful character.

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