iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

And now…we must let Syrians work this out but help them to maximize and build on the miracle of it all, address the past and grieve and reconcile society, and build build build and grow and repair and renew. I’ll expand on all these thoughts in more detail in coming days/weeks.

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The regime’s primary concern was its security state, not governance or service provision. Syrians need everything. Some areas are destroyed beyond recognition. Others simply lack basic services. Institutions lack capacity. The work ahead is vast.

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Many folks stayed in place, so within and between communities you’ve victims, perpetrators, and everyone else. Reductive to think of it as sectarian issue, it’s beyond that. Dynamics are highly localized. The TJ and reconciliation Q is huge—in institutions, communities, justice…

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On 3/ Wow, where to start. In between the highs and the lows there is SO much going on and this is part where much of the work needs to be done. People are uncertain about what’s next and highly sensitive to every action of authorities—tho giving it a chance.

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The mass graves are vast. Hospitals had morgues of tortured corpses. There are branches everywhere. The full truth is only now coming out and how to reckon with everything that happened and to avoid replicating these patterns of securitization and brutality will be a big task.

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On 2/ The horror. I’ve researched the regimes security state in granular detail for years but seeing it in 3D is something else. The scale of the enterprise was outrageous. Thousands of people spent every day involved in this. So many were detained or had someone missing.

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The miracle of what’s happening is mind-bending. It shouldn’t be possible. It’s a credit to the backroom diplomacy and the restraint and willingness of Syrians to give this chance. Sure, there is some instability and it’s early days, but the fact it’s working so far is huge.

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On 1/ The joy and relief are real, even among those who are afraid or uncertain. The regime was widely hated. Under them, things were only going one way, and it wasn’t good. Now, there is a question, possibility, opportunity. People have a huge weight lifted.

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Emma Beals @ejbeals.bsky.social · 18/12/2024

Reflections from Syria. Very briefly, for now. Lots more to come in the days/weeks ahead. Three things are happening at once: 1/ The joy, relief, and miracle of it all. 2/ The huge grief and horror. 3/ The uncertainty, complexity, and huge work ahead.

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Joy, hope, and opportunity abound. The grief, horror, and awful truths are almost too much to bear. The miracle and uncertainty of the moment are in constant and palpable tension with each other. There is so much going on at once and so much work to do. But the relief…

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Emma Beals @ejbeals.bsky.social · 18/12/2024

Just back from five days in Damascus. Not something I thought I’d be saying. Syria is free and the future is being written in real time. Truly a privilege to witness a small part of that. Will take a bit to process and find the words, but for now…

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Reposted by Emma Beals

Fadah Jassem / فداء جاسم @fadahjassem.bsky.social · 07/12/2024

A lot is happening in Syria. Want to follow along with additional context, local knowledge, and those who witnessed it in real-time? Here’s a starter pack: Syria from 2011 and beyond. go.bsky.app/3ng3Ghq

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Emma Beals @ejbeals.bsky.social · 08/12/2024

You clearly don’t know my work.

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Emma Beals @ejbeals.bsky.social · 07/12/2024

I’m in a state of total overwhelm. As is everyone I’m talking to. Hopeful, relieved, worried, and suddenly feeling the avalanche of the last 14 years, the memories all flooding back, the friendships, the grief, the lives lost, the work done, the anger, the gaslighting.

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Folks, wars go far far beyond armed groups. If your analysis of outcomes focuses only on these, I don’t really know what to tell you…

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You don’t seem to be looking at the same locally led positives as I am. I am talking far beyond any armed group.

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My belief in the power of the international community to grab defeat from the jaws of victory, and make a good go of trashing many of the locally-led positives we've seen so far, has indeed been bolstered over the last 48 hours.

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Even die-hard Assadists are calling for unity and a new chapter. With an Astana Ministerial tomorrow, and events unfolding at a break-neck pace, the next 24 hours will be pivotal and will involve massive changes beyond the battlefield. What happens after that is the hard part.

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Emma Beals @ejbeals.bsky.social · 04/12/2024

Events in Syria are unfolding far too quickly to cover in real-time--also too much work to be done! Needless to say, Assad only really holds Homs (for how long?), Damascus, and the coast. The South has joined the fray; the East is out of regime control.

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Anyone purporting to be interested in localized peacebuilding would do well to listen very carefully to Syrians right now, particularly those from in and around Aleppo. Something remarkable is happening, and how the world reacts to it will be a defining point in Syria's future.

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Reposted by Emma Beals

charleslister1.bsky.social @charleslister1.bsky.social · 03/12/2024

OK, here we go. Here's a comprehensive guide to what's happened in #Syria in recent days -- lots of exclusive details, data & analysis on the capture of #Aleppo & much more. www.syriaweekly.com/p/special-sy...

syriaweekly.com

SPECIAL: Syria -- Nov 26-Dec 3, 2024

HTS & opposition take Aleppo city, doubling territory in 6 days

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Ruslan Trad @ruslantrad.bsky.social · 29/11/2024

👏🏼now👏🏼do👏🏼you👏🏼get👏🏼that👏🏼unresolved👏🏼conflicts👏🏼are👏🏼still👏🏼conflicts👏🏼and👏🏼you👏🏼can’t👏🏼just👏🏼ignore👏🏼them👏🏼and👏🏼hope👏🏼they👏🏼go👏🏼away👏🏼

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Reposted by Emma Beals

Anyone interested in Syria reporting and following of news updates, here is a helpful list to start with: go.bsky.app/TpjA464

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The same old security approach helped him maintain control, but it’s clear from current events and the way people are speaking now, that he lacks support of any significance. That’s not to say those sweeping across the country enjoy popular support either of course, but that’s a separate issue.

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At each point there was a noticeable shift in the way people would comment online, how open they would be to speaking up/out. It was clear that Assads actual support was minimal and even his ability to maintain a nominal pretense of “leading” his people was declining.

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There have been several notable points in the fracturing of that social contract. After the breaking of the sieges, when there was no peace dividend to Assad areas, and the same brutal corrupt governance continued. The economic crash. Covid. The amnesty decree. Earthquake.

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A notable datapoint on Syria is the way ostensibly pro-Assad people are speaking on platforms like that other app/FB etc. Previously nominally regime-aligned folks would speak against them in private, but remain steadfast in public, or comment in a very particular way when criticizing.

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Not all of it. They took a lot of villages in recent days

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