Q&A: Post Bashar al-Assad regime collapse, Syrian journalist reflects on country’s news industry over last decade
By Jenna Mayzouni Medill Reports Bashar al-Assad’s reign over Syria ended on Dec. 8, when opposition forces took the city of Damascus. The Assad government committed numerous human rights violations, including the kidnapping, jailing, torture and murder of civilians, according to Amnesty International. Following the Syrian revolution and civil war, the Syrian Network for Human Rights […]
Turkish immigrants stepping up to help earthquake victims at home
By Almagul Serikbayeva Medill Reports In the wake of early February’s earthquake along the Turkish and Syrian border, the Turkish diaspora of immigrants in Chicago has packed and shipped more than 2,500 boxes of donations full of winter clothing, sleeping bags, hand warmers, diapers, baby food, hygiene products and other necessities, to their homeland through […]
Assyrians around the world ring in the new year with hope for a new spring
By Hannah Gebresilassie Assyrians in Chicago, and around the world, celebrate Kha b-Nisan, or the Assyrian new year. Milad Shaer, owner of Milo’s Pita, joined thousands in a Chicago-held parade to celebrate 7,000 years of Assyrian heritage. Their ancestry traces back to the ancient Assyrian empire in the prehistoric Middle East and present day Iraq, […]
A tale of two cities: how education trumps war in Chicago and Reyhanli
By Aryn Braun “There are lots of Syrians in Chicago like me, second-generation Syrians,” says Samia Akhras, 24, of Chicago’s growing Syrian Community. But Chicago isn’t home. Chicago isn’t Syria. Syrian-Americans, like Akhras and her family, are constantly reminded of the violence and upheaval that is everyday life in the Syrian Arab Republic. Akhras’ voice, […]