Under a complex humanitarian deal in Syria, 5,000 people were offered safe passage from the government-held towns of Foua and Kefriya, which are surrounded by rebels, and 2,000 left the rebel-held towns of Madaya and Zabadani near Damascus, which were besieged by government forces. The exchange began early on Saturday, but both groups became stranded […]
Syria: What You Need to Know
Last week, Syria launched a chemical weapons attack, killing more than 80 people. President Trump responded with an ordered airstrike on a Syrian airbase. What led to this conflict? What participants are in play, and what do we need to know about U.S. involvement? Today Allen Ruff talks with Middle East expert Dr. Stephen Zunes. […]
Open Doors for Syrian Refugees in Madison
Open Doors for Refugees is a new nonprofit network formed recently to raise awareness of the refugee crisis in Syria and other parts of the globe. Its aim is to build community-wide support for the resettlement of refugees in the Madison area.
Chicago Girl and the Syrian Revolution
When she was nineteen years old, Damascus-born Ala’a Basatneh put together a long-distance revolution from her home in Chicago. Inspired by the social-media-fueled revolts in Tunisia and Egypt, Ala’a used her Facebook and Twitter networks to orchestrate protests with journalists and activists inside Syria. As the Syrian civil war exploded, Bashar al-Assad imposed a media […]
Syria: The history behind the conflict
In today’s edition of A Public Affair, Allen Ruff speaks wit Jennifer Loewenstein, associate professor of Middle East studies at Penn State. In a prerecorded interview, they’ll discuss the current situation, the mounting crisis centered in Syria, and the longer historical context for it.
Local high school students fight poverty with Verona Aid Project
What is Verona Aid? How are students in the community taking action in response to the Syrian refugee crisis? How are they helping address poverty right here in Dane County? Today Patty Peltekos talks with Jason Knoll and students from Verona Area High School to discuss the Verona Aid project.