A war-ravaged Syria is heavily dependent on neighboring Lebanon for basic commodities and finance. The decline in the Lebanese pound will pulsate across the border.

On Tuesday, Lebanon’s currency reached a near-record 10,000 to the dollar, signaling that the multiple stresses of corruption, political crises, and coronavirus are taking heavy tolls on an already fractured economy. Lebanon, in an attempt to stem the outward flow of capital, has already barred access to finances held by many Syrians over the border. 

Turkey Continue to Weaponize Water as Syrians Suffer

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s weaponization of water resources to the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES), known as North and East Syria (NES) or Rojava, is leaving millions at risk of water and electricity shortages as Covid-19 continues to threaten lives.

The self-governing and de facto semi-autonomous region has seen water supplies cut-off approximately 20 times in the past year.

Following the start of the Syrian civil war in 2011, the Kurdish areas in the north and east of Syria gained autonomy and have since been working within a socialist libertarian government, characterized by local democracy, visions of an environmentally sustainable future, and hopes of a polyethnic community. 

How Palestinian Activists Could Influence President Biden, with Fadi Quran
 

The year 2021 looks to be a big one for the status of Palestine and of Palestinians.

We have the end of Trump and his Middle East envoys that cut Palestinians out of talks, and a new Biden foreign policy doctrine that so far seems more malleable to Palestinian concerns, if only on paper. 

But Palestinians must also deal with a more militarized Israeli state and a set of ruling parties who have staked their electoral strategies around promoting ethno-nationalism and illegal settlements in the West Bank.

To help get a grip of how all these changes will affect Palestinians, I’ll be speaking today with Fadi Quran, a prominent Palestinian activist. Quran knows what it’s like to live under boot of Israel’s military occupation.