A quick English summary of our Arabic news coverage this week.

Alia Malek’s often-powerful portrait of her Damascus home sheds light on the perils and pleasures of Syria’s pre-war society, but also leaves questions unresolved, writes Eric Reidy.

A quick English summary of our Arabic news coverage this week.

A recent book argues violence is not merely an incidental feature of the Assad regime’s rule in Syria, but rather an inseparable component of its governance strategy, consciously pursued and pervading almost every detail of citizens’ interaction with the state.

A quick English summary of our Arabic news coverage this week.

A Syrian doctor says the UN’s plan to stop attacks on hospitals in Syria has failed. If it can’t be fixed, it should be abandoned.

A quick English summary of our Arabic news coverage this week.

A quick English summary of our Arabic news coverage this week.

Using videos of Western-style parties in Syria, the Assad regime has sought to portray itself as a defender of liberal modernity against benighted “terrorist” opponents. Yet these crude and dishonest propaganda efforts only underscore the oppression at the heart of Assad’s state, writes Robin Jones.

For Syrians, each passing day seems worse than the one before it. The more regional and international forces shape affairs in the country, the more Syrians themselves feel powerless. We are all helpless, and almost entirely incapable of influencing the situation which runs so clearly to our disadvantage. We’re unable to stop the ever-mounting death toll; unable to provide a bare minimum of dignity to…