Syria Besieged by COVID-19 and War

Join us for our 2nd episode of JUST PLANET where Host Sukanya Pillay interviews award-winning journalist, author and expert on Syria Sam Dagher.

In the 1st few minutes: Sukanya sets up the discussion bringing us up to speed on the July 7th, 2020 Russia-China veto of extending UN Security Council Resolution 2503, ending ability to provide humanitarian assistance including food supplies to IDLIB, the beleaugered northwest province in Syria.  Sukanya also tells us a bit about the July 7th, 2020 report of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry into the Syrian Arab Republic, finding 52 attacks by all factions against civilians and civilian infrastructure.  The report finds possible war crimes and crimes against humanity and will be presented to the UN General Assembly on July 14th – you can access an advanced copy HERE.

And the Heart of  interview with Sam Dagher: 

 

In this episode, award-winning author, journalist and expert on Syria, Sam Dagher takes us:

-- behind the scenes into the Assad regime in Syria

--  the current conflict

--  the role of States in the region and internationally

-- how the Arab Spring affected Syria

-- how the regime leveraged its intelligence on terrorists, and

-- how a groundbreaking new trial that began in April exemplifies hope and the resilience and courage of the Syrian people who fought against all odds to bring torturers to justice.

Sam Dagher is an American-Lebanese journalist and author who has worked in the Middle East for more than 16 years. He was the only reporter for a major Western media outlet based fulltime in Damascus in 2012-2014. He was briefly detained by Assad’s henchmen in an underground prison and later expelled for reporting deemed unfavorable to the regime. Dagher contributes to The Atlantic and before that was senior correspondent at TheWall Street Journal and previously reported for The New York Times, The Christian Science Monitor, and Agence France Presse. He has covered some of the biggest stories since 9/11 including the conflict in Iraq and Arab Spring uprisings. The Wall Street Journal submitted Dagher’s work from Syria for the Pulitzer Prize and other journalism awards. His book “Assad or We Burn the Country: How One Family’s Lust for Power Destroyed Syria” was picked as one of the best of 2019 by The Economist, The Guardian and Kirkus Reviews. Dagher is fluent in Arabic, French and Spanish and conversant in Russian.

Write to me at [email protected].

© 2020 Sukanya Pillay | Produced by Sukanya Pillay & SUKIMEDIA. 

Sound edited by OMS Entertainment.

Initial funding support - University of Windsor Faculty of Law.