Micheline Ziadee

Loading metrics Open Access Peer-reviewed Research Article Rima. R. Habib , Amena El-Harakeh, Micheline Ziadee, Elio Abi Younes, Khalil El Asmar Rima. R. Habib, Amena El-Harakeh, Micheline Ziadee, Elio Abi Younes, Khalil El Asmar Published: September 2, 2020 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1003283 Figures Abstract Background Since 2011, the protracted Syrian war has had tragic consequences on the lives of the Syrian people, threatening their stability, health, and well-being.

When discussing the fable known as the “October War of Liberation,” the Syrian regime, in its rhetoric and propaganda, invariably leaves out a matter of utmost importance; namely that its “valiant army” (as it calls it) failed to liberate most of the Syrian territory occupied by Israel during the June 1967 War. After the October 1973 war, six villages inhabited by Syrians, located in the far north of the occupied plateau, remained under Israeli occupation.

[Editor’s note: The below article was produced as part of Al-Jumhuriya’s 2017 Fellowship for Young Writers. It was originally published in Arabic on 6 July, 2018.] In the city of Qudsaya, about ten kilometers from Damascus and 45 minutes from the center of the capital, there is a walled area of approximately 5,000 square meters. Today, around 140 children are confined within its perimeter. They are the inmates of a juvenile prison that has witnessed all the stages of the Syrian war in the city.