The revolutionary movement of Syria not only asked for a political change when it took the streets in 2011, but also to reaffirm the existence of individuality in society. Our personal individuality was brutally oppressed by the dictatorial one-party rule and the purely state-controlled organizations and trade unions, which attempted to make people ideologically uniform from the youngest age through the youth-based Baathist organizations. With the recapturing of our personal identity, we Syrians regained a public space to express our thoughts and ideas through creativity and arts. But at the same time, we are confronted with new questions. Have we... more

Satire im Krieg   Ob Helge Schneider seine Finger im Spiel hatte? „Im Namen Gottes, des Barmherzigen!“ Das geht dem jungen Anführer flüssig über die Lippe, gar kein Problem. Beim Rest aber wird es schwierig: Wie heißt der Checkpoint nochmal, den wir befreit haben? Auch die Kameraden sind sich unsicher. Verdammt! Schnitt. Nicht jeder Islamist ist eben Superkämpfer und Medienprofi, auch, wenn es die Propaganda so will. Diese fünf jungen Männer geben ihr Bestes und müssen über ihre Tollpatschigkeit am Ende selbst lachen. Schließlich hilft ein Pappkarton, auf dem der Text steht. „Nobody's Perfect“ ist ein sehr lustiges Video. Es könnte von Monthy Python... more

The videos coming out of Syria of the nightmarish scenes of unspeakable violence and hatred have shaken people from around the world. It makes one doubt humanity and what some people are capable of: excruciatingly agonizing  decapitations and cannibalizing raw organs, on tape. I will not embed these gruesome videos here because I am still reeling from the carnage and gore. What’s worse is that children are present at these very public executions, that pre-teen innocent boys are being taught songs inciting violence, hatred and even butchering of people from other sects. The video above, is a very morbid sarcastic video, and... more