Leila al-Shami

al-Shami

Leila Al-Shami is co-author of Burning Country: Syrians in Revolution and War and co-founder of From the Periphery media collective.

Follow Leila on X: @LeilaShami

Syria stirs beneath a hesitant dawn, six months after Assad fall

Despite teething problems under al-Sharaa’s government, action, not promises, will bring justice and free Syria from Assad’s ghosts, argues Leila al-Shami.

09 June, 2025

Our dream of an Assad-free Syria has returned with regime defeat

After over 50 years, the Assad regime has fallen. Syrian author and activist Leila al-Shami writes about the first feeling of hope after the rebel advance.

02 December, 2024

The erasure of Yarmouk refugee camp

Bombed, starved and besieged, Palestinian residents of Yarmouk refugee camp now face being permanently displaced as the Assad regime expropriates their homes.

14 August, 2020

Syria's prisoners: Absent but never forgotten

Comment: Syria's prisons are filled with those who rose up peacefully to call for freedom, democracy and social justice, writes Leila Al-Shami.

14 June, 2017

The sectarianization of Syria and smearing a revolution

The Syrian regime has employed violence, sectarianism and Machiavellian tactics to try and derail the revolution, defame its supporters and strengthen fringe jihadi movements, says Leila al-Shami.

30 October, 2016