How Raqqa, once the Syrian capital of Daesh’s caliphate, reclaimed its Arab cultural pride

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Updated 20 February 2023
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How Raqqa, once the Syrian capital of Daesh’s caliphate, reclaimed its Arab cultural pride

  • Resilient local population reviving ravaged heritage and preserving musical tradition
  • Equestrian scene slowly recovering in what once a major center for horse racing

RAQQA, Syria: It has been five years since the Syrian Democratic Forces hoisted their flag in the main square in Raqqa, which, for four years, had been the capital of Daesh. The streets and squares of Raqqa had witnessed horrendous atrocities — beatings, torture, beheadings, and other unspeakable acts.

Global media, which watched the operation to liberate the city with bated breath, almost immediately packed up and fled once Raqqa was freed from the terror group, leaving the people alone again in the rubble of their once great city.

But among the ruins, cultural flowers are in bloom. Groups of writers, artists, and intellectuals are making every effort to restore Raqqa’s culture, despite the black mark left by Daesh.

The area around Raqqa has been inhabited since the third millennium B.C. It gained a reputation when the Abbasid caliph Harun Al-Rashid, himself a lover of culture and tradition, chose the city as the site for his imperial residence in 796 A.D.

Though the city has been destroyed six times over its long history, many of its centuries-old historic sites remain as a testament to its importance.

When Daesh stormed into Raqqa in 2014 and declared the city its capital, the local artistic and cultural community were immediately gripped by fear.

“When the armed groups came, our group dissolved. We couldn’t sing or do anything. It got to the point where Daesh arrested me twice,” traditional singer Melek Muhammad Al-Saleh told Arab News.

“The militants said I was committing blasphemy. They said it was haram, that it was the work of Satan,” he said with a quizzical look.




The newly-restored statue of Caliph Harun Al-Rashid, one of the forefathers of Raqqa. (AN Photo/Ali Ali)

Then, speaking more seriously, Al-Saleh added: “They came to destroy and eliminate our culture. They destroyed our museum. They broke and destroyed all our antiquities.

“They were sent to eliminate the history of this city and country, because they have no history themselves; they have no opinions or goals. Their only goal was destruction.”

Al-Saleh had a distinguished career as a traditional singer spanning decades. After returning to his native Raqqa from Aleppo in the 1990s, he established a seven-member musical group called Njoom. The group travelled not only within Raqqa governorate, but all over Syria, performing at weddings and cultural festivals.

When Daesh came, the city’s proud culture and heritage came under attack. All cultural centers became departments for Daesh’s various bureaus. They seized musical instruments from people’s homes and destroyed them. They destroyed cassettes, CDs and televisions. Weddings, formerly jovial affairs in Raqqa complete with music and dancing, became silent and solemn.

Daesh interrogated Al-Saleh, saying that he had “forgotten God,” and threatened to behead him. The group was shocked, though, to find that Al-Saleh was a pious Muslim who knew a lot about the Islamic faith. “I was with them for 12 hours. I had religious discussions with them. My faith was strong, and theirs was not. They were wrong,” he said.

He continued: “They were shocked; they asked me how a singer could know so many things about religion, because they said singers were infidels. They asked me to become a judge for them.”

Al-Saleh refused to work for the group and was eventually released. He continued to sing, but in secret — his group’s musical concerts were held inside private homes at night, usually with a guard standing outside on the lookout for Daesh patrols.

As Raqqa rebuilt itself, the new Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria’s cultural departments began searching the city for its remaining artists. Al-Saleh was made a member of the Artists’ Union, and proudly showed his union ID card.




Equestrian and horse owner Amer Medad with one of his Arabian horses. (AN Photo/Ali Ali)

All the members of his old musical group have either passed away or left the country, so he has started a new group with 11 members. Additionally, he is teaching his son the rudiments of traditional Raqqa music, “so that the new generation will not forget our traditions.

“For the past four or five years, we have been making all efforts to bring our culture back to what it was, or make it even better. It will take a lot of time, though,” he said.

Daesh were just as angry with the free expression of the written word as they were with traditional music. Mohamed Bashir Al-Ani, a poet from Deir Ezzor, was executed along with his son for “blasphemy.” Many writers were forced to flee, including the Raqqawi writer Fawziya Al-Marai.

“I saw my city totally destroyed and felt that my head would explode. Everything was in ruins,” Al-Marai told Arab News, recalling her return to Raqqa after living in Turkey during the Daesh occupation.

“Not just the city was destroyed. Everything inside of me was destroyed,” she said. “I lost everything that was beautiful in these ruins.”

Al-Marai, 74, is a prolific writer, having penned over 10 books of poetry and short stories since she began writing in the late 1990s.

Most of her writings were inspired by the traditions of Raqqa, particularly the dress and folklore of Arab women, and by the Euphrates River. She attended literary festivals several times a year, meeting famous Syrian poets such as Nizar Qabbani and Raqqawi native Abdal Salam Al-Ujayli.

When Daesh attacked, “I fled. If I had stayed, they would have killed me. They were searching for me by name,” Al-Marai said.




The unveiling of the statue of Harun Al-Rashid, which was previously destroyed by Daesh, in one of Raqqa's parks. (AN Photo/Ali Ali)

Her books, which she referred to as her children, were all burned by the terror group. “I had 25-50 copies of every book, and when I came back, none of them were left,” she said.

It was not just her books that were destroyed — the entire intellectual community she spent decades building was gone. “None of my friends were left. They all fled and became refugees in Europe,” she said.

Al-Marai was determined to help rebuild the culture of her beloved city. Having become an adviser to the Autonomous Administration’s Art and Culture Department, she now holds regular literary salons in the city’s fushat hiwar, or conversation space, to read and discuss literature.

“Now we are organizing festivals and training sessions for our youth on how to write stories and poetry. We celebrate them and always have activities to return our culture to the way it was before. We are always taking the chance to inform the youth that the future lies with them,” she said.

Shahla Al-Ujayli, a niece of Abdal Salam Al-Ujayli, has carried on her uncle’s literary tradition by writing several books, including one in which the protagonist joins one of Raqqa’s most famous cultural pastimes — horse racing.

For over a thousand years, Raqqa was famous for its equestrian heritage. The unique Arabian breed of horses were used as means of work, transportation, and eventually, as status symbols.

“The horse was a symbol of the family. If a family had a horse, it was known that they were wealthy. Then it became a cultural tradition, passed down from grandparents to parents to children,” Ammer Medad, a horse owner, told Arab News.

Medad estimates that though there were once between three and four thousand original Arabian horses in Raqqa, the current number is around only 400.




An artist paints in the Raqqa Culture and Art Center. (AN Photo/Ali Ali)

He recalls that in 1983, the first facility for horse racing in Raqqa was created. A makeshift facility in a local landowner’s garden, it measured about just 1,000 square meters in size. A local man from a famous equestrian family donated 10 horses to help create the first equestrian club.

The club began to train and eventually started to compete on the national level. They were the poorest team from all Syrian governorates, having only their horses. The riders trained in the desert rather than a regulation-grade racetrack. As they did not even have separate uniforms, they were forced to share a single uniform with one another.

Despite this, however, Raqqa’s riders always took bronze, silver, or gold in the competitions. Their skill was so unmatched that according to Medad, it caught the attention of Basil Assad, the late brother of current Syrian president Bashar Assad, who himself was an equestrian champion.

Basil funded the construction of a racetrack and horse facilities in Raqqa, which was completed in 1989. The team competed in races across the Arab world, including Qatar, Jordan, and Egypt. Though eventually the popularity of horse racing waned, it was still very much a part of the local traditional culture. All of this changed when Daesh came to the city.

Daesh destroyed the racetrack and littered it with landmines. They used the Raqqa facilities as a holding ground for 4,000 stolen horses, according to a local track worker. “They stole the horses for themselves. They even used them for food,” Medad said. He recalled an incident during which a Daesh militant approached a friend of his, intending to buy a horse to eat.




Author Fawziya Al-Marai, 74, holds an old photo of herself, with a photo of the late Syrian poet Abd Al-Salam Al-Ujayli in the background. (AN Photo/Ali Ali)

Medad asked why the militant would purchase such a beautiful horse just to eat it.

“Daesh militants rebuked me, saying that I could not forbid what God had allowed, and said that I must come to their court. I ran away for 15 days, at which point, the militant who wanted to take me to court had been killed and I could finally return home.”

Five years on, the racetrack has been cleared of Daesh landmines, and the facility has been 50 percent rebuilt, according to Medad. The track has already held one local festival, and plans on holding one at the national level, the first such race in Raqqa since Daesh took the city, in mid-October.

The statue of Raqqa’s cultural forefather Harun Al-Rashid, which had been destroyed by Daesh, was replaced in front of a crowd of onlookers in early September, symbolizing the city’s slow but inexorable return to its roots.

 


Turning plastic into fuel: Photos of Gaza’s youth surviving with makeshift burners

Updated 6 sec ago
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Turning plastic into fuel: Photos of Gaza’s youth surviving with makeshift burners

  • The fuel they produce is used locally, often for generators or transport, and sold at a lower price than commercial alternatives

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip: South of Gaza City, along the Sea Road that runs beside the Mediterranean, Palestinian youth are producing fuel by melting plastic in makeshift burners. With limited access to commercial fuel, they collect plastic waste, process it in metal drums to extract crude fuel, and then bottle and sell it to passersby.
The work unfolds in the open air, where black smoke billows from the burners, blanketing the roadside. The area is lined with small tents where the youth store materials and rest between shifts. Horse-drawn carts and pedestrians regularly pass through the smoke-filled stretch, moving between northern and southern Gaza.
Most of those involved in the trade are displaced and have few other sources of income. The fuel they produce is used locally, often for generators or transport, and sold at a lower price than commercial alternatives.
Though the process is simple, it involves long hours and exposure to fumes and open flames. For these youth, it has become a way to earn money and support their families in a difficult and unstable environment.
This is a photo gallery curated by AP photo editors.

 


France condemns deadly ‘Israeli fire’ near Gaza aid point

Updated 27 min 22 sec ago
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France condemns deadly ‘Israeli fire’ near Gaza aid point

  • The territory of more than two million people is suffering from famine-like conditions after Israel blocked all supplies from early March to the end of May and continues to impose restrictions, according to human rights groups
  • The United Nations and major aid groups have refused to cooperate with the foundation over concerns it was designed to cater to Israeli military objectives

PARIS: France on Tuesday condemned what it called deadly “Israeli fire” against civilians in Gaza, after rescuers accused Israeli forces of killing 21 people as they waited for aid.
“France condemns the Israeli fire that last night hit civilians gathered around an aid distribution center in Gaza, causing several dozen dead and wounded,” the foreign ministry said, appearing to refer to an incident early on Tuesday in central Gaza that the Israeli military says was “under review.”
In a second such incident, a civil defense spokesman also reported Israeli fire killing a further 25 people seeking rations in south Gaza later in the day.
According to figures issued on Tuesday by the health ministry in the Gaza Strip, a territory run by the Hamas Islamist group, at least 516 people have been killed and nearly 3,800 wounded by Israeli fire while seeking rations since late May.
The territory of more than two million people is suffering from famine-like conditions after Israel blocked all supplies from early March to the end of May and continues to impose restrictions, according to human rights groups.
The aid is being distributed by US- and Israeli-backed privately run aid group Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which was brought into the Palestinian territory at the end of May to replace UN agencies.
The United Nations and major aid groups have refused to cooperate with the foundation over concerns it was designed to cater to Israeli military objectives.
“France reiterates its full support for United Nations agencies and their humanitarian partners, who have proven their integrity and ability to deliver aid in full respect of humanitarian principles,” the ministry said.
“Humanitarian aid must not be exploited for political or military purposes,” it added.
“France calls on the Israeli government to allow immediate, massive, and unhindered access to humanitarian aid in Gaza.”

 


Algeria prosecution seeks 10 years jail for writer Sansal on appeal

Updated 54 min 4 sec ago
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Algeria prosecution seeks 10 years jail for writer Sansal on appeal

  • The dual Algerian French writer, whose case has been at the heart of a diplomatic row between Paris and Algiers, was sentenced to five years imprisonment on March 27
  • Sansal, 80, was arrested in November at the Algiers airport and has been detained since for undermining Algeria’s territorial integrity

ALGIERS: Algeria’s prosecutor general sought at an appeal hearing on Tuesday 10 years in prison for novelist Boualem Sansal, doubling his current sentence, an AFP journalist in the courtroom reported.

The dual Algerian French writer, whose case has been at the heart of a diplomatic row between Paris and Algiers, was sentenced to five years imprisonment on March 27.

A verdict is expected on July 1.

Sansal, 80, was arrested in November at the Algiers airport and has been detained since for undermining Algeria’s territorial integrity.

This came after he said in an interview with a far-right French media outlet that France unfairly ceded Moroccan territory to Algeria during the 1830-1962 colonial era.

The statement was viewed by Algeria as an affront to its national sovereignty and echoed a long-standing Moroccan claim.

On Tuesday, Sansal appeared before the judge without legal representation after authorities said he wished to defend himself.

“The Algerian Constitution guarantees freedom of expression and conscience,” he told the court during the roughly 20-minute hearing, seemingly in good health. “This makes no sense.”

Defending the remarks he made to French far-right media on Algeria’s borders, he said: “Fortunately, after independence in 1962, the African Union declared that inherited colonial borders are inviolable.”

Also questioned on some of his books, Sansal answered: “We are holding a trial over literature? Where are we headed?“

According to his relatives, Sansal has been undergoing treatment for prostate cancer, and many feared his health would deteriorate in prison.

French President Emmanuel Macron has urged his Algerian counterpart Abdelmadjid Tebboune to show “mercy and humanity” toward Sansal.

But Algiers has insisted that the writer has been afforded due process.

His conviction and sentence further frayed ties between Paris and Algiers, already strained by migration issues and Macron’s recognition last year of Moroccan sovereignty over the disputed territory of Western Sahara, which is claimed by the Algeria-backed pro-independence Polisario Front.

Charges against the writer include “undermining national unity,” “insulting state institutions,” “harming the national economy,” and “possessing media and publications threatening the country’s security and stability.”


UAE’s president welcomes Israel-Iran ceasefire

Updated 24 June 2025
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UAE’s president welcomes Israel-Iran ceasefire

  • In call with Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan says he hopes agreement will enhance security, peace across Middle East

LONDON: Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, the president of the UAE, welcomed a ceasefire agreement between Iran and Israel during a phone call with his Iranian counterpart on Tuesday.

Sheikh Mohamed told President Masoud Pezeshkian he hoped the agreement would “serve as a foundation for enhancing stability, security and peace across the Middle East,” the Emirates News Agency reported.

Sheikh Mohamed added it was important to “ensure the success of the agreement in a way that benefits all the countries and peoples of the region.”

Pezeshkian gave thanks for the UAE’s position during Israel’s recent airstrikes against Iran.

The ceasefire agreement brokered by US President Donald Trump came into force on Monday, a day after Iran attacked a US military base in Qatar in retaliation for the American bombing of its nuclear sites.

The UAE on Monday “condemned in the strongest terms” the Iranian attack on the Al-Udeid Air Base, which saw almost all of the missiles intercepted.


Rubio thanks Turkmenistan for letting through Americans from Iran

Updated 24 June 2025
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Rubio thanks Turkmenistan for letting through Americans from Iran

  • Turkmenistan, one of the world’s most closed and authoritarian countries, initially balked at allowing Americans to cross
  • Rubio, in his call with FM Rashid Meredov, expressed gratitude for Turkmenistan’s cooperation

WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday thanked Turkmenistan and promised cooperation with the authoritarian state after it let US citizens cross through as they fled Iran following Israeli strikes.

Turkmenistan, one of the world’s most closed and authoritarian countries, initially balked at allowing Americans to cross but agreed over the weekend following appeals from Washington, officials said.

Rubio, in his call with Foreign Minister Rashid Meredov, “expressed gratitude for Turkmenistan’s cooperation,” State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said.

Rubio said he “looks forward to further partnership with Turkmenistan, including expanding economic and commercial ties,” she said.

Washington has organized evacuation flights for its citizens in Israel, but has limited capacity in Iran due to the lack of diplomatic relations.

Most US citizens in Iran are dual nationals and hundreds have left since Israel launched its military campaign on June 13, another State Department official said.

Around 200 Americans had voiced an interest in going through Turkmenistan, which shares a 1,148-kilometer (713-mile) border with Iran, although so far only “tens” have proceeded through that route, the official said.

“We’re communicating to all of the US citizens... in Iran looking to go to Turkmenistan that that border is open,” the official said on customary condition of anonymity.

With flights unavailable, the vast majority have gone through Azerbaijan, with some also going through Armenia and Turkiye, the official said.

President Donald Trump, who has prioritized cracking down on immigration, earlier this month banned virtually all Iranian citizens and partially restricted nationals of Turkmenistan from entering the United States.

The visa restrictions continue to apply to Iranian nationals who leave even if they are family members of US citizens, the State Department official said.

Trump on Monday announced a ceasefire between Israel and Iran but voiced frustration at implementation.