Disreputable outlets, often operating under the aegis of “independent journalism” with purportedly “leftwing” views, are spreading corrosive propaganda and disinformation that aims to strip Syrians of political agency
The years since Russia intervened in Syria on behalf of Bashar al-Assad have been marked by a curious and malign development: the emergence of pro-Assad allegiances in the name of “anti-imperialism” among some who otherwise generally identify as progressive or “left,” and the consequent spread of manipulative disinformation that routinely deflects attention away from the well-documented abuses of Assad and his allies. Portraying themselves as “opponents” of imperialism, they routinely exhibit a highly selective attention to matters of “intervention” and human rights violations that often aligns with the governments of Russia and China; those who disagree with their highly-policed views are frequently (and falsely) branded as “regime change enthusiasts” or dupes of western political interests.
The divisive and sectarianizing role played by this group is unmistakable: in their simplistic view, all pro-democracy and pro-dignity movements that go against Russian or Chinese state interests are routinely portrayed as the top-down work of Western interference: none are autochthonous, none are of a piece with decades of independent domestic struggle against brutal dictatorship (as in Syria), and none truly represent the desires of people demanding the right to lives of dignity rather than oppression and abuse. Among others, this group includes the American writers at the mysteriously-funded The Grayzone (Max Blumenthal, Rania Khalek, Ben Norton, Aaron Maté), Australian academic Tim Anderson and blogger Caitlin Johnstone, and Working Group on Syria Propaganda and Media (SPM) members Tim Hayward, Vanessa Beeley, and Piers Robinson in the UK, as well as various writers at Mint Press News, Consortium News, ZeroHedge, Antiwar.com, GlobalResearch.ca, Moon of Alabama, and Voltaire.net. Some, like Jimmy Dore and Kim Iversen, are contemporary “media personalities.” A number of political activist and advocacy organizations – including the US “Peace Council”, Veterans for Peace (VFP), Workers World Party (WWP), United National Antiwar Coalition (UNAC), Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL) – have espoused similar views. But what unites them all is a refusal to contend with the crimes of the Assad regime, or even to acknowledge that a brutally repressed popular uprising against Assad took place.
These writers and outlets have mushroomed in recent years, and have often positioned Syria at the forefront of their criticisms of imperialism and interventionism, which they characteristically restrict to the west; Russian and Iranian involvement is generally ignored. In doing so, they have sought to align themselves with a long and venerable tradition of internal domestic opposition to the abuses of imperial power abroad, not only but quite often issuing from the left.
But they do not rightfully belong in that company. No one who explicitly or implicitly aligns themselves with the malignant Assad government does. No one who selectively and opportunistically deploys charges of “imperialism” for reasons of their particular version of “left” politics rather than opposing it consistently in principle across the globe – thereby acknowledging the imperialist interventionism of Russia, Iran, and China – does.
Often under the guise of practicing “independent journalism,” these various writers and outlets have functioned as chief sources of misinformation and propaganda about the ongoing global disaster that Syria has become. Their reactionary, inverted Realpolitik is as fixated on top-down, anti-democratic “power politics” as that of Henry Kissinger or Samuel Huntington, just with the valence reversed. But this maddeningly oversimplifying rhetorical move (“flipping the script” as one of them once put it), as appealing as it might be to those eager to identify who the “good guys” and “bad guys” are at any given place on the planet, is really an instrument of tailored flattery for their audiences about the “true workings of power” that serves to reinforce a dysfunctional status quo and impede the development of a truly progressive and international approach to global politics, one that we so desperately need, given the planetary challenges of responding to global warming.
The evidence that US power has itself been appallingly destructive, especially during the Cold War, is overwhelming: all across the globe, from Vietnam to Indonesia to Iran to Congo to South and Central America and beyond, the record of massive human rights abuses accumulated in the name of fighting Communism is clear. And in the post-Cold War period of the so-called “War on Terror,” American interventions in Afghanistan and Iraq have done nothing to suggest a fundamental national change of heart.
But, America is not central to what has happened in Syria, despite what these people claim. The idea that it somehow is, all evidence to the contrary notwithstanding, is a by-product of a provincial political culture which insists on both the centrality of US power globally as well as the imperialist right to identify who the “good guys” and the “bad guys” are in any given context. These defenders of Assad in the name of “anti-imperialism” are not bravely independent journalists and activists speaking truth to power. No, they are themselves an expression of narcissistically-oriented domestic political cultures eager to retain the imperial prerogative of saying what is what and who is who, even as they express more normatively left-wing views on domestic policies.
The ideological alignment of rightwing admirers of Assad with this kind of authoritarian-friendly “leftism” is symptomatic of this, and indicates that the very real and very serious problem lies elsewhere: what to do when a people is as abused by their government as the Syrian people have been, held captive by those who think nothing of torturing, disappearing, and murdering people for even the slightest hint of political opposition to their authority. As many countries move closer and closer to authoritarianism and away from democracy, this seems to us a profoundly urgent political question to which there is yet no answer; and because there is no answer, all across the globe there is growing impunity on the part of the powerful, and growing vulnerability for the powerless. About this, these “anti-imperialists” have no helpful words. About the profound political violence visited upon the Syrian people by the Assads, the Iranians, the Russians? No words. Forgive us for pointing out that this erasure of Syrian lives and experiences appears to us to embody the very essence of imperialist (and racist) privilege. Those of us who have risked our lives, been incarcerated in the Assads’ torture prisons (some of us for many years), lost loved ones, had friends and family disappeared, fled our country? These writers and bloggers have shown no awareness of our existence, which we unfortunately do not find surprising, despite the fact that many of us have spoken and written at length about these events and their meaning for years now.
Collectively, Syrian experiences from the Revolution to the present pose a fundamental challenge to the world as it appears to these people. Those among us who directly opposed the Assad regime, often at great cost, did not do so because of some Western imperialist plot, but because decades of abuse, brutality, and corruption were and remain intolerable. To insist otherwise, and support Assad, is to attempt to strip Syrians of all political agency and endorse the Assads’ longstanding policy of domestic politicide, which has deprived Syrians of any meaningful say in their government and circumstances.
We take these attempts to “disappear” Syrians from the world of politics, solidarity, and partnership as quite consistent with the character of the regimes these people so evidently admire. This is the “anti-imperialism” and “leftism” of the unprincipled, the lazy, and of fools, and only reinforces the dysfunctional international gridlock exhibited in the UN Security Council. We hope that readers of this piece will join us in opposing it.
Signatories [Affiliations for identification purposes only]
Syrians
Ahmad Aisha, journalist and translator (Turkey)
Ali Akil, Founder & Spokesperson, Syrian Solidarity New Zealand (Aotearoa/New Zealand)
Amina Masri, Activist/Educator (USA)
Asmae Dachan, Syrian-Italian Journalist (Italy)
Ayaat Yassin-Kassab, Student, University of Oxford (UK)
Aziz Al-Azmeh, University Professor Emeritus, Central European University (Austria)
Bakr Sidki, translator and columnist (Turkey)
Banah el Ghadbanah, University of California, San Diego (USA)
Bisher Ghazal-Aswad, Doctor, NHS (UK)
Dellair Yousef, writer and director, Berlin (Germany)
Dr. Mohammed Zaher Sahloul, President, MedGlobal & Founder, American Relief Coalition for Syria (USA)
Faraj Bayrakdar, poet (Sweden)
Farouk Mardam-Bey, publisher and writer, Paris (France)
Fouad M. Fouad, Professor, American University of Beirut (Lebanon)
Fouad Roueiha, Activist (Italy)
Ghayath Almadhoun, poet (Germany)
Haian Dukhan, Associate Research Fellow, Centre for Syrian Studies, University of St. Andrews (UK)
Haid Haid, Senior Research Fellow, Chatham House (UK)
Hala Alabdalla, Filmmaker (France)
Hassan Nifi, writer (Turkey)
Irène Labeyrie Chaya, Architect & Former Teacher at the Faculty of Architecture, University of Qalamun, Deir Atiya, Syria
Joseph Daher, Syrian/Swiss Academic, University of Lausanne/European University Institute (Switzerland)
Karam Shaar, Senior Analyst, New Zealand Treasury (New Zealand)
Karim Al-Afnan, Journalist (UK)
Lara el Kateb, Member of the Alliance of Middle Eastern and North African Socialists
Leila Al-Shami, Writer/Activist (Scotland)
Lubayed Aljundi, PhD Candidate, SOAS, University of London (UK)
Mahmoud el Wahb, writer (Turkey)
Marcus Halaby, British-Syrian Writer and Labour Party Member (UK)
Mayson Almisri, Syria Civil Defence – White Helmets, co-winner of the Gandhi Peace Award 2021 (Canada)
Miream Salameh, Syrian Artist (Australia)
Mohamed Al Rashi, Actor (France)
Mohamed T. Khairullah, Mayor, Borough of Prospect Park, New Jersey (USA)
Mohammad Al Attar, Writer, Playwright, Berlin (Germany)
Nidal Betare, Journalist (USA)
Nisrine Al Zahre, academic and writer (France)
Noor Ghazal Aswad, Doctoral Candidate, University of Memphis (USA)
Odai Al Zoubi, Writer (Sweden)
Omar Qaddour, novelist and journalist (France)
Orwa Khalifa, writer (Turkey)
Osama Alomar, Writer (USA)
Rahaf Aldoughli, Lecturer in Middle East and North Africa Studies, Lancaster University (UK)
Ramzi Choukair, Actor and Director, Kawalisse Theatre Company (France)
Robin Yassin-Kassab, Writer (Scotland)
Sadek Abd Alrahman, writer (Turkey)
Salam Abbara, Doctor and Activist, Paris (France)
Salam Said, Academic (Germany)
Saleem Albeik, Writer/Journalist, Palestinian/Syrian (France)
Samar Yazbek, novelist (France)
Sami Haddad, Activist (Italy)
Touhama Ma’roof, dentist (Turkey)
Victorios Bayan Shams, Journalist (Brazil)
Wael Khouli, Physician Executive – B E Smith, Michigan (USA)
Yasmine Merei, Writer & Journalist and Head of Women for Common Space, Berlin (Germany)
Yasser Khanger, Poet from the occupied Golan
Yasser Munif, Emerson College (USA)
Yassin al-Haj Saleh, Writer, Former Political Prisoner (Germany)
Yazan Badran, PhD student, Vrije Universiteit and SyriaUntold (Belgium)
Others
Abdul-Wahab Kayyali, Researcher, Princeton University (Canada)
Adam Sabra, Professor of History, University of California, Santa Barbara (USA)
Adam Shatz, Writer, Brooklyn (USA)
Aditya Sarkar, University of Warwick (UK)
Ahmad Matar, chef (Palestinian, Germany)
Aidan Geboers, Financial Professional (UK)
Alan Wald, H. Chandler Davis Collegiate Professor Emeritus, University of Michigan (USA)
Aldo Cordeiro Sauda, Editora Contrabando, São Paulo (Brazil)
Alessandra Mezzadri, Senior Lecturer, SOAS, University of London (UK)
Alex De Jong, Co-Director, International Institute for Research and Education (Netherlands)
Alex Johnson, Syria Solidarity Australia (Australia)
Ali Bakeer, Senior Researcher, Ibn Khaldun Center (Turkey)
Ali Fathollah-Nejad, Freie Universität Berlin (Germany)
Ali Samadi Ahadi, Filmmaker (Germany)
Amahl Bishara, Tufts University (USA)
Amina A., Syria Solidarity New York City (USA)
Anahita Razmi, Visual Artist (Germany)
Andrea Love, Educator (USA)
Andrew Berman, Committee in Solidarity with the People of Syria — CISPOS (USA)
Anis Mansouri, Special Education Teacher & Coordinator, Tunisian Internationalists in Switzerland (Switzerland)
Anja Matar, travel agent (Germany)
Ann Eveleth Anti-War Activist, Washington DC (USA)
Anna Alboth, Civil March For Aleppo (Germany/Poland)
Ansar Jasim, political researcher, Berlin (Germany)
Anthony Ratcliff, California State University, Los Angeles (USA)
Anya Briy, PhD student, Binghamton University (USA)
Arash Azizi, PhD Candidate, New York University (USA)
Arianna Parisato (Italy)
Ariel Dorfman, Writer & former advisor to the government of Salvador Allende (Chile/USA)
Art Young, solidarity activist (Canada)
Ashley Smith, Member of DSA and the Tempest Collective (USA)
Athena Moss, Journalist (Greece)
Au Loong-Yu, global justice and labour campaigner (Hong Kong)
Austin G Mackell (Australia)
Barbara Blaudzun, MA Student, Humboldt University of Berlin (Germany)
Barbara Epstein, Professor Emerita, University of California, Santa Cruz (USA)
Bashir Abu-Manneh, Reader, University of Kent (UK)
Becky Carroll, Co-Founder, Stand With Aleppo Campaign (USA)
Ben Manski, Assistant Professor of Sociology, George Mason University (USA)
Bernard Dreano, Activist (France)
Bilal Ansari, Faculty Associate & Director of the Islamic Chaplaincy Program, Hartford Seminary (USA)
Bill Fletcher, Jr., Past President of the TransAfrica Forum (USA)
Bill Weinberg, Journalist and Author (USA)
brian bean, organizer/journalist, Rampant Magazine, Tempest Socialist Collective (USA)
Bushra A., Syria Solidarity New York City (USA)
Camila Pastor, Research Professor, History Department, Center for Research and Teaching in Economics (Mexico)
Caroline Gilbert, Retired HELP Center Counselor, University of Minnesota (USA)
Caterina Coppola, Activist (Italy)
Catherine Estrade, Singer (France)
Catherine Samary, Economist, Member of the Scientific Council of ATTAC (France)
Cedric Beidatsch, Retired Cook (Australia)
Charles-André Udry, Economist, Editor, alencontre.org (Switzerland)
Cheryl Zuur, former President, AFSCME Local 444 (USA)
Chris Keulemans, writer and journalist (Netherlands)
Christian Dandrès, Member of Parliament (Conseil National) (Switzerland)
Christian Shaughnessy, Democratic Socialists of America, Inland Empire Chapter (USA)
Christian Varin, Civil Servant & Member of the International Commission of the Nouveau Parti Anticapitaliste (France)
Christin Lüttich, Expert on Syria, German–Syrian Solidarity Initiative “Adopt a Revolution” (Germany)
Christoph Reuter, journalist and author, Berlin (Germany)
Claude Marill, Retired Educator & Trade Unionist, Syndicat National des personnels de l’éducation et du social (France)
Colette Morrow, Professor of English, Purdue University Northwest (USA)
Colleen Keyes, Adjunct Faculty, Hartford Seminary (USA)
Craig Larkin, Senior Lecturer, King’s College London (UK)
Dan Buckley, International Marxist-Humanist Organization (USA)
Dan La Botz, New Politics Journal (USA)
Daniel Fischer, Food Not Bombs (USA)
Danny Postel, Writer, Member, Internationalism from Below (USA)
Dario Lopreno, Geographer (Switzerland)
David Bedggood, Syria Solidarity Discussion and Strategy Group (Aotearoa/New Zealand)
David Brophy, Senior Lecturer in History, University of Sydney (Australia)
David McNally, Cullen Distinguished Professor of History, University of Houston (USA)
David N. Smith, Professor of Sociology, University of Kansas (USA)
David Turpin, Anti-War Activist (USA)
David Wearing, Senior Teaching Fellow, SOAS, University of London (UK)
David Westman, Communist Voice Organization, USA
Dilip Simeon, Teacher (India)
Dina Matar, Reader, SOAS, University of London (UK)
Donya Alinejad, Lecturer & Postdoctoral Researcher, Universities of Amsterdam & Utrecht (Netherlands)
Dora Manna, Activist (Italy)
Dr. Amr al-Azam, Professor of Middle East History and Anthropology, Shawnee State University (USA)
Ed Sutton, Media Activist and Mutual Aid Organizer (USA)
Edin Hajdarpasic, Associate Professor of History, Loyola University Chicago (USA)
Elena De Piccoli, Activist (Italy)
Eleni Varikas, Emerita Professor of Political Science, Université de Paris 8 (France)
Elsa Wiehe, Boston University (USA)
Emma Wilde Botta, New Politics Journal (USA)
Emran Feroz, Journalist (Germany)
Enrico De Angelis, independent researcher, Berlin (Germany)
Eric Toussaint, Member of the International Council of the World Social Forum (Belgium)
Fabio Bosco, CSP-Conlutas (Brazil)
Fatemeh Masjedi, Research Associate, Centre Marc Bloch, Berlin (Germany)
Firoze Manji, Publisher, Daraja Press (Canada)
Francesca Giura, Activist (Italy)
Francesca Scalinci, Translator and Writer (Italy)
Francis Sitel, Member of the National Animation Team of ENSEMBLE! (France)
Franco Casagrande (Italy)
Frankie Hill, Self-Employed (New Zealand)
Frieda Afary, Producer of Iranian Progressives in Translation (USA)
Gabriel Huland, PhD candidate & teaching assistant, SOAS, University of London (UK)
Gennaro Gervasio, Associate Professor in History and Politics of the Middle East, Roma Tre University (Italy)
George Monbiot, Author, Journalist & Environmental Activist (UK)
Gilbert Achcar, Professor, SOAS, University of London (UK)
Gilberto Conde, Research Professor, El Colegio de México (Mexico)
Giovanna De Luca, Translator-Activist (Italy)
Golineh Atai, TV Journalist (Germany)
Graciela Monteagudo, University of Massachusetts Amherst (USA)
Günther Orth, Translator (Germany)
Habib Nassar, activist/lawyer (Netherlands)
Hadrien Buclin, Academic & Deputy Ensemble à Gauche in the Parliament of the Governorate of Vaud (Switzerland)
Haideh Moghissi, Emerita Professor, York University (Canada)
Harald Etzbach, Journalist (Germany)
Harout Akdedian, Senior Fellow, Striking from the Margins Project, Central European University (USA)
Heather A. Brown, Associate Professor of Sociology, Westfield State University (USA)
Helen Lackner, Research Associate, SOAS, University of London (UK)
Hiroki Okazaki, University lecturer (Japan)
Howie Hawkins, 2020 Green Party Candidate for President (USA)
Ivan Handler, Retired CIO from Illinois Medicaid & the Health Information Exchange (USA)
Izzat Darwazeh, Professor, University College London (UK)
Jaime Pastor, Professor of Political Science, Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia (Spain)
Jairus Banaji, SOAS, University of London (UK)
James Dickert, Retired Computer Engineer (USA)
James Mullally, Human Rights Activist, British Columbia (Canada)
Jamie Mayerfeld, Professor of Political Science, University of Washington, Seattle (USA)
Jan Malewski, Editor, Inprecor (France)
Jane England, Writer (Aotearoa/New Zealand)
Janet Afary, Mellichamp Chair in Global Religion and Modernity, University of California, Santa Barbara (USA)
Janet Robin Bogle, Grandmother (Aotearoa/New Zealand)
Janick Schaufelbuehl, Associate Professor, University of Lausanne (Switzerland)
Jean Batou, Historian and Deputy in the Parliament of the Governorate of Geneva (Switzerland)
Jean-Michel Dolivo, Lawyer & Former Deputy, Ensemble à Gauche, Parliament of the Governorate of Vaud (Switzerland)
Jen MacLennan, Independent Media, Syria Solidarity Activist, London (UK)
Jens Hanssen, University of Toronto (Canada)
Jens Lerche, Reader, SOAS, University of London (UK)
Jessy Nassar (PhD candidate, King’s College London (Lebanon)
Joan Connelly, Secretary, Retired USA
Joel Beinin, Professor of Middle East History, Emeritus, Stanford University (USA)
Joey Ayoub, Assoc. Doctoral Researcher, Univ. of Zurich, founder of ‘The Fire These Times’, writer/journalist (Switzerland)
John Dunn, former striking coal miner & branch committee member, National Miners Union, Darbyshire Branch (UK)
John Feffer, Director, Foreign Policy In Focus, Institute for Policy Studies (USA)
John Kahler, MD, FAAP (Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics) (USA)
John Reimann, former recording secretary, Carpenters Union Local 713, Editor, Oakland Socialist (USA)
Joseph Green, Communist Voice Organization (USA)
Josepha Ivanka (Joshka) Wessels, Senior Lecturer, Malmö University (Sweden)
Julia Bar-Tal, farmer, Berlin (Germany)
Julien Salingue, Director of the newspaper and website l’Anticapitaliste, Nouveau Parti Anticapitaliste (France)
Juliette Harkin, Writer (UK)
Kaori Hizume, TV producer, Tokyo (Japan)
Kelly Grotke, PhD, writer, greater Boston (USA)
Ken Hiebert, Palestine Solidarity Activist (Canada)
Kevin B. Anderson, Professor of Sociology, University of California, Santa Barbara (USA)
Khaled Ghannam Warehouse Manager (Australia)
Khaled Mansour, writer (Egypt)
Khaled Saghieh, journalist and writer, Beirut (Lebanon)
Konstantin Rintelmann, PhD candidate, University of Edinburgh (UK)
Lauren Langman, Professor of Sociology, Loyola University of Chicago (USA)
Laurie King, Associate Professor of Teaching, Department of Anthropology, Georgetown University (USA)
Lisa Albrecht, Retired University of Minnesota Professor, Social Justice (USA)
Lisa Wedeen, Mary R. Morton Professor of Political Science and the College, University of Chicago (USA)
Livia Wick, Associate Professor, American University of Beirut (Lebanon)
Lois Weiner, Professor Emerita, New Jersey City University (USA)
Loretta Facchinetti, Activist (Italy)
Lydia Beattie, Committee in Solidarity with the People of Syria – CISPOS (USA)
Mahdi Ghodsi, Economist, Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies (Austria)
Mahvish Ahmad, Assistant Professor in Human Rights and Politics, London School of Economics (LSE) (UK)
Mai Taha, Goldsmiths, University of London (UK)
Maire Kelly, Activist, Berlin (Germany)
Marese Hegarty, Community Development Worker, Irish Syria Solidarity Movement (Ireland)
Marina Centonze, Activist (Italy)
Mark Goudkamp, ESL and History Teacher, Syria Solidarity Australia (Australia)
Marta Tawil-Kuri, Research Professor, El Colegio de México (Mexico)
Martti Koskenniemi, Prof. of International Law, University of Helsinki (Finland)
Mary Killian, Pianist/Music Teacher, Berlin (Germany)
Mary Lynn Murphy, Committee in Solidarity with the People of Syria — CISPOS (USA)
Mary Rizzo, Translator-Activist (Italy)
Mayssoun Sukarieh, Senior Lecturer, King’s College London (UK)
Mazen Halabi, Activist (USA)
Meghan Keane, Co-Director of Emergent Horizons (USA)
Michael Albert, ZNet (USA)
Michael Fuller, Mapper, Social Scientist, British Columbia (Canada)
Michael Hirsch, NYC Democratic Socialists of America (USA)
Michael Karadjis, Western Sydney University, Syria Solidarity Australia (Australia)
Michael Löwy, Emeritus Research Director, French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) (France)
Michael Pröbsting, Author, Editor of www.thecommunists.net (Austria)
Michael Santos, Antiwar Activist (USA)
Miguel Urbán, Member of the European Parliament (GUE/NGL) (Spain)
Mohamad Khouli, Committee in Solidarity with the People of Syria — CISPOS (USA)
Mohamed Abdi Nour, General Secretary, Somali Public Trade Union (Somalia)
Molly Crabapple, Artist and Writer (USA)
Na’eem Jeenah, Executive Director, Afro–Middle East Centre (South Africa)
Nader Hashemi, Director, Center for Middle East Studies, University of Denver (USA/Canada)
Nadia Leïla Aïssaoui, Sociologist (Algeria/France)
Nadia Samour, Lawyer, Berlin (Germany)
Nadje Al-Ali, Professor of Anthropology and Middle East Studies, Brown University (USA)
Nancy Holmstrom, Professor Emerita, Rutgers University (USA)
Navtej Purewal, Professor, SOAS, University of London (UK)
Nazan Üstündağ, Independent Scholar (Germany)
Nick Riemer, University of Sydney (Australia)
Nicola Gandolfi (Spain)
Nigel Gibson, Emerson College (USA)
Nils de Dardel, Lawyer, Former Member of Parliament (Switzerland)
Noam Chomsky, University of Arizona (USA)
Ofer Neiman, Student, Jerusalem (Israel)
Omar Dewachi, Anthropologist, Rutgers University (USA)
Pam Bromley, independent member, Rossendale Borough City Council (UK)
Parvathi Menon, Researcher/Adjunct Lecturer, University of Helsinki (Finland)
Patrick Bond, Professor, University of the Western Cape (South Africa)
Patrick J. O’Dea, Electrician & Trade Unionist (New Zealand)
Payam Ghalehdar, University of Göttingen (Germany)
Penelope Duggan, Editor, International Viewpoint (France)
Pete Klosterman, Human Rights Activist, New York City (USA)
Peter Bohmer, Faculty Emeritus, Evergreen State College (USA)
Peter Hudis, Professor of Philosophy, Oakton Community College (USA)
Peter McLaren, Distinguished Professor in Critical Studies, Chapman University (USA)
Phil Gasper, Professor Emeritus, Notre Dame de Namur University (USA)
Piero Maestri, Activist, Milan (Italy)
Pierre Conscience, Communal Deputy, City Council of Lausanne, Ensemble à Gauche – solidaritéS Vaud (Switzerland)
Polly Kellogg, Retired Professor of Human Relations, St. Cloud State University, Minnesota (USA)
Rana Issa, American University of Beirut (AUB) (Lebanon/Norway)
Rashad Ali, Resident Senior Fellow, Institute for Strategic Dialogue (UK)
Rashmi Varma, University of Warwick (UK)
Rebekka Rexhausen, Project Assistant, Alsharq Reise (Germany)
Rev. Dr. Rachael Keefe, Clergy, Living Table United Church of Christ (USA)
Rev. Gregory Seal Livingston, Syria Faith Initiative, NYC (USA)
Riccardo Bella, Theater Technician, Milan (Italy)
Richard Greeman, Victor Serge Foundation (France)
Rima Majed, Assistant Professor, American University of Beirut (Lebanon)
Roane Carey, Senior Editor, The Nation (USA)
Roberto Andervill, Social Worker & Activist (Italy)
Roger Silverman, former candidate, British Labour Party National Executive Committee (UK)
Rohini Hensman, Writer and Independent Scholar (India)
Roland Merieux, Member of the National Animation Team of ENSEMBLE! (France)
Romolo Molo, Lawyer (Switzerland)
Rupert Read, Philosopher, University of East Anglia (UK)
Saajeda Bayat, Businesswoman (South Africa)
Sadri Khiari, designer (Tunisia)
Salwa Ismail, Professor of Politics, SOAS, University of London (UK)
Sam Friedman, Poet and AIDS researcher (USA)
Sam Hamad, Writer & Researcher, University of Glasgow (Scotland)
Samantha Falciatori, Web Author (Italy)
Samuel Farber, Professor Emeritus of Political Science, Brooklyn College of CUNY (USA)
Sandra Hetzl, Translator and Curator (Germany)
Sara Abbas, PhD Candidate, Freie Universität, Berlin (Germany)
Saskia Sassen, Professor, Columbia University, New York City (USA)
Scott Lucas, Editor, EA WorldView & Emeritus Professor, University of Birmingham (UK)
Sébastien Guex, Professor, University of Lausanne & Former Member, City Council of Lausanne (Switzerland)
Seda Altuğ, Academic, Istanbul (Turkey)
Sevgi Dogan, Professor, Scuola Normale Superiore (Italy)
Seyla Benhabib, Eugene Meyer Professor of Political Science & Philosophy Emerita, Yale University (USA)
Sherry Wolf, author/trade unionist, member, Tempest Collective, New York City (USA)
Shintaro Mori, translator (Japan)
Silvia Carenzi, PhD Candidate, Scuola Normale Superiore (Italy)
Simon Assaf, Editor, al-Manshour, London/Beirut (UK/Lebanon)
Sina Zekavat, Global Prison Abolition Coalition (USA)
Soraya Misleh, Journalist (Brazil)
Stacy Brown, Director, Refugees Forward (US)
Stanley Heller, Host, The Struggle Video News (USA)
Stefan Zgliczyński, Author and Publisher (Poland)
Stéfanie Prezioso, Academic, University of Lausanne & Member of the Swiss Parliament, Ensemble à Gauche (Switzerland)
Stephen Hastings-King, PhD, writer, greater Boston (USA)
Stephen R. Shalom, William Paterson University, New Jersey (USA)
Stephen Soldz, Coalition for an Ethical Psychology (USA)
Stephen Zunes, Professor of Politics and International Studies, University of San Francisco (USA)
Steven Heydemann, Director, Program in Middle East Studies, Smith College (USA)
Subir Sinha, Senior Lecturer, SOAS, University of London (UK)
Sue Sparks, Unite (UK)
Susan Nussbaum, Writer (USA)
Swati Birla, University of Massachusetts Amherst (USA)
Tanya Monforte, DCL Candidate, McGill University (Canada)
Tassos Anastassiadis, Journalist (Greece)
Terry Burke, Committee in Solidarity with the People of Syria — CISPOS (USA)
The Rev. David W. Good, Minister Emeritus, The First Congregational Church of Old Lyme, Connecticut (USA)
Theo Horesh, author and freelance journalist (USA)
Therese Rickman Bull, Independent Human Rights Upholder/Defender (USA)
Thomas Harrison, Member of the Editorial Board of the Journal New Politics (USA)
Tim Leadbeater, Teacher (Aotearoa/New Zealand)
Toufic Haddad, Academic and Author (Palestine)
Tristan Sloughter, Democratic Socialists of America, Larkspur, Colorado (USA)
Vahid Yücesoy, PhD Candidate, University of Montreal (Canada)
Vicken Cheterian, University Lecturer in History & IR, University of Geneva, Webster University Geneva (Switzerland)
Vincent Commaret, Songwriter (France)
Vivian O’Dell, Research Scientist, University of Wisconsin Particle Astrophysics Center (USA)
W. J. T. Mitchell, Senior Editor, Critical Inquiry, Chicago (USA)
Wendy Pearlman, Professor, Northwestern University (USA)
Yasmin Fedda, filmmaker and artist (UK)
Yossi Bartal, Writer (Germany)
Zeenat Adam, International Relations Strategist, Stop the Bombing Campaign (South Africa)
Zhaleh Sahand, independent (USA)
Ziad Elmarsafy, Professor of Comparative Literature, King’s College London (UK)
Ziad Majed, Associate Professor, the American University of Paris (Lebanon/France)
Zulekha Dinath, Author (South Africa)
Erasing People through Disinformation: Syria and the “Anti-Imperialism” of Fools
