Natacha Danon

Damascus-based journalist telling Syrian stories with eyes on Palestine | Bylines in @SyriaDirect @newlinesmag @The_NewArab @MiddleEastEye | Signal: ndanon.22

[Natacha Danon @natacha_danon]

The story of farmers in southwest Syria, swathes of which Israeli forces have seized since the fall of the al-Assad regime, echoes that of Palestinian farmers across the border, as they fight for their lands and their livelihoods. My latest for @newlinesmag.

[New Lines Magazine @newlinesmag]

NEW: Israel’s invasion of Syria’s south has given it greater control over vital water resources in the region, disrupting agriculture and farming in the Houran area, reports @natacha_danon for @newlinesmag.

https://t.co/6BiExUWfhS

[Natacha Danon @natacha_danon]

In my latest interview with @middleeasteye, I talk about transitional justice in Syria, and whether the Syrian government will be able to deliver on its promise that history will never repeat itself again.

For the full interview: https://t.co/lnJ9iJPMUh

[Natacha Danon @natacha_danon]

Subscribe to my Substack for more insights on my latest reporting trip to Ain Mneen and al-Tal in rural Damascus: https://t.co/vc3cTfurFV

[Syria Direct @SyriaDirect]

How do you rebuild trust when the wells run dry? A dispute over a water drilling project in Mneen is testing the new state's authority writes @natacha_danon for @SyriaDirect . Residents’ protests highlight how decades of mismanagement and Assad-era grievances continue to shape life in rural Damascus. Read more: https://t.co/amAjx3zvvn

[The New Arab @The_NewArab]

Analysis: Syria is under growing US pressure to intervene in Lebanon, but doing so would open old wounds and destabilise both countries

Read @natacha_danon's article to find out more

https://t.co/4Yqnj5CQHw

[سوريا المتجدّدة @SyrTransitionAR]

مع انتشار الاحتجاجات في مختلف أنحاء البلاد، يظلّ البرلمان أفضل فرصة أمام سوريا ليكون صمّام أمان يستوعب حالة السخط الشعبي ويوجّهها نحو توصيات سياسية ملموسة للسلطة التنفيذية. وإذا مُنح مجلس الشعب الصلاحيات اللازمة بصورة فعّالة، فقد يصبح ركيزة أساسية في استراتيجية الحكومة للبقاء.

@natacha_danon تتناول الرمزية التاريخية للبرلمان السوري في النضال ضد الاستعمار وأهميته اليوم.

https://t.co/M3UmjKn039

[Syria in Transition @SyriaTransition]

"As protests proliferate across the country, parliament remains Syria's best chance at a pressure valve that can absorb and channel popular discontent into concrete policy recommendations for the executive branch. If effectively empowered, the People’s Assembly could become a cornerstone of the government’s survival strategy."

@natacha_danon on the historical symbolism of Syria’s parliament in the struggle against colonialism and its importance today.

https://t.co/sOR26ZiMOV

[Natacha Danon @natacha_danon]

Follow me on Substack to read my latest dispatch from the Syrian parliament: https://t.co/Mjgb443bAf

[سوريا المتجدّدة @SyrTransitionAR]

السؤال الأهم بالنسبة إلى دمشق يظل أكثر ارتباطاً بمصير الدولة ومستقبلها: هل يخدم التدخل العسكري في لبنان مصالح سوريا بعيدة المدى في مواجهة إسرائيل؟

هل يمكن لمسايرة ترمب في هذا الملف أن تضمن لدمشق تعهدات أميركية طويلة الأمد تحول دون أن تصبح سوريا الهدف الإسرائيلي التالي؟ أم أن إضعاف «حزب الله» بمساعدة سورية قد يؤدي، على العكس، إلى تسريع موعد التدخل الإسرائيلي في سوريا؟

ترى @natacha_danon أنّ أفضل وسيلة لاحتواء إسرائيل ليست التحول إلى وكيل عنها، وإنما النظر إلى «حزب الله» باعتباره حاجزاً في مواجهتها. وهذا يعني شيئاً واحداً: ألّا تتدخل سوريا في لبنان.

https://t.co/wgau2pqCFp

[Syria in Transition @SyriaTransition]

"Ultimately, the key question for Damascus is more existential in nature: namely, whether its long-term interests vis-à-vis Israel would be best served by a military intervention. Could its complicity appease Trump and allow for lasting US assurances that Syria will not be Israel’s next target? Or could confronting Hezbollah accelerate the timeline for an Israeli intervention in Syria if the group is subdued with Damascus’ help?"

@natacha_danon argues that, however bitter the irony, Syria’s best way to contain Israel may be to treat Hezbollah as a buffer and not intervene in Lebanon:

https://t.co/vvVztVW4UQ

[Natacha Danon @natacha_danon]

3/ Lasting stability in the region can only be based on the notion of its indivisibility. Peace that excludes Lebanon, Syria, Palestine or Iran will not be a durable one.

[Natacha Danon @natacha_danon]

1/ Attempts to separate the Iran-US diplomatic track from the Israel-Lebanon diplomatic one are part of a wider effort to divide the region into separate theatres of war.

[Natacha Danon @natacha_danon]

2/ While Iran should not be the sole interlocutor for Lebanon, it’s time for western actors to see that the region is composed of inextricably linked countries where instability in one causes instability in another, with Israel as its common denominator.

[Syria Direct @SyriaDirect]

🧵 As Syria charts a new course and transitional justice efforts proceed, advocates see a unique opportunity to reform the country’s nationality law and address statelessness.

🔗 https://t.co/s4I9ikhFYm

[Natacha Danon @natacha_danon]

3/ Read my latest: https://t.co/CfkDxJT7Vy

[Natacha Danon @natacha_danon]

1/ In my latest for @MiddleEastEye, I look at the evolution of a state agricultural company called Iktifaa, from Idlib, where it used to manage absentee Druze and Christian lands, to the coast and central Syria, where it is now administering lands belonging to displaced Alawites

[Natacha Danon @natacha_danon]

2/ While some Alawites have had their property rights restored this year, many are still being screened by the Illicit Gains Committee, which assesses links to the former Assad regime. As a result, thousands risk having their pistachio harvests seized for a second year in a row.

[Syria Direct @SyriaDirect]

🧵 As the trial of former Assad regime security official Atef Najib moves forward, some lawyers and human rights experts warn that it may be premature in the absence of a legal framework for transitional justice.

🔗 https://t.co/ihMAhlWGW8

[The New Arab @The_NewArab]

From disarmament in Turkey to a shrinking foothold in Syria, the PKK is navigating a historic transition

What are the implications for the Middle East?

@natacha_danon reports

https://t.co/eq6XrwMnal

[Natacha Danon @natacha_danon]

In @AJEnglish’s #TheTake I went on air with @kdhirten to discuss northeast Syria, the Kurds, and the US withdrawal: https://t.co/Dk2hTlEFxw

[Syria Direct @SyriaDirect]

🧵 As Alawites mark one year since the massacres in Syria’s coastal regions, residents of Baniyas say fear persists, wounds remain unhealed and political demands unmet.

🔗https://t.co/RrkwbSNE3z