Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • NPR

    Arab Spring Generation 'Not As Scared As Their Parents Are Of Change'

    Hopes from the Arab Spring have mostly been dashed. But the era led to "a radical change in the way people think about the authorities, the state, and about their rights," says an Egyptian journalist.
    by Ruth Sherlock Dec 22, 2020 6 minutes
    A view of a mosque destroyed by regime forces in Douma, Syria, on March 21, 2018. Douma, on the outskirts of Damascus, was targeted by an air strike carried out by Syrian government forces.

    Nine years ago this month, residents of the small Syrian town of Douma were in full rebellion against the regime of President Bashar Assad. Throughout the preceding year, Assad had watched as popular protests ousted dictators in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya, and demonstrations spread to Bahrain, Algeria, Yemen. Now pro-democracy dissent had ignited across his country — including in Douma, just five miles from the capital Damascus.

    The regime stationed checkpoints on Douma's access roads. Syrian military patrolled the town. As a reporter covering the Arab Spring, I watched as men clustered one Friday at the doorway of a mosque in Douma, gathering their courage. Every few seconds, three or four of them ran across the avenue, shouting "Freedom!" or "Down, down, down with the regime!" as bullets cracked around them.

    They dived down a side alley where a crowd was cheering them, just out of range of the regime snipers positioned on Douma's rooftops. Some residents left the doors

    You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

    More from NPR

    NPR4 min read
    Last-minute Candidate José Raúl Mulino Wins Panama's Presidential Election
    José Raúl Mulino was set to become the new leader of the Central American nation as authorities unofficially called the race Sunday night after his three nearest rivals conceded.
    NPR3 min read
    Floods In Southern Brazil Kill At Least 75 People Over 7 Days
    Massive floods in Brazil's southern Rio Grande do Sul state have killed at least 75 people over the last seven days, and another 103 were reported missing, local authorities said Sunday.
    NPR5 min readIndustries
    China Makes Cheap Electric Vehicles. Why Can't American Shoppers Buy Them?
    American drivers want cheap EVs. Chinese automakers are building them. But you can't buy them in the U.S., thanks to tariffs in the name of U.S. jobs and national security. Two car shoppers weigh in.

    Related Books & Audiobooks