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Reflections on Syria

The civil war in Syria has been raging now for five years. In that time, more than 450,000 Syrians have been killed. Half the country’s population has been displaced. The Syrian government officially reclaimed the city of Aleppo from rebel forces last week. The world watched as desperate civilians in the city pleaded for help on social media. The final round of evacuations appear to be underway now but the effort has been halting and the future is uncertain even for those who have escaped Aleppo. What has it been like for Syrians outside the country to watch the suffering there? Do the images we see in the media square with the place they know? Civil rights lawyer and journalist Alia Malek joins us. She was born in Baltimore to Syrian immigrants, and she lived in Damascus for several years at the start of the civil war. Her memoir about the history of her ancestral home in Syria will be published in February, with the title "The Home That Was Our Country: A Memoir of Syria." 

For information on charitable organizations working in Syria that Alia Malek supports, go here

Sheilah Kast is the host of On The Record, Monday-Friday, 9:30-10:00 am.
Andrea no longer works for On The Record.