This article was commissioned to the author by Handelsblatt, September 25, 2015
Things must seem a little familiar for the Europeans, at least for the older generations. The images are the same, even if this time they are in color and are shown in their living rooms, instead of being black-and-white pictures viewed at the local movie theater. They are the images from the years after both World Wars, images of flight and displacement. Horrible images.

The interview was conducted by Rosa Gosch for Qantara, and published in October 2015

Pen Pinter prize winner Samar Yazbek talks to Rosa Gosch about her latest book, ″The Crossing: My Journey to the Shattered Heart of Syria″, the current situation in her home country and her expectations of the West.

The interview was conducted by, Korbinian Frenzel for Deutschland radio kultur, on September 16th, 2015. Below are translated excerpts. Photo credit: Deutschland Radio, Torben Waleczek
Everybody makes the terrorist organizationof ISIS responsible for the failure of the Syrian revolution. But the Syrian journalist and writer Samar Yazbek says that responsibility does not only lie with ISIS, but also in the inaction of the international community.
Samar Yazbek, who was just a guest at the International Literature Festival in Berlin (…), claims to the German radio that it is too easy to say that ISIS has stolen the revolution (…)

A review by  Elke Engelhardt, for Fixpoetry, September 17, 2015. Below are translated excerpts.
Regarding Syria, there is a tragic mismatch in the perception of the situation in that country, and the needs of the people there. On the one hand there are people like Samar Yazbek, who expose themselves to great risks in order to repeatedly report on the situation on the ground, give a voice to the people there that no one listens to, and on the other hand, there is persistent policy of turning a blind eye for over four years (…)

This interview was conducted by Ruth René for Der Standard, and published on September 13th, 2015. Below are translated excerpts.
STANDARD: Ms. Yazbek, in your book you despair at the fact that no one wants to know what is happening in Syria. Has the world abandoned Syria?

 Yazbek: The world knows what is happening in Syria. All documents and evidence of the war crimes of the Assad regime were submitted to the United Nations, even before the advent of ISIS and similar groups. But the powerful countries, including the United States, ignored all the massacres perpetrated by Assad …

This interview was conducted by Susanne Lenz, for the Berliner Zeitung, and published on September 14th, 2015.
A few excerpts of the interview below (approximate translation!)
In your book you describe how you got controlled at checkpoints by Iraqis, Yemenis, Chechens, etc.. It sounds as if Syria is not the Syrians’ anymore.
That is perfectly true: Assad has sold the country. Because of him, foreign fighters dominate. And also because of Iran and Russia. Assad is responsible, but so is the world and the regional states…