How Raqqa, once the Syrian capital of Daesh’s caliphate, reclaimed its Arab cultural pride

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Updated 20 February 2023
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How Raqqa, once the Syrian capital of Daesh’s caliphate, reclaimed its Arab cultural pride

  • Resilient local population reviving ravaged heritage and preserving musical tradition
  • Equestrian scene slowly recovering in what once a major center for horse racing

RAQQA, Syria: It has been five years since the Syrian Democratic Forces hoisted their flag in the main square in Raqqa, which, for four years, had been the capital of Daesh. The streets and squares of Raqqa had witnessed horrendous atrocities — beatings, torture, beheadings, and other unspeakable acts.

Global media, which watched the operation to liberate the city with bated breath, almost immediately packed up and fled once Raqqa was freed from the terror group, leaving the people alone again in the rubble of their once great city.

But among the ruins, cultural flowers are in bloom. Groups of writers, artists, and intellectuals are making every effort to restore Raqqa’s culture, despite the black mark left by Daesh.

The area around Raqqa has been inhabited since the third millennium B.C. It gained a reputation when the Abbasid caliph Harun Al-Rashid, himself a lover of culture and tradition, chose the city as the site for his imperial residence in 796 A.D.

Though the city has been destroyed six times over its long history, many of its centuries-old historic sites remain as a testament to its importance.

When Daesh stormed into Raqqa in 2014 and declared the city its capital, the local artistic and cultural community were immediately gripped by fear.

“When the armed groups came, our group dissolved. We couldn’t sing or do anything. It got to the point where Daesh arrested me twice,” traditional singer Melek Muhammad Al-Saleh told Arab News.

“The militants said I was committing blasphemy. They said it was haram, that it was the work of Satan,” he said with a quizzical look.




The newly-restored statue of Caliph Harun Al-Rashid, one of the forefathers of Raqqa. (AN Photo/Ali Ali)

Then, speaking more seriously, Al-Saleh added: “They came to destroy and eliminate our culture. They destroyed our museum. They broke and destroyed all our antiquities.

“They were sent to eliminate the history of this city and country, because they have no history themselves; they have no opinions or goals. Their only goal was destruction.”

Al-Saleh had a distinguished career as a traditional singer spanning decades. After returning to his native Raqqa from Aleppo in the 1990s, he established a seven-member musical group called Njoom. The group travelled not only within Raqqa governorate, but all over Syria, performing at weddings and cultural festivals.

When Daesh came, the city’s proud culture and heritage came under attack. All cultural centers became departments for Daesh’s various bureaus. They seized musical instruments from people’s homes and destroyed them. They destroyed cassettes, CDs and televisions. Weddings, formerly jovial affairs in Raqqa complete with music and dancing, became silent and solemn.

Daesh interrogated Al-Saleh, saying that he had “forgotten God,” and threatened to behead him. The group was shocked, though, to find that Al-Saleh was a pious Muslim who knew a lot about the Islamic faith. “I was with them for 12 hours. I had religious discussions with them. My faith was strong, and theirs was not. They were wrong,” he said.

He continued: “They were shocked; they asked me how a singer could know so many things about religion, because they said singers were infidels. They asked me to become a judge for them.”

Al-Saleh refused to work for the group and was eventually released. He continued to sing, but in secret — his group’s musical concerts were held inside private homes at night, usually with a guard standing outside on the lookout for Daesh patrols.

As Raqqa rebuilt itself, the new Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria’s cultural departments began searching the city for its remaining artists. Al-Saleh was made a member of the Artists’ Union, and proudly showed his union ID card.




Equestrian and horse owner Amer Medad with one of his Arabian horses. (AN Photo/Ali Ali)

All the members of his old musical group have either passed away or left the country, so he has started a new group with 11 members. Additionally, he is teaching his son the rudiments of traditional Raqqa music, “so that the new generation will not forget our traditions.

“For the past four or five years, we have been making all efforts to bring our culture back to what it was, or make it even better. It will take a lot of time, though,” he said.

Daesh were just as angry with the free expression of the written word as they were with traditional music. Mohamed Bashir Al-Ani, a poet from Deir Ezzor, was executed along with his son for “blasphemy.” Many writers were forced to flee, including the Raqqawi writer Fawziya Al-Marai.

“I saw my city totally destroyed and felt that my head would explode. Everything was in ruins,” Al-Marai told Arab News, recalling her return to Raqqa after living in Turkey during the Daesh occupation.

“Not just the city was destroyed. Everything inside of me was destroyed,” she said. “I lost everything that was beautiful in these ruins.”

Al-Marai, 74, is a prolific writer, having penned over 10 books of poetry and short stories since she began writing in the late 1990s.

Most of her writings were inspired by the traditions of Raqqa, particularly the dress and folklore of Arab women, and by the Euphrates River. She attended literary festivals several times a year, meeting famous Syrian poets such as Nizar Qabbani and Raqqawi native Abdal Salam Al-Ujayli.

When Daesh attacked, “I fled. If I had stayed, they would have killed me. They were searching for me by name,” Al-Marai said.




The unveiling of the statue of Harun Al-Rashid, which was previously destroyed by Daesh, in one of Raqqa's parks. (AN Photo/Ali Ali)

Her books, which she referred to as her children, were all burned by the terror group. “I had 25-50 copies of every book, and when I came back, none of them were left,” she said.

It was not just her books that were destroyed — the entire intellectual community she spent decades building was gone. “None of my friends were left. They all fled and became refugees in Europe,” she said.

Al-Marai was determined to help rebuild the culture of her beloved city. Having become an adviser to the Autonomous Administration’s Art and Culture Department, she now holds regular literary salons in the city’s fushat hiwar, or conversation space, to read and discuss literature.

“Now we are organizing festivals and training sessions for our youth on how to write stories and poetry. We celebrate them and always have activities to return our culture to the way it was before. We are always taking the chance to inform the youth that the future lies with them,” she said.

Shahla Al-Ujayli, a niece of Abdal Salam Al-Ujayli, has carried on her uncle’s literary tradition by writing several books, including one in which the protagonist joins one of Raqqa’s most famous cultural pastimes — horse racing.

For over a thousand years, Raqqa was famous for its equestrian heritage. The unique Arabian breed of horses were used as means of work, transportation, and eventually, as status symbols.

“The horse was a symbol of the family. If a family had a horse, it was known that they were wealthy. Then it became a cultural tradition, passed down from grandparents to parents to children,” Ammer Medad, a horse owner, told Arab News.

Medad estimates that though there were once between three and four thousand original Arabian horses in Raqqa, the current number is around only 400.




An artist paints in the Raqqa Culture and Art Center. (AN Photo/Ali Ali)

He recalls that in 1983, the first facility for horse racing in Raqqa was created. A makeshift facility in a local landowner’s garden, it measured about just 1,000 square meters in size. A local man from a famous equestrian family donated 10 horses to help create the first equestrian club.

The club began to train and eventually started to compete on the national level. They were the poorest team from all Syrian governorates, having only their horses. The riders trained in the desert rather than a regulation-grade racetrack. As they did not even have separate uniforms, they were forced to share a single uniform with one another.

Despite this, however, Raqqa’s riders always took bronze, silver, or gold in the competitions. Their skill was so unmatched that according to Medad, it caught the attention of Basil Assad, the late brother of current Syrian president Bashar Assad, who himself was an equestrian champion.

Basil funded the construction of a racetrack and horse facilities in Raqqa, which was completed in 1989. The team competed in races across the Arab world, including Qatar, Jordan, and Egypt. Though eventually the popularity of horse racing waned, it was still very much a part of the local traditional culture. All of this changed when Daesh came to the city.

Daesh destroyed the racetrack and littered it with landmines. They used the Raqqa facilities as a holding ground for 4,000 stolen horses, according to a local track worker. “They stole the horses for themselves. They even used them for food,” Medad said. He recalled an incident during which a Daesh militant approached a friend of his, intending to buy a horse to eat.




Author Fawziya Al-Marai, 74, holds an old photo of herself, with a photo of the late Syrian poet Abd Al-Salam Al-Ujayli in the background. (AN Photo/Ali Ali)

Medad asked why the militant would purchase such a beautiful horse just to eat it.

“Daesh militants rebuked me, saying that I could not forbid what God had allowed, and said that I must come to their court. I ran away for 15 days, at which point, the militant who wanted to take me to court had been killed and I could finally return home.”

Five years on, the racetrack has been cleared of Daesh landmines, and the facility has been 50 percent rebuilt, according to Medad. The track has already held one local festival, and plans on holding one at the national level, the first such race in Raqqa since Daesh took the city, in mid-October.

The statue of Raqqa’s cultural forefather Harun Al-Rashid, which had been destroyed by Daesh, was replaced in front of a crowd of onlookers in early September, symbolizing the city’s slow but inexorable return to its roots.

 


‘Many more’ Conservative MPs back UK govt stance on Israel: MP

Updated 24 May 2025
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‘Many more’ Conservative MPs back UK govt stance on Israel: MP

  • Mark Pritchard: PM ‘on right side of history’ after joint statement condemning Gaza war
  • Britain must recognize Palestinian state in ‘huge symbol of support’

LONDON: “Many more” Conservative MPs in the UK privately support calls by Prime Minister Keir Starmer and British allies for Israel to end its Gaza war, a Conservative MP has said.

Mark Pritchard told LBC that Starmer is on the “right side of history” and “humanity,” The Independent reported on Saturday.

However, Pritchard refused to criticize Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch, who questioned new British sanctions on Israeli settlers and a joint UK-France-Canada statement on Gaza this week.

The leaders of the three countries condemned “egregious” Israeli actions in Gaza and threatened to take “concrete actions” if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fails to change course.

In response, Netanyahu accused the UK, France and Canada of being on the “wrong side of justice.”

Pritchard, who describes himself as strongly pro-Israel, told LBC: “Half the population of Gaza are children. They are being literally bombed to bits every single day. They are being slowly starved.

“It’s absolutely right the UK prime minister, who so happens to be a Labour prime minister right now, would stand up on the right side.

“I push it back to the Israeli prime minister. I think Keir Starmer and those standing up for the children of Gaza are on the right side of history, the right side of humanity and are making the right moral judgment.”

Pritchard said he now believes in the necessity of Britain recognizing a Palestinian state. “It may be symbolic, but I think it will be a huge symbol of support both for the Israelis that want to see that and also for the Palestinians. But the key point at the moment is the Israeli government need to be held to account,” he added.

“I support the UK prime minister and many more, by the way, in the British Conservative Party, are coming up to me privately at the moment.”

On Friday, Badenoch said the government’s new actions targeting Israeli settlers and trade relations with the country are not the “right way” to resolve differences with Netanyahu.

Pritchard told LBC: “I’m coming on to support Kemi on the comments on antisemitism and supporting the prime minister on his strong stand, finally, on what’s going on in Gaza.”


UAE hits record May temperature of 51.6C

Updated 24 May 2025
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UAE hits record May temperature of 51.6C

  • The highest temperature recorded over the country was 51.6C in Sweihan (Al Ain)
  • Scientists have shown that recurring heatwaves are a clear marker of global warming

DUBAI: The United Arab Emirates breached its May temperature record for the second day in a row, hitting 51.6 degrees Celsius on Saturday, according to the National Center of Meteorology.

“The highest temperature recorded over the country today is 51.6C in Sweihan (Al Ain) at 13:45 UAE local time (0945 GMT),” the office said in a post on X, 1.2C hotter than the temperature recorded on Friday in the Abu Dhabi area.

Both those temperatures exceeded a previous record for the month of 50.2 Celsius recorded in May 2009, according to the meteorology office.

The desert nation lies in one of the planet’s hottest regions and one which is particularly vulnerable to climate change.

Scientists have shown that recurring heatwaves are a clear marker of global warming and that these heatwaves are set to become more frequent, longer and more intense.

The number of extremely hot days has nearly doubled globally in the past three decades.

According to a 2022 Greenpeace study, the Middle East is at high risk of water and food scarcity as well as severe heat waves as a result of climate change.

The report, which focused on six countries, found the region was warming nearly twice as fast as the global average, making its food and water supplies “extremely vulnerable” to climate change.


Nine of Gazan doctor’s 10 children killed in Israeli air strike

Updated 24 May 2025
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Nine of Gazan doctor’s 10 children killed in Israeli air strike

  • Dr. Alaa Al-Najjar also saw her husband, Dr. Hamdi Al-Najjar, critically injured
  • Couple’s only surviving child, 11-year-old boy, was severely wounded

LONDON: A pediatrician working in southern Gaza has lost nine of her 10 children in an Israeli air strike that hit her family home, in what fellow medics have described as an “unimaginable” tragedy.

Dr. Alaa Al-Najjar, who was on duty at the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis at the time of the strike, also saw her husband, Dr. Hamdi Al-Najjar, critically injured.

The couple’s only surviving child, an 11-year-old boy, was severely wounded and underwent emergency surgery on Friday, according to reports.

“This is the reality our medical staff in Gaza endure. Words fall short in describing the pain,” said Dr. Muneer Alboursh, director general of Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry. “In Gaza, it is not only healthcare workers who are targeted, Israel’s aggression goes further, wiping out entire families.”

Graphic footage shared by Palestinian Civil Defense, and verified by media outlets including the BBC, showed the remains of small children being pulled from the rubble of a collapsed building near a petrol station in Khan Younis.

British surgeon Dr. Graeme Groom, who is volunteering at Nasser hospital, said Dr Al-Najjar’s surviving son was his final patient of the day.

“He was very badly injured and seemed much younger as we lifted him onto the operating table,” he said in a video posted to social media.

Groom added that the child’s father, also a physician at the same hospital, had “no political and no military connections and doesn’t seem to be prominent on social media,” calling the strike “a particularly sad day.”

He continued: “It is unimaginable for that poor woman, both of them are doctors here… and yet his poor wife is the only uninjured one, who has the prospect of losing her husband.”

Relative Youssef Al-Najjar, speaking to AFP, made an emotional plea: “Enough. Have mercy on us. We plead to all countries, the international community, the people, Hamas, and all factions to have mercy on us. We are exhausted from the displacement and the hunger.”

Dr. Victoria Rose, another British doctor at the hospital, said the family had lived near a petrol station and speculated that the strike may have caused or been worsened by a large explosion. “That is life in Gaza. That is the way it goes in Gaza,” she said.

The Israel Defence Forces did not comment directly on the strike, but in a general statement said it had hit more than 100 targets across Gaza in a 24-hour period.

The Hamas-run health ministry reported at least 74 Palestinian deaths in that time frame alone.

The UN has warned that Gaza may be entering its “cruelest phase” of the war, with Secretary-General Antonio Guterres denouncing Israel’s restrictions on aid as exacerbating a humanitarian catastrophe.

Although Israel partially lifted its blockade this week, allowing limited aid to enter, the UN says the deliveries fall far short of the 500–600 trucks of supplies needed daily to meet basic needs for the territory’s 2.1 million people.

Since Israel launched its offensive after Hamas militants stormed into Israel, killing around 1,200 people and abducting 251 others, on Oct. 7, 2023, more than 53,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to Gaza’s health ministry, which includes women and children in its total but does not differentiate between civilians and combatants.


Erdogan, Syria’s Sharaa hold talks in Istanbul

Updated 24 May 2025
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Erdogan, Syria’s Sharaa hold talks in Istanbul

  • Video footage on Turkish television showed Erdogan shaking hands with Sharaa
  • The two countries’ foreign ministers also attended the talks

ISTANBUL: Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan was holding talks with Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa in Istanbul on Saturday, news channel CNN Turk and state media said, broadcasting video of the two leaders greeting each other.

The visit comes the day after US President Donald Trump’s administration issued orders that it said would effectively lift sanctions on Syria. Trump had pledged to unwind the measures to help the country rebuild after its devastating civil war.

Video footage on Turkish television showed Erdogan shaking hands with Sharaa as he emerged from his car at the Dolmabahce Palace on the shores of the Bosphorus Strait in Turkiye’s largest city.

The two countries’ foreign ministers also attended the talks, as well as Turkiye’s defense minister and the head of the Turkish MIT intelligence agency, according to Turkiye’s state-owned Anadolu news agency.

The Syrian delegation also included Defense Minister Murhaf Abu Qasra, according to Syrian state news agency SANA.

MIT chief Ibrahim Kalin and Sharaa this week held talks in Syria on the Syrian Kurdish YPG militant group laying down its weapons and integrating into Syrian security forces, a Turkish security source said previously.


US strike on Yemen kills Al-Qaeda members: Yemeni security sources

Updated 24 May 2025
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US strike on Yemen kills Al-Qaeda members: Yemeni security sources

  • “Five Al-Qaeda members were eliminated,” said a security source in Abyan
  • Washington once regarded the group as the militant network’s most dangerous branch

DUBAI: Five Al-Qaeda members have been killed in a strike blamed on the United States in southern Yemen, two Yemeni security sources told AFP on Saturday.

“Residents of the area informed us of the US strike... five Al-Qaeda members were eliminated,” said a security source in Abyan province, which borders the seat of Yemen’s internationally-recognized government in Aden.

“The US strike on Friday evening north of Khabar Al-Maraqsha killed five,” said a second source, referring to a mountainous area known to be used by Al-Qaeda.

The second security source added that, though the names of those killed in the strike were not known, it was believed one of Al-Qaeda’s local leaders was among the dead.

Washington once regarded the group, known as Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), as the militant network’s most dangerous branch.

Born in 2009 from the merger of Al-Qaeda’s Yemeni and Saudi factions, AQAP grew and developed in the chaos of Yemen’s war, which since 2015 has pitted the Iran-backed Houthi militants against a Saudi-led coalition backing the government.

Earlier this month, the United States agreed a ceasefire with the Houthis, who have controlled large swathes of Yemen for more than a decade, ending weeks of intense American strikes on militant-held areas of the country.

The Houthis began firing at shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden in November 2023, weeks after the start of the Israel-Hamas war, prompting military strikes by the US and Britain beginning in January 2024.

The conflict in Yemen has caused hundreds of thousands of deaths and triggered one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, although fighting decreased significantly after a UN-negotiated six-month truce in 2022.