Middle East Research and Information Project

Critical Coverage of the Middle East Since 1971

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Noura Chalati

Noura Chalati is a doctoral candidate at Freie Universität in Berlin and a research fellow at Leibniz-Zentrum Moderner Orient.

Illness as Metaphor and Reality in Syria — Health workers wear face masks inside a hospital to prevent the spread of COVID-19, in Damascus, Syria, with the face of President Bashar al-Asad in the background. March 19, 2020. Omar Sanadiki/Reuters

MER Article

Illness as Metaphor and Reality in Syria

The regime’s narrative of infection, disease and germs is symbolic and constituent of its internal logic. Using the metaphor of illness, the state justifies killing dissenters (labeled terrorists) by portraying them as germs that must be eradicated in order to ensure the survival of the country as e

Noura Chalati • 10 min read