Fernande van Tets

De tweede druk van mijn boek Vier Seizoenen in Damascus is nu verkrijgbaar. @nrc noemde het "een overtuigende aanrader voor iedereen die bij die voortdurende oorlog ook de Syriër, de mens, wil ontmoeten." Dus ren naar je lokale boekhandel en #koopdatboek

It's also not great if you're still hoping to encourage defections...

Although the new war on Lebanon may look like a continuation of its forebear in 2024, it is in fact different in many ways.🧵

I don't have my old WSJ ethics agreement on hand because it was in my WSJ email account, but we were not even allowed to have work contacts as Facebook friends or social media contacts to avoid any appearance of bias or partiality. Every journalist, especially at a high level, knows their connections will be closely scrutinized. I do have an old NYT freelance contract on hand and just to write *freelance* pieces for a few hundred dollars, you do have to abide by all their ethical rules, the link to which is below. It's detailed. This is just one newspaper's example, though it is the industry standard. And then you get a situation like this, with reporters publicly flaunting their affairs with presidential candidates or editors pooh-poohing the obvious bias of such a situation, in an industry where other reporters were fired very recently just for signing letters opposing Israel's genocide because it was allegedly "not objective." How do you explain this hypocrisy to a journalism student? How do you explain it to yourself as a journalist? How do you explain it to anyone? nytimes.com/editorial-stan…

#Syria's Interior & Justice Ministries have deleted #Assad-era legal files on more than 4.85 million people barring them from travel or acquiring new passports. That's more than 20% of the entire population.

🇳🇱 The centre-left party #D66 and the far-right Party for Freedom (#PVV) are running neck-and-neck in the #Dutch snap election Thursday. Regardless of who emerges victories, talks will have to be held to build a coalition. Our correspondent @Fernande_VT has the details ⤵️

As the Dutch head to the polls on October 29, far-right parties have made #immigration the central issue of the campaign. The hard line rhetoric has already led to violent protests in towns where asylum centers are set to open. @Fernande_VT and @alixlebourdon's #FOCUS report ⤵️

@ewd @nrc Helaas niet!

@Fernande_VT @nrc Ergens als luisterboek te beluisteren?

De tweede druk van mijn boek Vier Seizoenen in Damascus is nu verkrijgbaar. @nrc noemde het "een overtuigende aanrader voor iedereen die bij die voortdurende oorlog ook de Syriër, de mens, wil ontmoeten." Dus ren naar je lokale boekhandel en #koopdatboek

@amleeftink Dank Martijn! Nog niet helaas, vanwege familie uitbreiding, maar ik hoop later dit jaar, ik ben enorm benieuwd!

Het boek van @Fernande_VT "Vier seizoenen in #Damascus" uit gelezen. Mooi beschreven. Herkenning, maar ook bevreemding. Ging zelf in 2019, 2022 en 2023 terug. Benieuwd of zij inmiddels al terug heeft kunnen gaan.

An obvious disconnect here at this NATO summit: 🇺🇸Hegseth tells defence ministers that Europe should take control of its own security. 🇪🇺Then he tells Europe to step aside while Trump takes control of their security for them through bilateral 🇺🇦negotiations with Putin.

The seven person Preparatory Committee for the Syrian Dialogue Conference includes technocrats, HTS, SNA, NGO, Christian-Feminist, and independent representatives. 1- Maher Alloush is an independent researcher/columnist and a former prisoner in Sednaya. 2- Mustafa Mousa was the previous technocratic Prime Minister of the Salvation Government in Idlib. 3- Huda Al-Atassi is the director of the International Humanitarian Relief Foundation. IHRF is a board member of @Ulfed_ar, a federation of the most powerful Syrian NGOs. Huda serves as the general secretary of the federation. 4- Hassan Al Daghim was the head of the Moral Guidance office of the Syrian National Army. He was responsible for educating the SNA soldiers on international law, the Geneva Convention and anti-extremism work. He was a fierce critic of Ahmad al-Shara until they reconciled in an half-day long meeting last year. He played a key role in organizing the unification of all Syrian armed opposition factions into the new Syrian army. 5- Hind Qabawat is a Christian who founded the Syrian Centre for Dialogue and leads TASTAKEL, a women's empowerment group. She was the former deputy head of the oppositional Syrian Negotiation Committee. She is also a senior non-residential fellow at the @ACMideast. 6- Youssef Al-Hajer is a senior HTS member who is very close to Ahmad Al-Sharaa. 7- Mohammad Mastat was the technocratic director of primary healthcare in the Ministry of Health in İdlib’s Salvation Government.

Although I returned to Damascus—a city where I have personal roots—I must admit: I was among the people inexplicably reticent to go. In my circles, quite a few Syrian exiles have found reasons, like me, to dither and delay. Part of my trip was an attempt to understand why 🧵

In his first interview as Syria’s new president, Ahmed al-Sharaa lays out his vision for rebuilding Syria to our editor-in-chief, @zannymb econ.st/4jL3mEg

How could Western media so systematically misrepresent Israel's wars in Gaza and Lebanon? Were these wars ignored, or censored, or misunderstood? No quite. They resonate deeply, in fact, with a resurfacing of our own xenophobic and colonial past. mondediplo.com/2025/02/02midd…

NEW -- #Trump's global aid freeze has cut the salaries paid to many of the prison & camp guards responsible for securing 9,500 #ISIS militants & ~40,000 associated women/kids in northeast #Syria. Many are no longer turning up for work.

There is a fake version of me on this platform. @fernandevantets is a scam, please beware! @XComms

🇳🇱 Eighty years after the end of World War II, the #Netherlands' largest war archive is going public. It contains the names of hundreds of thousands of people who were investigated for collaborating with the #Nazis. FRANCE 24's @Fernande_VT and @alixlebourdon report 👇

Five weeks after Bashar al-Assad’s fall, the US and EU still have no policy on Syria’s transition: a seismic change which they have demanded for over a decade, and in which they have much at stake. So far, most responses range from incoherent to wildly counterproductive. 🧵

Good -- #Syria's Arab Red Crescent has dismissed all "advisors" previously hired by the #Assad-picked Khaled Hboubati (a nightclub & casino businessman who made money off sieges).

Great news that the #US has suspended some of its sanctions on #Syria for 6 months affecting: - remittances - transactions with governing institutions - energy transactions such as oil, natural gas and electricity Valid till 7 July. ofac.treasury.gov/media/933861/d…

EXECLUSIVE: Documents Found After the Fall of Assad Show Syrian Intelligence Spying on @SIRAJ_SYRIA and our journalistic activities. 📍A file discovered at GID General Intelligence Directorate headquarters details an operation to investigate SIRAJ, a Syrian journalist collective that is part of the @OCCRP network and media partner of @ICIJorg & @LHreports. Thread 🧵👇