Specializes in Foreign & Security Policy, Syria, Lebanon, Afghanistan. Author of The Wisdom of Syria's Waiting Game. FP under the Assads. Tweets my own.
Berlin
Joined May 2012
- Tweets 40,835
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I am so full of admiration for #Syria's people. So much courage. After a devastating campaign of barrel bombs forced disappearance, starvation, bombarding of hospitals, use of chemical weapons, staying determined to take their fate into their own hands ❤️ You are an inspiration!
"Ei Besuch, der sich bereits vorab gelohnt hat" - #Sharaa in D.C., darüber habe ich nit @DeutscheWelle gesprochen. #Syrien #USA
dw.com/de/al-scharaa-zu-gast…
Bente Scheller @bentescheller.bsky.social retweeted
#Syria: in a symbolic event, residents of Ghassaniya (SW. #Idlib) celebrated today the return of residents to their village.
First photo shows them in front of a Church destroyed by Regime airstrikes (2017-2018).
More on this Church (2020): enabbaladi.net/417385/%D8%A7…
Bente Scheller @bentescheller.bsky.social retweeted
President Trump threatens a military attack on Nigeria because of jihadi attacks on Christians — which are indeed a real problem. But Trump’s aid cuts are killing far, far more Nigerian Christians than jihadis are (USAID was saving 270,000 lives a year in Nigeria before the Trump aid cuts). If he wants to save lives, no need to start a war; just reverse aid cuts. nytimes.com/2025/11/08/opini…
Bente Scheller @bentescheller.bsky.social retweeted
An extraordinary fact:
- #Syria has received a greater number & wider range of foreign gov't visits in 11 months than Bashar & Hafez al-#Assad's regimes did in 53yrs.
#Syria's reintegration onto the global stage has come at stunning speed, driven by the opportunity it presents.
Bente Scheller @bentescheller.bsky.social retweeted
Tim Drygala, politisch engagiert im „Team Freiheit“ von Frauke Petry und Jura-Professor in Leipzig, lässt uns an seinen Gewaltfantasien teilhaben. Die Uni Leipzig sollte ein Disziplinarverfahren prüfen.
Bente Scheller @bentescheller.bsky.social retweeted
For more, see:
Do you know EU members' obligations towards International Criminal Court? Check this, compiled by @HRW's int'l justice experts.
1⃣Comply with all arrest warrants
2⃣Avoid non-essential contacts w/ ICC fugitives
3⃣Publicly support ICC, without selectivity
hrw.org/news/2024/11/26/eu-c…
Bente Scheller @bentescheller.bsky.social retweeted
Some shocking nonsense from France here. No one gets immunity from an ICC arrest warrant because they're in office - not Netanyahu, not Putin, no one.
middleeasteye.net/news/franc…
See Article 27 of the Rome Statute: icc-cpi.int/sites/default/fi…
Bente Scheller @bentescheller.bsky.social retweeted
Eine Ohrfeige machte sie berühmt:
während des CDU Parteitages, am 7. November 1968, bestieg Beate Klarsfeld das Podium, ohrfeigte Bundeskanzler Kiesinger und rief dabei „Nazi, Nazi, Nazi!“
Heinrich Böll schickte ihr nach der Aktion 50 rote Rosen.
Bente Scheller @bentescheller.bsky.social retweeted
Und NICHT ZU VERGESSEN:
67% der jüdischen Wähler unter 44 Jahren in New York stimmten für Mamdani.
Bente Scheller @bentescheller.bsky.social retweeted
Das ist ja mein Punkt. Es macht gar keinen Sinn, diese Menschen gegeneinander aufzurechnen? Wer würde meinem syrischen Kollegen ins Gesicht sagen, dass sein Wert für uns gegengerechnet werden muss mit anderen syrischen Menschen mit seiner Herkunft?
Bente Scheller @bentescheller.bsky.social retweeted
Ich arbeite mit vielen syrischen Ärzten. Es ist absurd, ihren Wert fürs uns in Relation zur Zahl der Zugewanderten zu setzen. Dahinter steckt die Vorstellung, dass Migration nicht die Bewegung von Individuen, sondern die einer homogenen Masse ist. Bin dankbar für jeden Kollegen.
Bente Scheller @bentescheller.bsky.social retweeted
Clare Daly & Mick Wallace visited & appeared in a propaganda video for the terrorist Popular Mobilisation Forces of which Kataib Hezbollah, the group @Elizrael was abducted & tortured by, is a component
@PresidentIRL elect endorses & promotes Daly. Does she also support the PMF?
Since my release, I've been flooded by kind messages from thousands of Iraqis expressing their horror about what was done to me by an Iraqi militia serving Iran.
The torture I endured is nothing compared to what Iraqi captives face in the black sites of the militias. My kidnappers wanted a huge ransom in exchange for me (initially, the ask was $600 million dollars!) and therefore made sure not to endanger my life, whereas Iraqi kidnapped by these militias are often tortured to death or executed.
Iraqis are the primary victims of these militias. While I am free and safe, Iraqis continue to live under a deeply corrupt and oppressive regime that has remained in power owing to the willingness of the militias to slaughter, kidnap & torture unarmed protesters, intellectuals and journalists who spoke up against them and the ruling system in Iraq.
Bente Scheller @bentescheller.bsky.social retweeted
Wadephul schaut sich in Syrien vor Ort an und ist schockiert über die Zerstörung.
Die meisten in Deutschland haben keine Vorstellung, wie brutal der syrische Bürgerkrieg war und warum die Menschen geflohen sind.
Es ist komplett wahnsinnig, wie hart Wadephul angegangen wird.
Das Beunruhigendste an der Debatte um #Wadephul ist: Es geht gar nicht um ihm. Es geht darum, Empathie zu canceln. Sie ist in der politischem Debatte um Migration unerwünscht.
Bente Scheller @bentescheller.bsky.social retweeted
"The MoI investigation is likely accurate, about those 42 specific cases. Yet the clearly intended implication that there are almost no real kidnappings in the coast does not reflect the reality as reported by the local Internal Security Command"
The Ministry of Interior's kidnapping investigation showed the extent of misinformation on the issue - but also downplayed the degree to which kidnappings are happening.
Here I examine recent examples of fake claims & ISC statements for a deeper look
syriarevisited.com/p/syrias-…
Bente Scheller @bentescheller.bsky.social retweeted
Syrians that are becoming increasingly impatient with the interim government 11 months on would be wise to remember how under resourced and overstretched the authority is while facing monumental challenges.
Likewise, the Syrian interim government would be wise to be more inclusive and to trust the Syrian people, in all their diversity and backgrounds, and those flocking back to the country from near and far to help pull Syria out of the abyss to rebuild the country, to improve its messaging and communications domestically, and to take more seriously the urgency of national dialogue and reconciliation.
Bente Scheller @bentescheller.bsky.social retweeted
Rund 1/3 der syrischen Flüchtlinge sind Kinder. Kinder, die hier zuhause, teilweise hier geboren, integriert sind. Diese Kinder sollten wir nicht abschieben, sondern auf Händen tragen. Warum? Wir haben nämlich keinen eigenen Nachwuchs, der uns in 10 Jahren den Hintern putzt.
Bente Scheller @bentescheller.bsky.social retweeted
a friend of mine earns more than me as an electrician. i'm not annoyed at all — genuinely happy for him, as he's my friend. i'm annoyed at seeing ~50% of my paycheck go to rent every month. i don't think people like karp understand what it feels like to be crushed by rent
Bente Scheller @bentescheller.bsky.social retweeted
#Syria: Russia and Algeria, longtime Assad allies, voted yesterday in favor of the US resolution at the UN Security Council that removed the Interior minister and Al-Sharaa from the sanctions list.
#Syria: tonight, the UN approved a draft resolution proposed by the US to remove Interior minister A. Khattab and President A. Al-Sharaa from the sanctions list.
The resolution passed with 14 votes in favor, while China abstained.
Bente Scheller @bentescheller.bsky.social retweeted
The mandatory veiling of women was once a pillar of the Islamic Republic. Now it’s almost gone. theatlantic.com/internationa… inspiring tale of popular resistance winning against a repressive, unpopular and battered regime. By @arash_tehran