This Week in the Middle East

There are conflicting reports about Syrian Alawite girls being kidnapped and sold into slavery. There are also denials. You can make your own mind up. Meanwhile one thing is clear - there is little or no stability in Syria today.Support the showReflections and observations from William Morris, Secretary General of the Next Century Foundation

A message for Easter, and indeed for Passover which ends on Easter Day. This message is about a kind of code of honour, twelve commandments:1. Respond with care and power to the one that wounds you.2. Do not hurt or fight with gentle people.3. Care nothing for your life, nurture others with your concern. Weep less for yourself, spread joy selflessly, save your tears for another's tragedy.4. Remain silent, except to the truth.5. Promise nothing.6. Do not let your intellect become the slave of emotion. Let your emotions serve your intellect, as a powerful banked fire would serve a house. Be not angry.7. What you need, give away, and what you do not need, relinquish; surrender your possessions as if they were another's joy and your burden.8. Surrender your soul with love to the power of the Spirit of God.9. Tomorrow is God's. Yesterday is dead. Remember you are a child of today.10. Never permit anyone to trap you with fear, for fear is evil.11. Never trap yourself with pride, for pride is evil.12. Trust God always.Support the showReflections and observations from William Morris, Secretary General of the Next Century Foundation

Whilst killings continue on the coast, Türkiye and Israel squabble about the control of the T4 base. And Dera goes its own way as a separate fiefdom.Support the showReflections and observations from William Morris, Secretary General of the Next Century Foundation

It’s April, the Winter is over and fighting season is beginning. Donald Trump promised a solution within one day. But has he gone soft on Russia? Is he no longer capable of sorting Ukraine? By the way, the NCF submission to the UN on the Ukraine issue is on this link.Support the showReflections and observations from William Morris, Secretary General of the Next Century Foundation

William Morris LL.D., Secretary General of the Next Century Foundation, talks to three voices from inside Syria: 1. Alawite 2. HTS 3. Secular And they all agree that President al-Sharaa a.k.a. Jolani is creating a monocracy, i.e. a dictatorship with absolutely no pretence at democracy but true one man rule.Support the showReflections and observations from William Morris, Secretary General of the Next Century Foundation

William Morris LL.D., Secretary General of the Next Century Foundation, shares three perspectives. The first from a senior peacenik from Israel (nothing astonishing). The second from a senior advisor to US President Donald Trump (and that is astonishing). The third from a senior Gazan with a close relationship with Hamas (and that, in my view, is mind blowing).Support the showReflections and observations from William Morris, Secretary General of the Next Century Foundation

Since around 1 pm on Friday, there have been ongoing mass killings of the Alawites in Latakia, village by village, by HTS. Systematically killing the men and kidnapping the women. They now have Kardaha surrounded. So why is this happening?Support the showReflections and observations from William Morris, Secretary General of the Next Century Foundation

The Sudanese civil war between two warlords heading the Rapid Support Services (RSF) and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) grinds on. But now the main group backing civilian rule has also split into two factions, whilst both the RSF and the SAF are trying to form rival governments. When will this end? Never. The British, the former colonial power, do nothing. And the Americans simply don't care. But could Donald Trump be persuaded to care?Support the showReflections and observations from William Morris, Secretary General of the Next Century Foundation

The gossip doing the rounds in Damascus including, incredibly, the rumour that Syria may be taking Gazan refugees.I apologise for my habit of making minor errors. When I refer to the events of 17/18 December in my podcast I of course mean 7/8 December. Sorry about that - wmSupport the showReflections and observations from William Morris, Secretary General of the Next Century Foundation

A Lebanese cease fire was renewed on 18th February as part of the wedding gift from Donald Trump to his daughter who has married the son of a Lebanese-American businessman. What does this mean for Lebanon today? Does the country at last have a better future?An apology though: Just one small correction, Michel Aoun is the old president. The current one is called Joseph Aoun.Support the showReflections and observations from William Morris, Secretary General of the Next Century Foundation