Forward Magazine
Encyclopedia
Forward Magazine is a Syria
n English-language newsmagazine
published monthly in Damascus
. It was the first private English-language periodical to be licensed in Syria, since all private media was nationalized by Gamal Abdel Nasser
in 1958, during the short-lived Syrian-Egyptian union. The magazine started in January 2007, with the motto "The Only Way is Forward." In December 2009, Forward Launched its digital edition in collaboration with Pressmart Media.
. The first edition appeared on 5 January 2007. According to a statement on the magazine's website, Forward was built "on the firm conviction that the only way is forward in Syria
and other options do not exist." While the magazine claims to be "the only balanced, local, and reliable source of information on Syria in the English language," some observers have dubbed it as "pro-regime."
The magazine has been able to attract several leading media figures as contributors including David Ignatius
of The Washington Post
, Hala Gorani
of CNN
, and Riz Khan of al-Jazeera. It has featured exclusive interviews with international figures, including former US President Jimmy Carter
, Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner
, German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer
, and Syria's First Lady Asma al-Assad.
The magazine has established its own blog recently, Untold Damascene Stories, with its own writers as the blog's contributors.
's election. Although since it has been critical of the American President's dealings with Israel, warning that US policy towards nuclear nations may allow Israel to have a hand in future terror attacks against the United States. It also stated that Israel was behind the murder of Rafic Hariri but Obama, not wanting to not alienate Jewish voters, refused to allow special tribunals to consider Israel as a suspect but instead maintain focus on only Hizbollah and Syria.
One of Forward's regular contributors is Imad Moustapha
, Syria's Ambassador to the United States
. In April 2007, Forward ran an article by US Institute of Peace
specialist Scott Lasensky on "How to move the Syria-American relations forward?" In June 2007, another piece by Hind Kabawat stressed a similar notion of how cultural exchange can be a tool for better relations between Syria and the US. In August 2007, Imad Moustapha gave an interview for Forward Magazine in which he stated about the American government: "I don’t spare them and they don’t spare me. It is a fair game."
In November 2008, Forward ran the headline: "To our American readers" on its front cover. The 14-page series of articles and photographs denounced the American strike
on Abu Kamal
, a city in North-eastern Syria, and depicted blood-stained concrete from the attack site. Earlier in July 2008, Forward ran a story by the American writer Scott C. Davis on "What Michelle Obama can learn from Asma al-Assad." In December 2008, Forward ran a series of articles to mark the election of Barack Obama
as next president of the United States
. The front-cover headline was: "Obamania sweeps away Bushism." The edition included a section titled "10 Syrian Christmas wishes to Obama." Forward featured an interview also with Ambassador Edward Djerejian
, head of the James Baker Institute
at Rice University
.
In March 2008, Forward published an editorial by one of its contributors, T. Hariri, that addresses Obama and what he refers to as "the Bush era:"
, an author of books, who reports on Syrian affairs with regular contributions to Asia Times
, Gulf News
, and PostGlobal. In July 2008, he was part of the unofficial Syrian delegation to the United States whose request to meet officials at the State Department was turned down. Together with the other two members of the group, Moubayed was described as a "regime-sanctioned mouthpiece."
The magazine is published by Haykal Media, which also produces Syria's popular business bi-weekly Aliqtisadi, and the lifestyle monthly Happynings. The company is also involved in online media. The magazine officers as stated on their website are:
Contributors to Forward Magazine include:
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
n English-language newsmagazine
Newsmagazine
A news magazine is a typed, printed, and published piece of paper, magazine or a radio or television program, usually weekly, featuring articles or segments on current events...
published monthly in Damascus
Damascus
Damascus , commonly known in Syria as Al Sham , and as the City of Jasmine , is the capital and the second largest city of Syria after Aleppo, both are part of the country's 14 governorates. In addition to being one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Damascus is a major...
. It was the first private English-language periodical to be licensed in Syria, since all private media was nationalized by Gamal Abdel Nasser
Gamal Abdel Nasser
Gamal Abdel Nasser Hussein was the second President of Egypt from 1956 until his death. A colonel in the Egyptian army, Nasser led the Egyptian Revolution of 1952 along with Muhammad Naguib, the first president, which overthrew the monarchy of Egypt and Sudan, and heralded a new period of...
in 1958, during the short-lived Syrian-Egyptian union. The magazine started in January 2007, with the motto "The Only Way is Forward." In December 2009, Forward Launched its digital edition in collaboration with Pressmart Media.
Background
Pro-regime Forward Magazine was founded by media and technology entrepreneur Abdulsalam HaykalAbdulsalam haykal
Abdulsalam Haykal is a Syrian technology and media entrepreneur, who lives and works in Damascus, Syria. In 2009, the World Economic Forum named Haykal as a Young Global Leader, the first Syrian to receive this recognition....
. The first edition appeared on 5 January 2007. According to a statement on the magazine's website, Forward was built "on the firm conviction that the only way is forward in Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
and other options do not exist." While the magazine claims to be "the only balanced, local, and reliable source of information on Syria in the English language," some observers have dubbed it as "pro-regime."
The magazine has been able to attract several leading media figures as contributors including David Ignatius
David Ignatius
David R. Ignatius , is an American journalist and novelist. He is an associate editor and columnist for The Washington Post. He also co-hosts PostGlobal, an online discussion of international issues at Washingtonpost.com, with Newsweek 's Fareed Zakaria...
of The Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
, Hala Gorani
Hala Gorani
Hala Basha-Gorani , is an American anchor/correspondent for CNN International based in the network's headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia. She anchors CNN Internationals 1 p.m. ET International Desk from the CNN Center...
of CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
, and Riz Khan of al-Jazeera. It has featured exclusive interviews with international figures, including former US President Jimmy Carter
Jimmy Carter
James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...
, Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
Recep Tayyip Erdogan
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has been Prime Minister of Turkey since 2003 and is chairman of the ruling Justice and Development Party , which holds a majority of the seats in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey. Erdoğan served as Mayor of Istanbul from 1994 to 1998. He graduated in 1981 from Marmara...
, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner
Bernard Kouchner
Bernard Kouchner is a French politician, diplomat, and doctor. He is co-founder of Médecins Sans Frontières and Médecins du Monde...
, German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer
Joschka Fischer
Joseph Martin "Joschka" Fischer is a German politician of the Alliance '90/The Greens. He served as Foreign Minister and Vice Chancellor of Germany in the cabinet of Gerhard Schröder from 1998 to 2005...
, and Syria's First Lady Asma al-Assad.
The magazine has established its own blog recently, Untold Damascene Stories, with its own writers as the blog's contributors.
American focus
Forward Magazine has an American focus in its coverage of international affairs, and was supportive of Barack ObamaBarack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
's election. Although since it has been critical of the American President's dealings with Israel, warning that US policy towards nuclear nations may allow Israel to have a hand in future terror attacks against the United States. It also stated that Israel was behind the murder of Rafic Hariri but Obama, not wanting to not alienate Jewish voters, refused to allow special tribunals to consider Israel as a suspect but instead maintain focus on only Hizbollah and Syria.
One of Forward's regular contributors is Imad Moustapha
Imad Moustapha
-Previous Employment:Imad Moustapha was Dean of the Faculty of Information Technology at the University of Damascus, and Secretary General of the Arab School on Science and Technology. He is a co-founder of the Network of Syrian Scientists, Technologists and Innovators Abroad...
, Syria's Ambassador to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. In April 2007, Forward ran an article by US Institute of Peace
United States Institute of Peace
The United States Institute of Peace was created by Congress as a non-partisan, federal institution that works to prevent or end violent conflict around the world...
specialist Scott Lasensky on "How to move the Syria-American relations forward?" In June 2007, another piece by Hind Kabawat stressed a similar notion of how cultural exchange can be a tool for better relations between Syria and the US. In August 2007, Imad Moustapha gave an interview for Forward Magazine in which he stated about the American government: "I don’t spare them and they don’t spare me. It is a fair game."
In November 2008, Forward ran the headline: "To our American readers" on its front cover. The 14-page series of articles and photographs denounced the American strike
2008 Abu Kamal raid
The 2008 Abu Kamal raid was an attack carried out by helicopter-borne CIA paramilitary officers from Special Activities Division and United States Special Operations Command, Joint Special Operations Command inside Syrian territory on October 26, 2008...
on Abu Kamal
Abu Kamal
Al-Bukamal or Al-Bu-Kamal , also referred to as Abu Kamal, is a city in eastern Syria on the Euphrates River near the border with Iraq...
, a city in North-eastern Syria, and depicted blood-stained concrete from the attack site. Earlier in July 2008, Forward ran a story by the American writer Scott C. Davis on "What Michelle Obama can learn from Asma al-Assad." In December 2008, Forward ran a series of articles to mark the election of Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
as next president of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The front-cover headline was: "Obamania sweeps away Bushism." The edition included a section titled "10 Syrian Christmas wishes to Obama." Forward featured an interview also with Ambassador Edward Djerejian
Edward Djerejian
Edward Peter Djerejian is a former United States diplomat who served in eight Administrations from John F. Kennedy to William J. Clinton He served as the United States Ambassador to Syria and Israel. He is the Founding Director of the James A...
, head of the James Baker Institute
James Baker Institute
The James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy, often shortened to Baker Institute, is a think tank on the campus of Rice University in Houston, Texas. Founded in 1993, it has become a notable center of public policy research. It is named for James Baker, former United States Secretary of State...
at Rice University
Rice University
William Marsh Rice University, commonly referred to as Rice University or Rice, is a private research university located on a heavily wooded campus in Houston, Texas, United States...
.
In March 2008, Forward published an editorial by one of its contributors, T. Hariri, that addresses Obama and what he refers to as "the Bush era:"
The politics of 9-11 would continue to ripple the American fabric through the duration of the near decade of the markedly reactionary Bush era. It was an episode in the theater of American politics whose deliberate policies revealed a reckless abandon: a political-cum-cultural movement retrograde to the American ideals that have always been embedded in potential, and bolstered by historical beginnings, not ends.
Editorial board, publisher, and contributors
Forward Magazine is edited by Syrian historian and writer Sami MoubayedSami Moubayed
Sami Moubayed is a Syrian political analyst, journalist, and author based in Damascus, Syria. He is editor-in-chief of Forward Magazine, published in English in Syria since 2006. His articles on Middle East affairs have appeared in a variety of newspapers, including al-Ahram Weekly, Gulf News,...
, an author of books, who reports on Syrian affairs with regular contributions to Asia Times
Asia Times
Asia Times was a newspaper launched in Thailand by Thai tycoon Sondhi Limthongkul in 1995. The newspaper hired talent from around the world to produce a regional English-language newspaper....
, Gulf News
Gulf News
Gulf News is a daily English language newspaper published from Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates with a December 2009 BPA audited circulation of over 117,036 qualified copies...
, and PostGlobal. In July 2008, he was part of the unofficial Syrian delegation to the United States whose request to meet officials at the State Department was turned down. Together with the other two members of the group, Moubayed was described as a "regime-sanctioned mouthpiece."
The magazine is published by Haykal Media, which also produces Syria's popular business bi-weekly Aliqtisadi, and the lifestyle monthly Happynings. The company is also involved in online media. The magazine officers as stated on their website are:
- Abdulsalam HaykalAbdulsalam haykalAbdulsalam Haykal is a Syrian technology and media entrepreneur, who lives and works in Damascus, Syria. In 2009, the World Economic Forum named Haykal as a Young Global Leader, the first Syrian to receive this recognition....
, Publisher, CEO of Haykal Media - Sami MoubayedSami MoubayedSami Moubayed is a Syrian political analyst, journalist, and author based in Damascus, Syria. He is editor-in-chief of Forward Magazine, published in English in Syria since 2006. His articles on Middle East affairs have appeared in a variety of newspapers, including al-Ahram Weekly, Gulf News,...
, PhD, Editor in Chief, VP Haykal Media - Ammar Haykal, VP Operations, Haykal Media
Contributors to Forward Magazine include:
- Scott C. Davis, Seattle-based freelance journalist and founder of Cune Press
- Ibrahim Hamidi, senior editor at the Arabic language daily Al-HayatAl-Hayat newspaperAl-Hayat is one of the leading daily pan-Arab newspapers, with a circulation estimated over 200,000. It is the newspaper of record for the Arab diaspora and the preferred venue for liberal intellectuals who wish to express themselves to a large public....
- T. Hariri, American essayist, critic, columnist, and poet; editor of The Rome Review
- David IgnatiusDavid IgnatiusDavid R. Ignatius , is an American journalist and novelist. He is an associate editor and columnist for The Washington Post. He also co-hosts PostGlobal, an online discussion of international issues at Washingtonpost.com, with Newsweek 's Fareed Zakaria...
, Washington Post associate editor and columnist - Sami KhiyamiSami KhiyamiSami Khiyami is a Syrian diplomat, currently Syrian ambassador to London.-Background:Khiyami studied at university in Beirut, Lebanon, and Lyon, France. An electronics expert by training, he has held a number of professional roles, including senior advisor to the Syrian banking industry and a...
, Ambassador of Syria to the United KingdomUnited KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages... - David W. Lesch, Professor at Trinity UniversityTrinity University (Texas)Trinity University is a private, independent, primarily undergraduate, university in San Antonio, Texas. Its campus is located in the Monte Vista Historic District and adjacent to Brackenridge Park....
, author of Syrian president Bashar Al-AssadBashar al-AssadBashar al-Assad is the President of Syria and Regional Secretary of the Ba'ath Party. His father Hafez al-Assad ruled Syria for 29 years until his death in 2000. Al-Assad was elected in 2000, re-elected in 2007, unopposed each time.- Early Life :...
's biography The New Lion of Damascus: Bashar al-Assad and Modern Syria, - Imad MoustaphaImad Moustapha-Previous Employment:Imad Moustapha was Dean of the Faculty of Information Technology at the University of Damascus, and Secretary General of the Arab School on Science and Technology. He is a co-founder of the Network of Syrian Scientists, Technologists and Innovators Abroad...
, Ambassador of Syria to the United States.