A new edition of Islamica Magazine is on the shelves in London now (try Borders) and there's a disturbing article about a plan to demolish large areas of the old city of Damascus involving a company with links to the Asad régime; the mayor calls the buildings "garbage". They include the second-oldest mosque in Damascus, Jami' al-Tawba, and a number of ancient residential districts are under threat also. Among the schemes is to clear residential properties in order to expand a mosque of particular interest to Shi'ites, who come in large numbers on pilgrimage from Iran, and to build a car park and a big road to it from the airport.
Old Damascus: A Plan to Destroy Paradise by Rana Kabbani
Jazaaka l-laahu khayran for bringing this to our attention. This nonsense has gone crazy all over Syria. My dh's family's neighbors are trying to pressure my MIL to agree to sell their family courtyard house as well. With 1.5 million Iraqi refugees in town, real estate prices are TRIPLE what they were 5 years ago and sadly there are all too many people willing to sell at those prices.