In the context of talking about crises that affect the entire world, the bulk of it is directed towards the energy crisis with its two main factors: oil and gas. However, the crisis that is more profound, dangerous, and catastrophic is the food crisis, the first signs of which have started to become clearer, though it still is not clear to what extent and depth it can extend.

If we take a general look at the changes in exchange rate of the Russian ruble prior to February 24, 2022 and until today, that is, from the eve of the launch of the military operation in Ukraine, we will see that although the ruble’s value significantly deteriorated during the first weeks, reaching half the value it had against both the euro and the dollar, it quickly regained not only all the value it had lost, but an additional value even better than it was before February 24. On February 23, the dollar and euro were worth 79 and 92 rubles, respectively; today, May 22, they are at 62 and 65.5 rubles, respectively. The same applies to the ruble’s position against all other currencies globally, to the extent that Bloomberg, whose whims and affiliations are known, described the ruble as the strongest global currency for 2022.

Last Thursday, April 21, Legislative Decree No. 4 of 2022 was issued, which provides for the disbursement of what is called a «grant», with a lump sum of 75 thousand Syrian pounds for civilian and military workers, and pensioners, provided that this «grant» is disbursed only once.

Estimates of the disaster affecting the food system in Syria are increasing daily at an unprecedented pace, as there is an additional number of Syrians every year getting in a state of food insecurity, not in thousands or hundreds of thousands, but in millions. This is happening at an accelerated pace, which threatens to drag more citizens into destitution and poverty.

Shireen’s assassination and the subsequent attack on her coffin, then the reactions thereto, constitute one aspect of a broader and more comprehensive picture of the existential crisis the “Israeli entity” is experiencing.

In the previous issue 1064, Kassioun newspaper published the index of Kassioun for the cost of living at the end of March 2022, in which it showed that the average cost of living for a Syrian family of 5 is 2.8 million Syrian pounds. It increased by about 833,405 Syrian pounds from the average cost that was recorded in the beginning of the current year. This has not been farfetched to millions of Syrians who are witnessing a daily and aggravated increase in the prices of basic food commodities necessary for their survival. 

On the 9th and 10th of this month, the sixth edition of the Brussels Conference for the “international donors of Syria” will be held. While this edition does not differ much from its predecessors with regard to its “symbolic” financial pledges compared to the catastrophic situation of Syrians, as well as the declining level of actual implementation compared to the pledges, not to mention the ambiguity of the spending mechanisms and its recipients, it does differ in two main things:

International Labor Day comes at a time when the Syrian working class is at its poorest and most oppressed conditions. While this holiday, in its Syrian dimension, does not bring any joy, especially for the Syrian worker, it more intensively carries the struggle and revolutionary values needed for the radical change of the catastrophic reality this worker is living, and such is the tragic reality of his country.

At the beginning of Ramadan 2022, the average cost of living for a Syrian family of 5 has exceeded 2.8 million Syrian pounds according to Kassioun index. It is an unprecedented increase within a record period of time that threatens millions of Syrians who are witnessing a catastrophic gap between the costs of living and the minimum wage of Syrian workers, which remains at the threshold of 92,970 Syrian pounds (i.e., less than half of the cost of the minimum amount of food per working individual alone)! 

US and Western sanctions are nothing new, they go back to more than 70 years, though their harshness varies from one place to another and from time to another.