Bio
David Leestma
David Leestma studied International Relations at Grand Valley State University. His studies took him to Lebanon, as well as Morocco and Oman with the Critical Language Scholarship in 2014 and 2015. Before joining Syria Direct as a full time reporter, David interned with Syria Direct as a translator and collaborated with ISW to produce the Syria Situation Report.
Latest Articles
Mother of 9-year-old girl targeted by a sniper’s bullet calls for evacuation from Madaya: ‘She is in urgent need of trauma surgery’
Nine-year-old Ghina was walking with her younger sister in encircled […]
Idlib countryside overflows amidst displacement, Provincial Council lacks ‘70% of the needed aid’
Since June, regime and Russian military airstrikes on Idlib city […]
After 4 years in prison, recently released Damascene says ‘the vibrancy the city once had is no longer there’
It was 3am when Ayham a-Saad, an architect from Damascus, […]
In encircled Darayya, student says underground school ‘only activity we can take part in’
In Darayya, the dangers of walking to school include barrel […]
From classroom to frontline: Deir e-Zor Arabic teacher joins pro-regime militia in order to get paid
Deep in the eastern Syrian desert, the last remaining regime-controlled […]
After 24-hour deadline to leave, hundreds of families flee encircled village
Late Saturday night, Hezbollah and regime soldiers surrounding the village […]
‘His tiny size crushed my heart’: Miscarriages on the rise in encircled Madaya
AMMAN: Something didn’t feel right. Umm Marah, three months pregnant […]
Darayya under fire as regime closes in, ‘feels like a military victory is at hand’
In its fourth year under siege, with regime forces chipping […]
Eyes on the sky: Syrian monitors warn civilians of impending airstrikes
The moment he sees a Syrian fighter jet take off […]
‘We’re living on the street:’ Life after fleeing the Islamic State
Manbij is the second-largest city in Aleppo province, one that […]