Elizabeth Tsurkov is among the few Israelis to have visited Syria since the war began. She might be the only one to have reached a sweeping range of people from Kurdish fighters to ISIS supporters to Alawites, for in-depth interviews about the future of the tortured country.

This season of the Tel Aviv Review is made possible by The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, which promotes humanistic, democratic, and liberal values in the social discourse in Israel.