Chinese Movie Production Team Takes over Syria’s Hajar al-Aswad

Filming in Hajar al-Aswad near the Syrian capital Damascus of a scene in "Home Operation", produced by actor Jackie Chan. (AFP)
Filming in Hajar al-Aswad near the Syrian capital Damascus of a scene in "Home Operation", produced by actor Jackie Chan. (AFP)
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Chinese Movie Production Team Takes over Syria’s Hajar al-Aswad

Filming in Hajar al-Aswad near the Syrian capital Damascus of a scene in "Home Operation", produced by actor Jackie Chan. (AFP)
Filming in Hajar al-Aswad near the Syrian capital Damascus of a scene in "Home Operation", produced by actor Jackie Chan. (AFP)

Bustling noise is heard in the far northeast of Syria's town of Hajar al-Aswad, which was a major stronghold for ISIS. The racket is made by a Chinese film crew shooting a Jackie Chan-produced action movie, called “Home Operation.”

Hajar al-Aswad, which means “black rock” in Arabic, was once a densely populated Damascus suburb that lies next to the Palestinian refugee camp of Yarmuk.

The town has two main neighborhoods called “Tishreen” and “Thawra.”

Hajar al-Aswad was the home of the largest concentration of IDPs from the occupied Golan since the June 1967 war, and was one of the first areas that witnessed protests against the regime in the spring of 2011, before it was controlled by opposition factions in 2012.

The town then fell into the hands of ISIS from mid-2015 until 2018.

In 2018, Syrian regime forces, with backing from Russia, were able to regain control of Hajar al-Aswad by waging a vicious and destructive military campaign.

Swathes of Hajar al-Aswad were completely leveled as the campaign erased 80% of the town’s infrastructure.

“The war-ravaged areas in Syria have turned into a movie studio. These areas attract film producers,” said director Rawad Shahin, who is part of the film's Syria crew.

“Building studios similar to these areas is very expensive, so these areas are considered as low-cost studios,” he said.

The production team says it plans to use several other locations to film in Syria, where productions from Iran and Russia have also been shot.

Touring one of Hajar al-Aswad’s streets, where one of the movie’s scenes was being shot, Asharq Al-Awsat discovered a group of locals who were barred by the crew from inspecting their homes destroyed by war because filming was underway.

They were forced to take a longer route home, much to their frustration.

They voiced their discontent on how locals who belong to the area were turned away from their homes, while foreigners shooting the movie could move freely.

“Isn’t it better for the government to rebuild destroyed neighborhoods and have the foreigners shoot a movie about the return of refugees to their homes,” one of the locals said cynically.



European Leaders on Possibly Sending Peacekeepers into Ukraine

 Ukrainian servicemen of the 211th Pontoon Bridge Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine put up barbed wire as part of a system of new fortification, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv region, Ukraine February 14, 2025. (Reuters)
Ukrainian servicemen of the 211th Pontoon Bridge Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine put up barbed wire as part of a system of new fortification, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv region, Ukraine February 14, 2025. (Reuters)
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European Leaders on Possibly Sending Peacekeepers into Ukraine

 Ukrainian servicemen of the 211th Pontoon Bridge Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine put up barbed wire as part of a system of new fortification, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv region, Ukraine February 14, 2025. (Reuters)
Ukrainian servicemen of the 211th Pontoon Bridge Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine put up barbed wire as part of a system of new fortification, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv region, Ukraine February 14, 2025. (Reuters)

European leaders were holding an emergency meeting in Paris on Monday to discuss their role in Ukraine's future after the United States announced it would sit down with Russia to seek an end to the three-year war.

Here is what some have said ahead of the meeting on the issue of sending peacekeeping troops into Ukraine:

BRITAIN

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said he is ready to send British troops to Ukraine as part of any postwar peacekeeping force.

"We're facing a generational challenge when it comes to national security," Starmer told reporters.

"I think there's a bigger piece here as well, which is that this isn't just about the front line in Ukraine. It's the front line of Europe and of the United Kingdom. It's about our national security and I think that we need to do more."

SPAIN

"It is too early at this time to speak about deploying troops to Ukraine as there is no peace at the moment," Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares told reporters.

Albares also told radio station Onda Cero: "A war of aggression cannot be rewarded, we cannot encourage others to launch wars of aggression.

"Today I'm convinced Putin will keep attacking and bombing Ukraine. So I do not see peace on the horizon at the moment."

GERMANY

Asked if German troops could be deployed in a future peace mission in Ukraine, Chancellor Olaf Scholz stressed the importance of a strong Ukrainian army.

"This will be a great task for Europe, for the US and international alliance partners," Scholz said. Future questions on security architecture would be addressed in due course, he said.

On the issue of European ground troops, a defense ministry spokesperson said: "If the framework is given, Germany will not shy away."

POLAND

"Poland will support Ukraine as it has done so far: organizationally, in accordance with our financial capabilities, in terms of humanitarian and military aid," Prime Minister Donald Tusk told reporters before boarding a plane to Paris.

"We do not plan to send Polish soldiers to the territory of Ukraine. We will ... give logistical and political support to the countries that will possibly want to provide such guarantees in the future, such physical guarantees."

SWEDEN

"There needs to be a very clear mandate for those forces and I don't think we can see that until we have come further in those negotiations," Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson told Reuters. "But Sweden, we are normally a part of strengthening security in our part of the world, so I foresee us to be a part of that this time as well."

DENMARK

Ahead of the Paris meeting, Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said: "We need to increase military support to Ukraine, we need to produce more, and we need to do it faster.

"And then we must remove the restrictions on the Ukrainians' use of weapons, so that they can actually defend themselves against the Russians without having one arm twisted around their back. A ceasefire must not lead to Russian rearmament, which is replaced by new Russian attacks."

THE NETHERLANDS

"We understand Europe needs to play a role. It is logical that the Netherlands is considered," Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof told reporters at the Munich Security Conference.

"There needs to be a strong mandate, because the Netherlands won't join any initiative whatsoever if there is not a clear mandate. (..) There also needs to be an escalation mechanism, in which the US needs to be prepared to be stand-by to act."