​​​​​​​Activist from As-Suwayda: cause of Syrian men and women is the same

The As-Suwayda protests, which have been ongoing since Sunday, August 20, bear a different character from the rest of the protests that As-Suwayda was witnessing in the past, and quickly gained solidarity from the various Syrian regions.

However, what distinguished these protests from others is the wide participation of women in them, their representation of these protests and their demand for "the overthrow of the regime, freedom and dignity."

Numerous videos and photos posted on virtual communication sites show how women are strongly participating in these protests to express their anger and indignation at the policies of the ruling authorities, and banners that express their pain and the need to stand up to the persecution and tyranny practiced against them in public life.

partner in suffering

In an interview with ANHA's agency, Sham, a civil feminist activist from As-Suwayda, who preferred not to reveal her real name for fear of security prosecution, said that the remarkable participation of women in these protests is "a natural participation in comparison with their social and political role as partners in suffering."

And she added, “Perhaps the women of Syria as a whole were the ones who suffered the greatest harm from 12 years ago to this moment, as women lost their sons and daughters, husband, father or brother, whether in military operations or through forced displacement, displacement and asylum, so it is natural for women to express Syria expresses its opinion, and As-Suwayda is part of the general situation.

Hevrin Khalaf's blood blooms in As-Suwayda

In their protests, on Sunday (August 27), women carried banners expressing their solidarity with the martyr Hevrin Khalaf, Secretary General of the Future Syria Party, who was martyred on the M4 international highway in a treacherous ambush set up by mercenary groups of the Turkish occupation state on October 11, 2019.

The banners read, "The blood of Hevrin Khalaf blooms in As-Suwayda," and another carried "Freedom for all detainees in the prisons of mercenaries and factions in Syria."

Commenting on this, Sham says: "The Turkish occupation gang's targeting by some of its mercenaries of Hevrin Khalaf, who is a political activist, made Syrian women sympathize with her because of their sense of injustice against her, just as the issue of Syrian men and women is one issue, and the release of female detainees in all prisons which was built on Syrian lands is a rightful demand for all, as justice is indivisible.”

#Syrian _ women.

Two days ago, on the virtual communication sites, a women's movement was launched under the hashtag (#Syrian_women), in which women demanded, through a written statement, "feminist solidarity in the southern region and within the city of As-Suwayda and its countryside in particular," and through it they emphasized the importance of women's participation in the "public discourse." And its ranks (..) and the necessity of adhering to their rights and the mechanisms of collective action to achieve change.”

The women's movement stressed, through their statement, that they are "completely ready to coordinate with Syrian women digitally and on the ground in a way that does not contradict or threaten the security and safety of any Syrian woman to carry out digital campaigns, peaceful sit-ins and sit-ins, in which we carry our just causes that are indivisible and inseparable from the demands in the squares," according to the statement. Statement.

Regarding their message from this women's movement, Sham explained that "the message of the women of the south through this hashtag #Syrian_women, is the need to change the prevailing system of thought towards women, which excludes them from participating in public work and marginalizes their role, and that the wide participation of women in the As-Suwayda protests is an affirmation of this need in changing the stereotype of women.

'It started from people's suffering'

During our question to her about the reasons that made these protests resonate and broad solidarity, more than other protests that were taking place in the region in the past and at an intermittent pace, Sham confirmed that these protests emanated from "the direct suffering of people, and were not linked to external events or special projects such as those proposed by political Islam experience has matured among the Syrians about cleaning up their demands from all the impurities of the basic demands, which are freedom and dignity through the transition to a democratic system in which women take their full rights, and that the poor economic situation in addition to the increase in waves of immigration, the increase in corruption and security repression were among the reasons for the continuation of these protests.

T/ Satt.

ANHA