This is the new daily meeting in Souweïda, in southern Syria. Friday September 29, between 2,000 and 2,500 people demonstrated against the government of Bashar Al-Assad, in this city where a protest movement has been going on for more than a month. In mid-August, rallies were organized after the government announced a lifting of fuel subsidies, affecting a population already affected by more than twelve years of war.
Friday September 15, between 3,500 and 4,000 people gathered in Souweïda. Two days earlier, three protesters were injured by gunfire from Baath party guards, during a peaceful demonstration where demonstrators attacked symbols of power, tearing up portraits of President Assad. Until then, the government had allowed the demonstrations to take place in Souweïda without repressing them.
Women on the front lines
Women are playing a growing role in peaceful gatherings, and are often at the forefront, according to testimonies collected by Agence France-Presse (AFP): “The difference today is that women are not limited to protest, they plan and organize the movement,” said Wajiha, an activist who did not wish to give her last name for security reasons. According to her, the women “decide on the slogans, make the banners and coordinate their action with the surrounding villagers who also organize demonstrations in their localities.”
“Bachar must leave,” another demonstrator, Sana, 50, who also refused to give her full name, told AFP. Another participant held up a sign listing the protesters’ demands, which included the formation of a transitional government, “a new Constitution,” the release of detainees and the return of displaced people.
The southern city, stronghold of the Druze community, an esoteric sect estimated to make up about 3 percent of Syria’s population, had remained relatively out of the conflict that erupted in Syria in 2011. Since then, tens of thousands of young men of Souweida have refused to perform their military service, and government security forces have a limited presence in the region.