By Samah Abdul Fattah | 2023-10-18

In the southern Syrian province of Sweida, women are playing an important role in a renewed anti-regime protest movement that kicked off in mid August with hundreds taking to the streets and has gained momentum ever since.

Hundreds took part in the initial protest against high inflation and the deteriorating economy, with thousands joining the movement by August 20.

Clothing industry worker Sanaa Zaineddine, 24, of the Sweida town of al-Shahba, told Al-Fassel her brothers and other male relatives "joined the protests the first day they started in al-Karama square in the city of Sweida."

At first they rejected her request to join them, she said, "because the situation was very unclear, the atmosphere was tense and security tension prevailed in the squares where the sit-ins were held."

Protesters were initially fearful that the regime of Bashar al-Assad would carry out a "bloody counter action as it usually does," Zaineddine said.

But eventually, Zaineddine said she and other women joined the protests that were being held in her town.

"I was surprised that many girls and women also were present in those squares," she said, noting that the presence of women, often at the center of the action, is now ubiquitous.

Soon after the current wave of protests began, she said, "female activists started forming special committees to organize and increase their participation, in addition to making banners in support of the movement."

Banners denounce the Syrian regime and its supporters, especially Hizbullah, which has turned the southern province into a regional hub for the production, smuggling and trafficking of illegal drugs such as Captagon.

Women taking the lead

Some might think female activists participate in the protests "to hand out food or carry water, etc., but over time, female activists have proven that there is no difference between them and male activists," said Sweida activist Nizar Abu Ali.

"On the contrary, female activists have an essential role in every sense of the word, and even more important," he told Al-Fassel. "They are now leading the protests and are present on the front lines."

Small groups of women, including mothers, have organized themselves to lead anti-regime protests "in more than one region," he said, adding that many are motivated to participate out of concern for the future of their children.

The regime has neglected the region for years, he said, and "the spread of harmful drugs in the region by Hizbullah with the approval and support of the regime" poses an existential threat to the new generation.

Mothers believe it is time to get rid of the regime, he said, and that the opportunity may not come again, in light of the momentum the protest movement has received from civil and religious society in the province.

Protecting future generations

Damascus University graduate and mother of two Lama al-Andari, 33, told Al-Fassel she has watched the protests closely since they started in Sweida's al-Karama square and quickly spread throughout the province.

"At first I thought the protest movement would be quickly extinguished like the other movements before it," al-Andari said.

"But seeing men and women continue to head to public squares to participate in the protests... I saw that it was my duty to also take part," she said.

"I am fortunate that my mother, despite her old age, took care of the children while I participated in the demonstrations," she added.

"These protests restored the dignity of everyone in Sweida province without exception, especially the women and girls of the region," al-Andari said, adding that "women are truly half of society."

"A woman who educates her children, and a girl who educates her brothers and relatives on the true meaning of freedom and dignity and exposes the truth about the regime, has the primary role of building an entire generation that will continue the protest movement and preserve its gains in the future," she said.

The new generation "truly understands the meaning of freedom and sees with its own eyes the sacrifices made by both male and female activists," she said.