Conflicted Revisited... The Untold Story of the Druze From Suwayda

Over the past few weeks, Southern Syria has been engulfed in
violence, between the Al-Sharaa regime, local Druze militias, and
even Israel joining the fray. In season 5, we spoke to Nour Salam,
a member of the Druze community from Suwayda, who explained the
complex dynamics of the region. So this week, we're returning to
that episode, to help you make sense of the events going on there
today... Nour Salam is a Druze and a human rights and women’s
rights activist whose family are originally from Suwayda, where she
has been living since fleeing there in 2013. Through the war she
worked as a field coordinator for Syrian civil society groups, and
she is also a member of the Syrian Women’s Political Movement and
many Suwayda-based initiatives supporting women’s rights. In this
episode, Nour shares her unique perspective as a Druze woman from
Suwayda, discussing her identity, the history of the Druze
community, and the impact of the Syrian civil war on her life and
activism. She reflects on her family's experiences under the Assad
regime, and her involvement in the revolution, highlighting the
complexities of Druze identity and their relationship with other
communities in Syria. Thomas and Nour later explore the arrival of
ISIS in Suwayda, and the subsequent rise of factional conflicts
from local militias formed to protect against ISIS, who are still
controversially playing their part in the ongoing instability of
the region, alongside Israel, today. Season 5 has ended, but if you
still want to have your Conflicted fix , then you’ll have to join
our Conflicted Community. Subscribers will get bonus episodes every
other week, and can also join our Conflicted Community chatroom,
where you can interact with fellow dearest listeners, discuss
episodes past and future, get exclusive messages from Thomas and
Aimen, ask future Q&A questions and so much more. All the
information you need to sign up to the Conflicted Community is on
this link: https://conflicted.supportingcast.fm/  Conflicted
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