The Syrian Civil War Pt.8: The Untold Story of the Druze From Suwayda

Our penultimate episode of season 5 is here, continuing our journey
across Syria to bring you the voices of the revolution and civil
war, from all perspectives.  In the series so far, we’ve given
you the perspectives of a Kurd from Aleppo and Afrin, we’ve
parachuted you into the siege of Southern Damascus, we’ve shown you
what life was like in Raqqa under ISIS - and now, we bring you
another fascinating view of the civil war - that of the Druze from
Suwayda, a small city in southern Syria. And it’s all told through
the story of our guest this week, Nour Salam. Nour is herself a
Druze, and also 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. New Conflicted Season 5
episodes will be coming every two weeks, but if you want to have
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