A Personal Political Manifesto

  • I belong to the Syrian democratic movement, and I hope its tools of resistance and organizing will continue to develop in the years to come.
  • I am the daughter of the Syrian revolution. I belong to it, and I am honored by that belonging. I belonged and was honored, and I still am.
  • I am part of the Syrian feminist movement. I belong to it and am honored by it. I believe there can be no real recovery for Syria without the meaningful inclusion of women.
  • I will return to Syria whenever I am able, until exile is imposed on me. I hope to die there one day, not anywhere else in the world. And I wish for all Syrians who desire it a return without fear, neither from repression inside the country nor discrimination by asylum policies.
  • Clearly and openly, I oppose the new Syrian authority. I did not elect them as the country’s government, and I will not elect them.
  • I believe this authority has a non-democratic agenda for Syria, with no intention of relinquishing power. It began with economic and political monopolization and a lack of transparency, and has produced disasters up to this moment in the areas of civil peace, the loss of thousands of civilian lives, national dialogue, parliamentary elections, transitional justice, and an economy devoid of any concept of social justice.
  • I oppose this authority for what it does. There is much that warrants opposition, accountability, and confrontation, but I do not oppose it through rumors, exaggeration, incitement, or fear-mongering.
  • I recognize that there is currently no revolution seeking to overthrow this authority, and I do not claim otherwise. Nor do I use the tools or rhetoric we used in the 2011 revolution. I know this position may be seen by some allies in the new Syrian opposition as less radical than they wish, or less than what they consider a morally right stance. This position is not final or rigid; it may change if Syrians choose at some point to launch a nonviolent revolution against this authority, which does not exist on the ground today.
  • I understand that fear of dictatorship is not Syria’s only fear, and perhaps not even its greatest one.
  • I recognize that after the previous regime’s rule, Syria lives with rampant corruption and a collapse of minimum human dignity in key sectors: education, higher education, health, transportation, and local governance. Building institutions capable of serving Syrians is a condition that cannot be ignored in any serious political path. I understand and respect the choice of some Syrian democrats who have chosen to work on institution-building with this government, even while recognizing the risks, including the risk of this government turning into dictatorship. I do not see improving Syrians’ health, education, or local services as an act hostile to freedom, nor do I believe in resisting any authority by pushing society toward worse living conditions.
  • I do not consider everyone working within state institutions an adversary, nor do I automatically consider everyone in the opposition an ally. At the same time, I do not see those who stood with the Assad regime as allies now or in the future. At a minimum, I exercise my right to social isolation; at a maximum, I demand full accountability for all who committed grave human rights violations.
  • I recognize that Israel is a real and serious danger, an occupying power that threatens not only Palestine but Syria as well. I oppose normalization.
  • I recognize that the possibility of civil war and widespread factional armed violence remains a real danger, capable of destroying any prospect of safety and security for broad segments of Syrians.
  • I do not see Sunni Syrians as “Umayyads,” “ISIS supporters,” or “regime cheerleaders.” I do not see Alawites as “shabiha.” I do not see Kurds as merely affiliated with the SDF or the PKK. I do not see Druze as “Zionists” or defined by Al Hujari. I do not reduce Syrians to their identities alone, nor do I ignore identity-based suffering.
  • I have no “favorite war criminal.” I do not wish for any of them to rule Syria or any part of it.
  • I see it as my responsibility, as part of the Syrian democratic movement, to exert genuine intellectual effort rooted in curiosity, humility, and engagement, to push toward the development of a national plan to combat the extreme poverty Syrians are living through as a primary national priority. We must not look down on electricity issues, shoe-factory protests, teachers’ strikes, the suffering of residents of completely destroyed cities, or the people who are still living in camps.
  • I believe transitional justice is the core of any national project. For me, it is not only accountability, but also reparations, preservation of memory and narrative, institutional reform to prevent the return of torture and a fascist state, and a genuine empowerment process for victims.
  • I also carry a societal responsibility toward transitional justice: I do not belittle the impact of the past fourteen years, nor do I pit yesterday’s victims against today’s. I do not minimize the brutality of Assad’s rule and the war crimes committed under it. The breaking of the gates of Sednaya prison, the return of the exiled, and the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime were moral, human, and historical necessities, and I continue to feel joy at that fall.
  • I recognize that Syria today includes a new generation about whose political positions we know little. This generation grew up outside our political circles and outside the frameworks formed during the long years of the revolution. They are not automatically our extension, nor do they necessarily share our language, priorities, sensitivities, or issues. It is our political and ethical responsibility to open doors to this generation, not claim to represent it, to listen seriously, and to build real bridges and networks with it.
  • I believe in local work and serious engagement with immediate realities, while keeping channels open with allies across Syria and in the diaspora. I believe local activism is today one of the most effective forms of political action, and that the greatest impact for many revolutionaries will be in the areas they know, understand socially, have prior relationships and struggles in, and better access to information, especially amid a dense and systematic war of rumors.
  • I believe politics is not practiced only from centers, but from neighborhoods, towns, universities, unions, and small initiatives that accumulate trust and, to this day, often surpass large civil society initiatives in courage.
  • I believe democracy is not reduced to changing the president or issuing superficial laws. I want real democratic political parties with social bases, programs, organization, and accountability to society. It is not only the role of authority to “grant” a parties law; it is the role of political forces to build themselves, organize their bases, reclaim politics as a societal act with networks and rules, and avoid fragmenting these networks through labeling, scolding, and blanket accusations.
  • I trust in the collective desire of many Syrians for freedom and dignity, and in their capacity for change. I do not see Syrians as a society that produces dictatorships, nor as a cheering mass, nor as backward communities. I see an exhausted society after fourteen years of genocide. I try to be part of a politics built on compassion coupled with respect, not pity and condescension, nor demonization and superiority.
  • I recognize that Syria today experiences a high level of freedom of expression. This freedom was not granted as a favor by anyone; it is a product of the Syrian revolution. Preserving freedom of expression, organization, and assembly is a collective responsibility upon all of us as Syrians, in the face of this authority or any future authority.
  • I clearly demand Syrians’ right to genuine elections and a democratic transfer of power, and I reject that Syria be ruled by any military authority, whether the current one or any future one.
  • I do not relinquish my political agency in choosing my tools, neither to the opposition nor to supporters of the authority. As a Syrian activist, I have the right to experiment, to uncertainty, to search for answers, and to ask questions. Relinquishing political agency contradicts everything I revolted for and the very essence of democratic action. I sign this manifesto today, humbly accepting that immersion with Syrians and the daily challenges of a reality I do not claim to fully understand may change me.
  • I seek allies and partners more than I seek adversaries. We often know who our adversaries are, but our networks of allies remain weak and fragile. I write this text with open hands to allies for meeting, networking, organizing, and thinking together.

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