Suwayda’s movement endures post-Assad

MARSEILLE — Every day for a year, Salam al-Nabwani waled 45 minutes from her home in Suwayda to the provincial capital’s central al-Karama (Dignity) Square, the beating heart of the Druze-majority province’s anti-regime protest movement.

A former teacher, al-Nabwani has been part of Suwayda’s protest movement—locally known as the hirak—since it began in August 2023. She was the first woman to be part of the executive organizing committee.

“Ninety percent of the written banners in the square are in my handwriting,” al-Nabwani told Syria Direct. “Every day we would ask: What is the message we want to send today from Dignity Square?”

Suwayda’s protests began in August 2023 after the Assad regime hiked fuel prices, but participants’ demands quickly escalated. Demonstrators called for the implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 2254—which outlines a political transition based on elections—the release of political detainees and, ultimately, the fall of the regime itself.

As the regime long sought to project itself as a “protector of minorities,” its response to protests was initially tempered, unlike in Sunni-majority areas where it reacted with bloody repression in 2011 and 2012. However, with time, as the protests endured, Damascus deployed reinforcements to the province, leading to clashes with local armed factions in June. This culminated in the assassination of Murhij al-Jarmani, a local commander and prominent participant in the movement, in July, allegedly by regime forces.

Still, Suwayda’s movement continued, though the number of regular participants had fallen by its first anniversary. Then, seemingly overnight, the regime fell on December 8. “We breathed in the oxygen of victory—the oxygen of Suwayda we breathed was different,” al-Nabwani recalled.

On December 9, the day after Bashar al-Assad fled the country, Suwayda residents converged in Suwayda city for mass celebrations. Today, the movement continues, not only celebrating the collapse of the regime, but turning a watchful eye towards the new HTS-led transitional government in Damascus.

‘Suwayda’s liberation’

On November 27, armed opposition factions led by the Idlib-based Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) launched an offensive and quickly captured Aleppo city from the regime. Building momentum, opposition forces pressed forward, capturing Hama and Homs in quick succession. Local forces in the south also mobilized, pushing north towards the capital. 

In Suwayda, local factions formed a joint operations room that included the Men of Dignity—Suwayda’s largest local faction—alongside Sheikh al-Karama, the Mountain Brigade, al-Qahiroun and smaller groups, the Men of Dignity’s spokesperson, Abu Taymour, told Syria Direct. 

“With significant pressure against the regime in the north…we decided to liberate Suwayda,” he said. “We exploited the opportunity and sent an evacuation warning to the security branches and large military units in the governorate. Suwayda’s liberation was easy, not difficult.” 

On December 7, Suwayda’s factions seized the provincial capital, then pushed outwards to capture the rest of the province. Within 24 hours, the province had fallen out of the regime’s hands. The joint operations room then moved quickly to assure security and safeguard state institutions from looting, with varying degrees of success.

In neighboring Daraa, local armed groups also mobilized, seizing control of the province and pushing north towards the capital. By dawn on December 8, Damascus had fallen. 

Post-regime governance

Post-Assad, Suwayda’s movement has taken steps to create new structures and participate in local governance. “The hirak produced an entity that elected several committees—a political committee, a media committee and a legal committee,” activist Samer Salloum, a member of the movement’s executive committee, told Syria Direct. 

The role of the movement is also “to protect state institutions, such as schools, banks, and hospitals,” he added. Movement participants in Suwayda—like volunteers in Damascus and across the country—have cleaned streets and government facilities following looting, al-Nabwani explained.   

Discussions are currently underway for the formation of local councils to govern the province, Hisham al-Jawhari, a civil activist who also participated in the protests, said. “There was a meeting of syndicates two weeks ago [in mid-December] at the national level to unify work…and have them lead the next phase,” he said. 

Meanwhile, media outlets reported a governor for Suwayda province was appointed on Tuesday by the HTS-led government, which Damascus has not confirmed. The reported pick, Mohsina al-Mahaythawi, was one of the first women to participate in the protest movement. She is from the Druze sect.

Al-Jawhari has worked for nearly two decades for civil society organizations in Suwayda. Today, these organizations are trying to come together “to speak with one voice,” something that was not possible under the regime, he said.

“Our space [to operate] was restricted, with risks of imprisonment, interrogation, kidnapping and killing. The regime feared civil society. If we were armed it wouldn’t be afraid of us because that’s its language,” he added. “Now we’re able to work publicly.”

“We might form committees for health, services, fuel [and] education,” he continued. “The ideas are [still] fresh, since the rapid fall [of the regime] was a surprise.” The next steps are “coordination and networking…with traditional leaders, intellectuals [and] activists. We’re trying to communicate with more than one province so that our voice represents everyone.” 

While many civil society organizations had their differences in the past, today “we all agree that we should monitor the work of state institutions to prevent corruption and pressure armed groups to give up their arms,” he added. 

Discussions regarding the future form of governance are ongoing in Suwayda province. “There is an internal conversation, and there have been major tensions surrounding the type of governing system: federalist or confederalist, decentralization or secession, etcetera,” al-Jawhari said. 

On December 29, transitional authorities sent the caretaker minister of justice to Suwayda to discuss the future of the province. The leader of the Syrian Druze community, Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri, has called for a “decentralized system,” while “preventing the country’s division.”  

Throughout more than a decade of revolution and war, Suwayda had a level of de facto autonomy, especially in the realm of security, with local factions keeping regime forces in check and residents benefiting from an exemption from military service.

HTS has announced the merger of all Syrian factions under the ministry of defense, saying “everyone will be subject to the law” in a meeting with members of the Druze community, according to a statement.

HTS leader, and the current de facto leader of Syria, Ahmad al-Sharaa (Abu Muhammad al-Jolani) has also dismissed federalism and partition, saying “Syria must remain united.”

Salloum, al-Jawhari, and al-Nawabli agree that secession is not an option. “The future of Suwayda is Syria’s future, they are not separate nor do we accept secession. Most people in Suwayda speak this way. The other segment [of the population] wants a Jabal al-Druze territory” al-Nawabli said. “I don’t understand how they want to live by themselves. Sunnis are our brothers and Alawites are our brothers.“

“Suwayda’s future is to be part of mother Syria. We believe in the unity of the Syrian land and people,” Salloum echoed.

Fears for the future

As a religious minority in Syria, many Druze are wary of HTS given its history in Idlib province, al-Jawhari said. He pointed to the 2015 massacre of at least 20 Druze in Qalb Loze, a village in Idlib, by Jabhat al-Nusra (HTS’ predecessor, at the time Al Qaeda’s Syrian affiliate). 

The group was also responsible for mass expropriations of Druze, as well as Christian, lands and homes in Idlib. In 2023, HTS changed face and began returning some seized properties, encouraging both Christians and Druze to return to their villages in Idlib province. 

Since seizing most of Syria, HTS-led forces have issued multiple statements and met with community notables, including the prominent Lebanese Druze leader Walid Jumblatt, to assure minorities that they will be protected.

“All the messages are reassuring but we are in a state of caution, we can’t take them at their word in the initial phases,” al-Jawhari said.

Read more: HTS looks to Idlib’s Christians and Druze to whitewash violations

Other fears concern what governance will look like in a post-Assad Syria. “Our fears from HTS are the imposition of authority and lack of participation in government, or in the ministerial formation,” Salloum said. 

So far, al-Sharaa has appointed a prime minister who will be responsible for the formation of a transitional government by March 2025. Al-Sharaa said this week that it could take up to three years to draft a new constitution, and up to four years to hold elections.

Some in Suwayda also worry about the role of religion in a future state. “We’re afraid of religious rule…of an Afghan Syria. The separation of religion and power is the most important,” al-Jawhari added.

Al-Nabwani agreed, stressing “we’re very afraid of the Islamization of the state, and that the draft of the constitution will say that the president of the state must be Muslim.” She has little faith in al-Sharaa himself as a “true political leader.” 

However, the Syrian people will not passively accept any new regime, al-Jawhari and al-Nabwani said. “The people won’t accept the de facto authority [without a] popular referendum, a new constitution. Anything else we won’t accept,” al-Nabwani said. “We don’t want to exchange one tyrant for another, even if the [new] face is better.”

“We didn’t stand in the squares so that we could get rid of one dictator and replace him with another. We might return to the squares to demand the fall of any regime or dictatorship,” al-Jawhari echoed. 

“The breath of the hirak is still present,” al-Nabwani concluded.

*Correction 1/7/2024: This report was edited to emphasize that media reports of Mohsina al-Mahaythawi’s selection as governor of Suwayda province were not confirmed by Damascus.