Dignity Square, in Sweida, on March 3. Photo by Emmanuel Haddad.
With the hood of his car covered in green camouflage, Samer* was talking on March 3, with an armed man, dressed like him in military fatigues, in Karama Square [Arabic for dignity] Sweida, a Druze-majority area in southern Syria. By his side, his mother and sisters turned their backs to a sign that read “Peace for all Syrians, freedom,” displayed above the raised fist in the colors of the Syrian revolution, a reminder of the movement launched in August 2023 against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime. Today, the euphoria triggered by the dictator’s fall on Dec. 8, 2024, has given way to a widespread fear of the new power embodied by Ahmad al-Sharaa, the new president with a jihadist past.“I don’t want to be forced to cover up; I care about my freedom,” said Samer’s sister. “Everyone around me is siding with Israel,” she added. Her...
With the hood of his car covered in green camouflage, Samer* was talking on March 3, with an armed man, dressed like him in military fatigues, in Karama Square [Arabic for dignity] Sweida, a Druze-majority area in southern Syria. By his side, his mother and sisters turned their backs to a sign that read “Peace for all Syrians, freedom,” displayed above the raised fist in the colors of the Syrian revolution, a reminder of the movement launched in August 2023 against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime. Today, the euphoria triggered by the dictator’s fall on Dec. 8, 2024, has given way to a widespread fear of the new power embodied by Ahmad al-Sharaa, the new president with a jihadist past.“I don’t want to be forced to cover up; I care about my freedom,” said Samer’s sister. “Everyone around me is siding with...