Amani, 23 years old, a journalism-political science student at the University of Idlib, on May 27, 2025. (Credit: Amélie Zaccour/L’Orient-Le Jour)
Wedged on the sofa between six friends, Abdallah, 23, struggles to assert his voice in the debate. The closure a month earlier of a feminist NGO by the police in the countryside of Idlib, after its founder disparaged the niqab in an audio message, inflamed social media and the small downtown salon where the group of students gathered on May 25. "Frankly, you can't just shut down an office for an ill-considered remark," the young artist-painter said. "Of course you can, she was disrespectful!" Elaf huffed, inhaling a long drag from a hookah. "No woman should feel insulted, whether those who wear the niqab or others," argued Huda, dressed in jeans, abaya, and leopard-print veil. Annoyed, Abdallah pretended to leave, then returned from the kitchen with a tray of steaming coffee. "Say what you want, but...
Wedged on the sofa between six friends, Abdallah, 23, struggles to assert his voice in the debate. The closure a month earlier of a feminist NGO by the police in the countryside of Idlib, after its founder disparaged the niqab in an audio message, inflamed social media and the small downtown salon where the group of students gathered on May 25. "Frankly, you can't just shut down an office for an ill-considered remark," the young artist-painter said. "Of course you can, she was disrespectful!" Elaf huffed, inhaling a long drag from a hookah. "No woman should feel insulted, whether those who wear the niqab or others," argued Huda, dressed in jeans, abaya, and leopard-print veil. Annoyed, Abdallah pretended to leave, then returned from the kitchen with a tray of steaming coffee. "Say what you want,...