This podcast was made by AFTER THE FALL / Dispatches from the Women’s Revolution in North-East Syria, Montreal

https://afterthefallpod.libsyn.com/episode-five-first-newroz-after-the-fall

Our final episode takes us to the Newroz celebrations in Qamislo, where we see Syrian musician Samih Choukeir perform. Once back in Montreal, Virginia talks to Khuzama and Cedric from the media project Fajawat about the importance of Choukeir’s performance and their perspectives on the changing climate in Syria. Newroz 2025 was openly celebrated in Damascus for the first time and the holiday has taken on new significance in the wake of Assad’s fall. However, as of October 2025, the transitional government in Damascus has decided to exclude Newroz from the list of official holidays in Syria. We end the episode with an update from Khuzama and Cedric that was recorded in late September 2025 and includes talk about the massacres that took place in Sweida in July.
 

Notes:

citations

On Samih Choukeir: https://www.syriawise.com/samih-chouker-the-very-first-voice-of-the-syrian-revolution/, https://syriauntold.com/2021/04/09/remembering-the-syrian-revolution-through-song/

On Sweida: https://interstices-fajawat.org/suwayda-2025-chronology-of-a-predictable-massacre/

https://hawarnews.com/en/sweida-announces-formation-of-unified-national-army-under-name-national-guard

More information on the situation Khuzama and Cedric talked about from April 2025 when activists from Sweida were arrested on their way to a workshop in Raqqa:

https://jinhaagency.com/en/actual/women-arrested-on-their-way-to-raqqa-we-were-subjected-to-torture-36914 –

Links

Khuzama and Cedric’s media project, Fajawat:

https://interstices-fajawat.org/

Kongra Star’s website: https://kongra-star.org/ 

Music credits: Theme music is from Koma Şehîd Hêva Ya Şehba available online at https://jintv.net/ku/posts/post1729280299/ and interlude and outro music is from Shahriyar Jamshidi https://shahriyarjamshidi.bandcamp.com/album/my-sunset-land-rojava. This episode also featured audio recorded by me at the Qamislo Newroz Festival in March 2025 as well as audio of Samih Choukeir’s performance there that was recorded by Ronahi TV and is available online at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODd_WMe55VM

A Short List of Further resources on Syria, Kurdistan, Rojava, etc. (things I read or listened to while making this podcast)

List of media to check out re: Syria from Fajawat website: https://interstices-fajawat.org/its-not-complicated-a-note-to-help-you-understand-syria/

Podcasts:

https://thefirethesetimes.com/ (specifically https://thefirethesetimes.com/2025/03/04/ocalans-statement-and-the-future-of-the-pkk-w-dilan/ and Syria: The Inconvenient Revolution: https://fromtheperiphery.com/syria-the-inconvenient-revolution-pod/)

https://thedigradio.com/Thawra/

https://ckut.ca/playlists/shows/15267 featuring Shahrzad Arshadi’s podcast “The Future is Now”

https://thekurdishedition.com/

https://www.iheart.com/podcast/105-it-could-happen-here-30717896/episode/what-does-the-pkks-disarmament-mean-286340407/

Books:

Rojava in Focus: Critical Dialogues. Edited by Cihad Hammy and Thomas Jeffrey Milley, AK Press, 2025.

Bringing the Rojava Revolution Home. By Jenni Keasden and Natalia Szarek, Active Distribution, 2023.

My Road from Damascus: A Memoir. By Jamal Saeed, ECW Press, 2022.

Burning Country: Syrians in Revolution and War. By Leila Al-Shami and Robin Yassin-Kassab, Pluto Press, 2018. 

First Newroz After the Fall

by Virginia | After the Fall: Dispatches from the Women's Revolution in North-East Syria

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