2025: The deliberate massacre of Syria’s Druze
Between July 13 and 21, 2025, the Syrian province of Suwayda in southern Syria was subjected to military aggression by armed groups affiliated with the Syrian de facto authorities, resulting in the deaths of more than 930 civilians and 550 Druze and Christian fighters. While this operation was widely presented as an intervention aimed at restoring order following inter-communal clashes, an in-depth analysis of the causes and circumstances of these events reveals a very different reality and highlights the full responsibility of Ahmad al-Sharaa’s non-elected government in what must be considered a war crime.
Podcast: First Newroz After the Fall – After the Fall (Montreal)
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.
Podcast: Unrest in Sweida (Part 2) – From The Periphery Media Collective (UK)
Khuzama and Cedric from the Fajawat grassroots initiative return to STIR to talk to Leila about the July unrest in Sweida province, which included massacres against members of the Druze community. Our guests were in Sweida during the unrest, so share their moving first-hand testimony as well as provide analysis on implications for the future of Syria as a whole.
The Palestinian camp of Yarmouk, a deep Syrian wound
The history of the Yarmouk camp is a microcosm of the region’s history since the beginning of the Assad clan’s dictatorship, which can be described as national socialist. It provides a snapshot of the power relations and political loyalties that have led to the violent fracturing of Syrian and Palestinian societies since the mid-1950s. Yarmouk has also been a microcosm of the uprising and civil war that have ravaged Syria since 2011. Here is a comprehensive review of the chronology of the last fourteen years…
Is Ahmed Al-Sharaa mocking the Syrians?
The fall of the Assad regime on December 8, 2024 was an undeniable liberation for millions of Syrians, who suddenly and unexpectedly emerged from fifty years of totalitarian barbarism that had transformed Syria into a field of ruins doubling as a concentration camp archipelago, since which several hundred thousand civilians have disappeared or been forced into exile. However, six months after this historic overthrow, all signs suggest that beyond the coup, the promise of a better future is rapidly fading.
Podcast : Unrest in Sweida – From The Periphery Media Collective (UK)
Leila is joined by two Sweida-based activists, Khuzama and Ian from the Fajawat grassroots initiative, to talk about the recent unrest in Syria in which members of the Druze community were targeted. In the first part, they got into what happened, the fault lines, the role of Israel as well as the agreement that was reached. The second part, starting at roughly 23 minutes in, is a dive into Sweida and the Syrian revolution, the role of women and the situation since the fall of the Assad regime.
The Druze of Lebanon and Syria, a long history of insubordination
With the Assad regime having just fallen and the issue of disarming the Druze and Kurdish communities making headlines, it is worth recalling the highly political history of the Druze community in Syria and Lebanon. Here are a few key points.
It’s not complicated: A note to help you understand Syria
In the age of social media and information for all and by all, it’s more than ever necessary to build up a reliable list of resources on the subjects you want to analyze and understand. Particularly when it comes to international geopolitics. As an initiative connected to Syrian society, we have put together this note to share our sources of information on Syria.
Podcast : We Will Need Time – The Final Straw Radio (USA)
In this episode, you’ll hear Cedric and Khuzama, two libertarian communists with connections to Syria and editor contributors to the blog interstices-fajawat.org , speaking about their observations of what’s been going on leading up to and through the ouster of Bashar Al-Assad, as well as complications among various factions on the ground and the view from the Syrian diaspora.
Call to all Syrian progressive forces !
Apart from the accomplices of the Assad regime and the civilian populations still being targeted in the North and East of Syria, all Syrians are happy with the liberation of Syria thanks to the offensive of the Syrian rebels and the support of many Syrian communities...