Women demand their place in the new Syria: "We have paid with our lives and our bodies."

BarcelonaLubna Alkanawati and Roulah al-Rekbie are two long-standing Syrian feminists forced into exile by Bashar al-Assad's regime. Two courageous women at the helm of Women Now for Development, an organization dedicated to the support, empowerment, and protection of women, were recognized this Thursday in the Catalan Parliament with the annual prize of the Catalan International Institute for Peace.

They lived through the March 2011 revolution, which erupted unexpectedly against Bashar al-Assad's regime, amid the wave of change sweeping the region after more than 40 years of dictatorship. A dream that was drowned in blood, but which has remained etched in the collective consciousness. "The Syrian people wanted to take control of their destiny. It was a new beginning," recalls Al-Rekbie, who has lived in exile in Lebanon since 2016.

That revolution was not a man's job: "We women were not spectators or guests of the revolution, but of our revolution, of our own revolution. We got involved in all areas, breaking with a world marked by social norms that left us on the sidelines," says Alkanawati. After the revolution came the counterrevolution: the chemical weapons massacre in the Goutha neighborhood of Damascus, which she survived. Or the kidnapping of her companions Samira al-Khalil and Razan Zaitouneh, two names on the list of the tens of thousands of people that the Assad regime, groups of fanatics and mercenaries sent by Russia and Iran, made disappear in detention and torture centers and mass graves.

Justice and reparation are still a pending task under The new regime of Abu Mohamed al-Golan, the new president of Syria, who now calls himself Ahmed al-Sharaa. Since He overthrew Assad by surprise in December last year and took powerFeminists denounce that the political transition has not served to clean up the mess, nor has it brought those responsible for those atrocities to justice, nor has it provided reparations to the victims. "As long as the perpetrators remain within the system, there will be no peace," says Al Rekbie. "If we don't start holding the guilty parties accountable, everything will remain hidden under a layer of lava that will one day explode," her colleague emphasizes.

"Women have rights."

They also demand women's place in the new Syria. "We're still like a stage set," Al Rekbie complains. They recall that The regime change was the result of a military victory and that the groups now governing Syria have long excluded women from public space. "Now women in Syria are fighting again to show that they have earned this space. We have been excluded from decision-making, from all levels of choice, from everything that has happened these past nine months so far," Alkanawati warns. The sexual violence, kidnappings, and murders have not ended, she adds. That is why they are now once again "organizing, meeting, and saying 'we will not be silent.' It is a new moment, a new hope," she summarizes. And she explains that when she met with the new president of Syria, he repeated three times, "Women are standing, women are standing, women are standing."

Both activists agree that Syria is experiencing a multiple crisis: destruction, poverty, lack of basic services, and internal divisions. This is especially true with the massacres of Alawites in the coastal area and the attacks against Christians in the city of Suwaida. "The country could explode into a bloody civil war at any moment," warns Alkanawati. Amidst this panorama, women continue to organize. Grassroots movements have documented rapes, supported victims of massacres, and are promoting female candidates for the upcoming legislative elections. They go to towns and cities to tell other women, "We understand you, because we too have lost ours." They carry with them the dream of freedom and social justice. "If we don't have real democracy, there will be no peace. Democracy means inclusion, transparency, participation, and women's rights. We want to lead; we have earned it," concludes Alkanawati.

Amid this storm, they have not forgotten the suffering of the people in Gaza or the threat of Israel, which failed to confront Bashar al-Assad's dictatorship and, when it fell, invaded southern Syria. Now, however, the new interim president has hinted that he could normalize relations with Israel. "That's what scares me the most. The Palestinian cause is our cause, and Israel is a threat to the entire region," says Al Rebkie. If he ultimately does so, it will be against the will of his people, maintains Alkanawati: "Many Arab governments have normalized [relations with Israel], but the people haven't. Governments don't last forever; the people will regain power."

They don't forget either. the role of Russia, an ally of the regime"I am a survivor of a chemical attack in Ghouta. Russia, to me, is like the Syrian regime," says Alkanawati forcefully, adding: "The Russians destroyed the health system, they instigated the chemical attacks. And now they want to forgive them? They have no right to do so. That's what we have to do."

Fourteen years later, the struggle continues. "We still dream," says Al-Rekbie. "We want to build a country that will never again be plunged into bloodshed." Syrian women insist they will not remain silent, the activist assures: "We have paid with our lives and our bodies. We have earned our place in the new Syria."