The Syrian Women’s Political Movement is following with deep concern the serious military escalation taking place in As-Suwayda Governorate, especially following the intervention of security forces and the Ministry of Defense aimed at protecting civilians, asserting state authority over the governorate, and disarming armed groups, according to official spokespersons of the Transitional Government. This operation has resulted in further casualties, adding to more than one hundred deaths yesterday, including women and children. Reports are circulating about many villages being deserted by their inhabitants fleeing the violence, while hospitals are overwhelmed with the injured amid power outages and shortages of supplies. This is happening alongside widespread calls for mobilization from all parties, including official entities, accompanied by strong hate speech and incitement.

We, in the Syrian Women’s Political Movement, strongly condemn the approach of demonstrating force and violence as a means to resolve conflicts and disputes. We consider this a direct threat to civil peace and an expression of the inability to engage in dialogue or adopt a comprehensive plan on which to build civil peace and a new social contract.

We in the Syrian Women’s Political Movement demand:

• An immediate halt to all military operations and creating a chance for peaceful negotiation and rational dialogue aimed at establishing trust among all Syrian components as well as between the Transitional Government and all Syrians.

• The neutrality and protection of civilian women and men and ensuring they are not dragged into the conflict. Prevent the recurrence of violations or massacres, and expedite the announcement of the findings of the investigation committee into the coastal massacres, as this may help strengthen trust between the Transitional Government and fearful Syrian communities.

• The restructuring of the Syrian army based on national standards, the monopoly of weapons by the state and its official institutions, and ensuring that public security and army personnel wear a uniform bearing the new visual identity adopted by the state. The prohibition of wearing veils or carrying religious, sectarian, or ideological symbols. The state must bear full responsibility for the conduct of its security and military personnel and hold accountable anyone committing violations against civilians.

• The criminalization of hate speech whether on social media or in official media, and preventing the use of religious platforms to incite sedition, violence, or calls for mobilization (“faza’a”) meaning ‘surge of solidarity’ and general mobilization. The logic of “faza’a” plays on emotional and ideological dimensions and antagonizes others, paving the way toward civil war and contradicting the logic of state-building.

• The adoption of an inclusive and clear citizenship discourse by state institutions, including official media, based on the principles of democracy, equality, rights, and justice, and the rejection and criminalization of discrimination based on sect, ethnicity, or religion.

• The adoption of the principles of participation, pluralism, and true representation of Syria’s diverse components, moving away from the mentality of classifying Syrians as tribes, clans, sects, ethnicities, classes, or elites.

We, in the Syrian Women’s Political Movement, believe that sustainable peace can only be built on trust, justice, and genuine dialogue, and that the logic of force leads only to repeated explosions that threaten civil peace and undermine efforts to build a new social contract. We believe that the state triumphs when all its people succeed regardless of their regional, sectarian, or ethnic identities. Therefore, we must all raise our voices to appeal to reason rather than the logic of force.

Long live Syria and long live the Syrian people in all their diversity

General Secretariat of the Syrian Women’s Political Movement
Tuesday, July 15, 2025