Opinion: The Syrian Woman Will Not Accept a Superficial Peace Built on the Ruins of Death

Does the opposition suppose it is possible to govern a society where women are the majority because of wartime conditions without including women’s thoughts – not just her voice – and without women leading the course of a revolution exhausted politically and militarily after five years?

Everyone following the Syrian negotiations must wonder why the women’s advisory council to the UN envoy was born amid such a media frenzy while the women’s advisory committee to the High Negotiations Committee was stifled, despite the fact that the High Committee needs an effective and meaningful women’s advisory council more than twice as much as the UN envoy does, and despite the presence of a large number of Syrian female opposition members able to shoulder this burden.

This opposition women’s advisory council remained both there and not there as the attendees were forced to be absent intellectually even though they were physically present and their activities were expanded superficially. Does the High Committee or any other opposition body suppose it is possible to govern a society where women are the majority because of wartime conditions without including women’s thoughts – not just her voice – and without women leading the course of a revolution exhausted politically and militarily after five years?

As the women’s advisory council to the UN envoy demanded that all prisoners be released, the women’s advisory committee to the opposition should demand that those who have arrested, killed and kidnapped Syrians be held to account. As the women’s advisory council demands the delivery of aid and an end to starvation, the opposition advisory committee should demand that those who imposed the blockades be considered criminals, instead of building a superficial peace on the ruins of death. Syrian women must demand a just peace continuing from the depth of transitional justice, and that all those who committed crimes against Syrians be held accountable.

Finally, while the High Committee did not bother to consult its full women’s advisory council on the UN envoy’s questions, there was supposed to be a survey of public opinion on these questions, which is a right and duty of all who find themselves able to extend a helping hand to building Syria and lifting it out of what it is in. The issue is not just limited to the invitees, since the pain of Syrians spans all corners of the world.

This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.

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