Coastal Alawite Perspectives: Interview with an Alawite Student Expelled from University

(For a prior interview in this series, see interview with an activist from the Latakia locality of al-Bahluliya).

At the end of February, a controversy arose over reports of a decision by Latakia University to expel an Alawite student- Ghazal Salman- who was studying at the agricultural college in the university. According to Ghazal’s critics, her expulsion was justified for allegedly blaspheming Islam, attacking the Syrian revolution, attacking the new flag and the Syrian president Ahmad al-Sharaa, and glorifying elements of the Alawite insurgency against the new government. Some of the social media posts attributed to her that were cited as proof for these charges can no longer be seen on her existing social media profile.

For Ghazal’s supporters, she was expelled on a sectarian basis. She herself appeared in a video denying that she was expelled for attacking Sharaa or anyone else. Rather, she claimed that her expulsion was tied to commemorating the victims of the coastal massacres of Alawites that took place in March 2025. Echoing a line that I was also told by a person proclaiming affiliation with the Alawite insurgent brand ‘Coastal Shield,’ she addressed her critics: “You claim to belong to our Islam, you don’t know Islam.” In a subsequent video though, she asserted that any denunciation of (Sunni) Islam she made was in response to Sunni denunciations of Alawite religion and shrines, and that she had friends from all sects, including Sunnis. As for the charge of supporting ‘regime remnants,’ she asserted that “the resistance was just a matter of defending the martyrs of the massacres on the coast and other massacres….any person who defends against oppression is one who resists.”

Last month I interviewed Ghazal so she could elaborate more on her own perspective and outlook on Syria.

The document circulated on social media regarding Ghazal’s expulsion from Latakia University.