Post-Assad Syria: An Insurgent Fighter's Perspective

How do the insurgent fighters who toppled Assad’s regime feel about post-Assad Syria and the direction the country should take? It is difficult to generalise of course, but observers and analysts should try to reach out to them to get their views. Below is one interview I did with one ‘Amir al-Shami,’ originally from Idlib countryside. He discusses briefly his own life, how Syria should relate to the Shari‘a (Islamic law), his thoughts on relations between different ethnic and religious groups, and the issue of confronting Israel in the south. This interview was conducted on 17 January.

The interviewee in front of the Umayyad mosque in Damascus


Q: Can you describe to me your life in revolutionary work?

A: I was born in 1999. I participated in the initial demonstrations. I was a child of 12 at the time. I participated in a number of demonstrations. I bore arms two years later: at the end of 2013 I received training. I moved between a number of factions.