Fadwa Souleimane (also transcribed as Fadwa SuleimanorFadwa Suleiman; 17 May 1970[1] – 17 August 2017) was a Syrian actress of Alawite descent who led a Sunni-majority protest against Bashar al-Assad's government in Homs.[2] She became one of the most recognized faces of the Syrian Civil War.[3][4][5][6][7][8]
Born in Aleppo, Suleiman moved to the capital Damascus to pursue an acting career where she performed in numerous plays, Maria's Voice and Media, and in at least a dozen TV shows, including in The Diary of Abou Antar and Little Ladies.[2] She also played an art teacher at an orphanage in "Small Hearts," a television series that helped raise awareness about human organ trafficking and was broadcast by several Arab channels. She also acted in an Arabic adaptation of Henrik Ibsen's "A Doll's House" at the Qabbani theater in Damascus.[3]
At the start of the Syrian uprising in 2011, Suleiman was one of the few outspoken actresses to protest against the government of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad. Facing possible death or imprisonment, Suleiman wanted to participate in the demonstration to dispel what she said was public perception that all in the Alawite community, which comprised around 10 percent of the Syrian population, supported the government of fellow Alawite Bashar al-Assad. She also wanted to dismiss the government's narrative that those who participated in protests were either Islamists or armed terrorists.[2] She appeared at rallies demanding Assad's removal, sharing the podium with soccer star Abdel Basset Al-Sarout, one of a number of other prominent Syrians who backed the revolt.
Suleiman also delivered impassioned monologues to camera, calling for peaceful protests to continue across the country until Assad was overthrown.[9] “Sectarian violence in Homs would be worse if it weren’t for Fadwa Suleiman,” says Peter Harling, Syria analyst at the International Crisis Group, the think tank. “She has tried to contain the damage among Alawites who have been hijacked by the regime.”[10]
In one video message in 2011, Suleiman said security forces were searching Homs neighborhoods for her, and beating people to force them to reveal her hiding place.[11] She cut her hair short like a boy, and moved from house to house to evade capture.[3] In 2012, she fled via Lebanon and moved to France, where she resided in Paris.[12]
Media related to Fadwa Sulaiman at Wikimedia Commons
