One of the questions I get asked about my mom is why she doesn’t speak Kurmanji and the sad truth is most Kurds from Damascus don’t. Due to the persecution from the Syrian state, many like my mom were never taught out of fear they’d be discriminated against or targeted

Despite the persecution and attempts at arabization, Kurds from Rukn el Deen resisted by privately celebrating their identity within the bounds of the neighborhood like this Newroz celebration in the early 80’s.

In 1986 Newroz was first celebrated publicly and it lead to violence when Syrian forces opened fire on celebrators killing Sulayman Adi. My mom and other Kurds working at the PFLP-GC hospital were able to smuggle his body out for burial before the mukhabarat could take him.

Celebrations still happened unofficially like this one in 2009, but almost all lead to arrests or violence in Rukn el Deen from the Syrian government since any peaceful display of Kurdish identity continued to be seen as a threat.