Early Life and Education:
Suad Nawfal was born in Raqqa, northern Syria. She studied education and graduated in 2006, possessing a strong educational and humanitarian philosophy that would later be reflected in her activism and social work.
Participation in the Syrian Revolution:
With the outbreak of the Syrian revolution in March 2011, Suad Nawfal joined the ranks of protesters against the regime of Bashar al-Assad. She was one of the most prominent female voices calling for freedom, justice, and human rights.
She was known for her courage and independence on the ground, and for her connections with all segments of Syrian society, believing that the revolution belonged to all Syrians without exception.
Confrontation with ISIS:
When ISIS kidnapped her friend, the Jesuit priest Father Paolo Dall’Oglio, known for his role in promoting interfaith dialogue and humanitarian work, Suad Nawfal became a symbol of civil resistance within the organization’s territory. She went to ISIS headquarters in Raqqa and began a daily, solo protest against the group’s practices, holding signs she had handwritten with bold slogans such as:
“Our revolution was started by the honorable and stolen by the thieves!”
She was shot at during her protest, but she continued her defiance, challenging the group’s terror and refusing to wear trousers and a headscarf in open defiance of ISIS’s laws that imposed the mandatory niqab on women.
Civil and Humanitarian Activism:
In addition to her activism on the ground, Suad Nawfal worked in humanitarian relief. She sold handicrafts to raise funds for displaced people and founded the “Jana” Foundation to support women and families in need with income and food during ISIS’s occupation of Raqqa.
She also released a series of videos filmed inside ISIS-held areas, courageously documenting the tragic reality for civilians, thus becoming an insider witness to the suffering of Syrians under armed extremism.
Persecution and Exile:
On September 25, 2013, she was shot again and sentenced to death by an ISIS emir, forcing her to flee Raqqa to the Turkish city of Urfa, before eventually seeking asylum in Europe.
International Awards and Recognition:
In 2014, she received the Homo Homini Award from the Czech organization People in Need, in recognition of her courage and struggle for human rights. She accepted the award at the 2015 One World Film Festival in Prague.
In her acceptance speech, Souad Noufal asserted that Bashar al-Assad’s regime bears primary responsibility for the terrorism that has devastated Syria, emphasizing that tyranny and extremism are two sides of the same coin.
Revolutionary Role and Legacy:
Today, Souad Noufal represents the voice of the free Syrian woman who resisted both tyranny and extremism, believing that revolution is not a gun or a slogan, but a stance and a living conscience that defends dignity and justice.
She has become a noble symbol of civil resistance and an example of the ability of Syrians, men and women, to uphold the values upon which the revolution was founded.
Honoring the Syrian Future Movement:
Based on the Syrian Future Movement’s belief in the role of women in raising awareness and confronting tyranny and extremism, the Movement announces the honoring of activist Souad Noufal as part of its “Personalities Who Supported the Syrian Revolution” series, by awarding her the Movement’s symbolic shield in recognition of her courage and struggle for freedom and humanity.
