Rahaf Aldoughli is a lecturer in Middle East and North African Studies at Lancaster University.
The leader of Syria’s Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), Ahmed al-Sharaa, addresses a crowd at the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus on December 8, 2024. Abdulaziz Ketaz/AFP via Getty Images
The leader of Syria’s Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), Ahmed al-Sharaa, addresses a crowd at the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus on December 8, 2024. Abdulaziz Ketaz/AFP via Getty ImagesSocks mocking former president Bashar al-Asad and the regime forces for sale in Salhiyya, Damascus on January 29, 2025. Rahaf Aldoughli.Fighters in SNA groups during operation Deterrence of Aggression against Bashar al-Asad. Northern Syria, December 3, 2024. Fieldwork photo by the author’s research fixer. Shared courtesy of the author.
