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Dima Moussa

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Moussa on the Syrian National Council circa 2012

Dima Moussa (Template:Lang-ar) (born 1978) is a Syrian lawyer, feminist and politician; she is a member of the Syrian political opposition and has served as vice president of the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces from May 2018 to July 2020.

Early life and education

Moussa was born in Aleppo, to Naim an electrical engineer and Margaret, she has one brother. Her family is originally from Homs.[1][2] She comes from a Christian family.[3][4] Moussa left Syria with her parents in the 1990s, when she was 15, mainly due to the practices of the regime of Hafez al-Assad.[5] Members of her extended family lived in Homs until 2012 when they had to flee due to the offensive launched by government forces on Homs during the Syrian Civil War.[6]

Moussa has a degree in electrical engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign and a Juris Doctor from DePaul University.[7]

Career

Moussa is a US-licensed lawyer and practiced law in the United States until late 2012; politically she is considered a "liberal feminist".[8] While a law student, Moussa volunteered with the Human Rights Law Institute of DePaul University in 2005-2006, focusing on Arab women's rights.[9] She began working with Syrian activists after the Syrian uprising started in 2011 and became a member of the Syrian opposition later that year.[7][10] In 2011, she was a spokesperson for the Revolutionary Council of Homs, a group of Homs-based political and civil society activists.[11]

Moussa was a founding member of the Syrian National Council.[10][6] In 2014, she was a spokesperson for the activist group Homs Quarters Union, speaking out about the catastrophic conditions and human rights violations during the siege imposed on the city of Homs, noting that, at the time, humanitarian aid had not reached the city since December 2012.[12]

Moussa joined the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces in October 2016,[10] and is a founding member of the Syrian Women's Political Movement, established in October 2017, in which she served as a member of the General Secretariat from its founding and until mid-2020.[10][5]

Moussa participated in the Conscience Convoy, in May 2018, which aimed to shed light on human rights abuses against women in Syria, particularly women detained by the government.[13] On International Women's Day 2018, she issued an appeal to women across the world to participate in sit-ins to highlight the suffering of Syrian women under the Assad regime, noting the continued silence on the murder, detention, kidnapping and rape of women in Syria.[14]

Moussa was elected vice president of the Syrian National Coalition alongside Abdel Basset Hamo and Bader Jamous in May 2018, under President Abdurrahman Mustafa.[8][15] She served in this position for two terms, until July 2020.

In June 2018, she participated in an advocacy campaign after Assad put Law No. 10 in place, which affected property rights in Syria and was an additional tool of preventing refugees from returning to their homes,[16] saying that it shows the government is "not serious" about engaging in transition.[17][18]

Moussa is a member of the Syrian Constitutional Committee, which was formed in October 2019; she is a member of the drafting group of the Syrian Constitutional Committee.

Personal life

Moussa speaks Arabic, English, and Assyrian.[9]

References

  1. ^ Fordham, Alice (4 February 2012). "Over 200 reported killed in Syrian attack on Homs". The Washington Post. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
  2. ^ "Russia, China block U.N. Syria resolution". UPI. 4 February 2012. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
  3. ^ "Syrian Expatriates Examine the Roles of Women and Minorities in Uprising". United States Institute of Peace. 15 March 2012. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
  4. ^ "Dima Moussa call for the Syrian Christian in Washington DC rally". YouTube. 23 July 2011. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
  5. ^ a b Köksal, Nil (1 December 2017). "Syrian feminists fight for say in postwar peace talks". CBC Radio Canada. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
  6. ^ a b Sherlock, Ruth (8 April 2012). "Syria: Easter cancelled in Homs after churches bombed". The Telegraph. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
  7. ^ a b "Dima Moussa". Eye to the Future. Archived from the original on 21 September 2018. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
  8. ^ a b "Coalition Elections: Syrians Not Interested and Not Surprised Either". The Syrian Observer. 8 May 2018. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
  9. ^ a b "Voices from the Front Lines: Update on the Syrian Opposition". United States Institute of Peace. 13 October 2011. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
  10. ^ a b c d "Dima Moussa". National Coalition of Syria. 26 January 2018.
  11. ^ "2 French journalists safely out of Syria". CNN. 1 March 2012.
  12. ^ Di Giovanni, Janine (7 February 2014). "Syria's Hunger Games". Newsweek. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
  13. ^ Goktas, Meryem (17 May 2018). "Plight of Syrian women in focus at Ukrainian parliament". Anadolu Agency. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
  14. ^ "Appeal to all Women Across the World to Rescue Syrian Women from Assad's Hell". SY-24. 9 March 2018. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
  15. ^ "Turkmen politician elected as head of Syrian moderate opposition". Daily Sabah. 7 May 2018. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
  16. ^ Diamond, Sara (7 June 2018). "Syrian Coalition Meets to Discuss Assad Violations Against Civilians". The Media Express. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
  17. ^ Alaa, Mohamad (23 May 2018). "National Coalition: "Regulatory areas law has adverse impact on political transition"". Smart News. Archived from the original on 21 September 2018. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
  18. ^ "Coalition Meets With Friends of Syria to Discuss Assad & Russia's Onslaught in Syria's South". The Syrian Observer. 26 June 2018. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
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