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Jomana Qaddour is a doctoral student at Georgetown University Law Center, focusing on ethno-sectarian political identities and their impact on constitutional frameworks in Syria, Iraq, and Bosnia. She is a member of the UN-launched Syrian constitutional committee as part of the civil society group. She is also a co-founder of Syria Relief & Development, a humanitarian organization that has provided over $75 million worth of aid in Syria and the region. She also serves on the Executive Committee of the American Relief Coalition for Syria, an umbrella organization of 10 Syrian American humanitarian organizations. Until July 2018, she was a Senior Policy Analyst at the US Commission on International Religious Freedom where she covered Syria, Iraq, Egypt, and Turkey. Prior to that, she was a Senior Analyst at Caerus Associates, where she managed the Syria atmospherics project for USAID’s Office of Transition Initiatives. Jomana also served as a Senior Research Assistant for the Project on U.S. Relations with the Islamic World in the Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution, where she focused on Syria, Egypt, Palestinian politics, and Islamist movements. Jomana is a 2019 Truman Nation Security Fellow as well as a 2019 Center for New American Security Next Generation Fellow. She received her J.D. from the University of Kansas School of Law and her L.L.M. from Georgetown University.
The constitutional committee must be part of a holistic Syrian peace process
This week marks the second round of constitutional committee negotiations in Geneva, Switzerland convened by UN Special Envoy to Syria Geir Pedersen. The committee is convened under the auspices of UNSCR 2254, which requires the drafting of a new constitution among many other important obligations. The fact that only one of those requirements is being pursued seriously by the international community is — understandably — beyond frustrating for Syrians. Attempting to solve the Syrian conflict by addressing only one of so many outstanding issues is not only a mistake, but will also do little to bring any lasting peace to this war-torn country.
In the middle of the main market in Idlib City, during one of the busiest days of the year, Eid day, Amal, a local resident, was stopped by the Islamic police. She was chastised because of her refusal to wear the required long dark coat, the mantou. Instead of looking down or profusely apologizing, Amal shot back at the Islamic police that is affiliated with Jaish al-Fatah, “No one has anything to do with what I wear!
