The Situation in Syria: what is next and what are the consequences?

Panelists

Afra Jalabi - Member of the Opposition Syrian Council

Khadouja Mellouli - Oxfam Quebec - Middle East Program

Stefan Winter - UQAM, Professor of History, Syria Specialist

Afra Jalabi is a Montreal-based writer. Member of the Syrian National Council. Member of the Executive Committee on the Day After Project and NGO. Before the Syrian revolution she was a signatory in the Damascus Declaration. Jalabi is also a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Law and Religion at Hamline University, and worked as columnist in the Arab Press for last 12 years. She has a B.A in anthropology and political science from McGill University, a master’s degree in journalism from Carleton University and is currently a PhD Candidate at Concordia University in Montreal in Religious Studies. As a frequent lecturer on issue related to Islam and the Middle East, and recently more specifically with a focus on Syria, she has appeared in Arab, American and Canadian media including Aljazeera, Orient, CBC, BBC, PBS and CTV.

Khadouja Mellouli is in charge of the Oxfam Quebec MENA project. Mellouli is a development specialist with a professional experience that covers the fields of Human Rights, Gender equity. Mellouli has skills in community assessments and community awareness raising and is familiar with participatory and gender approaches in development. She also has experience as a trainer in women’s right and gender mainstreaming, with solid experience in NGO management; research; Income generating projects in rural areas in the MENA region.

Stefan Winter is professor of Middle East history at the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQÀM) specializing in the history of Shi'ism. He holds a Master's degree in political science from the University of Erlangen, where he submitted a thesis on the religious legitimization of the Hafiz al-Asad regime, as well as a PhD in history from the University of Chicago. His book "The Shiites of Lebanon under Ottoman Rule" was published by Cambridge University Press in 2010. Stefan spent numerous years living in Syria, most recently while on sabbatical leave in Aleppo in 2011, where he was witness to the beginning of the revolt. He is currently completing a history of the 'Alawi community from the medieval through the Ottoman and French mandate period.