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UID:36683@arabamerica.com
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20261014T173000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20261014T183000
DTSTAMP:20260722T083649Z
URL:https://www.arabamerica.com/events/loubna-mrie-defiance-awakening-rebe
 llion-and-survival-in-syria/
SUMMARY:Loubna Mrie: Defiance—Awakening\, Rebellion\, and Survival in Syr
 ia
DESCRIPTION:THE COMMONWEALTH CLUB\n\n110 THE EMBARCADERO\n\nSAN FRANCISCO\,
  CA 94105\n\n&nbsp\;\n\n\n\nHear one woman’s fight for freedom—against
  a father\, a dictator\, and the weight of inherited belief.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
 In the Syria in which Loubna Mrie was a schoolgirl\, loyalty was survival.
  Curiosity was blasphemy. Dissent was betrayal.\n\nLike any good Alawite g
 irl\, every day at school\, Loubna Mrie pledged allegiance to Hafez al-Ass
 ad. When she complained about memorizing his speeches for class\, she was 
 told to shorten her tongue—without the president\, her family believed\,
  the Alawites would be persecuted by the Sunni majority\, as they had been
  for centuries before the Assads came to power. A girl’s role was to obe
 y\, not to question. Loubna’s father\, a mercurial businessman with clos
 e ties to the Assad regime\, ruled over his wife and daughters with absolu
 te authority.\n\nThen everything changed in 2011\, when the pro-democracy 
 uprisings of the Arab Spring reached Syria. Unable to suppress her curiosi
 ty\, Loubna attended an anti-government protest. What she witnessed—the 
 courage\, the brutality\, and the lies that followed—ignited something i
 n her that would not be extinguished. She joined the resistance\, risking 
 her life by fearlessly proclaiming her Alawite heritage and\, later\, as a
  photojournalist documenting the war for Reuters and other outlets. Her de
 fiance would come at a devastating cost: the loss of loved ones\, her comm
 unity\, and ultimately her country. Leaving behind everything she knew\, s
 he would have to find a new home within herself.\n\nShe recounts all of th
 is in her book Defiance\, the account of one woman’s fight for freedom
 —against a father\, a dictator\, and the weight of inherited belief. Fro
 m the streets of Aleppo to exile in New York City\, it offers an electrify
 ing portrait of moral courage in the face of authoritarianism and violence
 . Now she comes to San Francisco\, where you can hear her describe what it
  means to wake up\, to resist\, and to become.\n\nNotes\n\nPhotos courtesy
  of the speaker.\n\nSpeakers\n\nLoubna Mrie\, Journalist\; Photographer\; 
 Author\, Defiance: A Memoir of Awakening\, Rebellion\, and Survival in Sy
 ria\n\nModerator: Aarti Shahani\, Journalist\; Host\, "Art of Power" Podc
 ast\; Author\, Here We Are: American Dreams\, American Nightmares\n\n5 p.
 m. doors open &amp\; check-in\n5:30–6:30 p.m program\n6:30 p.m. book sig
 ning\n(all times Pacific Time)\n\n\n
LOCATION:The Commonwealth Club\,   110 The Embarcadero  \, San Francisco\, 
 CA \, 94105\, United States
GEO:37.793235;-122.392653
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