Shatha has not left her phone for the past few days. She follows everything about the country where she grew up, via social media and on TV. “People are happy, but no one knows what tomorrow brings. I am in an app group with 250 women, we send each other a lot of videos,” she says. “We said, let’s go downtown.” With the meeting she wants to share her joy and concerns with the Dutch.
“In Zaanstad we have a large Syrian community with family in Syria,” says Shatha. Everyone tries to make contact with their family, but that is often difficult. She herself has a sister in Damascus. “There is more electricity now, but the internet is not yet good.” Yet she soon had contact with her sister. “She is doing well. I have been informed about this before: when Assad was gone she did not know that, I had to tell her.”
Shatha was born in Palestine, but went to school in Syria and also studied there. Almost 10 years ago she fled to the Netherlands. In the meantime, she helps newcomers in Zaanstad find work and a place in society through the organization NewBees. Tomorrow evening there will be an informal meeting between a Syrian delegation and Mayor Jan Hamming.