Thwaiba Kanafani
Thwaiba Kanafani is Canadian/Syrian engineer whose 2012 decision to volunteer to fight with Syrian rebels against the Assad regime triggered world-wide coverage.[2][3][1]
Kanafani emigrated to Canada in 2002, after working in the Unite Arab Emirates.[3] She and her husband raised a family in Toronto.
In the months leading up to her decision to volunteer Kanafani described participating in social media discussions about the unrest in Syria, and the number of deaths of innocent civilians.[1] She described being encouraged to volunteer by her older brother. Her husband and children joined her, and established a home in Egypt prior to her travel to Turkey for military training.
The Free Syrian Army broadcast a YouTube recruiting video showing Kanafani surrounded by other fighters, where she announced she had joined the Banner of Damascus Falcons Troop of Aleppo Martyrs.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Armina Ligaya (2012-07-12). "Thwaiba Kanafani trades Toronto apartment for battle zone: Taking up rebel cause". National Post. Archived from the original on 2013-09-10. https://web.archive.org/web/20130910065253/http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/07/12/taking-up-rebel-cause-woman-trades-toronto-apartment-for-battle-zone/. Retrieved 2015-03-24. "“I came from Canada to answer the call of my homeland,” Ms. Kanafani says in a YouTube video announcing her decision, posted on July 7 and translated from Arabic. “To enlist myself in the Syrian Free Army and join the Banner of Damascus Falcons Troop of Aleppo Martyrs, special missions. A message to the free ladies in Syria to immediately join the Free Army to work with our [defending] brothers and fight al-Assad militias.”"
- ↑ Justin Vela (2012-07-12). "Syrian rebels: ‘I don’t think we need help from a woman from Canada’" (in English). Antakya, Turkey: Globe and Mail. Archived from the original on 2012-07-13. https://web.archive.org/web/20120713111946/http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/syrian-rebels-i-dont-think-we-need-help-from-a-woman-from-canada/article4414414/. Retrieved 2015-03-24. "After weeks of meetings with opposition figures based in Turkey, she said she was spirited briefly across the border into Syria to record a call-to-arms video that has become a centrepiece of opposition propaganda. In it, she announces proudly that she has “come from Canada to answer the call of my homeland.”"
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Nadine Kalinauskas (2012-07-12). "Toronto mother Thwaiba Kanafani swaps city life for Syrian war zone". Daily Brew. Archived from the original on 2015-03-24. https://web.archive.org/web/20150324050906/https://ca.news.yahoo.com/blogs/daily-brew/toronto-mother-thwaiba-kanafani-swaps-city-life-syrian-181423296.html. "In May, Kanafani left her apartment in Toronto for the Syrian battle zone, a decision, she says, surprised her family and friends."
