What remains of a community's identity when geography changes, politics shift, and new generations redefine their relationship with their history? A question that guides a conversation with Dr. Ashraf Al-Amatouri, in a reading where historical memory intersects with the questions of the present and the anxieties of the future.
Al-Amatouri examines the history of the Unitarian Druze and their experience, as well as what this history can offer toward understanding their current reality, pausing at As-Suwayda and its position in the Syrian and regional landscape. He also discusses the reality of historical components in the region and the limits of protecting identity and specificity without becoming isolated or turning into separatist projects.
From the role of the international community and decision-makers to the responsibility of the region's inhabitants, the conversation moves to the question of new generations: How do we preserve language, culture, and memory in light of alienation and rapid transformations? And can art and heritage be a means to protect identity? These questions open the door to a broader issue: What deserves to remain, and what is the time to change?
