Since 2012, when the conflict in Syria became an all-out war, Damascus’ messaging had sought to weaken Western resolve to act against Assad, even as he presided over the deaths of an estimated 400,000 Syrians.
In 2015, Russia intervened in the conflict, ramping up the bombing of Syria and deepening the global social media propaganda efforts around the war.
Syrians celebrate on top of a destroyed tank in Umayyad Square in Damascus, Syria. Credit: Getty Images
Scotland-based University of Stirling journalism lecturer Idrees Ahmad said that Susli had won followers on the far-left and right over the years. But as global attention drifted away from the Syrian conflict, Susli’s voice resonated mainly among people who treated Syria as an ideological battleground.
These were people who saw Assad and his ally Russia as holding the line on Western power and imperialism, for example, even as hundreds of thousands of Syrians, many civilians, were slaughtered by Assad.
“[Susli] deliberately cultivated the anti-imperialist image while flirting with the far right. She became a common reference for both,” Ahmad said.
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As for her motives, Ahmad said: “I don’t think people like her do it for money … It’s more of an identity thing. Mainly ideology and tribalism.
“Once they adopt a position, the momentum carries them into justifying the worst their team is willing to perpetrate.”
In a sign of her affinity for the Kremlin’s war aims, Susli last year paid a visit to Russia’s most influential figure aimed at foreign audiences, Alexander Dugin.
In her 2023 interview with Dugin, who is sanctioned by Australia, she asks if Russia would come to Assad’s aid if Syria were attacked in a widening war in the region.
Dugin claims that the US is already at war with Russia through Ukraine and so it’s distracted. Therefore, a fresh front in Syria would further weigh the US down.
Russian propagandist Alexander Dugin speaking in Moscow with Australian-Syrian Maram Susli.Credit: YouTube: SyrianGirlpartisan
One year later, a distracted and over-extended Russia and Iran watched as the Islamist insurgency led by Abu Mohammad al-Jolani mounted a shock offensive and took over Syria.
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