Zaitouneh finished law school in 1999. In 2001 started her work as lawyer, and she became a member of the team of lawyers for defense of political prisoners. In the same year, she was one of the founders of the Human Rights Association in Syria (HRAS). In 2005, Zaitouneh started SHRIL (the Syrian Human Rights Information Link), to report about human rights problems in Syria. In 2005, Zaitouneh became a member of the Committee to Support Families of Political Prisoners in Syria.