The top of concern in Syria | Syria’s Conflict

Damascus and Aleppo, Syria – Till the autumn of the al-Assad regime, the phrase “greenback” was forbidden in public. As an alternative, individuals used something inexperienced – my favorite substitute was “molokhiyeh”, the inexperienced leaf eaten in a stew in Arab international locations.

This was a narrative I heard many instances from Syrians when reporting from Aleppo and Damascus within the days following the regime’s overthrow. Beneath the previous regime, the partitions had ears and anybody could possibly be listening on a avenue nook or the opposite finish of the cellphone line.

The unsuitable phrase or phrase – “greenback”, for instance – may land you in one in every of al-Assad’s infamous prisons.

Now, with the Home of al-Assad in exile, a sudden freedom burst by means of that had not been doable within the final 5 and a half a long time of dynastic household rule.

Syrians I met understood how fragile and fleeting such freedom of expression could possibly be – many telling me a number of days of experiencing it had been sufficient to by no means wish to return.

“Earlier than, you’ll get your rights by means of connections and bribery,” Yamen Sheikh Mukhaneq, 21, stated, standing exterior the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus on the primary Friday prayer after the regime’s collapse.

A smile beaming on his face as worshippers pushed previous us, the legislation pupil added: “Now, God prepared, due to this liberation, I’ve hope.”

Whereas I’ve reported on Syria rather a lot since I began in 2011, and spoken to many Syrians in Lebanon, Jordan, Turkiye, Egypt, america, France and elsewhere, I’d by no means reported from Syria itself.

Strolling below pomegranate and lemon timber within the streets of Previous Damascus and peering into deserted courtyards dropped at life, so many tales I’d heard from Syrians of what had been taken away from them in exile sprang to my thoughts.

It was surreal, one thing I may by no means have imagined even two weeks earlier. I started to think about an alternate actuality the place my spouse and I’d take day journeys to Damascus from Beirut to go to pals or marvel on the historic neighbourhoods, and even drive by means of Syria to Iraq, Jordan or Turkiye.

No extra one-man rule

Syria is free and open, and on this renewed nation, there’s a lot hope. Fighters I interviewed in Aleppo, who had been exiled as youngsters and returned as liberators, expressed unbridled pleasure at with the ability to stand as soon as once more on the footsteps of the town’s historic Citadel.

However with new freedom, there are considerations and pitfalls. In spite of everything, any Syrian within the nation who’s lower than 60 years previous won’t know what life is like below something aside from a repressive, autocratic authority.

On Friday, December 20, I pushed by means of the packed crowd on the Citadel of Aleppo with Yousef Ahmad, a professor of accounting at Aleppo College.

Ahmad was buoyant that the previous regime had fallen however cautious of repeating previous errors.

A very powerful factor, he advised me, is to not place any particular person above the nation.

The cult of persona across the al-Assads mustn’t ever be replicated with a brand new management, he stated. Till now, the brand new administration’s Commander-in-Chief Ahmed al-Sharaa’s picture has been restricted to an occasional automotive together with his likeness in its rear window.

The toxic cult of persona is a central a part of the al-Assad legacy, as is the brutal police state which disappeared 1000’s, led to hundreds of thousands of displaced, and deeply policed any expression, together with the phrase “greenback”.

Whereas US {dollars} (and Turkish lira) at the moment are being accepted in institutions across the nation, there are nonetheless considerations that free expression and different hard-won rights might be misplaced.

In Saadallah al-Jabri Sq., in Aleppo’s metropolis centre, households pushed strollers between avenue distributors promoting the inexperienced, white and black flags of Syria. Many had been euphoric, talking of the necessity for a democratic Syria that represented all its sects and ethnic teams.

‘I let you know, Syria might be wonderful’

One older couple had come to the sq. with their grownup son to take a look at the environment. They advised me they had been comfortable to be rid of the regime.

“For 13 years, he sat on his chair and didn’t do something,” they advised me.

Nonetheless, as Christians, they fear about their vulnerability as minorities. Due to that, they didn’t wish to share with me their names or have my colleague, Ali Haj Suleiman, take their images.

Till now, the brand new administration run by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham’s Ahmed al-Sharaa, previously referred to as Abu Mohammed al-Julani, had made solely optimistic strikes, they advised me.

“We wish to do away with the concept of ​​sectarianism that was planted 15 years in the past,” their son, a hairdresser, stated.

At a bar within the metropolis, individuals joked about armed fighters taking pictures up their institution. Just a few individuals, dressed conservatively, had come round to ask if the bar served alcohol, the proprietor stated, including that he was by no means positive in the event that they had been coming for a drink or for much less amicable causes.

Father Hanna Jallouf, the Apostolic Vicar of Aleppo and the Roman Catholic Church’s main spiritual determine in Syria, can also be involved.

I discovered Jallouf’s historical past attention-grabbing in that he lived below HTS in Idlib and had even been kidnapped by Jabhat al-Nusra in 2014 for 5 days.

Jabhat al-Nusra was al-Qaeda’s department in Syria however broke with it in 2016 and reformulated itself as Hayat Tahrir al-Sham.

Jallouf stated he understands the concern in his followers and different minorities however that he had acquired assurances that Christian spiritual symbols wouldn’t be touched.

He additionally has private expertise with Ahmed al-Sharaa, having lived in Idlib whereas al-Sharaa led the administration there, and has additionally met with the HTS chief.

“The person was initially sincere and desires what’s greatest for his nation,” Jallouf stated.

“He’s doing one thing for Syria … I lived with them and I do know them and certainly in the event that they apply what was stated, I let you know, Syria might be wonderful. And never simply Syria however the entire area.”

A lot consideration has been given by the worldwide media to the considerations of minorities – Christians, specifically.

Lately, I learn an interview with the Syrian mental Yassin Haj Saleh who lambasted the West for his or her deal with minorities as al-Assad’s regime killed tons of of 1000’s of human beings.

I share his scepticism over the West’s said concern for minority rights in Syria, notably after a lot indifference over the past 14 months in Gaza.

The considerations of minorities are actual and to not be dismissed, however I additionally hope a deal with a selected minority group doesn’t overshadow or dismiss the broader wrestle for common rights that 1000’s of Syrians are demanding throughout sects and areas.

For a lot of, the situations of concern imposed by the al-Assad regime are gone. The liberty Syrians have acquired is treasured and brittle. Many have expressed gratitude or surprise on the truth they may even communicate overtly to journalists.

For this newfound freedom to stay, Syrians are effectively conscious, they might want to bolster it by means of the efforts of the various courageous activists, journalists, civil society members, and customary residents – regardless of their sect or ethnicity.