News of liberation. Syria’s Liberation was finally announced on Sunday 8th December 2024, Allhamdulillah.
The Assad Regime
For years – 50 years, the Syrian people had been living under an oppressive regime that took everything from them. Their freedom, their voice, their loved ones, their freedom to practice their religion and their lives. The Assad regime headed by Bashar al-Assad and before that his father Hafez al-Assad, had stripped their civilians from all of their rights whilst keeping a front with Russia, USA, Iran and Israel as well as other foreign actors. They allowed these entities to bomb, attack and chemically attack the Syrian civilians over the years. Assad signed off the Golan Heights to Israel. All so that he could stay in power.
However, over the last few days, there has been an act of resistance that has been taking back cities one by one. On Sunday they took back Damascus making Assad and his family flea to Russia where they have supposedly found refuge.
This toppling of the Assad regime has been a long time coming. Millions of Syrians across the world have been waiting for this moment where they can finally go home, and begin looking for their loved ones who have been illegally imprisoned.
As the resistance or rebels worked through the cities, the first things they did was open the prison gates and free all those detained. Right now, they working with The White Helmets to release all the prisoners from the notorious Sednaya Prison in Damascus. Here, they have found underground chambers that run for miles under the city full of detainees who have been made to ‘disappear’.
Sednaya Prison
Sednaya prison is the largest prison in Syria that has been an encampment for men, women, children – old and young. It has torture chambers, a slaughterhouse, red rooms where the walls are painted with the blood of prisoners. Children and babies have been born from rape in the walls of Sednaya prison, where all they have known is dark cells – no windows, never having seen a bird or even the sky. People have been tortured till they have lost all mental capability, many not knowing even what year it is or what their name is.
Watching the 100s of clips coming out from Syria and hearing the voices of loved ones who once thought their son, father, daughter, mother, uncle, aunt, cousin, grandparent had been killed – now rejoicing at their return. The many Syrians living in the diaspora speaking to the world about what this means for them and all the other Syrians across the world. The thought that now they can finally go home. To the land they once were forced to leave.
Going forward
This is a time of instability – as many Western or non-Syrian people are commenting. However, the Syrian people know this. They are forgetting that the Syrian people have lived their lives for a moment like this. As history tells us, when one government is thrown out the area will inevitably become unstable whilst they work out a replacement government. However, we also need to recognise, that Assad was never a friend. He was never going to help the region around him other than himself. He didn’t even care for his own people – the civilians in Syria.
In order for any change to happen, the people would need to take it into their own hands. The revolutionaries have shown this. They have taken back the land, they have freed their people from the prisons and encampments. With this freedom they can now look at defending their land from outer entities like Israel. Who at the moment is afraid of the revolutionaries and what Syria can now do, that they have begun bombing the military bases, navel base as well as government buildings in order to destroy any weaponry that could be used against them. If Assad was for the people why didn’t they do that whilst he was running the country?
This Jummah was the first Jummah that the Syrian people could pray freely in the Ummayad Mosque. Thousands flocked to read and rejoice as one ummah in the Mosque that will one day be the place where Prophet Isa AS will return.
What can you do
I do not know too much about Syria, and I will not claim to. However there are voices I have been following for a while that do. Be aware of Assad apologists especially within the pro-Palestinian speakers. There are many that we looked at that have been beacons of light in the freedom of Palestinians but they also stand for Assad. Ola from Slowreadingola has an entire highlight titled ‘no tankathon’ of all those whom we need to be aware of and unfortunately, it does house some prominent names. Sadly, there are people that can see freedom for some but not for all, and that is something we as an Ummah need to be aware of and understand. Because none of us are free if parts of our Ummah are living under oppression.
Below are accounts of Syrian voices you need to be following. They have a range of resources that you can continue your education with.
Resources
Instagram:
- Razanspeaks
- Slowreadingola
- Dalyaayoub
- Wafamoustafa
- Syrian.revolution.story
- Imnahlasarraj
- Hayanimd
- Hassanakkad
- Omaralshogre
- The_whitehelmets
Films/Documentaries:
- For Sama
- The White Helmets
- Syria’s Disappeared – The Case Against Assad
- Return to Homs
There is also a free online event that you can took place on Sunday 15th December 2024, hosted by The Thinking Muslim Podcast and Cage International. You can watch the replay here.
Read To Boycott or not to Boycott in order to understand how this simple act will help not only the Palestinians but also the Syrians and others across the world who are being affected by the presence of Israel.
