Demonstrate Syrier: a memorable moment for the protest movement
Demonstrate Syrier: a memorable moment for the protest movement
Am Umayyad-Platz in the center of Damascus celebrated tens of thousands of people on Friday. The place was filled to the brim, while people celebrated until late at night and experienced a moment that many had thought impossible: The fall of their brutal dictator. al-Assad.
a dream becomes reality
"I always thought that I would die and that my children will die, and many other generations will die while he will still be here. I thought it will never end," said Esraa Alsliman, a student, CNN on the square.
"It feels like a dream. I wake up every day and think it was a dream. Even today I woke up and thought it was a dream," she said.
variety of celebrations
families brought small children whose cheeks were painted with flags. Young students celebrated with older people. Women in conservative Muslim clothing danced alongside those in fashionable western clothing. Many could not miss the way to travel from all parts of the country to experience the jubilee mood.
Many waved the three -star flag of the Syrian Arab Republic - an opposition flag that was used during the French mandate and was replaced in the Assad era by a two -star flag.
Hope for a better future
"I really believe that we support each other during this time, hold together and get to the top. Syria will have a good name in the world," said Alsliman. "I always thought to have a future and a successful life, I would have to go abroad. Now I can stay here, in my country."
an end of the Assad
era For half a century, the Assad Syria family had ruled with an iron hand, accompanied by long -documented reports on mass intentions, torture, extra shell killings and atrocities against their own people.on Sunday, after 13 years of civil war that has divided the country, the regime fell. In a video speech on state television, rebel fighters declared "freed", while the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to Russia floh.
a new beginning
The huge crowds began to gather after the midday prayers in the historic Umayyaden mosque in Damascus, just a few days after the rebel leader Abu Mohammad al-Jolani had announced a "victory for the entire Islamic nation".
The common prayers, which are the highlight of the Islamic week, were the first since the Assad regime falling. The sermon in the mosque held Syria's new provisional prime minister, Mohamed al-Bashir, who described this moment as the "birth of a nation".
The fragility of the new Situation
Despite overwhelming joy, there are also signs of the current fragility of the country. The rebel coalition that Syria has taken consists of many groups with different ideologies and goals - and nobody knows exactly what will happen next.
dozens of armed men in military uniform took part in the celebrations, some of them had excited little boys pose with their Kalashnikovs, while the children looked into the cameras with radiant faces and victory symbols.
Again and again cheers were heard through the air. In one moment, anger grew in the crowd when they followed a single man. "You found a military man!", Someone called out of the crowd.
But soon the crowd was back to dancing, clapping and singing.
emotional feedback from the celebrating
"The donkey is gone! Donkey!", the crowd cried once, while many were still incredulous that the deposed president can be named in public with his esteem nickname instead of secretly whispering.
Fatima Baghdadi told CNN that she had come to see this historical moment with her own eyes. The 80-year-old lived under the regime for the most years of her life. One of her sons was killed in the war and her grandson lost a leg in an attack.
"I was 30 when the big donkey came to power. We were pressed for 50 years and I prayed all the time and begged God to get rid of him. And now he is gone. We can breathe again," she said while her eyes were wet with tears.
This story was also made up by Rauda Alaita.