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Story and photos by Henri Migala
Video links of the event are found at the end of the article.
December 31, 2024 (El Cajon) - On December 21, the Syrian community of San Diego County held a community gathering in Kennedy Park in El Cajon to celebrate Syria’s liberation. Approximately 300-400 members of the Syrian community, including men, women and children, including elderly, attended the gathering to share their excitement for the fall of the Bashar Assad regime in Syria by dancing, sharing food, waving Syrian and US flags, and sharing stories.
There was a mix of emotions from the attendees of the event. Most, if not all, had to flee Syrian to escape the murderous regime of Bashar Al-Assad. “All the Syrians in El Cajon came here from Turkey, Egypt, Lebanon or Jordan,” said Rima Alkhteeb, a volunteer with the Majdal Arab Community Center of San Diego.
With the removal of the Assad and the fall of his regime, Syrians everywhere are now seeing people they know, including family members, being released from the infamous Saydnaya prison. With the removal of Assad, many countries are now saying they may return Syrian refugees back Syria. Many want to go back to Syria, but not now. They want to wait to see what happens with the new leadership, which holds promise for a new, stable Syria.
Many of the Syrians at the event said they came because they wanted an opportunity to celebrate a release from the repressive regime of Al-Bashar, but also expressed concern for an uncertain future. ‘What will it be like?”
Ali Abdi came as a refugee to El Cajon on August 21, 2016, with his wife and four children, ages 4-16, after fleeing Syria for Turkey, where he spent 2 years. He and two of his children arrived needing medical care for injuries experienced from bombings by Assad forces. One of his children is now in a wheelchair and a daughter is blind and had lost a kidney from having to drink dirty water while they were fleeing Assad’s forces and living as refugees.
Abdi said he had to flee Syria because of the war, which claimed 40 members of his family, including 10 cousins on his father’s side, and 4 from his mother’s. His sister’s sons, 16 and 17 years old, were imprisoned in Syria and nobody knows of their whereabouts, or if they are even still alive.
With the news of the regime change in Syrian, Abdi says he wants to return to Syria to visit family, but he wants to remain living in the United States, where he says the people are “very welcoming and kind.”
About Assad, Abdi says “he is a terrible, bad man, who has no humanity and no morals.”
Abdi hopes the new leadership in Syria, led by Ahmed al-Sharaa (previously Abu Mohammad al-Julani) can rebuild the country and hopes the US will help to rebuild Syria, both financially and morally. He wants all people to be like “one hand,” one community, no differences between people. “Julani is so far acting in a just way,” but “if he starts behaving in an unjust way, we will remove him too.”
Abdi ended our interview by saying he wants to “thank the United States because without the US, Assad would not have been removed.”
Samira Alkhatib was born in Damascus, Syria, and arrived in El Cajon on August 16, 2016, after fleeing Syria and having to spend 4 and a half years in Jordan. She arrived with her son, his wife and three children.
Alkhatib says they had to flee Syria because Assad killed her family, her brother, sister and nephew. Her entire hometown was destroyed, and many of her friends have died in prison.
Alkhatib says she would like to return to Syria but not right now. “There is still uncertainty there. Maybe in two years,” she says. “They talk about freedoms, but we don’t know how it will go and if they’ll do what they say. But we love the start,” shared Alkhatib.
“I hope they use America as an example. You can practice your religions here and everyone follows the law,” Alkhatib said admiringly. “We want a Syria for all the people. We don’t want racism.”
“If it’s true what they say, I’ll go back,” said Alkhatib. “We hope.”
Heba was born in Daraa, Syria, but had to leave when she was only 20 days old. “I hope there is no more bombing in Syria,” shared Heba. “I want Syria to stay free because everyone deserves freedom. Everyone should be equal.”
“I want to go back to Syria,” said Heba, “because I still have aunts and uncles there.” She had one brother and 2 sisters who both also want to go to Syria, as do many of her friends.
Sausan Abdulmanli arrived in El Cajon three years ago from Homs, Syria, where she was born. She fled Syria for Egypt, where she spent eleven years waiting for her refugee status to process. She fled Syria with her husband and three children, the youngest being only three months old.
“We lost a lot of family and all our homes in Syria,” lamented Sausan. “I am scared for the children of Syria.” Her brother’s son was only 16 when he disappeared in 2016. He has not been heard of since and they are worried that he was martyred when he wasn’t found in the Saydnaya prison.
When she heard that Syria was liberated and Assad had fled the country, Abdulmanli said it was “the best news of my life! I was soaring with joy! Like I was reborn.”
Abdulmanli says she and her family are happy in the US but maybe they’ll return to Syria. “Not now, but maybe later, yes,” shared Abdulmanli, who still has a sister and two brothers in Syria.
“Every person feels love for their country,” shared Abdulmanli. “My hope for my country is that it is better than before. That it becomes the best country it could be.”
“All of Syria is wounded by Assad and his regime,” said Abdulmanli, sadly. “Not one family has not been adversely affected by Assad.”
“I hope that Assad held accountable for what he did in Syria and to all Syrians,” said Abdulmanli. “I hope he is brought back to Syria, taken to court, held legally accountable and prosecuted by the law in Syria.”
About Syria and Bashar al-Assad
Bashar al-Assad has been the president of Syria since 2000, following the death of his father, Hafez al-Assad. As the 19th president of Syria, Assad was the commander-in-chief of the Syrian Armed Forces and the secretary-general of the Central Command of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party. He is the son of Hafez al-Assad, who ruled from 1971 until his death in 2000.
His rule has been marked by an authoritarian regime with significant human rights abuses. In 2011, peaceful protests against his government escalated into a brutal civil war after Assad's forces violently cracked down on demonstrators. The war became highly complex, with various international actors involved, including Russia and Iran supporting Assad, while the U.S. and other Western powers backed opposition groups.
The war caused immense destruction, with an estimated 500,000+ deaths, millions of displaced persons, and widespread devastation. Assad's government managed to regain control of most of the country by 2020, largely due to military support from Russia and Iran, but large parts of northern Syria remain under the control of Kurdish forces, opposition groups, or Turkish influence.
By 2023, Assad's regime had reasserted its dominance over much of the country. Which is why the entire world was surprised and stunned when, on December 8, Syria was liberated and Assad was in exile in Russia.
On November 27, 2024, a coalition of opposition fighters launched a major offensive against pro-government forces. The first attack came at the front line between opposition-held Idlib and the neighboring city of Aleppo. Three days later, the opposition fighters took Syria’s second-largest city, Aleppo.
Named Operation Deterrence of Aggression, this offensive was fought by several armed Syrian opposition groups led by a group called Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, led by Abu Mohammed al-Julani.
According to Al Jazeera, other groups that took part in the operation were the National Front for Liberation, Ahrar al-Sham, Jaish al-Izza and the Nour al-Din al-Zenki Movement, as well as Turkish-backed factions that fall under the umbrella of the Syrian National Army.
Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, whose name means Organization for the Liberation of the Levant, a former Al Qaeda affiliate that broke with the older group years ago, began around the same time as Syria’s civil war, which broke out in 2011 after Mr. al-Assad’s troops violently suppressed widespread antigovernment protests.
Hayat Tahrir al-Sham is led by Ahmed Al-Sharaa, formerly known by his nom de guerre, Abu Mohammad al-Jolani. The U.S. had placed a $10 million bounty on the Syrian leader, but is set to lift the bounty.
The decision follows meetings between U.S. diplomats and al-Sham in Damascus recent in which Sharaa committed to ensuring terrorist groups in Syria do not pose a threat to the U.S.
Al-Sharaa’s fledgling new government is making hopeful strides in making Syria a member of the global community of nations. Women will play a key role in a new Syria, says the new head of women’s affairs Aisha al-Dibs. “Women from all provinces and ethnicities will help rebuild the war-torn country,” says al-Dibs.
Aisha al-Dibs says the government is committed to engaging Syrian women in social, cultural and political institutions, and recruiting qualified women in healthcare and education sectors.
Video links: https://youtu.be/7o_jxmQAPL4 and https://youtu.be/b4PY13dZzNo
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