The call was at 8:00 p.m. (6:00 p.m. in mainland Spain), but a crowd of Syrians has celebrated since early in the day in squares, streets and roads on , to escape from the last rebel stronghold, the province of Idlib, in the northwest. The atmosphere is one of enthusiasm in the main cities, with children and adults waving flags in streets and cars, painting their colors on their cheeks, setting off firecrackers and fireworks or sounding horns.
The Umayyad Square in Damascus, the scene of the main gathering, is full from early afternoon. Not a second goes by without a firecracker or firework going off. At street level, it is difficult to move forward and the celebration extends to the access streets and a bridge above. The aerial images show the immense mass of people. Some attendees or soldiers carry roses, do a traditional group dance or carry a puppet with the face of Assad on the gallows in a celebration officially called “The Liberation Festival.”
“Look how happy Syria is,” says Mirbat Zain, 30 years old and from Damascus, where she attended the celebration with her son. “For me it was important to be here not only to share happiness with my people, but also for the world to see. That they know and understand that Syria is happy and has begun a new chapter (in its history).”
The atmosphere resembles a sports celebration. There are even flags of football teams like Barcelona. Some Palestinians are also seen. Some chants are simply famous songs or Islamist slogans. In fact, the celebration began in a way the day before, when a crowd gathered to celebrate the joint passage of the Syrian and Palestinian soccer teams to the quarterfinals of the FIFA Arab Cup, by tying their match. Players and fans were already chanting the same slogans (“One, one, one, the Syrian people are one!” or “Raise your head, you are a free Syrian!”) that are heard again this Monday in the celebrations.
Thousands of people have also been flocking to the squares in cities such as Aleppo, Deraa, Hama and Homs, which had already held massive celebrations in the last two weeks. A year ago, regular soldiers and their allies (Russia, Hezbollah and Iran) were agreeing to surrender or escape from the rebel advance. The Islamist group, to which the current president belongs, led that lightning offensive from Idlib. This Monday, quite a few carry their flag, white and with the Muslim oath, along with the national one.
Afraa Hakouk, 28, remained during the war in rural Damascus, which was under the control of the Assad regime. This Monday he celebrates in the capital that “the whole of Syria is happy” to see the dictator’s departure, and also does so “united.” “See?” he exemplifies, pointing to a giant screen that shows live the thousands of people who have also taken to the streets in Idlib, Homs, Tartus, Hama and Aleppo. The plane is more closed (so that they appear larger) in the Alawite towns on the coast, El Assad’s stronghold.
Hakouk admits that there is still much to do after 14 years of war: “There is still too much poverty. And we need services, such as electricity and water, to reach more people. But I am optimistic about the future. In one year more could not be done.”
The authorities have not reported any incidents, amid impressive security measures, with kilometer-long lines of soldiers stationed at the entrances and an increase in checkpoints on the roads. The fear is that those nostalgic for the regime will decide to take advantage of the symbolism of the date to carry out an attack with particular repercussions.
The Government had been encouraging for days – through massive sending of text messages to mobile phones and advertising posters – to celebrate the anniversary, to “complete the story” that began with the fall of the dictator. One of them warns against the custom of shooting into the air as a celebration, so as not to end up being “a victim of liberation.” The Syrian Postal Corporation has issued five stamps and a commemorative postcard that will go on sale on Tuesday.
The Umayyad Square has been flown over by paratroopers in one of the military exhibitions organized by the Ministry of Defense in different parts of the country to accompany the anniversary. The president, , went to the capital, after praying in the Umayyad Mosque (dressed in the military uniform with which he fought in the war). He has promised to “rebuild a strong Syria, in line with its present and its past, from north to south and from east to west.”
In the northeast are the Syrian Democratic Forces, the alliance led by Kurdish militias that controls 25% of the territory, which has banned rallies. This Monday he sent a conciliatory message of congratulations to all Syrians for the fall of Assad, but insisted on the need to put an end to the “language of incitement to hatred” against the Kurds that some in power continue to use today. “This tense and arrogant discourse is no longer acceptable and cannot be the basis for building a new homeland; rather, it is a direct continuation of the mentality of the regime that has fallen and will not return,” he declared.
