THE Abu Muhammad al-Jolani he is her hero. His image is printed on the new flags with the three stars and the green color that replaced the red of Baath. “Syria has a green eye” shout the Syrians. Jolani, the Ahmed al-Sara that is, since he now uses his real name, he promises a “social contract” between the state and believers of all religions, presents himself as friendly to the West and promises more rights for women.
However, when a girl asked to take a photo with him, he gestured for her to cover her hair and she complied. Al-Sara took off his military clothes and put on civilian clothes. His men, however, still roam the streets of Damascus in muddy jeeps. “Why;” I ask my translator, “because they were in the desert and in the mountains and they were fighting” he answers. It seems that Jolani knows well, or is learning, the game of communication.
Excitement and expectations
Ten days in Syria, we did not meet a single disappointed Syrian, not even a reticent one. Everyone is excited and has expectations from the new government that brought down the regime. Al-Sara will be judged after the caretaker government completes its work in three months. The word “election” has not yet been heard and the succession situation is unknown. Will Jolani be able to live up to Syrian expectations or will they be thwarted once again? For now, the Constitution is being amended, the government is asking citizens to surrender their weapons, men are applying to join the newly created police force, and the celebrations in the streets and squares continue.
In the great Umayyad mosque, rebels raise their weapons and shout “God is great.” Women are symbolically photographed with weapons and make the victory sign. The large Al Hamidi bazaar, behind the statue of Saladin, is suffocatingly full. Banks are open – but not for international transactions – and people are stocking up. Prices have already gone up, maybe 20%-30%. For journalists, who pay in dollars, everything is even more expensive. “They seem strange to see you here! We have been seeing tourists since 2011″ he tells me Hishamthe translator who has become my shadow since almost no one speaks English, except for a few students I met in law school.
It was the first day of operation of the universities after the fall of the regime and the students returned with enthusiasm. They entered the classrooms and destroyed everything that referred to the Assad family. They burned pictures of the father and son, old flags and banknotes with the image of Bashar. They even destroyed the statue that stood at the entrance of the university. The platform was left empty and cleaners picked up the pieces of the statue, while students gathered around the fire and chanted slogans for a new free Syria.
In Douma, outside Damascus, a nut processing factory turned out to be a production and storage site for captagon pills. Millions of pills hidden in electrical coils, inside oranges, inside cardboard boxes, in breads, in hammers, candles, belts and nuts. All ready for export to Europe and rich Arab countries. Its main export product, its main source of income Bashar al-Assad – Syria produced 80% of world production. Smuggling brought the regime billions of dollars. Head, Assad’s brother and members of parliament.
Bombers’ drug
Captagon, known as the ISIS drug, is an amphetamine that causes hyperarousal and makes you feel invulnerable. It is the drug used by the suicide bombers and, it is said, by Hamas before the invasion of Israel on October 7, 2023. The new transitional government is burning the warehouses and talking about the end of the drug trade in Syria.
On the one hand the hope and dreams and on the other the nightmares of the past present in today. A mass grave was discovered outside Damascus. They say that 100,000 bodies of people murdered by the deposed regime have been found. Relatives of missing persons visit Sednaya prisons. With their photos in hand, they ask the released if they have seen them.
The answer – most of the time – is no and from underground prisons they go to hospitals holding the same photo and asking the same question. They are looking for the bodies that are not even in refrigerators. They search for their relatives among the bruised bodies. Every house has a story, an arrest, a prison, a missing person…
