Syria is finally free of the 53-year rule of the Assad family’s murderous regime.
It’s been 13 years since the uprising in Syria began in 2011—and along with it, Bashar al Assad’s killing spree that has killed more than 500,000 Syrians. His crimes against humanity are legion, and include unleashing chemical weapons on his own people. His dungeons were famous for brutal torture and mass murder, the scenes of prisoners being released since Damascus fell this weekend hinting at the horrors that took place within.
The war also resulted in 6.5 million Syrian refugees, forcibly displaced from their homes under this brutal regime. The vast majority of Syrian refugees were taken in by neighboring countries. Turkey alone has taken around 3.6 million. Lebanon took in 1.5 million, and Jordan took 1.3 million. Around 70 percent of these refugees live in poverty, trapped and unable to move.
The world failed Syria and it failed the Syrian people. But now Syrians will return home. They will rebuild and prosper.
Assad’s reign of terror did not begin in 2011 with the uprising. I grew up hearing unbelievable horror stories about Bashar’s ruthless treatment of his people. That’s why when the uprising began in 2011, we were all hopeful that Syria would finally be rid of Bashar and his goons.
Instead, Bashar chose to destroy this beautiful country and to kill his own people—just so that he could hold on to power.
Ugur Yildirim/ dia images via Getty Images
For those who fear that Syria will be destabilized after the fall of the murderer Bashar al-Assad, ask yourselves: What is worse than what Syrians have already experienced in the past 13 years?
I do not believe that the fall of Basher will lead to the return of the Sunni sectarian project, on the ruins of the Shiite one. The conditions of 2014 which gave rise to ISIS have changed and no longer pose a real threat. The Middle East is not the same as it was 10 years ago. The region as a whole is changing for the better, thanks to the efforts of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which is having a moderating influence on countries under its influence.
Meanwhile, the influence of the Iranian Ayatollah is weakening day by day. Hezbollah has been weakened immeasurably by Israel, as has Hamas. The Houthis are on the defensive. It doesn’t pay to be on Iran’s bloody payroll these days.
Honest, good-hearted people across the region want what we all want: safety for our families, security, a chance to make a life for ourselves and our families.
I hope that Syrians can find a way out of this bloody, 14-year conflict which has destroyed such a beautiful, historical country. Extremism and sectarianism in all their forms must be rejected.
I dream of a day of true co-existance in the Middle East that includes both the Right and the Left, a peace in which Syria has good relations with all its neighbors—including Israel.
I feel we are closer to this dream now than we were before Damascus fell.
Rabyaah Althaibani is a Yemini-American community organizer with over 15 years of experience organizing voters, advising issue-based campaigns, and working at socially committed nonprofits. She is the founder of Arab Women’s Voice, the first 100 percent women and minority owned political consulting firm based in New York City. Rabyaah has a Bachelor’s Degree in International Criminal Justice from John Jay College and a Master’s Degree in Human Rights from Columbia University.
The views expressed in this article are the writer’s own.
