President Bashar Al-Assad overthrown, Syria now faces the challenge of forming a government of national unity to heal the wounds left by 14 years of war and rebuild a country that has been left mostly in ruins.
Fady Marouf
This is clearly the beginning of a very different phase for Syria, one which residents are hopeful about, but fearful too, and there’s a wariness to everything they say and do.
“They sold us” “They abandoned us”, shouted tens of thousands of soldiers, police and security personnel the night of Al-Assad’s fall, all firing weapons, light and heavy, in an apocalyptic scene which highlighted their frustration at the “betrayal”, before thousands of opposition fighters entered the capital.
Fear of the rebel offensive forces caused almost a million civilians to flee Damascus for coastal areas of the country and neighbouring Libya. However, the terror gradually began to subside thanks to the soothing words of leaders of these factions, assuring people that their goal was to protect civilians of all faiths.
This journalist went up and down the streets of Damascus and interviewed several locals of this capital who, in the majority, seemed hopeful and optimistic that this new phase would bring wellbeing and unity among the different social and religious groups of the community.
Some did not conceal their fear and worry about the abrupt change, opting not to comment until the new governing situation becomes clear. Currently, calm is slowly returning following a few tempestuous days of gunshots, explosions and panic.
Damascus is timidly returning to normality, and Prensa Latina noted the reopening of a few shops and a decrease in road traffic. On the other hand, government institutions are still not functioning and the public sector is almost at a standstill. The issue of Israeli aggression is nothing new to Syrians, but, this time, it was intense, large scale and widespread. It shook up every province, destroying the capacities of an army developed since the nation’s independence in April 1947. There is also the challenge of bringing all the militant groups together under the umbrella of one united national army, capable of tackling foreign occupation and maintaining sovereignty and national integrity.
(Translated by Natasha Greenidge – Email: natashagreenidge1@gmail.com) – Photos: Pixabay
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