{"id":208170,"date":"2025-01-05T11:22:14","date_gmt":"2025-01-05T11:22:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/01\/05\/in-damascus-syrians-reclaim-spaces-and-freedoms-after-al-assads-fall\/"},"modified":"2025-01-05T11:22:14","modified_gmt":"2025-01-05T11:22:14","slug":"in-damascus-syrians-reclaim-spaces-and-freedoms-after-al-assads-fall","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/01\/05\/in-damascus-syrians-reclaim-spaces-and-freedoms-after-al-assads-fall\/","title":{"rendered":"In Damascus, Syrians Reclaim Spaces and Freedoms After al-Assad\u2019s Fall"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align:center\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1050\" height=\"550\" src=\"https:\/\/i3.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/01\/05\/multimedia\/05damascus-mood-promo\/05damascuc-mood-top-tzcj-facebookJumbo.jpg?fit=1050,550&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"In Damascus, Syrians Reclaim Spaces and Freedoms After al-Assad\u2019s Fall\" title=\"In Damascus, Syrians Reclaim Spaces and Freedoms After al-Assad\u2019s Fall\" \/><\/div><p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-0\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">For much of her life, Sumaya Ainaya spent weekend and summer nights on Mount Qasioun, which overlooks the city of Damascus, joined by other Syrians drinking coffee, smoking hookah and eating corn on the cob roasted on grills nearby.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">But soon after the Syrian civil war erupted in 2011, the military under President Bashar al-Assad closed the mountain to civilians. Suddenly, instead of families and friends shooting fireworks into the sky, soldiers with tanks and artillery launchers were firing at rebel-held areas below.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">This New Year\u2019s Eve, weeks after a coalition of rebels <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/12\/21\/world\/middleeast\/assad-regime-syria-final-days.html?searchResultPosition=22\" title=\"\">ousted the Syrian regime<\/a>, Ms. Ainaya, 56, and her family returned to Mount Qasioun with snacks, soda and scarves to protect from the winter chill \u2014 and reclaimed a favorite leisure spot.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cThank God, we\u2019ve returned now \u2014 we feel like we can breathe again,\u201d said Ms. Ainaya, an Arabic literature graduate and a mother of four, standing along a ridge and pointing out several Damascus landmarks.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-1\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cWe feel like the city has returned to us,\u201d said her son Muhammad Qatafani, 21, a dental student.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-2\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Across Damascus, as in much of the country, Syrians are reclaiming, and in some cases embracing anew, spaces and freedoms that had been off limits for years under the Assad regime. There were places ordinary Syrians were not allowed to go and things that they were not permitted to say when the Assad family was in power. The country, many said, increasingly felt as if it did not belong to them.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">But with the newfound sense of freedom comes <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/12\/27\/world\/middleeast\/syria-alawites-assad.html?searchResultPosition=1\" title=\"\">some trepidation<\/a> about the future under a government formed by Islamist rebels, and whether with time it might institute new restrictions and limitations.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Many Syrians are watching each decision and announcement as a harbinger of how their new rulers may govern. Last week, Syria\u2019s de facto new leader, <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/12\/08\/world\/middleeast\/syria-hts-jolani.html?searchResultPosition=2\" title=\"\">Ahmed al-Shara<\/a>, said it could take two to three years to draft a new Constitution and up to four years to hold elections, alarming Syrians who fear they may have traded one authoritarian leader for another.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">For now, there is also a level of chaos under the interim government as it races to prioritize <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/01\/01\/world\/middleeast\/syria-rebel-groups-army.html?searchResultPosition=4\" title=\"\">certain state-building measures<\/a> over others. With many economic restrictions and regulations gone, men and boys sell smuggled gas from large water jugs on street corners. The city\u2019s traffic is snarled, as few police officers are on patrol, and double parking is rife, residents said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-3\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Despite the anxiety, people are returning to or rediscovering spaces across Damascus, the capital. Protest songs that could have landed someone in prison a month ago can be heard on the street.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-4\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cWe weren\u2019t seeing the city, Damascus, or any city, in all its details,\u201d Yaman Alsabek, a youth group leader, said of his country under the Assad regime. \u201cThe public spaces \u2014 we stopped going to them because we felt they weren\u2019t for us, they were for the regime.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">His organization, Sanad Team for Development, has begun to organize youth efforts to help clean the streets and direct traffic. \u201cWhen Damascus was liberated and we felt this renewed sense of ownership, people came out to rediscover their city,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-5\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">After last month\u2019s <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/article\/syria-civil-war-rebels.html\" title=\"\">stunning sweep by the rebels,<\/a> icons of the Assad regime were torn down. Children play on the pedestals and plinths that once held towering statues of Mr. al-Assad, his father and his brother. Murals cover spaces where pro-regime slogans were emblazoned.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-6\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">On a recent gray and drizzly day, it was standing room only in the auditorium that had been the headquarters of the ruling Baath party, which represented the Assad family\u2019s totalitarian grip on political discourse. Hundreds of people gathered to hear a Syrian actress and activist, Yara Sabri, speak about the country\u2019s thousands of detained and missing prisoners.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cWe all decide on what it will look like and what we want it to be,\u201d Ms. Sabri said of the country\u2019s future. <\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Weeks ago, she had been in exile because of her activism. Now, a Syrian flag, with its new colors, hung over the lectern at which she spoke. Above the building\u2019s entrance, the old Syrian flag and the Baath party flag were partly painted over.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Salma Huneidi, the event\u2019s organizer, said the choice of venue was deliberate. \u201cWe consider this a victory,\u201d she said. \u201cThis was a place that we couldn\u2019t do any activities, and now we are not only holding activities, but important ones that expose the previous regime.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-7\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">An event to discuss the writing of a new Syrian Constitution was also held in the building recently.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-8\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cSyria feels bigger, the streets feel bigger \u2014 gone are the images that used to irritate us, the slogans that used to irritate us,\u201d Ms. Huneidi said. \u201cWe used to feel so restricted before.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Even the utterance of the word \u201cdollar\u201d could land someone in prison under Mr. al-Assad. Foreign-currency exchanges, which were banned for years under the Assad regime, have sprung up seemingly everywhere. Men walk through markets yelling: \u201cExchange! Exchange!\u201d A seller hawking warm winter porridge offered stacks of Syrian pounds in exchange for crisp $100 bills.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mohammad Murad, 33, sat in his car on a street corner, wearing a beanie with the colors of the new Syrian flag. A sign in his window said, \u201cDollars, euros and Turkish.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-9\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Murad had long worked in currency exchange, but after the previous regime banned foreign currencies, his business went underground. If a customer needed dollars or euros, Mr. Murad said, he would go to the person\u2019s house, bills hidden inside a sock.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-10\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In the new Syria, he said, he stands in line at the central bank to exchange $1,000 for stacks of Syrian pounds. When potential patrons come to his window to inquire about the exchange rate, he assures them he is offering the \u201cbest price.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Across the street, the shelves of a small corner store look very different from only a few weeks ago, when shop owners had to smuggle foreign brands and hide them from most customers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cI would only sell those brands to my regular customers that knew I sold smuggled goods, not to just anyone coming in,\u201d said the owner, Hussam al-Shareef.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-11\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Syrian-made products now mingle openly with brands from Turkey, Europe and the United States. Customers walk in and freely ask for \u201cNescafe, the original.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-12\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Three years ago, a police officer came into his shop and saw six Kinder chocolate eggs in a glass case in the back. Mr. al-Shareef was fined 600,000 Syrian pounds, or roughly $50, and sentenced to a month in jail. He has been fighting it in court ever since.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Back on Mount Qasioun, a man was peddling illegal fireworks smuggled from Lebanon. Hours later, they would light up the sky to ring in 2025.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Ali Maadi, 35, was busy setting up a stand to sell drinks, snacks and hookahs. Before the war, his family had a small but comfortable rest area along the mountain\u2019s ridge. When he returned more than a week ago, he found that Syrian Army soldiers had used it as an outpost and had broken everything, including the bathrooms. He plans to slowly rebuild.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-13\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">From two speakers in the back of his Peugeot, he was blasting a mix of Syrian protest and folk songs. The lyrics of one song said:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"css-1ggt3fz etf134l0\">\n<p class=\"css-12wzsk6 evys1bk0\">We want to adore, we want to love<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-12wzsk6 evys1bk0\">We want to walk the path<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-12wzsk6 evys1bk0\">We want to learn to be men and love Damascus<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-12wzsk6 evys1bk0\">From our hearts and see Damascus up close.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Nearby, Aya Kalas, 28, and her soon-to-be fianc\u00e9, Khalid al-Qadi, 26, sat at a picnic table enjoying the view. She was 15 the last time she came to the mountain, she said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-14\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cAny place you were banned from, you want to come back to it,\u201d said Ms. Kalas, a beautician. <\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Damascus, where Ms. Kalas has lived her entire life, feels unrecognizable at times, she said.<span class=\"css-8l6xbc evw5hdy0\">  <\/span>\u201cThere were entire streets you couldn\u2019t walk along because a military officer or official lived there,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cWe feel like seeing the country anew; we feel like tourists,\u201d Mr. al-Qadi said. \u201cIt feels like it\u2019s ours again.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-15\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-798hid etfikam0\">Zeina Shahla contributed reporting.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/01\/05\/world\/middleeast\/damascus-syria-freedoms-al-assad.html\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For much of her life, Sumaya Ainaya spent weekend and summer nights on Mount Qasioun, which overlooks the city of Damascus, joined by other Syrians drinking coffee, smoking hookah and eating corn on the cob roasted on grills nearby. But soon after the Syrian civil war erupted in 2011, the military under President Bashar al-Assad [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":208171,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/01\/05\/multimedia\/05damascus-mood-promo\/05damascuc-mood-top-tzcj-facebookJumbo.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[164240,54582,164238,21718,163198,137233,43104,727,68750,163229,17458,164239,5152,19366,149632],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/208170"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=208170"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/208170\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":208172,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/208170\/revisions\/208172"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/208171"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=208170"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=208170"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=208170"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}