Call for Unity in Damascus
Call for Unity in Damascus
A Different Tomorrow for Syria
Three months after the removal of Bashar al-Assad, the country is contemplating its future and the challenges that may threaten its path toward democracy, both internal and external.
After 14 years of civil war and the removal of a regime that was ruled with an iron fist by the al-Assad family for more than half a century, Syria is confronting its past and questioning its future.
A country embroiled in economic crisis and prolonged internal conflict has weak and worn-out infrastructure, while entire cities have been abandoned as punishment for rebelling against the regime.
According to the World Bank report, Syria’s economy has collapsed by 84%, plunging nearly 90% of its people into poverty. Today, despite repeated assurances, concerns remain about the governance model of the new liberators, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), and its leader Ahmad al-Sharaei, who has declared himself interim president. Will they keep their promise to protect the rights of women and minorities, or will they attempt to impose a new Islamist regime on Syria?
In recent days, for the first time since 2011, pro-democracy protests were held in Damascus.
Some see this as a surprising result of renewed freedom of expression and assembly, while others view it as signs of emerging problems on the horizon. The surrounding outlook is not promising. The Arab Spring uprisings in Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, and Yemen have failed, and the ongoing turmoil across the Middle East may ultimately affect the country’s efforts to chart a different course.
Efforts for Dialogue
On Monday, for the first time since the regime’s fall, the new government held a national dialogue conference, bringing together representatives from various communities and groups in Syrian society in Damascus to discuss and exchange views on the path the country should take. As al-Sharaei stated, Syria has a unique, historical, and rare opportunity. We must seize every moment to serve the benefit of our people and country.
About 600 representatives present were asked to provide suggestions on key issues on the agenda, including establishing a judicial system to facilitate transition, drafting a new constitution, reforming and modernizing state institutions, ensuring individual freedoms and civil society, and the future economic model of the country.
According to the organizing committee, the proposals, although not binding, will be accepted by the new transitional government that will start its work from March 1st. Al-Sharaei stated that a transitional judicial body will soon be formed to restore people’s rights, and those who committed crimes against the Syrian people during the civil war will be prosecuted.
He also emphasized that non-governmental armed groups must be disarmed. The integration and exclusivity of weapons by the state is not a luxury but a duty and commitment. He said, Syria is indivisible; it is a complete whole, and its strength lies in its unity.
The Issue of Minorities
The measures introduced by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and the moderation efforts promised by al-Sharaei were met with optimism in Brussels, where it was decided to suspend several sanctions and restrictive measures imposed on the Syrian regime for over a decade.
Other sanctions related to arms smuggling, drugs, and cultural goods will remain in place, but European institutions have announced they will monitor the situation to support and stabilize the transition process in the country.
The conference results and inclusive calls are indeed the first step, but some believe the political process is merely superficial, and besides not properly addressing women, some minorities like the Druze, Alawites, and Kurds are not truly included in the transition process.
Notably, the Kurdish militia coalition SDF, which controls much of northeastern Syria and has so far refused to integrate its forces into the new Syrian army, was excluded from the national dialogue conference. This was because it might have put the new government in a difficult position with one of its main allies, Turkey. Ankara is officially at war with the Syrian Democratic Forces, fearing it might destabilize the Kurdish-populated southeastern regions of the country.
In contrast, the United States considers them its most reliable allies in the fight against the Islamic State, and today hundreds of American soldiers remain in areas under Kurdish control to combat hidden ISIS cells. However, with Donald Trump entering the White House, Washington’s support may decrease, exposing the region to potential Turkish military operations and a resurgence of ISIS.
Another Front for Israel
To the internal challenges, we must add those created by the conflict that began on October 7, 2023, after Hamas attacked southern Israel, effectively changing the face of the Middle East. Immediately after the fall of the Assad regime, Israeli tanks crossed from the occupied Golan Heights and expanded their control over the buffer zone in southern Syria. Among the preventive measures Tel Aviv took within 48 hours of the rebel militias reaching Damascus were sinking the Syrian fleet and occupying Mount Hermon, a strategically significant hill about 60 kilometers from the Syrian capital.
Airstrikes continued throughout January and February, fueling fears of a prolonged military occupation. Last Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called for the complete demilitarization of the southern provinces of Quneitra, Daraa, and Sweida. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz supported these remarks, warning that Israel would not allow southern Syria to become like southern Lebanon. President al-Sharaei responded by calling for international community intervention, and people took to the streets in several cities. Syria, this was the most repeated slogan in the protests, belongs to the Syrians.
Finally, the mountain gave birth to a mouse. The Syrian National Conference was short, rushed, and with relatively vague results, and it seems more like a publicity stunt based on at least two goals. On one hand, it aimed to complete the image cleansing of al-Sharaei and his associates, an effort to forget as much as possible their jihadist past. On the other hand, it was necessary to present an image of unity and solidarity for the country, both as propaganda against domestic separatist forces and as a tool in regional politics to reassure Arab neighbors on the eve of post-war reconstruction and Damascus’s diplomatic return. However, given the unresolved Kurdish issue and Israel pressuring the border with the idea of creating a buffer zone, if not a real protectorate using the Druze, the list of challenges for Syria after Assad grows longer by the day.