Global Courant 2023-05-20 01:23:00
Idlib, Syria – Thousands of Syrians have protested across the country against some Arab countries’ normalization of relations with President Bashar al-Assad’s government and the country’s return to the Arab League.
Friday’s protests coincided with al-Assad’s participation in the Arab League summit in Saudi Arabia, marking the Syrian president’s return to the top after 12 years.
Thousands protested in Idlib, al-Bab, Azaz, Jarabulus and Afrin, among others, under the slogan: “Criminal al-Assad never represents Syria”.
Demonstrations also took place in six cities outside Syria: Vienna, Amsterdam, London, Vaile, Stockholm and Lyon.
Hundreds took part in the protests in the northwestern Syrian rebel city of Idlib.
“We demonstrated today to remind those trying to normalize their relations with the al-Assad regime that the Great Syrian Revolution started spontaneously in response to the internal strangulation we endured under the Assad regime,” said Ibrahim Aboud , one of the participants in the demonstration and a displaced civilian from Maarat al-Numan in northern Idlib, told Al Jazeera.
“When we first protested in 2011, we didn’t ask anyone’s permission and we didn’t take into account the regional and international environment around Syria.”
Protesters held banners reading “Syria is not represented by the criminal al-Assad” and “No to normalization with the regime” in rebel-held Idlib (Ali Haj Suleiman/Al Jazeera)
Aboud said he could not accept the move by the Arab countries, be it political, diplomatic, military or economic, given that the government has killed, displaced and imprisoned millions of Syrians over 12 years.
“We are determined to achieve the goals of the revolution and to free Syria from the Assad regime and its thugs,” Aboud said.
‘Has held him accountable’
The Arab League suspended Syria’s membership in May 2011 after al-Assad’s brutal handling of the protests, as well as the civilians who started the Syrian revolution that year.
“Today we are sending a message to the Arab and international community rejecting the return of criminal Bashar al-Assad to the Arab League. They should have called him to account instead of shaking his hands, which are stained with the blood of the Syrian people,” said Naif Shaban, a human rights activist and displaced citizen from Wadi Barada in rural Damascus.
“The normalization will not change anything for us, because this has been going on under the table for 12 years. Today it is happening in public,” Shaban said
The war in Syria erupted after al-Assad suppressed peaceful anti-government demonstrations in 2011, escalating into a deadly conflict that attracted foreign powers and various armed groups.
More than half a million people have died and about half of the country’s pre-war population has been driven from their homes.
About three million people live in Idlib, half of whom have been displaced by the war.
Rebel-held Idlib is home to about three million people, half of whom have been displaced by the war (Ali Haj Suleiman/Al Jazeera)
‘Our revolution continues’
In the Syrian city of Al-Bab, about 1,000 people staged a similar protest.
Jalal Talawi, one of the protest organizers in the city, said protesters showed their firm rejection of al-Assad’s presence at the summit and normalization with this “evil regime”.
“Many people today are displaced by the regime of al-Assad and its supporters,” Talawi told Al Jazeera.
“Our message is crystal clear: our revolution will continue until we reach its goal, which is freedom and liberation from this regime.
“Al-Assad does not represent us as Syrians and we have sent a clear message today to anyone who supports or opposes the revolution that we will not accept this regime and continue until it falls and until we have all our prisoners back. We keep going despite the whole world standing in our way.”
In Azaz, a refuge for Syrians who fled from other parts of the country during the war, 700 people gathered to protest.
‘We greatly appreciate Qatar’s attitude’
Nor was Syria’s return to the Arab League widely embraced in the Saudi city of Jeddah, where the meeting took place.
The Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, left the city after leading the Qatari delegation at the summit. While there was no confirmation, the Reuters news agency quoted an unnamed Arab official as saying that Sheikh Tamim left the summit before al-Assad’s speech began.
Qatar had previously opposed Syria’s return to the Arab League. After returning to the Arab League, Qatar’s Foreign Ministry spokesman said the country’s position “on normalization with the regime had not changed”.
The spokesman added that Qatar will “still support the Arab consensus and will not stand in the way of it”.
Shaban, a protester in Idlib, added that people “appreciated Qatar’s stance against normalization and their support for the rights of the Syrian people”.
“We wish other countries had a similar view,” Shaban added.
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