The wind of freedom has just stirred across the world.
Iran's linchpin dealt a decisive blow. Putin's regime--the enemy of so many people's and friend of so many tyrants--licking its wounds and taking in its first Syrian refugee. The end of a regime whose evil knew no bounds.
This moment is worthy of celebration.
But what about...?
Free Syrians should be able to celebrate after almost 14 years of fighting for their freedom (on top of almost another 50 years of Baath dictatorship).
The world abandoned them in their hour of need but now refuses to let them celebrate in their hour of victory. Warnings overshadow their triumph. The final prison is still not opened, yet the concerns pour in.
But the victory of freedom for any is a victory for all of humanity.
Yet let's clear the air a bit: the problem of Islamic radicalism is real, but the fall of the Assad brings the possibility of solutions, not more problems.
Assad cultivated jihadism: releasing extremists from his prisons while jailing and slaughtering the civilian opposition.
Syrians in areas that HTS (the former AQ group) controlled have often protested their rule, including organizing for elections.
In short, with Assad gone, the greater possibilities for self-rule open up alternatives to Islamic radicalism—alternatives that were impossible under Assad’s tyranny.
What are we celebrating?
Freedom.
It's so easy to take for granted. And that is right in its own way. When civil society's working, it should just be like oxygen: there, available, the background that lets you live but not the thing you worry about.
But Syrians couldn't take it for granted.
Listen to the voices from the first protests of 2011:
Sana recalled her husband returning from his first protest in tears: “Anyone who doesn’t live this moment cannot consider himself alive.”
Cherin, a Kurdish mother: “Your voice gets louder… You shudder and your body rises and everything you imagined just comes out. Tears come down. Tears of joy, because I broke the barrier… I am not afraid, I am a free being.”
Rima vowed: “I would never again let anyone steal my voice.”
Wendy Pearlman, who gathered these stories, always began with “What was your first protest like?” because it was so moving to hear the answers.
As the years dragged on and massacres mounted, the world’s silence became a cruel mockery of their courage.
Yet that dream didn't die.
Their voices rise again to shout "huriya"--freedom!
Celebrate a Free Syria. Because while the world gave up on them, they refused to surrender their dream.