December 8: The Day Syria Was Reborn
On the eighth of December last year, we had an appointment with victory. A day in which Syria folded the page of a revolution that began in 2011, a page that carried within it pain beyond measure, and hope that never broke. One single year was enough to show the world a new face of Syria.
This transformation was not a coincidence. It was the result of the efforts of all Syrians, inside and outside. And despite what some areas on the coast and Sweida witnessed of unrest, the awareness of the people and their insistence on protecting the homeland led to holding everyone accountable whose hands were stained with the blood of any Syrian.
The story of Syria during those years is not just political events; it is the story of a people.
lass=”yoast-text-mark” />>A story that began with the sacrifice of Syrians when they shouted in the squares… and ended with their joy as they shouted in those same squares.
>A story that began with martyrs who fell on the roads… and ended with martyrs who fell in the fields of liberation.
>A story that began with fighting corruption and a suffocating authority… and ended with the fall of that authority and the birth of a new era.
For me, these events were not just news. They were my life. The revolution made me an activist after I lost my home and my school, and my father was killed. And today, I stand before what is left of my memories, and I see my school has returned, my home has been rebuilt, and my city has regained its safety. This is not just a return… it is healing.
For long years, I raised my voice demanding an end to the killing, the delivery of aid, and the rescue of the camps. My voice carried pain more than it had words. And today, for the first time in years, I do not raise an appeal for help. I will not say “Ghouta is burning,” and I will not say “save the camps.” That page has closed.
Now I say only one thing:
Welcome to Syria.
Welcome to the land for which I cried out, and to the homeland that endured everything.
Welcome to everyone who stood with us, and to everyone who believed that Syria has a more beautiful day.
Today we celebrate. We dance, we shout with joy, not fear. We cry out of gratitude, not pain.
Today, we stand in the squares, protected by our army and security, not running from them.
Today is not an end, but a beginning.
The path of rebuilding has started. We no longer ask for aid, but we ask to hold each other’s hands and rebuild what the war destroyed. To restore Syria to its place, a safe country for its people, open to the whole world.
Today, no more refuge… no more bombing… no more war.
Today is a new birth for Syria.
And from my heart, I invite you all to visit it… to see with your own eyes how the story began with pain and ended with hope… and how it is now being written in the language of life.
Today is not the end, but the beginning.
