Do Syrians Celebrate Assad’s Fall Anniversary?

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00:00It is hugely symbolic, and there are, as you do say, still secretarian violence that we're seeing in Syria.

00:07No rebuilding has happened this year on.

00:11I know it's very early to say Rawia, but nothing, no reconstruction started.

00:17And obviously we saw al-Sharah in the White House, and that was, of course, that was last month.

00:22He's built a bond with Donald Trump.

00:24We are aware the West support al-Sharah, but that doesn't stop the fact that most Syrians are still living in dire poverty.

00:33The buildings are crumbling.

00:35There's no constitution in place.

00:37But do they still see this as a moment to celebrate?

00:41Absolutely.

00:41I mean, I think it's evident from the footage.

00:43If you look at the celebrations, the crowds that filled the streets in Damascus and in different Syrian cities,

00:51the squares that were filled with people, I think it is very telling as to how happy and what a joyous occasion this is.

01:01We have to remember that we're talking about people who have gone through civil war for 14 years,

01:09people who have endured a dictatorship, and one of the worst, probably, in recent histories, also for decades.

01:18So this is a dream.

01:20They're still in the euphoria of their dream come true.

01:25It is true that no reconstruction happened in the past year.

01:29But, I mean, there have been some significant achievements.

01:33First of all, the lifting of the sanctions, trying to revive the country economically, at least, or jumpstart it.

01:39They had to deal with a lot of sectarian violence in different areas, from Druze, from Alawites.

01:46They had to deal also with Israel, having reoccupied parts of Syria near the border.

01:53There are a lot of challenges.

01:54I think the Syrian people still have, they do understand that these things take time.

02:01They do understand, also, from lessons of history, what happened in Iraq, in Tunisia, in Egypt, after the Arab Spring.

02:08There is a price to pay for that, which is some period of chaos.

02:14I think they're doing well.

02:16I think they have the support of the Arab world, and major players in the Arab world, they have the support of the Americans as well.

02:23And I think, you know, it can be pushed, and things will happen.

02:28And I think Syrian people, they still have the patience to wait it out and see it through.