Syria after Assad: As a new era dawns, could there be hope for Palestine?

For our generation, the fall of the Assad regime marks the end of a historical chapter, coming more than a decade after the Syrian regime – backed by Russia and Iran – brutally suppressed the Syrian revolution, shattering the dreams of democratisation held by many young people across the Arab world.

But on Sunday, as Syrian opposition forces entered Damascus and ended the Assad family’s decades-long rule, we were reminded of a fundamental truth: no tyrannical regime or colonial entity can endure forever, as long as human resistance and the inherent desire for dignity and freedom persist.

Naturally, the world is preoccupied with questions about Syria’s future, and with good reason. Will the country’s political transition lead to democracy, or will it spiral into endless sectarian and religious conflicts that threaten its very existence?

Despite all possible scenarios, nothing can justify the horrors of Syria’s prisons, or the unimaginable suffering inflicted on men, women and even children born into a living hell.

But more than a decade after the Arab Spring, hope has finally returned to our hearts.

Putting aside the certainty of political commentators on both sides, including supporters and opponents of former President Bashar al-Assad, nothing is guaranteed. Syria’s fate ultimately rests on the ability of its political elites to confront the country’s internal and external challenges.  

Today, more than ever, it is important to emphasise the moral and political value of democratic governance, especially in a country like Syria. 

Historical ties

Contrary to the western Orientalist perspective, Arab peoples – and especially the Syrian people – are inherently diverse: religiously, ethnically, socially and ideologically. Any attempt to impose the rule of one group over others is doomed to fail, leading either to a repressive dictatorship or perpetual instability fuelled by inevitable resistance.  

Indeed, we cannot ignore the elephant in the room that resurfaces whenever the Syrian issue is raised: the question of Israel. 

Palestinians and Syrians have long seen themselves as part of a shared region, connected by cultural, religious and familial ties formed over centuries. These bonds have served as a deep foundation for resistance to Zionist colonialism on Palestinian lands.

Given this context, any regime in Syria, even under former President Hafez al-Assad, has been expected to oppose Israel. The political discourse on Syria often focuses on its membership in the “axis of resistance”, stretching from Iran to Hezbollah in Lebanon. I am not among those who dismiss this alignment outright, but I also recognise that Syria’s role in the resistance bloc was a byproduct of geopolitical constraints.

This complex reality highlights how the Palestinian cause cannot justify internal oppression by any regime. The excuse of “resistance to Israel” has too often been exploited by authoritarian regimes to justify dictatorship and unprecedented violence against their own people.

Even more troubling is the paternalistic and arrogant assumption by such regimes that only they know how to resist Israel, while anyone opposing their brutality is dismissed as naive or manipulated by western imperialism. This dangerous logic has been used to delegitimise human rights discourse and to silence demands for civil liberties.

An Arab democratic order where people get to elect their rulers in a free and fair manner is probably the biggest threat to Israel.

Arab peoples have a basic and universal right to live in dignity, to enjoy fair judicial processes grounded in the rule of law, and to be governed by a constitutional framework ensuring checks and balances, along with collective and individual rights – all of which can be provided only by a democratic system.

Agency of the people 

The assumption that Israel, the West, or other foreign powers orchestrated the fall of the Assad regime insults the strength and will of the Syrian people. It dismisses their courageous protests, resistance and sacrifices in the face of unimaginable brutality. 

Furthermore, Israel is not all-powerful: despite a century of colonisation in Palestine, backed by western military and economic support, Israel has failed to crush the Palestinian people, who live in a relatively small geographic area. How, then, could it control the fate of a country as complex as Syria? 

Of course, Israel, the US, Russia, Turkey and various Arab states have all played – and continue to play – roles in Syria. This is the unfortunate reality of the region’s geopolitical landscape, where all actors pursue their own interests.

But despite these interventions, the final say belongs to the Syrian people. In the end, only they can determine Syria’s future, for better or worse – and they still have agency.

On the Palestinian cause, the Syrian people are no different from other Arab nations in recognising its importance. They view it as an inherently Arab struggle, rooted in its symbolic value and the shared understanding that Israel remains a foreign entity in the region’s consciousness – one perceived as working against the interests of Arab peoples.

I do not know what Syria’s future holds, but I can’t deny the joy I felt upon seeing videos of thousands of prisoners being released from the country’s hellish detention centres. After a year and two months of witnessing genocide in Gaza, seeing children reunited with parents they believed they would never see again brought a rare moment of hope.

For the first time in more than a decade, we saw joy on the faces of Syrian children as they embraced their mothers and fathers after years of separation and imprisonment. For the first time in what feels like forever, hope for change in the Arab world has returned. The dream of seeing all Arab peoples living in dignity has become possible once again.

History is still being written – and so is hope.

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Sunna Files Website.