Local Syrians react to news of Assad regime change
SAN FRANCISCO - After decades of brutal leadership, the Assad family is no longer ruling Syria. There has been an astonishing turn of events in this part of the Middle East over the last week and a half. Rebels now hold the country's capital Damascus, and deposed leader Bashar Al-Assad has fled to Russia.
The events happening half a world away are close to the heart of Mohammad El Tawil. He left Syria 30 years ago, looking to make a better life for himself here in the United States, starting a restaurant and raising a family. He watched as the Assad family brutalize his homeland.
"50 years," said El Tawil. "More than 50 years they controlled the country, they controlled people, controlled business, controlled everything."
El Tawil said he spoke with family still in Syria. "Today they are happy, because something good came to be something they think positive, you know," said El Tawil.
Stephen Zunes, political science professor at the University of San Francisco studies the Middle East, and said the fall of the Assad family shows an overwhelming groundswell of sentiment against the Assad regime. "This was not a military victory by this Islamist group, it was a political collapse of the regime," said Zunes. "People are celebrating, not because they want to see hardline Islmaists in power. But, they're just celebrating that Assad is gone."
Now, Zunes said, everyone is watching to see what will happen in the coming days. Will rebel leadership lean into a push for broader inclusion or religious extremism?
"They were definitely autocratic, ultra conservative though they did allow religious minorities to worship freely," said Zunes. "They didn't demand that women cover up completely. So, these are some signs that they may not be as hardline as the group's origins and that of the leader, Al-Jolani."
El Tawil said his family has scattered over the years. He hopes now that they will be able to join together and celebrate a new future for Syria. "It was a big problem and now people are happy," said El Tawil. "Something different, something new, becoming a new Syria now. A new life."
For now the El-Tawil family said they will hold out hope for the best in the days to come.
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