After Assad, these 3 women are working to build a fair and peaceful Syria | CBC radio

When Alma Salem crossed the border from Lebanon to Syria, he asked the driver to stop.

He fled the country 13 years ago when the authoritarian government of Bashar al-Assad opposed the prodemocratic protests with military force, immersing the country in the civil war. He Assad regime collapse In December, it made it possible to return to Montreal’s house, where he had been living, for the first time since the war began.

When leaving the car, he kissed and kissed the earth, breathing his family smell.

“I thought that (I would only return) to Syria buried, you know, directly to that land. But I became life and could sustain it in my hand,” said Salem, executive director of the political movement of Syrian women, said The currentThe host Matt Galloway.

“I felt that I own the country. I felt … that every Syria is mine.”

For Syrians as Salem, the end of war brought joy and renewed dreams of how the future would look. The current He spoke with Salem and two other Syrian activists about his visions for the future of the country and the obstacles that remain to get there.

Alma Salem

Since he returned, Salem says that the feeling of celebration in Syria is like an “endless party.” It is often noisy, full of the sounds of the battery and voices, he said. People can speak freely for the first time without fear that their views can put them into trouble with Assad Secret Police.

“I think we took charge of the public space again,” said Salem.

Salem says that now is the time for Syrians abroad to return home. Some six million Syrian refugees were reapted throughout the world since 2011, and the transition government requested the 1.5 million more or less in the Lebanon to return Earlier this month.

Those who return could participate in the construction of the new Syria from scratch, something that all citizens fought so hard and shared the victory, says Salem.

“It’s a country that is ours now, and we deserve the opportunity,” said Salem.

Salem says that it is essential that women have a role in the political structure of Syria, since their population builds a new society after Assad. But it is also something that worries him.

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the rebel group that overthrew the government and became the country’s de facto leadership In December, you have a poor history when it comes to women’s rights, including reports from Block women’s access to education and demand that women be accompanied by a male tutor in public In the past.

Aisha al-Dibs, the new head of the Women’s Affairs Office of Syria, He told Al Jazeera that his government was committed to involving women within social, political and cultural institutions, but Protest program When he said that women “should not go beyond the priorities of their nature given by God” and remember the educational role they have within a family.

These words caused a wave of anger among Syrian feminists, according to Salem. Despite this, she is still optimistic that those with Power is listening to women in their country.

Salem organized a conference This month, which was attended by some 300 politicians, political representatives, journalists and members of civil society groups, who shared the ideas of women involved in Syrian politics.

“This was, you know, a good sign for us who recognized ours … statements and demands for the political participation of women,” said Salem.

Noura Aljizawi

Noura Aljizawi, a Syrian human rights activist who played a key role in the 2011 uprising, also fled to Canada from Syria during the war. He has not yet left Toronto to visit Casa, but he is soon planning a trip there.

It will be the first time that his daughter sees the country and meets Aljizawi’s father, a dream that his family thought it could never come true.

Before being able to change his hands in December, Aljizawi was losing the hope that he once returned home or see his family again in person.

“But now everything is possible. And the dream is true now,” he told Galloway.

She says that the first step towards the reconstruction of Syria must be responsibility.

Amnesty International estimates that tens of thousands of civilians disappeared after political protests in 2011. Many were imprisoned to be tortured, hungry or executed. Up to 13,000 people were executed In the notorious prison of Saydnaya between 2011 and 2016 according to Amnesty International.

With the former disappeared regime, prison -filled prisons have been released. But Aljizawi says that many people are still missing, including some of their own family. People deserve answers about where their missing relatives are, she says.

“The truth must be told, and the victims must be heard,” said Aljizawi.

“The alternative of justice is revenge. And we don’t want … victims seeking revenge against perpetrators.”

Even so, Aljizawi says that the most difficult work is done: uprooting the authoritarian regime. “There is nothing impossible after that.”

Azzza behavior

Azza Kondakji was persecuted by Assad’s regime for his activist work. But she never left the country, choosing to stay and help other Syrians through civil war.

He also wanted to be there to witness the moment when his country was released, which says he always believed he would come. “It was hope that kept me in the country,” he told Galloway.

With that moment finally in the rearview mirror, Kondakji says that the cleaning and reconstruction efforts will be a great task, since much of the country’s infrastructure and the essential services have been decimated by years of struggle.

TO 2022 analysis by the World Bank It is estimated that the total damage throughout the country is $ 8.7-11.4 billion of the USA ($ 12.48-16.35 billion CDN). Kondakji says that the reconstruction of Syria will require other countries to provide economic support and raise their sanctions of the Assad era.

Kondakji hopes that with some support, the next generation of Syrians will carry the torch to build a peaceful future.

An estimated 2.4 million children They are still out of school in Syria, either because their families have been displaced, they can no longer afford to be in the classroom or their classrooms were destroyed in the fight, according to Kondakji. Many suffer with the emotional weight of witnessing war, and will need psychosocial support.

Kondakji imagines a future in which Syrian children can grow in schools that foster creativity instead of fear, and where dreams of becoming a scientist or world leader can come true.

“The next generation of Syria has the potential to redefine what it means to be Syrian, not through pain, but through pride and hope,” Kondakji said.

“They embody the dream of a nation that can be maintained once again, as if a phoenix is ​​reborn.”