Damascus students say: “Finally feel free” after Assad’s fall

Hundreds of Damascus University students trampled on a statue of a former Syrian ruler on Sunday and expressed their jubilation as they returned to class a week after rebels toppled Bashar al-Assad.

“The atmosphere is extraordinary. Everyone is happy – look how happy people are,” said 18-year-old medical student Rinad Abdallah.

In front of her stood a large statue of Hafez al-Assad, who ruled Syria after seizing power in a bloodless military coup in 1970, which was destroyed and brought to the ground.

“I have an old photo of me posing in front of the statue. Now I will pose in the same place but without the statue,” Abdallah said with joy.

Bashar al-Assad ruled from the death of his father Hafez in 2000 until last week, when rebels seized the capital Damascus, more than 13 years after his suppression of pro-democracy protests sparked Syria’s civil war.

Ali Allaham, dean of the arts faculty, told AFP that classes resumed on Sunday with around 80 percent of staff and “a large number” of students.

Hundreds of students gathered in the courtyard, chanting revolutionary slogans and waving the three-star independence flag, a symbol of the uprising that began in 2011.

“We’ve been waiting for this moment for a really long time,” said Yasmine Shehab, 29, an English literature student.

Now “that statue that oppressed us with its presence no longer exists,” she said.

“We finally feel free! We can finally say what we think without fear,” Shehab added, expressing confidence in Syria’s future.

“There will be a place for all communities moving forward hand in hand,” she said.

– school children back –

In a spontaneous rally, thousands of students made their way to the central Ummayad Square, where Syrians have been celebrating the overthrow of Assad for days.

Interim government chief Mohammad al-Bashir said this week the coalition led by the Islamist rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham would guarantee “the rights of all people and all sects in Syria,” a multi-ethnic and multi-sectarian country.

Students, some in uniform, also returned to class on Sunday for the first time since Assad’s fall.

On the way to school, a group of girls showed the “V” for victory sign. One had a flag with three stars painted on her cheek, while others proudly waved one in the air.

Mother-of-three Raghida Ghosn, 56, said: “The school has asked us to send middle and high school students back to class. The younger ones will come back in two days.”

In one classroom, a large flag with three stars now hangs on the wall – a sight unimaginable in government-controlled areas during Assad’s iron rule.

A school employee said that “no more than 30 percent” of students were back in class on Sunday, but “these numbers will gradually increase.”

Business life has also started again and many people are already going to work as usual on Sunday, the first day of the working week in Syria.

An AFP journalist saw around a dozen people queuing outside a bakery in the Rokn-Eddine district.

Street vendors selling gasoline cans also went about their business in a country hit by fuel shortages and where power outages remain common, lasting up to 20 hours a day in some areas.

mam-mer/at/lg/ysm