Some notes on the events in Syria the past 72 hours (and three months): a thread this morning by @razanspeaks.bsky.social. x.com/razanspeaks/...

Following the fall of the Assad regime, Razan Saffour, a Syrian, kicks off 2025 by setting foot on Syrian soil for the first time in her life. These are exceptional moments for Syrians everywhere.

Absolutely overwhelming to see @razanspeaks.bsky.social arriving in Syria. Alf mabrouk, ya Razan! #solidarity #imnotcryingyourcrying

This is the first time in 14 years the New Year in Syria doesn’t begin with bombing, massacres and death by Assad, Iran and Russia.

my uncle, 78, visited Aleppo for the first time since ~1979. he sent my mother a message telling her how he felt standing at my grandfather’s grave for the first time. my grandfather passed away in 1984, in his death waited 40 years for his grave to be prayed on by his eldest son

Israel has kidnapped Syrians in the Golan Heights including minors Via @razanspeaks.bsky.social

A tribute to the martyr Khaled Nabhan and all of Gaza from Al-3asi square yesterday in Hama, Syria. 🤍💔❤️‍🩹💚 Poster reads: “Gaza, oh soul of our soul.” 📸 Nour Alwan H/T @razanspeaks.bsky.social

“And today in Syria, for the first time ever, nobody fears live bullets, snipers, tear gas and bombs as they take to reclaim their streets. Our streets in our Syria.” Thread by @razanspeaks.bsky.social. x.com/RazanSpeaks/...

Hafez Assad came into power in March 1971. Ever since, Syria had been held hostage to the Assad regime — until 8th December 2024. Today is the Friday in an Assad-free Syria.

Visiting my grandmother’s grave is my father’s priority upon returning to Syria. His mother who he was deprived from for decades, deprived even from speaking to her given his work that rendered contact with his family a threat to them. My incredible father, Walid Saffour, 74, tells Reuters.

Damascus has been liberated. Syria is free of the Assad regime. I can’t process anything. After 54 years of the Assad family holding Syrians hostage - we are free.

@razanspeaks.bsky.social on X: Baba Amr was one of the most brutalised towns in Homs. The Assad regime, Iran & Hezb pounded it so viciously - bombardment; massacres; sieges - before forcing her to succumb. Now 13 years later, minarets in Baba Amr are reverberating with the proclamation of victory.

A video from the Baba Amr neighborhood in Homs, one of the most significant areas that witnessed protests during the Syrian revolution. The regime bombarded it with artillery and airstrikes, forcing its residents to flee. Today, its residents are returning as the city of Homs is liberated.

My father’s hometown is liberated from the Assad regime. Homs is liberated. After 44 years of torture and exile, my father can return home.

As Syrian rebels make their way into rural Homs liberating Rastan and Talbiseh after yesterday’s Hama victory, Russian warplanes bomb both Rastan and rural Hama. Tell me who the occupying ‘terrorists’ are. Tell me who the violent imperialist foreign powers are.

Hama. The city that gave 40,000 souls in 1982. The city that was besieged, destroyed, entire lineages wiped out in the space of 3 weeks by Assad’s father. Hama the city that broke us all, the city that Syrians have been asking for forgiveness from since 2011. Our Hama is being liberated.

“Christians’ main concerns are not about being able to go to church,” writes Fadi Hallisso. “They are about a possible return to the Ottoman millet system, whereby Christians would be regarded not as having full rights… but rather as second-class citizens.” newlinesmag.com/spotlight/al...

From my Interview today with The News Movement on life in Aleppo under the regime and since liberation, fear and context. Grateful for all the media outlets across the world reaching out to hear Syrian perspectives.

After 10 years of forced displacement a mother is reunited with her son in Aleppo

Syria: Can The Tyrant Assad Fall? with Razan Saffour. Episode is out now: youtu.be/rpvZRWf-M9w?...

Syrian activist @razanspeaks.bsky.social was on the Thinking Muslim Podcast today - show out soon Insha’Allah

I wrote this for the New Statesman. www.newstatesman.com/world/middle...

Regime forces have targeted Idlib's university hospital and a number of other health facilities. The only method the regime knows to retain power is to terrorize civilians

From my (7am!) interview today for the BBC, on the situation in north Syria. Correction to be made: over the last few years the monthly* death toll has been 30-200 civilians, not daily, due primarily to Assad and Russian bombardment.

If I don't collapse of exhaustion beforehand, I plan to publish a comprehensive explainer on developments in NW #Syria in #SyriaWeekly's regular newsletter tomorrow. It'll be free for anyone to read. syriaweekly.com

Assad war planes bomb Talahdiya displacement camp in North Idlib, killing five children and 2 women. Injuring 12 others.

#Syria MAP UPDATE: the situation in Syria as of 01/12/2024. After almost five years of frozen frontlines the #Assad regime has collapsed all over the northwest. Rebel forces captured #Aleppo city and advanced as far south as N Hama Download larger file: mediafire.com/file/oqaq78v1e…

jesus christ

anyone telling you anything definitively on Syria is a grifter at best, a liar at worst. everything is escalating so fast, everything is moving beyond everyone’s expectations. never in our wildest dreams did we think it would happen like this, as fast or incredible as this.

Rumours of an attempted coup in Damascus, clashes reported between Syrian Presidential Guard and the Fourth Division - which is lead by Maher Assad.

Rebel forces liberated Aleppo with very few (if any) casualties reported. Meanwhile Russian Airforces coming to Assad’s aid have just bombed the recently liberated Aleppo City, targeting civilians. BODY PARTS SCATTERED, STREWN ON THE ROAD.

Our homeland is being liberated, town by town, at an unprecedented rate. Feelings beyond this world - fear, apprehension, disbelief, excitement, joy, sadness.

Why has Assad not yet been tried by the International Criminal Court? We break it down:

White Helmets Chief Criticizes UN Deputy Envoy for Ignoring Drone Attacks on #Idlib #syria @syriatv.bsky.social

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It's often said that Palestine is the moral litmus test of our time. However, there can be no true moral litmus test that does not account for the Palestinian struggle's many intersections, Syria's fight against Assad's authoritarian rule being among the most crucial of them.

This page does a lot of work on intersectionality and the Syrian revolution. Give them a follow folks.

We had the huge privilege of hosting Jaber Baker in Dublin a few weeks ago. Syrian Gulag is devastating, describing the most depraved inhumanity. Yet there is a profound humanity within the authors & the prisoners they write about as they suffer in Assad's Inferno ##SyriasDisappeared #FreetheRest

Been here for a few days earnestly reading through all the 'MENA' starter packs, disappointed to see many of them void of Syria writers, advocates and commentators, despite a number of Syria experts being on here. I was hoping this platform would demonstrate better intersectionality and solidarity.

This is an incredibly important piece by Sumaya Tabbah on the expression of Syrian detainees through prison literature, and the importance of connecting Syrian prison literature over the decades to conversations today. aljumhuriya.net/en/2024/11/1...

Last November, over 100 Syrian organisers, writers and students signed our statement of solidarity with the Palestinian people in light of the genocide on Gaza. The scale of aggression has since escalated, and our statement remains true: intersectionalsyria.com/2023/11/10/s...

Hi friends ♥️ On here still to speak on Syria, but a lot more intentionally. The last decade on social media was mostly survival & emergency response. Now turning to knowledge production & holding space, largely through @intersectsyria.bsky.social. Happy to hear thoughts and suggestions!