In the last 10 days, Amir Fattal says he’s been glued to the TV at his home in Oakville each night, watching for any updates out of Syria.
When news broke that Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad had fled the country, Fattal said he felt like he was dreaming.
“Today I woke up and as a Syrian, I feel like I’m free.”
Fattal, who came to Canada in 2016 after fleeing his home country four years earlier, is among Syrians across Ontario who are celebrating the end of the Assad family’s 50-year iron rule after a rapid offensive by armed factions seized control of the country — a day many say they thought might never come.
In Mississauga, a group of people came together overnight Saturday to rejoice. By Sunday afternoon, hundreds of people gathered in the city’s Celebration Square to mark the fall of their home country’s former president.
Among the crowd was Houssam Harwash, who came to Canada from Syria in 2018 after being arrested and thrown in a Syrian jail for 43 days. He said several of his close friends were killed during protests against the Assad regime.
“I’ve been dreaming for this for the last 13, 14 years since the start of the revolution,” he said Sunday.
After witnessing so much violence, Harwash said he feels hopeful for the future of his country.
“Right now, there’s a good change and a good opportunity for us and to live free.”
Marwah Kobieh, executive director of the Syrian Canadian Foundation said many Syrians had lost hope that they would ever see this day come.
“We kind of just accepted the fact that we’re just going to support Syrian refugees here in Canada or who have been scattered across the countries across the world,” she said.
Now, Kobieh said she hopes Syrian’s new leadership will live up to its promises of a free state.
“And we’re hoping that all the Syrians who are scattered across the world can come back to Syria and just hold each other’s hand and rebuild the country that have been really facing so much for half a century.”
The leader of Syria’s biggest rebel faction, Abu Mohammed al-Golani, is poised to chart the country’s future.
The former al-Qaeda commander cut ties with the group years ago and says he embraces pluralism and religious tolerance. His Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group, or HTS, is considered a terrorist organization by the U.S. and the UN.
Some analysts say what happens next depends largely on al-Golani and what type of leader he turns out to be.
“It’s a new chapter — that’s a fact. What sort of chapter, whether this is a happy ending or a horror story, a new horror story, remains to be seen,” said Randall Hansen, a professor of political science at the University of Toronto
Hansen said the country’s new leader now faces the daunting task of uniting a deeply divided country.
“Much will depend on him and what they decide and how he behaves,” he said.
In Oakville, Fattal said he too worries about what will come next, but says for now, he’s happy Syria at least has a chance for a new future.
“I hope to see a free country with democratic system. I hope to see our country build again,” he said.
He hopes to return one day to help his home country rebuild — something he said wouldn’t be possible without the safety, education and experience he found in Canada.