In Umayyad Square in Damascus, Syrians celebrated the fall of President Bashar Assad for the third day on Tuesday despite Israeli airstrikes across the country.
The opposition fighters who recently took control of the capital city tried to impose a new rule banning the celebratory gunfire. There were a few violators, and much less deafening gunfire.
Protesters climbed the square's central monument to wave the Syrian revolutionary flag. On the ground, crowds chanted: “Out with Bashar! Out with Bashar!” Assad fled to Russia over the weekend after a lightning opposition offensive toppled his brutal police state.
Demonstrators from different provinces marched in the square in groups, celebrating Assad's fall. Men on motorcycles and horses paraded into the square.
One woman from Idlib province shouted that the Israeli strikes ruined the joy of ousting Assad. “Why are you striking us? We just deposed a tyrant,” she said.
“Give us peace. Leave us alone,” said Ahmed Jreida, 22, a dentist student, when asked about the Israeli airstrikes.
Hamzeh Hamada, 22, said this was the first time he had gone out to a demonstration.
“We want the country to get better, to live in dignity and be like other countries that respect citizens’ rights and where there are no bribes,” he said. “We have suffered a lot from bribes. ... We had to bribe people for very minor things; things that should be our right.”
Abdul-Jalil Diab was taking a stroll with his brothers in another square in western Damascus. He said he came back from Jordan the day Damascus fell. He was there studying German to prepare to move to Germany and said he is now reconsidering his plans. He was ecstatic, saying words can’t describe how he feels.
“We are happy to get rid of the corrupt regime that was based on bribes. The whole country feels better. Everyone is happy and celebrating,” Abdul-Jalil Diab said.
