The celebrations were a deeply symbolic way to mark the dramatic change of power in Syria, nearly a week after insurgents swept into Damascus — ousting the Assad family who had kept an iron grip on the country for five decades.
In the capital. Under Assad, sermons were tightly controlled and monitored, a fact not lost on the crowd. The symbolism was further amplified by the fact that in the early days of the revolution that precipitated the civil war, protesters would often gather at Umayyad Square. Now, fighters and civilians gathered to listen, many stepping inside the sweeping mosque for the first time ever.
Raghab, 22, a student, says it is the first time her family had prayed in the mosque because of the oversight of the regime. I want to be an architect so I can rebuild this country. Many had gathered hoping to catch a glimpse of the rebel commander Ahmed al-Sharaa, formerly known by his nom de guerre Abu Mohamed al-Golani, who heads up the largest insurgent force, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham HTS.
HTS, which was once aligned with al-Qaeda but has spent years distancing itself from its jihadi roots, has been working to establish security and start a political transition after leading the charge on the capital early on Sunday.
Their fighters are now on the streets, sometimes directing traffic and manning all the security and military buildings — now ransacked and strewn with defaced images of the ousted autocrat. They recently returned to their families for the first time in more than a decade after fighting across the country since Pointedly, they rest their feet on the defaced image of Assad that they had torn down from the billboard behind them.
