As Syrian President Bashar al-Assad fled the country amid regime change and rebel forces moved in, statues of his father and former President Hafez al-Assad in and around the capital were toppled by protesters welcoming rebel fighters. Went.
More history in the making – Jaramana, Syrians in the southeast #Damascus Suburbia, break up Hafiz Al-#Assad statue.
the end is near. pic.twitter.com/ySTpVKHImo
– Charles Lister (@Charles_Lister) 7 December 2024
Hafez al-Assad began as Prime Minister and then President of Syria until his death in 2000, seizing power through a coup in 1970. The three-decade rule, although autocratic, gave Syria an era of stability and established it as a major power in the Middle East. His son, Bashar al-Assad, succeeded him and ruled Syria for more than two decades until an armed rebellion overthrew his rule.
This is the head of the statue of Hafez al-Assad. The man who massacred their families in the 80s, the father of a former dictator and the current dictator. The Syrian people will not stop fighting until they achieve freedom. it is #Hama pic.twitter.com/wxQJTGwlyj
– Omar Alshogre عمر الشگری (@omarAlshogre) 6 December 2024
Dramatic scenes were seen on the streets of Damascus and other cities as the regime changed in Syria. In particularly symbolic scenes, a statue of former President Hafez al-Assad was toppled in Hama, Syria’s fourth-largest city, 200 kilometers from Damascus. As soon as the statue was destroyed, there was celebratory firing and slogans of ‘Allahu Akbar’ started echoing loudly. A video shows a vehicle dragging the statue’s severed head on the road and people chasing it to kick it. Also in the city of Latakia, a statue of the former president was toppled as protesters cheered and recorded the moment on their phones.
In recent history, tearing down statues has been a symbolic act during regime changes around the world. Earlier this year, when the Sheikh Hasina government was overthrown in Bangladesh, the statues of the country’s first President and Sheikh Hasina’s father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman were vandalized. The scenes in Syria were also reminiscent of footage from 2003 of a US armored vehicle taking down a statue of former dictator Saddam Hussein on the day of the fall of Baghdad.
The rebellion that toppled Bashar al-Assad began in 2011 following the repression of peaceful anti-government protests. Over time, the movement transformed into a complex conflict in which foreign forces became involved and half a million people were killed and many displaced.
