JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
In Syria, it's been more than six months since Bashar al-Assad's regime was toppled by opposition fighters after decades in power and years of civil war. NPR's Jane Arraf has covered Syria since the overthrow last December. She went back to Damascus this week to find out what's changed.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: (Non-English language spoken).
JANE ARRAF, BYLINE: We're in a public square with a giant TV screen. Nearby, on top of a hill, is the presidential palace, now home to Ahmed al-Sharaa, a former al-Qaida militant turned statesman. The occasion is the unveiling of a new logo - a stylized eagle - featured on new Syrian passports. There's a lot of fanfare - bursts of fireworks, riders on horseback, waving flags, dancers in white suits.
(CHEERING)
ARRAF: And the thing about all of this is people watching here - families, young men, young women, older people - they're absolutely rapt. And I don't think it's just the fireworks or the dancers or the horses. They look as if they're witnessing something momentous.
(CHEERING)
ARRAF: There's a rising sandstorm, but the audience is undeterred. A young woman in stylishly modest dress puts her fingers in her mouth and produces an exuberant whistle.
(SOUNDBITE OF WHISTLING)
ARRAF: Her name is Ahlam Deqaq (ph). She's 21 and an information engineering student.
AHLAM DEQAQ: (Non-English language spoken).
ARRAF: She loves Ahmed al-Sharaa, she says, because he's the leader who liberated them.
LAMA MADWAR: (Non-English language spoken).
ARRAF: All of Syria is with Ahmed al-Sharaa, says another woman, Lama Madwar (ph).
MADWAR: (Non-English language spoken).
ARRAF: She says her son-in-law was among the tens of thousands of Syrians arrested under the previous regime and never seen again.
(CHEERING)
ARRAF: The new government has reason to celebrate. It has opened the door to renewed ties with countries including the U.S., where Sharaa has become a favorite of President Trump. One of the Syrian president's advisers, Moussa al-Amar (ph), is at the ceremony, and he's ecstatic.
MOUSSA AL-AMAR: This is the new day for Syria.
ARRAF: Why is it a new day?
AL-AMAR: Everything, it's new. Everything, it's changed.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
PRESIDENT AHMED AL-SHARAA: (Non-English language spoken).
ARRAF: When Sharaa speaks, he promises jobs, security and unity. Syria does not accept division from north to south, east to west. We are united, he says.
(SOUNDBITE OF ENGINE CHUGGING)
ARRAF: Not everyone feels that way. For millions of Syrians, this is a new beginning, long dreamed of during the years of killings and arrests and repression. For others, seen to have benefited under the Assad regime, there are new fears.
SHAZEL KETAN: (Non-English language spoken).
ARRAF: Shazel Ketan (ph) is among a group of young women who have come hoping to deliver a petition to the president. They were just months away from graduating as judges when the government dissolved their entire judicial institute class as a remnant of the old regime.
KETAN: (Non-English language spoken).
ARRAF: "You destroyed us without any consideration," says Ketan. "Don't tell me to work hard and study hard. We didn't benefit from any of that."
(CROSSTALK)
ARRAF: For some of the almost 6 million Syrians who fled the country during the civil war, there are new possibilities. This week, the Syrian American Medical Society - SAMS - brought together hundreds of physicians who left Syria years ago for the U.S.
AREF RIFAI: The need for services inside Syria is immense. The infrastructure of the hospitals, lack of equipment is severe.
ARRAF: That's the new head of SAMS, Aref Rifai, a Syrian American ophthalmologist.
(SOUNDBITE OF CAR HORNS HONKING)
ARRAF: In spite of the incredibly low wages, currently about $60 a month, young Syrian doctors here say they're now more inclined to stay. Fatima Breem's (ph) 25 and an obstetrics and gynecology resident.
FATIMA BREEM: Before six months, no (laughter). I planned to go U.K. or USA. And now, I decided to stay in Syria and complete my residency.
ARRAF: Some Syrians, though, are thinking of leaving. Many are afraid after the killings this year of hundreds of members of the Alawite minority and a suicide bombing at a Damascus church. Others, like Roula Suleiman, wonder whether they have a place in this new Syria. She owns the Zawaya Art Gallery, and says she envisioned a refuge where everyone could discuss ideas and create what they wanted. But then government officials showed up, criticizing the art and asking why there was nudity.
ROULA SULEIMAN: That's why I'm thinking about maybe leaving. Maybe I will stay. I don't know because there's nothing clear here.
(SOUNDBITE OF ROOSTER CROWING)
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: (Non-English language spoken).
ARRAF: For most Syrians, though, like people here in the Sheh Mahidine (ph) market, a new-found freedom and the prospect of building a normal life makes up for almost everything.
SAMI MOCHRA: (Non-English language spoken).
ARRAF: "Things are getting better," says Sami Mochra (ph), an unemployed plumber who sells vegetables here, "but it will take time."
(SOUNDBITE OF SIREN WAILING)
ARRAF: Across town, at a major intersection that was chaos a few months ago, there are newly hired traffic police.
(SOUNDBITE OF WHISTLE BLOWING)
ARRAF: We went back to see a boy scout leader, Amjad Muhadassad (ph). We met him when he was directing traffic as a volunteer in January. He told us then he was so happy to be free, he was walking on air.
(SOUNDBITE OF CLATTERING)
ARRAF: He's gone back to work, to his quiet machine shop. I ask how he feels now.
AMJAD MUHADASSAD: Great (laughter). Yeah, I'm feeling good.
ARRAF: The difference, he says, is peace of mind - feeling comfortable in your own country.
Jane Arraf, NPR News, Damascus. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
