As Syrians celebrate the end of the Assad dynasty, their joy is shared by millions in many parts of the world. Images of jubilation have filled TV news broadcasts as well as social media platforms.
Many Syrian refugees across Europe and the Levant have expressed disbelief coupled with gratitude at the opportunity to return home.
The rebellion and armed struggle to change the regime in Syria has been in the making for a number of years and involved many domestic and external actors.
Many will be asking whether the fall of Bashar al-Assad will have any bearing on Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza.
In other words, will the revolutionary zeal that accompanied an intense period of training, coordination and preparation to free Syria from Assad’s iron-fisted grip end in Damascus?
Or will it extend to the Levant?
Let’s be clear: Israel and the United States’ opposition to Assad’s government had zero to do with his repressive rule. This is borne out by the fact that neither of those countries nor fellow Western allies have any problem with equally repressive regimes such as Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and others.
It had to do with one simple fact: Syria under Assad served as an important conduit for weapons to the resistance groups fighting Israel.
Severing that supply line has always been their goal, which begs the question whether Hayat Tahrir al Sham (HTS) and its leader, Abu Muhammed al Jolani, will comply with Israel’s “ban” or revive the weapons lifeline to Palestine.
In its message of congratulations, Hamas hoped that post-Assad Syria would continue “its historical and pivotal role in supporting the Palestinian people”.
So too has the leader of Islamic Jihad, Ziad Al-Nakhala, who echoed Hamas’s sentiments: “The Islamic Jihad hopes Syria will remain a real support for the Palestinian people, their just cause, as it has always been.”
Separately, concerns are also raised whether Israel’s geopolitical leverage in the wider Arab region will increase or diminish.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hasn’t hidden his glee that his nemesis Bashar al-Assad has been removed from power. He has boasted that his wars in Lebanon, Gaza and the missile attacks on Iran have triggered the collapse of Assad’s regime.
He therefore expects the HTS to reciprocate by establishing “peaceful” neighbourly relations. The swagger in Netanyahu’s voice and body language points to arrogance and defiance.
While negotiations are proceeding to institute orderly governance in Syria by the HTS, Netanyahu has instructed his forces to seize control of a previously demilitarised buffer zone in Syrian-controlled territory in the Occupied Golan Heights and attack what is said to be weapons depots with hundreds of airstrikes.
Netanyahu’s latest violation of Syria’s sovereignty has seen the Israeli Navy carrying out a large-scale assault on the country’s naval assets.
Israeli media, quoting military sources, reported that numerous Syrian navy vessels armed with sea-to-sea missiles were destroyed in strikes carried out by Israeli Navy missile boats, at the Minet el-Beida bay and Latakia port on the Syrian coast.
Israel’s air force has carried out more than 300 airstrikes in Syria since the departure of Assad. Reports indicate that the bombing campaign has destroyed advance weapons, airports, crucial infrastructure and various installations.
The overthrow of Assad conjures memories of the revolutionary ousting of Egypt’s dictator, Hosni Mubarak. The democratic process which unfolded thereafter resulted in a popular election of a Muslim Brotherhood leader, Muhammed Morsi. Shortly thereafter, a military coup backed by the US, Israel and the Saudi monarchy, installed a military strong man, General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who has remained faithful to the US.
The Western interventionalist pattern in the region, as described by a commentator, seems to be, support democracy, but only if it ends up producing an ally that is aligned to your interests — otherwise, initiate regime change to bring in a dictator.
As the Jewish musician, conductor and writer, Jonathan Ofir writes, when it is to do with the Middle East, “there is always an elephant in the room — Israel”.
Many questions and concerns have arisen about what follows next in Syria and the region.
No discussion on Syria under the HTS will be complete without the burning issue of the occupation of strategic parts of its territory by Turkey, the US and Israel.
These are among the many troubling issues the new formation faces as it takes steps to provide the people of Syria their elected government.
Iqbal Jassat is an executive member of the Media Review Network.
