Mona Hafez

Plenty of detainees who no longer know their names or where they're from. Their families must think that they're dead after sometimes up to 40 years of imprisonment And the worst is: quite a bunch of these freed detainees will die due to being overwhelmed by eating normal food

These people had absolutely no idea, NO IDEA, about what was going on in the outside world. Some people thought Saddam Hussein had liberated them. They were this isolated. Overcrowded cells There are still cells far down underground rescuers cannot reach as we speak

I spare you the pictures from Saydnaya Prison: People were but in underground holes and never got to see daylight Children and even adolescents were born here - likely as a result of rape - and have never seen the outside world and can't talk People were crushed in machines

If you stand with Bashar you stand with the torture of innocent civilians which makes you just as much of a power hungry monster with ZERO empathy for human life. If seeing the images and videos emerging from Saydnaya isn’t enough for you, I’m sorry, but are you even human?

I’m trying to understand how those that have zero affiliation with Syria, and haven’t been affected whatsoever by the Assad regime, hold the most opinionated stance. Let those that have been tortured for decades, and have finally reunited with their families, celebrate in peace.

Assad has fled. A humiliated tyrant who made the honored Syrian people into a global refugee story while murdering hundreds of thousands at home. Today your joy is our joy oh Syria. May Allah give you just rule and prosperity in the days ahead. And may every tyrant fall. Ameen

After 53 years of oppression and injustice, the Assad regime is gone. The manner in which his forces just melted away in barely a week is indicative of a regime hated by the people at all levels of society. I’m overjoyed for my many Syrian friends. But also saddened for those who are no longer here to see this historic moment.

It feels like a dream. One of the world's worst dictators in history, Bashar al-Assad is gone. Congratulations to all my fellow Syrians on this historical night.

I am overwhelmed with joy and emotion for my Syrian people. Freedom at last, I hope. My only wish that those that had to die to finally be free were here to see this. Alhamdulilah ❤️💚

I was 13 years old when the Syrian revolution began and had to defend my country for 14 years to those that lectured me about how much better the Assad regime is for Syria, most of which came from non-Syrians. I am now 27 years old and witnessing the history of the Assad downfall

I wish I could resurrect those who have only found freedom in death. I wish I could bring back my loved ones who have died in this war. I want to tell them Syria is free. I want them to see, even just for a second.

08.12.2024 The dictator has fallen. The sounds of mosques in the capital, Damascus, echo with chants of “Allahu Akbar.”

Everyone who's followed the Syrian war since 2011 knows that had it not been for Hizballah's (formal) intervention in Syria in 2013, and more broadly Iran's role in supporting Assad, as well as Russia's (formal) intervention in 2015, Assad's regime would have likely collapsed a long time ago. If Hizballah and Iran, as well as Russia, decline to save Assad this time around (too early to tell), it will be only a matter of time before the regime crumbles. The SAA is a mostly hollowed out army (with the exception of a few combat forces like the 4th Division and the Republican Guard), with low fighting morale. Seeing so many Syrians celebrating, having suffered for so long under his rule, is heartening. The untold amount of oppression, torture and killing by the regime over these years has been well documented, not only since 2011, but since Hafez al-Assad took power in 1970. Beyond the massive amount of killing, the use of industrial-scale torture in a sprawling prison-system all across Syria is one of the most disturbing features of the regime (among many disturbing features). According to the UN, the fate of over 100,000 people in Syria remains unknown, with missing people having been forcibly disappeared, abducted, and tortured, resulting in many thousands being killed in Assad's dungeons. The mere mention of infamous prisons like Mezzeh, Tadmor or Saydnaya is enough to send shivers down people's spines. The joy currently being experienced by many Syrians (it is very likely the case that the majority of Syrians do not support Assad, despite sham elections) is also true for many Lebanese (it is likely the case that ~half or slightly more of the Lebanese population do not support Assad). Many Lebanese also suffered under de-facto occupation of the country for decades, first under Hafez and then under Bachar until 2005. All Lebanese government institutions were essentially controlled by the Syrian regime after Oct 13 1990, and it was well known that no major decision could be taken by successive Lebanese govts unless a visit was first paid to Damascus. The oppression and abuse of large parts of the Lebanese population by the Syrian military, the intelligence services, as well as the Lebanese authorities acting under Syrian tutelage is also well documented, as the Syrian regime sub-contracted the enforcement of their rule via the “Fraternity, Cooperation and Coordination Treaty” in May of 1991, leading to thousands of activists being harassed, arrested and tortured at the hands of Lebanese authorities (there is much more to talk about here as well). It's also well known that the majority of Palestinians in the OPT dislike Assad and don't support him (poll after poll has shown that), and that his (and his father's) relation with Palestinian resistance movements is checkered and complex. It is true that the Assad dynasty has supported Palestinian resistance movements (as well as Hizballah, and other non-Palestinian movements), but it is also true that this support has been opportunistic on many occasions. For e.g., in 1976, Syria intervened on the side of the Lebanese Front at the beginning of the Lebanese Civil War to prevent their collapse against the Lebanese National Movement that was allied with the PLO. Syrian offensives against the PLO, and the use of al-Sa'iqa (a Baathist Palestinian organization created by Syria) as a counter to Fatah within the PLO, are well documented. It is also well known that Hamas has always been split on Assad's support for Palestinian liberation, with Hamas breaking with Assad in 2012 under the leadership of Khaled Meshaal, with support from Ismail Haniyeh and Musa Abu Marzouk. They did, however, reconcile in 2022, with Yahya Sinwar, and Mohammed Deif leading the charge, although we don't know their current stance as post Sinwar's killing, Meshaal currently serves as part of the 5-man leadership of Hamas. More broadly on Israel, it is true that Syria has been a thorn in Isral's side under the Assads, and that Hafez fought Israel in 1973, but it's also true that nothing has been done to liberate the Golan from Israeli occupation since then. Historically, the argument had been that Syria's relative stability (versus Lebanon and Palestine) needed to be maintained in order to liberate Palestine, and that fighting for the Golan would jeopardize that, so best to create proxies and support organizations (often under Syrian influence) to help accomplish that. But of course, this argument completely collapsed post 2011, and not much, if anything, has been done by the SAA since then on that front. Let's also not forget the secret peace negotiations between Hafez al Assad and the Israelis in 1999/2000 (completely excluding the Palestinians) that almost led to the signing of a peace treaty with Ehud Barak had it not (mainly) been for issues surrounding access to Lake Tiberias (only after the failures of the talks with Syria did Barak fully turn his attention to negotiations with Arafat under Camp David II). There were also the indirect negotiations in 2007/8 between Turkey (on behalf of Syria) and Israel that could have led to direct negotiations had it not been for Israel's barbaric attack on Gaza at the end of 2008. All this to say that Syria deserves to be free from Assad, and the entire Levant deserves to be free from Assad. His rule should have ended long ago, preferably in the early days of the Syrian uprising in those joyous weeks after March 15 2011, before the militarization of the conflict, and once it was clear that no genuine reforms were really on the docket and Syrian troops and intelligence services were abusing, detaining and killing protesters. Back then, a genuine alternative to Assad that espoused the ideals of the Syrian uprising was possible. The problem, however, is once the conflict morphed from a people-led uprising to a fully militarized conflict and then a proxy-war (in no small part because of Assad himself, but also because many countries, including the US, saw an opportunity to intervene and overthrow Assad through the barrel of a foreign gun, fueling the conflict with weapons and money supporting various armed groups), increasingly more extreme and fundamentalist armed opposition groups started dominating the scene (overshadowing the Free Syrian Army or FSA, which was formed in July 2011, from ~2013 onwards). The abuses, torture and killing conducted by various Syrian armed opposition groups is also well documented (their abuses don't rise in magnitude to the same level as Assad, mostly because they didn't have state capacity backing them). There are so many examples to highlight here, from head-chopping to heart-eating, but I choose to highlight the fate of the Douma 4 (Samira Al-Khalil, Razan Zaitouneh, Wael Hammedeh and Nazim Hammadi), who were kidnapped at the end of 2013 almost certainly by Jaysh al Islam. All four of them were human rights activists who were opposed to the regime. Al-Khalil's husband, Yassin Al-Haj Saleh (famous in his own right as an anti-regime writer and activist) essentially accused Zahran Alloush (former head of Jaysh al Islam who was killed in 2015) of being behind the kidnapping. Which brings us to the current "rebel" offensive, led by Hay'at Tahrir al Sham (HTS), and the Syrian National Army (SNA). HTS is led by Abu Mohammad al-Julani, the former leader of Jabhat al Nusra (Al Qaeda's former branch in Syria), although he allegedly broke off relations with Al-Qaeda in 2016/7 (HTS has also fought against Hurras al-Din, Al Qaeda's current incarnation in Syria). Meanwhile, the SNA, which has its roots in the FSA, essentially serves as a Turkish proxy, and will be used to not only fight against Assad, but also the Kurds in Northeast Syria, among other places (HTS also has some level of backing by Turkey, although how much is debated). Al-Julani has gone on a charm offensive, seeking to persuade minorities in Syria that they will be safe and have their rights maintained under his rule, and has also tried to convince neighboring groups and countries, as well as the international community, that his offensive only seeks to overthrow Assad, and that he seeks diplomatic and friendly relations with them. CNN has now interviewed him, and there's clearly an embellishment campaign ongoing to polish his image, nevermind HTS's oppressive rule in Idlib (including the repression of minorities - Druze individuals being kidnapped, Christians not being allowed to display their religious symbols or ring their church bells etc), or their awful historical track record. Understandably, many Syrians (and non-Syrians) are skeptical about this charm offensive, and believe this is mostly a facade that will dissolve if HTS rules Syria. There is palpable fear as to what the future holds for loyalist Syrians, large swaths of minorities, and others within a large section of Syrian society that needs to be convinced that the alternative to Assad is better. There are also serious questions beyond Syria. In Lebanon, for example, there are numerous questions as to what a potential Syria ruled by HTS (plus other armed groups) would look like, and how much of a threat it would pose to Lebanon, and more specifically to Hizballah. Would there be infiltration across the border of extremist armed groups that would threaten Lebanon's sovereignty (as there was for years post 2013)? What would happen to the Syrian land bridge from Iran supplying Hizballah with weapons? How does this impact Lebanon's ability to defend itself from Israel? On Palestine, what will happen with Hamas' relation with a potential HTS-led Syrian govt, and what policies would an HTS-led govt have vis a vis Palestine and Israel? Will they support Palestinian resistance, or make peace with Israel? So where does that leave us? Syria has always been the beating heart of pan-Arabism, pan-Syrianism, and the Levant, and whatever happens in Syria impacts the entire region. A strong, Democratic, pluralistic Syria reflecting the will of all of its people would be a force to be reckoned with. Unfortunately, that's unlikely to materialize with HTS. But the Assad regime is so rotten to its core, and so many Syrians are exhausted by the war (and the draconian US sanctions imposed on Syria) that many Syrians (and non-Syrians) will understandably be celebrating its demise if it does happen, despite the massive uncertainty that the future holds. My only wish is for the Syrian people, and more generally the people of the entire Levant, to be free, not just from Assad, but truly free. Here's hoping that whatever the future holds for Syria, there's some room to work towards that ultimate vision.

No one should ever tell a woman what she can or cannot wear. For Canadian Muslim women who choose to wear a headscarf, we should have every right to do so without fear of being attacked or discriminated against. #WorldHijabDay #GenderedIslamophobia

🕊️On this National Day of Remembrance of the Quebec City Mosque Attack and Action Against Islamophobia, let's stand together against discrimination. I hope this day inspires conversations and actions to eliminate hatred, fostering a more compassionate and inclusive society.

🇨🇦 must remain a place where everyone feels safe and can truly belong. I shared the concerns & fears of Canada's Muslim, Arab and Palestinian communities with Deputy Prime Minister @cafreeland & their hopes that federal policies will reflect the Government's stated commitments to equity, inclusion, and international law.

This agreement will save lives. I thank Minister Miller for his hands on approach to the asylum claimant crisis. I was hard on the federal government on this file (last week in particular) but credit where credit is due. They stepped up. The official announcement which is coming tomorrow will help the @regionofpeel handle a crisis that was about to turn into a humanitarian disaster. @MarcMillerVM personally got on the phone, listened to our concerns, pushed his own department and made this agreement happen. 🙏🏼 #cdnpoli

This morning, at the dawn prayer, there was an attack at the Toronto Islamic Centre by an individual who described himself as Israeli, there to hurt Muslims, and described Muslims as terrorists. The individual assaulted worshippers, including throwing a heavy rock and kicking the windows. Much of what occurred was captured on videotape, and has been passed along to Toronto Police. We are in close touch with the TIC and will have more to say soon.

Working with our equity team at City Hall on Friday night to advocate to the federal government for more support for asylum claimants. Grateful for the @CitImmCanada officials who took the time tonight to hear our concerns.

Canada is a nation built upon immigration. Our government is ensuring Toronto & other communities have the capacity to keep a roof over the heads of vulnerable asylum claimants through increased funding for the Interim Housing Assistance Program. canada.ca/en/immigration…