Hundreds of jubilant Syrian-Calgarians celebrate end of Assad regime at city hall rally

Hundreds of Syrian Calgarians crowded into city hall Sunday, only instead of protesting for freedom, they were tasting it.

Late Saturday night, Syrian president Bashar al-Assad fled the country for exile in Russia, ending 53 years of the reign of his family.

For Sam Nammoura, the spokesperson for the Syrian Refugee Support Group of Calgary, Sunday was the first time in 32 years of exile from his homeland that he could just say what was on his mind.

“First of all, we’re in disbelief up until this minute,” Nammoura said. “You are talking to me and I’m thinking, ‘What should I say? What’s going to happen if I say this? Or say that?

“So up until this (exact) moment, my brain is processing (the question), ‘What can I say because I’m afraid for my family back in Syria – if anything is going to happen to them?"

“It’s a Kingdom of Fear we lived in for 53 years.” (Before Bashar, his father Hafez al-Assad was the president).

Sam Nammoura at a celebration of Calgary's Syrian community on Sunday, Dec.8, 2024

As throngs of Syrians waved Syrian flags behind him, Nammoura said he finally felt like Sunday represented a new birth for his country.

“I feel like I’m Syrian again for the first time,” he said.

Calgary teenager Khadija Alsaied, who was born in Aleppo and emigrated to Calgary as a nine-year-old while civil war raged in Syria, said Sunday was a very good day.

“It’s amazing,” Alsaied said. “You don’t know the joy we feel. Over 15 years, Bashar (Al-Assad) has been fighting us, killing us and destroying us for no damn reason.

“What we’re here for is sticking up for our freedom and here it is – we got it.”

Khadija Alsaied celebrated the end of the Assad regime at a rally in Calgary Sunday

Now 18, Alsaied was asked if he would consider returning to Aleppo.

“As much as I love Canada, as much as I love the Rocky Mountains – my favourite place to be – I would love to go back one day,” he said.

“It’s my city,” he added. “It’s my country. I am a patriotic person. I would like to play soccer for Canada (one day), but I would like to play soccer for my country, too.”

For Nammoura, the moment means hope for a new generation of young Syrians.

“I hope the youth will live without fear and live their life and they will dream – they will love and they will flourish.

“Fifty-three years of presidency for Syria,” he said. “And that’s enough Assads.”