Iwas still asleep in Doha when the news broke on the morning of Dec. 8, 2024. The regime of Bashar al-Assad had finally fallen . The euphoria I felt in that first minute has never really left. It still feels like a dream even a year later to the date.

Like millions of Syrians in the diaspora, I had resigned myself to the idea that I may never see my birth country without Assad in charge. But an 11-day rebel offensive led by Ahmed al-Sharaa changed all of that.

More optimistic Syrians had faith the regime would be toppled eventually, not by the current generation that rose up against it, but a future one. This regime, they believed, could not rule forever. This regime, they hoped, might outlive them, but not their children. The revolution might be defeated temporarily but would no

See Full Page