‘Unity of Syrians abroad’: Australia joins historic commemoration

The revelry for a free Syria stretched from Damascus to Australia on Sunday, with car rallies blaring through Western Sydney.

Syrian community in Sydney celebrate after Syria’s armed opposition overthrow the Bashar al-Assad government in Syria. Photo: Jeremy Piper

Syrian Australians took to the streets of Sydney to celebrate the historic fall of the Assad regime, joining a global chorus of millions of revellers.

While the future of the Middle East increasingly skews to uncertainty, millions of Syrians who were made refugees by decades of civil conflict celebrated the new possibility of a democratic future.

As rebels seized Damascus on Sunday afternoon, Australian time, Syrian Australians were quick to take to the streets in a car rally, vowing to “raise our voices” in marking the first ideological change in government in more than 53 years.

Muslim and Syrian Australians flocked to Chullora to celebrate the downfall of Syria’s de facto government. Picture: Jeremy Piper

“(Celebrate in) solidarity with our people inside Syria and in joy in the victories of our people, God willing,” a Facebook post promoting the event reads.

“This rally will symbolise the unity of Syrians abroad and support the resilience of our people. Let us come together to raise our voices and show the world we stand united in hardships and victories.

“Raise our voices and show the world we are together for better and worse.”

In Chullora, a suburb within Canterbury-Bankstown, trucks drove draped in the flags of Syria, Palestine and Lebanon, with some revellers even taking to the street on horseback.

Police monitored the rally, though no injuries or altercations were reported.

Syrian community in Sydney celebrate after Syria’s armed opposition overthrow the Bashar al-Assad government. Photo: Jeremy Piper

In Rouse Hill and Greenacre, the streets were similarly awash with the red, white, green and black flag of Syria, many of them bearing the word “freedom”.

More than 40 per cent of Australia’s 50,000 strong Syrian population arrived after the beginning of the 2011 Syrian civil war, with estimates of anywhere from 6 to 12 million Syrians displaced in the thirteen years since. Census data indicates 61 per cent of Syrian Australia’s live in NSW.

The fall of Bashar al-Assad’s autocracy was surprisingly sudden, beginning when a coalition of anti-Assad rebel groups seized Idlib and Aleppo with Turkish backing. With Syria’s proxies, Russia and Iran, unable to provide support due to their own conflicts, government forces folded astoundingly quickly and made way for a wave of captures.

By Sunday, the rebels had reached the capital.

“Praise be to God, a thousand congratulations to all Syrians,” Melbourne Pharmacist Rana Abu Shamat said in the Facebook forum for the Australian Syrian Association. “Many, many congratulations.”