The Masnaa border crossing, which connects Beirut to Damascus, on December 8, 2024. (Credit: Fadel Itani/AFP)
I never imagined I would one day return to Syria. During my last (purely transactional) visit to my father's country in 2017, I was convinced that I would never need to return. So, I took with me all the documents I might one day need: Identity card, passport, exemption from military service.Of course, all this happened in record time, as I was forced to quickly return to Lebanon – my mother's country, where I was born but have no right to nationality – to escape the “barbaric state.”In this state, people have a nasty habit of disappearing without a trace, walls seem to have ears, and countless portraits of the ‘eternal leader’ and his beloved father keep a watchful eye on our every move.But, for millions of Syrians around the world, the sudden liberation of the country on Dec. 8 made the hope of a return suddenly possible.We couldn't...
I never imagined I would one day return to Syria. During my last (purely transactional) visit to my father's country in 2017, I was convinced that I would never need to return. So, I took with me all the documents I might one day need: Identity card, passport, exemption from military service.Of course, all this happened in record time, as I was forced to quickly return to Lebanon – my mother's country, where I was born but have no right to nationality – to escape the “barbaric state.”In this state, people have a nasty habit of disappearing without a trace, walls seem to have ears, and countless portraits of the ‘eternal leader’ and his beloved father keep a watchful eye on our every move.But, for millions of Syrians around the world, the sudden liberation of the country on Dec. 8 made the hope of a return suddenly possible.We...
'American sponsorship is a guarantee,' says Lebanese-American coordination committee