Syrians who do not celebrate: 'Dec. 8 was more important than my wedding day. But since July, we no longer trust anyone'

“From its north to its south, from its east to its west, we will rebuild a strong Syria worthy of its present and its past, a Syria that supports the oppressed and establishes justice among the people,” said Ahmad al-Sharaa at the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, one year after the fall of the Assad regime.While celebrations brightened Syria’s streets on Dec. 8, many communities across the country were not in a festive mood and received the words of Damascus’s leader with suspicion.‘Where is the state?’“We were very happy when the Assad regime fell. But the new authorities didn’t let us rejoice,” said Rosa*, an Alawite resident of Latakia, whose son deserted the former regime’s army in 2017 and went into exile in Sudan, then France. Catch up on the full report Alawites on the Syrian coast are spending the one-year anniversary under tight...