Selfies with Kalashnikovs in the new post-Assad Syria

Yesterday, in the new Syria, it was impossible to avoid posturing. In the Umayyad Mosque, in the historic center of Damascus, irrational prints abounded.

“Vertical, vertical, vertical”, said a teenage girl to her friend. The photo had to be vertical. The photo was historic: he was holding the rifle of one of the Syrian rebels who have overthrown the eternal Al-Assad regime. While holding the Kalashnikov, the girl stuck out her ass and lips. Once the photo was taken, the friends exchanged papers. And the Kalashnikov. And the vertical photo. Vertical photos are best suited to the format stories d’Instagram.

The militiaman who owned the rifle had the aura of a rock star. All the Syrian rebels who now control Syria had a rock star aura in Damascus yesterday. The parents handed them the babies in their arms. Photo. The creatures took the rifles of the militiamen. Photo. The children kissed the militiamen. Photo. Some children were dressed as militiamen. Photo.

The militiamen were made selfies with everyone who wanted.

– Do you want to take a picture?, a Syrian rebel asked me.

I took the photo of him.

-Where will this photo come out?

–In a Barcelona newspaper.

– Oh, Barcelona. Spain Welcome to Syria.

Yesterday was Friday, a holy day for Islam. It was the first Friday after the end of Al-Assad. The holy prayer that was held in the holy mosque of the Umayyads, the holiest in Damascus, became the presentation to the people of the new Syrian government. More than a religious act, it was a political act. Faith was the same. Euphoria rubbed off on ecstasy.

“The road to the reconstruction of Syria, a country of civilization, dignity and freedom, can only be done through tolerance and reconciliation”, proclaimed, during the sermon, Mohamed al-Bashir, the prime minister interim Al-Bashir, a member of the Hayyat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) militia, was appointed leader of the political transition on Monday. The rebels, fundamentalists linked to Al-Qaida who raise doubts about their past, promise to build a country for everyone.

“We are very happy, we are very happy”, said a young Syrian in English who was recording everything with his mobile phone.

– Do you trust the HTS rebels?

– Yes. They have thrown out the murderer of Al-Assad.

-What will be the future of Syria?

-Better than with Al-Assad’s killer.

This was the direct door to the unconditional love of the Syrians. After more than fifty years of bloody dictatorship, the majority of the population had only one wish: that someone free them from Al-Assad. this one someone they have been the HTS militiamen. this one someone it could have been someone else, and probably yesterday’s lovescape in Damascus would have been the same.

Ecstasy in the new post-Alassad Syria: Francesc Millan’s chronicle from Damascus

Let’s go back to ecstasy. Two militiamen, dressed in camouflage, had climbed onto the roof of a vehicle to give directions to the crowd. The crowd – a human wave that flooded the streets adjacent to the mosque – cheered them on. They raised their arms and encouraged the people to sing. The most repeated slogans: God is the greatest i Assad, we want you dead. Shots in the air as a sign of victory and celebration. In theory, they are banned after stray bullets left casualties in the first days of taking Damascus. A man was handing a baby into the arms of a militiaman. The militiaman put down the Kalashnikov and lifted the baby into the Syrian sky.

White paint triumphs

Images of violence against the remnants of the dynasty are being repeated these days on Syrian social networks.

Yesterday, the video of a militiaman urinating on the grave of Bashar al-Assad’s father, Hafez al-Assad, went viral. This tomb had been ransacked and set on fire two days before. Almost all of the Al-Assad properties have already been. In Damascus, many rebels who came from far away – from other regions of Syria or from countries such as Turkey or Uzbekistan – continue to sleep in the presidential palace that Bashar had to leave in a hurry. In his office, the militiamen found a half-drunk cup of coffee. The last coffee before Vladimir Putin’s escape to Russia.

Al-Assad’s last cup of coffee was white. White is the fashionable color in Syria. Investing in white paint in cities like Damascus is now a winning bet.

Al-Assad, like all dictators, had his snowballs with the colors. It did not reach the level of exquisiteness of the dictator of Turkmenistan – also a friend of Putin -, who suffered from a special affinity with white and had to dye everything in this color. In Turkmenistan, his country, almost everything is white. The buildings, the cars and, above all, the horses. Bashar al-Assad, on the other hand, became obsessed with tattooing all of Damascus with the Syrian flag. During the last years of the regime, advised in establishments paint the blinds with the Syrian flag. But Al-Assad is finished. Their flag too. In Syria, the rebel flag now flies, replacing the upper red stripe with a green one.

For this reason, in recent days in Damascus it is easy to see men erasing the colors of Al-Assad and painting the shutters of his establishments white. They are breaking free.

A man paints the shutters of an establishment white to erase the regime’s flag.

“I would never have said that the Al-Assad regime would fall in such a ridiculous way,” said one of the men who paints his shop with some sarcasm. He is in his 50s and preferred not to give his name.

-What does it mean?

-He fled like a coward, deceiving his closest team.

The Reuters agency explained yesterday, citing sources present at the events, that hours before fleeing Bashar al-Assad assured in a meeting with about 30 commanders of the army and security of the Ministry of Defense that Russian military support was in way and that it was necessary to resist the offensive of the rebels. Afterwards, she called her press secretary and asked her to come to her house to write a speech for her. When the advisor arrived at the Al-Assad home, there was no one there. Bashar had taken a secret flight to Russia. His wife and children, who had fled days before, were already waiting for him in Moscow.

-How do you see the future?

– Better. But we will not stop suffering. Israel is a threat.

Many feel this threat. The Israeli army is taking advantage of the chaos to bomb Syria more than ever and to enter its territory. Tel-Aviv says that the attacks are only aimed at destroying the military capabilities that the Al-Assad regime abandoned.

This article ends in the same way as the previous one. It’s not a mistake. The Israeli threat over the skies of Damascus persisted yesterday. Well into the night, Benjamin Netanyahu’s military planes roared sharply over the skies of the capital. Minutes later, they bombed a target not far from the historic center. A beautiful historic center, declared a World Heritage Site by Unesco. An ideal place for posturing. The day the war stops.