Since last weekend and Bashar al-Assad’s shotNazih Kussaibi installed the Syrian flag on his sofa. The president of the Alsace-Syria association, based in France for 45 years, has still not recovered from his emotions: “it goes beyond our dreams, it’s pure joy. We had a wall over us, it was removed and we could breathe again. It’s extraordinary“.
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“I have never felt something so strong. It was the happiest day of my life” confirms Karam, who arrived in Strasbourg for his studies in 2011. “I was crying, I was jumping. I needed to call everyone. To feel like I belonged to all these people“explains the young man.” Karam now hopes to be able to return at least a few days to his country, to find the places of his childhood, but it is still too early, he says.
“I will be able to put flowers on my dad’s grave”
Same question for Chame who lives in Uhrwiller. She has been in Alsace since 2016 and has since obtained French nationality: “I didn’t really have hope of being able to return to my country.” admits this mother, “But since then, I’ve wanted to go back there, even for a few days, to find my loved ones, and to put flowers on my dad’s grave.“. “I now hope that the transition will be overcome with as little damage as possible“.
“We must rebuild the country now, because it is in a very poor economic state” confirms Nazih Kussaibi. “Everyone is talking about the new regime, saying that they are Islamists and that we have to be careful. I’ll tell you, I prefer the devil to Bashar al-Assad. And then let’s give them a chance. We’ll see. On the other hand, we will be very attentive. If democracy is ever aborted, we will go and demonstrate again“.
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Around 3,000 Syrians currently live in Alsace. A demonstration is planned for this Saturday in Strasbourg, at 2 p.m., Place de la gare.
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