Spokane Syrian refugees celebrate al-Assad’s forced exit from their former country: ‘People were singing’

Abdulkareem Mohammad smiles broadly about his Spokane Valley restaurant, Arabian Palace, opening soon.

It’s for his wife and four children, said Mohammad, 46, who fled with them from Syria in 2012. A year before, he was there in Daraa when people got shot during a peaceful protest against the jailing of teenagers for anti-government graffiti. Some of the kids were tortured, and one teen died.

Rebellion spread, as did government brutalities, leading to full-blown civil war. Mohammad’s family escaped to Jordan by late spring 2012. Now, he closely watches news unfolding since the Dec. 8 power shift in Syria.

Speaking mostly through an interpreter, he shared relief that rebel fighters on Dec. 8 overran its capital, Damascus, as President Bashar al-Assad fled the country.

“Happiness,” he said in English.

In Arabic, he continued.

“He was a criminal,” referring to Assad and his regime’s prisons for thousands unjustly arrested, along with random killings and kidnappings.

Some of Mohammad’s relatives died, but a brother, sister and uncle still live in Syria. He’s heard they’re safe since the turnover.

“They are so happy, but they have hard circumstances – poor, not enough food,” he said. “Yes, they have fear that some problems will still happen, but they’re hopeful.”

On Monday, other Syrian refugees gathered in downtown Spokane at Riverfront Park to celebrate, including A. Almahmoud, who fled from Syria to Jordan in 2012.

“We’re so happy about what is happening in Syria right now. I have friends there; they don’t know what’s going to happen, but it’s happiness everywhere, like everybody’s happy,” she said. “The main thing is that we got rid of this dictator – this oppressor and his regime.”

Those who came to Riverfront Park cheered and sang freedom songs.

“In social media, people are using them to celebrate this victory,” Almahmoud said. “Yeah, people were singing here.”

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the main Islamic rebel group involved, has been labeled by the U.S. as a terrorist organization. But rebel forces set up a transitional government calling for peace and tolerance, according to several news outlets.

Almahmoud said she has some long-term concerns , but she and other refugees are hearing from people in Syria of mostly celebration and return to normal life.

“They already set up rules about not harming anyone,” Almahmoud said, referring to the rebel group that overthrew the regime. “They told their fighters, ‘Don’t interfere; just let the people feel peace, safe.’ ”

The transitional government recently freed long-held prisoners, although families also have since learned from records that some relatives died in captivity, she said.

“I’m so happy for the people who were in prison; they’re free now, even though we lost lots of people.”

Since 2011, more than 14 million Syrians fled the war, with about 5.5 million of them living in five neighboring countries, according to the agency United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

Christi Armstrong, executive director World Relief Spokane, said the most recent data she has shows her agency has supported about 190 Syrian refugees in Spokane since October 2022. But she said some have since moved to other U.S. cities where they have friends and family.

Mohammad said the rising attacks in 2011 against citizens and the civil war came as a surprise, because people in Syria were emboldened by the “Arab Spring” that spread across much of the Arab world in the early 2010s, including Libya, Egypt, Yemen, Syria and Bahrain.

“It started peacefully,” he said. “There were rebellions in nearby countries.”

In Syria, Assad spoke of token reforms, while directing his security services to put down the protests with force.

Almahmoud, who came to Spokane about eight years ago, also had lived near Daraa. She also recalls events unfolding after protests in her country, starting with the upset over teenagers who wrote the slogans. People were angry at the one teen’s funeral and started protesting again, she said.

“The Army just started to kill people, cut the power and internet,” Almahmoud said. “They just attacked them in the middle of the night.”

Violence widened as other towns around the main city heard the news. Videos leaked out.

“People heard and wanted to support those brothers and sisters inside the city; they started collecting forces.

“This main city was totally surrounded by the soldiers, and when people went to protest at the main entrance to the city, the army was there and told people to stop, ‘or we’ll start shooting.’ People didn’t stop; they didn’t believe it was real shooting. There were thousands.”

But then people noticed others around them bleeding and falling to the ground.

“They arrested a lot of people that day, and a lot of people got killed, too, in other states and cities in Syria. Cities started to protest, one after one, after one,” Almahmoud said. “The president starts attacking with missiles and helicopters and bombing everywhere. Eventually, when the Russian Air Force started to fight, I thought it was like the end of the world.”

Two bombs exploded next to her house. She survived, but the overall bombings got worse. By Oct. 15, 2012, she left for a refugee camp in Jordan, crossing in the dark of night with a group of more than 600 people.

Almahmoud said people were arrested for just saying the word “dollar” or anything perceived as against the regime. One group went to dawn prayer, and all were arrested because gatherings were banned. People were killed and tortured by whim, she said.

Despite some uncertainty now, hope overrides it, Almahmoud added.

“My happiness is more than my concern. The main point is we got rid of Assad, his regime and all the countries that were fighting in our land and supporting him, like killing us inside our land.”

After coming to America, Mohammad soon skipped out of English classes because he wanted to work, eventually rising as a chef in his native cuisine.

The family was briefly in Kentucky, then Spokane. He got U.S. citizenship in 2021.

Mohammad said he feels safe in Spokane. Even with the latest events, he doesn’t think he’ll travel soon to visit relatives.

“Comparing Spokane and Syria, there in Syria at any moment I could be dead – a bombing or maybe someone is kidnapped,” he said. “Here, we find safety, respect, the easy access to jobs, to everything. There is a big difference.”