Syria: Thousands are freed from prisons, amidst hundreds of Israeli airstrikes.

A man waves a Syrian flag as people gather on the streets in Berlin, Germany. [Annegret Hilse/Reuters]

Last week, we argued that in the face of a rising far Right, what we have is solidarity with each other. And true solidarity among the exploited and oppressed begins with the willingness to understand and bear witness to others’ pain, recognizing it as inseparably linked to our own.

It is with that commitment, and tears in our eyes, that we watched as thousands of Syrians were freed from the Assad regime’s dungeons, reuniting with their loved ones after years or decades behind bars. These scenes are a powerful reminder of what we’re fighting for.

We don’t know what the future in Syria holds, but we do know that Syrians alone should have the power to determine that future, and that they deserve our solidarity.

For now, the images of prisons being emptied, of hundreds of thousands of refugees returning home, and of families reuniting gives us hope that one day soon, Palestinians will be free too. Because even as the political terrain shifts rapidly, we’re continuing to cry out with everything we have to end the U.S.-backed, Israeli genocide in Gaza.

Liberation of the ‘human slaughterhouse’

After opposition forces took control of Damascus, they began the work of liberating Sednaya Military Prison, one of Syria’s most notorious prisons: a massive labyrinth of decrepit cells and underground torture chambers dubbed the “human slaughterhouse.”

Syrians have endured unspeakable horrors. Over 100,000 people were estimated to be forcibly disappeared by the Assad regime. Now, local rights groups say most of them are likely dead. In the last days, a mass grave and rooms full of shoes and other belongings have been uncovered at Sednaya. 

Countless families are learning that their missing loved ones were killed in Assad’s torture camps. Their pain is an agonizing reminder of why we fight: Because all people deserve to live in safety and dignity, free of the horrors of incarceration, occupation, and genocide. 

But there is hope, too. We have watched scenes of former prisoners stepping into the fresh air after decades in the darkness, equal parts joy and confusion on their faces; families embracing after long years of separation; hundreds of refugees flocking to the Lebanese and Turkish borders, finally able to return home.

Hundreds of Israeli airstrikes across Syria

While Syrians around the world let themselves feel hope — cautiously optimistic that the years of brutal war and forced displacement could come to an end — Israel was already invading Syria.

The Israeli military seized a Syrian-controlled buffer zone in the Golan Heights, Syrian territory that has been illegally occupied by Israel since 1967. During the first Trump administration, the U.S. government recognized Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan, a move that Biden has refused to reverse.

Israeli forces also launched hundreds of airstrikes, hitting weapons depots, radar and air defense systems, airports, and aircraft squadrons in the capital, Damascus, and across the country, in addition to destroying the Syrian navy fleet.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has hailed the fall of the Assad regime — but not because he cares about what happens to Syrians. In reality, he and the rest of Israel’s far-Right government are determined to exploit this moment of instability to carry out their expansionist aims across the region. The Israeli government’s aims are clear: To ensure a future Syria too weak to resist its settler-colonial plans for the entire region.

After all, the Israeli military has been bombing Syria for over a decade, including over the past months as it invaded neighboring Lebanon, killing thousands and reducing entire villages to rubble.

The future is uncertain, but the answer is always solidarity

In last week’s Wire, we argued that Trump won by telling people that their pain is the only real pain, and that the pain of others doesn’t matter. 

Our task on the left is to make it clear that all of our pain, like our struggles for freedom, are interconnected — and that the forces that oppress us are also trying to divide us. They scapegoat the most vulnerable among us because they know we’re at our most powerful when we act together. 

The left can and must tell a more compelling story than the Right, one rooted in solidarity: the idea that none of us is free until all of us are free, and that we should stand with the oppressed everywhere.

We don’t know what the future in Syria holds, but we do know that Syrians alone should have the power to determine that future, and that they deserve our solidarity. For now, the images of prisons being emptied, of hundreds of thousands of refugees returning home, and of families reuniting gives us hope that one day soon, Palestinians will be free too.

Tell the Senate: Stop repressing the Palestine movement.

In just two weeks, we’ve sent over 10,000 emails to our Senators demanding that they oppose two incredibly dangerous pieces of legislation — part of the broader assault on the movement for Palestinian freedom and progressive causes writ large. 

It’s critical that we keep up the pressure: Use this action tool from our sister organization, JVP Action, to write to your Senators today and tell them to vote NO.

Power Half Hours for Gaza

Every day at 3pm ET/12pm PT JVP hosts Power Half Hours for Gaza.

This Thursday December 12, we’ll be joined by longtime Palestinian organizer and Director of Adalah Justice Project, Sandra Tamari. Join us as we channel our grief and rage into collective action to end U.S. weapons sales to Israel.

What we’re watching: ‘The forever is over… yesterday was the first day of history’

Syrian activist and writer Yassin al-Haj Saleh speaks with Democracy Now about the collapse of the Assad regime and what the future holds for Syria.

What we’re reading: “Fourteen years late… but we are finally free”

Syrian journalist Rami Jarrah writes for Zeteo about the fall of Assad and what comes next.

What we’re reading: “one of the most brutal regimes of the twenty-first century. “

Journalist Anand Gopal speaks with Jacobin about the 2011 revolution, how Syrian President Bashar al-Assaf clung to power and presided over “one of the most brutal regimes of the twenty-first century,” and what the future holds for Syria.

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