‘No free nation without free women’: Hundreds of Syrians protest in central Damascus, calling for democracy

DAMASCUS – Hundreds of Syrians protested today in central Damascus calling for democracy and women’s rights, more than a week after an Islamist-led rebel alliance ousted President Bashar al-Assad, AFP correspondents report.

“We want a democracy, not a religious state,” men and women demonstrators chant in central Damascus’s Ummayad Square, as well as “Free, civil Syria” and “the Syrian people are one,” while some protesters hold signs including “No free nation without free women.”

Rebels led by Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham launched a lightning offensive from their northwest Syria bastion last month, sweeping swathes of territory from government control and taking the capital on December 8, toppling Assad.

Rooted in Syria’s branch of Al-Qaeda and proscribed as a “terrorist” organization by several Western governments, HTS has sought to moderate its rhetoric by assuring protection for the country’s many religious and ethnic minorities.

It has appointed a transitional leadership to run the country until March 1.

A peaceful demonstration today of Muslims and Christians together in the heart of Damascus, calling for a secular, democratic Syria.

The woman's sign reads: "there is no free society without free women."

Under Assad, this type of assembly was banned and violently put down. pic.twitter.com/dNWh7u4lpP

— Kareem Rifai ???? (@KareemRifai) December 19, 2024