As Syrians celebrate Liberation Day, their glass is half full

Joy, life, and freedom from fear took center stage on Monday as flag-draped Syrians celebrated one year since ousting a brutal dictator and beginning to shape their own destiny.

Celebrations large and small marked “Liberation Day,” when Ahmed al-Sharaa, now interim president, and a coalition of rebel forces swept into Damascus and authoritarian leader Bashar al-Assad fled the country by plane to Russia.

Syria still faces a host of challenges – from a war-shattered economy, stalled reconstruction, and energy shortages to sectarian violence, an Israeli occupation in the south, and the question of integrating the predominantly Kurdish northeast, where public gatherings were banned on Monday amid “security” concerns.

Why We Wrote This

One year after rebel forces overthrew a dictatorship an