For the last several weeks, Syria has been a rare and unlikely bright spot in a grim world. If you tuned in the day before Thanksgiving, this is what you have been able to see:<\/p>\n
The armies of a tyrant defeated.<\/p>\n
The graven images of a cult of personality demolished.<\/p>\n
Foreign invaders departing.<\/p>\n
Drug factories shut down.<\/p>\n
Prison doors thrown open.<\/p>\n
People long thought dead found alive.<\/p>\n
Refugees returning to their homes.<\/p>\n
Families reunited.<\/p>\n
Reconciliation instead of vengeance.<\/p>\n
Mass celebration of freedoms restored.<\/p>\n
You can fairly call this list an oversimplification, because the complexities of Syria can be overwhelming, but it is by no means an exaggeration. Where there were once torture gulags to rival those of Nazi Germany, now there is a chance for a seemingly impossible restart after half a century of dictatorship.<\/p>\n
Now the news is more somber as the hard work begins of putting a country back together in one of the geopolitically most treacherous neighborhoods on Earth, and the painful task commences of exhuming bodies from mass graves to offer whatever comfort is to be found for the families of the missing.<\/p>\n
Syrians\u2019 jubilation endures, but there is also bitterness, because the horrors of the last decade could have been avoided if the world had not preferred the illusory stability offered by a dictator, even though the scale of his crimes<\/a> was already known; just a month ago, Arab states were working to normalize relations with the now deposed regime, European countries were moving to restore diplomatic ties, and the United States was trying to strike a deal. And there are flashes of anger that people who blithely ignored the shelling of schools and refugee camps for years are now concerned for the safety of bars in Damascus and Christmas trees in Suqaylabiyah.<\/p>\n What does this mean for us on the other side of the world?<\/p>\n It\u2019s Christmas, so you can rejoice that the guns have at last fallen silent and peace has come to one corner of the world where prospects for peace had seemed hopeless.<\/p>\n It\u2019s Christmas, so you can set aside the cynicism that says all sides are equally bad and all progress comes at an equal and opposite cost.<\/p>\n It\u2019s Christmas, so you can set aside your detachment and allow yourself to feel some of Syrians\u2019 joy, sorrow, and hope.<\/p>\n