{"id":137473,"date":"2024-12-15T23:30:27","date_gmt":"2024-12-15T16:30:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=137473"},"modified":"2024-12-15T23:30:27","modified_gmt":"2024-12-15T16:30:27","slug":"christians-in-syria-mark-countrys-transformation-with-tears","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=137473","title":{"rendered":"Christians in Syria mark country&#8217;s transformation with tears"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"fluid\"\r\n     data-ad-layout-key=\"-fb+5w+4e-db+86\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"7910942971\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) \u2014 In churches across long-stifled Syria, Christians marked the first Sunday services since Bashar Assad\u2019s ouster in <span class=\"LinkEnhancement\"><a class=\"Link AnClick-LinkEnhancement\" data-gtm-enhancement-style=\"LinkEnhancementA\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/syria-week-one-transitional-government-c06673aa3317a194619710948264cdf1\">an air of transformation<\/a><\/span>. Some worshippers were in tears. Others clasped their hands in prayer.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey are promising us that government will be formed soon and, God willing, things will become better because we got rid of the tyrant,\u201d said one worshipper, Jihad Raffoul. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cToday, our prayers are for a new page in Syria\u2019s future,\u201d said another, Suzan Barakat.<\/p>\n<p>To help those efforts, the U.N. envoy for Syria called for a quick end to Western sanctions as the country\u2019s new leaders and regional and global powers discuss the way forward.<\/p>\n<p>Syria has been under sanctions by the United States, the European Union and others for years as a result of <span class=\"LinkEnhancement\"><a class=\"Link AnClick-LinkEnhancement\" data-gtm-enhancement-style=\"LinkEnhancementA\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/germany-syria-assad-torture-atrocities-warning-99474af63c5a3a0e15bceed2d097f12e\">Assad\u2019s brutal response<\/a><\/span> to what began as peaceful anti-government protests in 2011 and spiraled into civil war.<\/p>\n<p>The rebel alliance <span class=\"LinkEnhancement\"><a class=\"Link AnClick-LinkEnhancement\" data-gtm-enhancement-style=\"LinkEnhancementA\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/syria-assad-sweida-daraa-homs-hts-qatar-7f65823bbf0a7bd331109e8dff419430\">that ousted Assad<\/a><\/span> and sent him into exile in Russia a week ago faces a nation deeply isolated by the sanctions, which compounded Syria\u2019s economic troubles.<\/p>\n<p>But other challenges also complicate rebuilding. The new transitional leadership has not laid out a clear vision of how the country will be governed, and the main group behind the offensive remains designated as a terrorist organization by the U.S., which nevertheless has begun <span class=\"LinkEnhancement\"><a class=\"Link AnClick-LinkEnhancement\" data-gtm-enhancement-style=\"LinkEnhancementA\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/blinken-syria-assad-hts-transition-mideast-5fcff887a74dc9ec36e483c0b601a8c2\">making direct contact<\/a><\/span> with it.<\/p>\n<p>The U.N. envoy to Syria, Geir Pedersen, told reporters in Damascus that the rebels\u2019 stunningly fast offensive should be followed by a rapid international response.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe can hopefully see a quick end to the sanctions so that we can see really a rallying around building of Syria,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Parts of Syria\u2019s biggest cities are damaged or destroyed by years of fighting. Reconstruction has been stymied largely by the sanctions that aimed to prevent rebuilding of infrastructure and property in government-held areas in the absence of a political solution.<\/p>\n<p>The U.N. envoy was meeting with officials from the new interim government set up by the <span class=\"LinkEnhancement\"><a class=\"Link AnClick-LinkEnhancement\" data-gtm-enhancement-style=\"LinkEnhancementA\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/syria-assad-ousted-rebel-offensive-timeline-8c54a8b97803d4b10cde53b97227128e\">former opposition forces<\/a><\/span> who toppled Assad, led by the Islamic militant group <span class=\"LinkEnhancement\"><a class=\"Link AnClick-LinkEnhancement\" data-gtm-enhancement-style=\"LinkEnhancementA\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/blinken-syria-assad-hts-transition-mideast-5fcff887a74dc9ec36e483c0b601a8c2\">Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS.<\/a><\/span> Officials in Washington have indicated that the Biden administration is considering removing the group\u2019s terror designation.<\/p>\n<p>Over the weekend, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken attended an emergency meeting in Jordan with 12 foreign ministers from the Arab League, Turkey and top officials from the European Union and United Nations on how Syria should be run after a half-century of Assad family rule.<\/p>\n<p>They agreed that the new government should respect the rights of minorities and women, prevent terror groups from taking hold, ensure humanitarian aid reaches those in need and secure and destroy any remaining Assad-era chemical weapons.<\/p>\n<p>Syria\u2019s interim government is set to rule until March, but it has not made clear the process under which a new permanent administration would replace it. Arab foreign ministers have called for U.N.-supervised elections based on a new constitution approved by Syrians.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe need to get the political process underway that is inclusive of all Syrians,\u201d Pedersen said. \u201cThat process obviously needs to be led by the Syrians themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He also called for \u201c <span class=\"LinkEnhancement\"><a class=\"Link AnClick-LinkEnhancement\" data-gtm-enhancement-style=\"LinkEnhancementA\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/syria-assad-activist-funeral-a275b1cb50b7638d1dc0ff5a56e673e6\">justice and accountability<\/a><\/span> for crimes\u201d committed during the war, as some families continued to search for the tens of thousands of people that Assad\u2019s government had placed in <span class=\"LinkEnhancement\"><a class=\"Link AnClick-LinkEnhancement\" data-gtm-enhancement-style=\"LinkEnhancementA\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/syria-rebels-assad-morgues-death-c64f6f4f3e03e7d063dc90f03ccd4c4b\">prisons and detention facilities<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n<p>Many Syrian Christians, who made up 10% of the population before Syria\u2019s civil war, had either fled the country or supported Assad out of fear of Islamist insurgents. Last Sunday\u2019s church services were canceled.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe were scared of the events taking place,\u201d said Ibrahim Shahin, a Catholic church supervisor. <\/p>\n<p>But this Sunday, doors reopened and bells rang out.<\/p>\n<p>In another sign of Syrians\u2019 yearning for normalcy after the whirlwind of events, schools in Damascus reopened Sunday for the first time since the insurgents marched in the capital.<\/p>\n<p>At Nahla Zaidan school in the Mezzah neighborhood, teachers hoisted the three-starred revolutionary flag in place of the former government\u2019s two-starred one.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAlthough I think some of them are afraid, they came to build Syria and to live the victories of this country,\u201d said Maysoun Al-Ali, the school director. \u201cGod willing, there will be more development, more security and more construction in this beloved country.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>___<\/h2>\n<p>Associated Press writers Abdulrahman Shaheen and Sally Abou AlJoud contributed to this report.<\/p>\n<h2>___<\/h2>\n<p>Follow the AP\u2019s Syria coverage at <span class=\"LinkEnhancement\"><a class=\"Link AnClick-LinkEnhancement\" data-gtm-enhancement-style=\"LinkEnhancementA\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/syria\">https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/syria<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script>\n  window.fbAsyncInit = function() {\n      FB.init({\n              appId : '870613919693099',\n          xfbml : true,\n          version : 'v2.9'\n      });\n  };\n  (function(d, s, id){\n     var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];\n     if (d.getElementById(id)) {return;}\n     js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id;\n     js.src = \"https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/sdk.js\";\n     fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);\n   }(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk'));\n<\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"fluid\"\r\n     data-ad-layout-key=\"-fb+5w+4e-db+86\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"7910942971\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><div data-type=\"_mgwidget\" data-widget-id=\"1660802\">\r\n<\/div>\r\n<script>(function(w,q){w[q]=w[q]||[];w[q].push([\"_mgc.load\"])})(window,\"_mgq\");\r\n<\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/syria-assad-sanctions-un-3f0031108d7e58c2343bd6a8fd42254c\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) \u2014 In churches across long-stifled Syria, Christians marked the first Sunday services since Bashar Assad\u2019s ouster in an air of transformation. Some worshippers were in tears. Others &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=137473\" class=\"more-link\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8629],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-137473","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-u-s","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137473","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=137473"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137473\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=137473"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=137473"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=137473"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}