CLEVELAND — Over the last two years, Ohio has welcomed close to 900 refugees from Syria, with more than half of them settling in the Cleveland area. That's why the reaction was strung Monday to the stunning weekend ouster of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
"The dream came true," said Lobna Alassil. "Do you know the impossible? Now we believe there is no impossible."
Her family fled Syria in the 80s for Saudi Arabia under the reign of Assad's father.
"Back in that time if you stayed in Syria there is no life. Either you put your hand with them or you die, or you suffer," Alassil said. She spent her summers there as a kid, and her in-laws all still live there.
"We're talking to them, everybody is so happy," she said.
She was struck by the scenes of the toppling of the statues of Bashar, symbols of the family's more than 50-year reign defaced and destroyed.
"He had a statue on every single city. So we're in Cleveland now, he would have a statue here. Broadview Heights, he would have one. Westlake, he will have one," she said. "They put these statues on the floor just to feel that you're not here anymore."
Some Syrians I spoke with shared their excitement but wished not to go on camera just yet until they get a better feel for all that this regime change involves. Emotions recognized by President Biden Sunday.
"It's a moment, a historic opportunity for the long suffering people of Syria to build a better future for their proud country," Biden said. "It's also a moment of risk and uncertainty."
Lobna doesn't know how many Syrian refugees may want to eventually move back but "at least we can visit. I did not visit my country for the past 13 years since 2011," she said. Looking forward to going back? "Oh I cannot wait, I cannot wait."
