Topics such as civil peace, arms control, transitional justice, preparations for the national conference, the transitional government, political pluralism, democracy, the required constitution, and foreign relations of the new Syria occupy an important space in public debate among politicians, intellectuals, and the media. They are all, without a doubt, important topics for Syria’s present and future, and preoccupy all Syrians. However, they do not constitute, at this moment, the greatest obsession and concern for the overwhelming majority of Syrians.

On Wednesday and Thursday, January 29 and 30, 2025, Syrians witnessed two consecutive scenes that together form a single picture, the overall outcome of which could be positive and could promise good if implemented and invested correctly.

“A few days after Bashar al-Assad fled, attempts began to blow up civil peace in several places in Syria.  The warlords of the last war, in their different forms, contributed to these attempts. There are certainly external hands, atop of which are the Zionist, trying to push things towards bloodshed. So far, the first attempt at blowing up things has been contained, and the first factor in preventing it was Syrians’ awareness, which they acquired and paid the price for with a lot of suffering and bloodshed, and their desire to end the fighting. However, these attempts will recur…”

“Did we win? ...  Israel was defeated on October 7th... Now, when the jihadists, the haters of Israel, remember October 7th, they will celebrate, and Israel will mourn. This, by the way, is another indication of who won”.

The date of the national dialogue conference was announced to be postponed twice. Although this may seem negative for some, since Syrians have a great desire to launch a new phase in Syria, the title of which is Syrian people's unity and their effective involvement in rebuilding their country, nevertheless this postponement process can also carry positive signals about the conviction that the conference needs good preparation, and a wide participation and consensus among the various Syrian spectra and forces.

The circumstances of the country today, are similar to the initial circumstances surrounding its establishment nearly a century ago. Although the global and regional, political and economic conditions are very different from that time, the Syrian will to restore unity of their country and rally it, is the same will the founding fathers had, including: Youssef Al-Azim, Sultan Pasha Al-Atrash, Saleh Al-Ali, Ibrahim Henano, Mohammed Al-Ashmar, Ramdan Pasha Shalash, Ismail Hariri, and their comrades. In addition to those who came during the stage of independence, including: Abdul Rahman Al-Shahbandar, Faris Al-Khoury, Khaled Al-Azim, and others, who rose above narrow affiliations and above multiple intellectual trends, and came together through a major general current, which is the patriotic Syrian current.

The Syrian popular movement in its second phase, after having completed in its first phase overthrowing the fugitive authority, faces several major tasks. Most notably of these is restoring the unity of the country and the unity of the Syrian people, preserving the dignity of the country and its sovereignty over its territory, in parallel with maintaining security and civil peace and working to build a national army, solely with which weapons are confined.

Many are trying to tell Syrians: “The revolution has triumphed, God bless you, your mission is over, so go back to your homes and sleep soundly!”

The struggles of the Syrian people, after nearly 14 years of continuous suffering, have achieved the first phase of victory, and complete victory is still a new wave of struggle away. The first wave, which began in March 2011, has ended. Now the new wave begins, laden with the experiences and lessons of the first wave. We still have a long way to go to complete the victory, and the Syrian people still have struggles that must be waged.

A letter to Mr. Gire Pedersen