Leila Fadel

Some people aren't sure how much to celebrate the fall of Syria's government.

I'm Leila Falzel in Damascus with Stephen Skeap in Washington, and this is Up First from NPR News. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is trying one more time for a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas.

I'm Leila Falzel in Damascus with Stephen Skeap in Washington, and this is Up First from NPR News. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is trying one more time for a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas.

I'm Leila Falzel in Damascus with Stephen Skeap in Washington, and this is Up First from NPR News. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is trying one more time for a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas.

Which is something American diplomats have said many times before. What makes this time any different?

Which is something American diplomats have said many times before. What makes this time any different?

Which is something American diplomats have said many times before. What makes this time any different?

In the past few days, we've watched many Syrians break into impromptu dance parties in the street. But in that joy over their newfound freedom, there is also grief and desperation for the families of the tens of thousands of people who disappeared under Bashar al-Assad's rule and the hundreds of thousands killed in a civil war.

In the past few days, we've watched many Syrians break into impromptu dance parties in the street. But in that joy over their newfound freedom, there is also grief and desperation for the families of the tens of thousands of people who disappeared under Bashar al-Assad's rule and the hundreds of thousands killed in a civil war.

In the past few days, we've watched many Syrians break into impromptu dance parties in the street. But in that joy over their newfound freedom, there is also grief and desperation for the families of the tens of thousands of people who disappeared under Bashar al-Assad's rule and the hundreds of thousands killed in a civil war.

And then there are people who are worried what the new leadership might do to them.

And then there are people who are worried what the new leadership might do to them.

And then there are people who are worried what the new leadership might do to them.

Yeah, I mean, Assad really leaned on religious and ethnic minorities and marginalized communities to shore up support against the opposition, stoking fears that they would be even more oppressed if the most extreme within his opponents rose to the top. And because Alawites are of the same sect as Esed, it's an offshoot of Shia Islam, they dominated the top ranks of the military and intelligence.

Yeah, I mean, Assad really leaned on religious and ethnic minorities and marginalized communities to shore up support against the opposition, stoking fears that they would be even more oppressed if the most extreme within his opponents rose to the top. And because Alawites are of the same sect as Esed, it's an offshoot of Shia Islam, they dominated the top ranks of the military and intelligence.

Yeah, I mean, Assad really leaned on religious and ethnic minorities and marginalized communities to shore up support against the opposition, stoking fears that they would be even more oppressed if the most extreme within his opponents rose to the top. And because Alawites are of the same sect as Esed, it's an offshoot of Shia Islam, they dominated the top ranks of the military and intelligence.

There's this assumption that the community was more loyal to Esed than others in Syria. So now they feel like they could pay the price for Esed and his top loyalist crimes against Syrians when they lived under the same oppression that other Syrians lived under.

There's this assumption that the community was more loyal to Esed than others in Syria. So now they feel like they could pay the price for Esed and his top loyalist crimes against Syrians when they lived under the same oppression that other Syrians lived under.

There's this assumption that the community was more loyal to Esed than others in Syria. So now they feel like they could pay the price for Esed and his top loyalist crimes against Syrians when they lived under the same oppression that other Syrians lived under.

In short, no. I mean, the elite are a tiny sliver of an otherwise really poor community. And Assad's loyalists, the elite in Syria... We're Sunni, we're Halawite, we're Christian. And it's evident, this poverty, as soon as you drive into the Meza 86 neighborhood in Damascus that's in the shadow of Bashar al-Assad's palace.