"Qasioun" of Damascus and "Nuqm" of Sana'a.. What's the difference?

Since the first days of the deterrence of aggression operation to liberate "Syria" (November 27, 2024) until today, we have been watching an amount of content that we have not yet given its due right to say; firstly because of its density, and secondly because of the mixing of our feelings and the dominance of emotional talk in the situation, as our joy and tears were the first means of expression.

It goes without saying that Syria is one of the Arab Spring countries that has faced the most violent fighting, persecution and displacement of the large crowds who gathered in the squares since March 2011 to raise the slogan of “reforming the regime” for the first time, before they were dispersed by explosive barrels and chemical weapons, and divided between prisons, ocean waves, refugee camps and diaspora countries, to be the result in the language of terrifying numbers: nearly one million martyrs, and 13 million refugees and displaced persons, according to a report issued by the United Nations, and forcibly disappeared persons whose number exceeds 100 thousand registered with the Syrian Network for Human Rights, it is estimated that 85% of them were killed as a result of torture by the regime forces, according to a statement by the network’s director to Al-Araby Al-Jadeed TV.

As for the weapons used against civilians, the only thing left for the Syrian regime to do was use the nuclear bomb. Based on the documentation of the same previous source, there were 222 chemical weapons attacks. Daraa Governorate alone was bombed with nearly 11,000 explosive barrels.

All these horrors made "Syria" the top of the "urgent" topics and news almost daily for 13 years, and engraved many of its massacres and tragedies in memory..!! Who, for example, does not remember the "Tadamon massacre", or the two "Ghouta" massacres in which the bodies of 99 children, as soft and white as cotton, stretched out as far as the eye could see, among 1,119 others.

This quick review of some documented statistics on the exorbitant cost of the Syrian revolution (which was intended to be a lesson to every voice and dream that says to a tyrant: Enough, or leave!), explains the overwhelming Arab joy from the ocean to the Gulf at the fall of one of the most hideous dictatorial regimes in the world, and made the interest in the Syrian affair, and the circulation of the content of the liberation operations and victories, with such intensity and priority among the peoples.

Among hundreds of photos, videos and posts, I will discuss here one photo that has a significance that, along with hundreds of others, crowned the Syrian victory with majesty and respect. It shows senior leaders of the Turkish state, the ally and supporter of this victory, represented by its Foreign Minister "Hakan Fidan", next to the commander of military operations and the Syrian interim president "Ahmed al-Sharaa". The title of the photo in many news stories and discussions was: "Al-Sharaa and Fidan drinking tea on the top of Mount Qasioun ."

In fact, Turkey was not the only country that announced its early presence to congratulate this victory, but several countries registered their presence and celebrated this achievement. Perhaps what made this picture stop me more than others is remembering that Turkey has received more than three million refugees in its territory, and its elected government tolerated the opposition’s exploitation of the refugee file as a “blackmail card” that led to the Justice and Development Party losing part of its wide popularity.

What is striking about this picture, which showed the Syrian-Turkish meeting, with the accompanying Turkish promises to contribute to reconstruction and development projects, is that it did not show any signs of arrogance of one party or belittling of the other, which made it appear to be a “friendly and equal” meeting at the same time.

As a Yemeni, as I watched this picture and other clips of it, a set of fateful questions came to my mind, such as:

• Doesn't a picture like this arouse enthusiasm and joy among the members of the Yemeni Presidential Council, as it arouses it among us, the oppressed subjects?!
• Is it just imagining senior leaders from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia with members of the Leadership Council sipping cups of Yemeni coffee on Mount Maran in Saada Governorate, or Mount Nuqum in the capital Sana’a, just a pipe dream?
• What do we lack to create our own model of salvation and construction?!
• Are our neighboring countries treating us with arrogance, or have we “shrugged our shoulders”? - according to the expression of the Palestinian leader “Khaled Meshaal” describing some Arab leaders who deal with Western leaders more than they should - to the point that we are no longer worthy of equality, respect and hospitality, but rather are just permanent and burdensome guests at the tables of others and their hotels, despite the fact that our mountains are lofty, and our coffee and hospitality are generous and good..!!
• On the other hand: Doesn’t Saudi Arabia want to be the strong and praised ally, and be given the reins of regional leadership, exploiting Iranian weakness?!
• What are the concerns of the regional countries, represented by Saudi Arabia and the Emirates, about a strong, unified Yemen that has its own sovereignty and status?!
• Don't you aspire to help us in catching our wealth, instead of feeding us whenever you want, and depriving us whenever you want?!
• Will our allies bear the inability and failure to manage the stage, or will our silent and submissive leadership share in it?!

I think these are simple questions that occupy the mind of every free Yemeni, and they are not new as much as the recent events in Syria have brought them to the surface. However, their answers may be hurtful and embarrassing, which is what makes them perhaps hidden behind the silence of those concerned.

What the Syrian experience tells us, as we see today everyone rushing to embrace it and bless its victory after it was left to bleed alone for a long time, is perhaps summed up by the words of US President John F. Kennedy: “Victory has a thousand fathers, but defeat is an orphan child”!

Therefore, he who evades his defeats and does not seek to remedy and correct them whenever he has the opportunity will not succeed.