Students Return to Damascus University After Fall of Assad Regime

Students returned to classes at https://x.com/DamascusUnive/status/1867159392308924832 Damascus University in Syria on Sunday, December 15, as the new leadership reopened educational facilities following the fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime. Video captured by Syrian video journalist Obada Jbara shows students gathering at Damascus University and conducting a prayer. https://x.com/alestiklalen/status/1868279943739621438 Other footage widely circulating on social media showed students toppling and dragging a statue of Hafez al-Assad, father of Bashar al-Assad and former Syrian president, on campus. The president of Damascus University issued a https://x.com/DamascusUnive/status/1865751748293341395 statement on X through the university's official page, saying the country was "facing a new phase in history," according to machine translation. "I hope it will be full of goodness. I assure our students and their families that the educational process will continue, and the deans and teaching staff have been directed to exercise their paternal and cognitive roles," he https://x.com/DamascusUnive/status/1865751748293341395 wrote . "The university will continue its role in preserving the gains and rights of our students." (Footage by Obada Jbara/Storyful via Getty Images UGC)