Ten Years in Berlin: Living with a Damascus Assad Regime and Being Free to Be: The Yarok Café in Berlin

At the Yarok restaurant in Berlin, where the staff is overwhelmed making food for customers, the news of the fall of the Syrian regime has them smiling.

The men manning the counter beam told Razan that tea for a Syrian was free on this day of liberation, when she ordered her tea.

The liberation is personal for Rashidi. She used to work as a human rights activist under the name Laila Kiki to protect herself from Syrian security officials. But today, the regime that routinely interrogated and harassed her before she fled Syria, is no more, and she is using her real name again for the first time in 17 years. She thinks Syrians are sharing a similar feeling this week of being free to be herself.

He says his home is in Germany. “Sure I’m Syrian, but I’m also now a German. I miss Berlin every time I am on vacation. I can’t stay away more than a couple of weeks. I built a business and lived here for a long time. My family is here. My place of residence is Germany. At least for now.”

The rebels’ swift seizure of power in Damascus over the weekend brought a sudden end to more than 50 years of rule by the Assad family. According to the UN, the civil war that started in 2011) resulted in the displacement of more than 6 million people to other countries. More than 970,000 of them live in Germany, where politicians are in the middle of a political debate for next year’s elections. With change in Syria, some of the exiles are considering visiting for the last time while others think they can live in Europe.

Ten years ago, Hafez was on a crowded boat in the Mediterranean Sea, fleeing his home country. He ended up in Berlin, a refugee, speaking no German, with no job and with barely any money in his pocket. Hafez remembers that when he moved to Germany he had a to-do list. “After crossing off everything I needed to do to settle here, I had my first job after a year and a half of learning German.” Then I met the woman who is now my wife. We had a group of children. Then I opened my first restaurant. The second was followed by the first. And now the third. I just got my German passport, and when I had it in my hands, it was the first time I truly felt safe.”

Aleppo Supper Club now has three locations in Berlin and serves what some call the best hummus in town. Hafez has been able to take his mother and siblings with him to Germany. His sister just graduated with a mechanical engineering degree and another sister is studying to become a doctor in Munich. Hafez is like many Syrians who arrived a decade ago.

German authorities have suspended approval of Syrian asylum claims for now, as have several other countries. But some German politicians have gone further: calling on the Syrians already settled in the country to leave.

Jens Spahn, a lawmaker from the Christian Democratic Union party which is poised to win the most votes in the German election, made an offer to Syrians on national television. The German government could provide flights for Syrians wishing to leave and give them a thousandeuros for the first year, according to Spahn. “I’m thinking of all the young Syrian men here in Germany who undoubtedly wish to give their homeland a future and who want to help us make it possible for them to return to Syria voluntarily.”

There were many Syrians in the streets and mosques in Damascus on Friday at prayers to mark the fall of the Assad regime.

Mohammed Yaser, the Head of John the Baptist, in the Umayyad Mosque: A Day in the Life of a Muslim Hero

He said in the message that they should get down to express happiness without being feared and that it was up to God to build the country.

The mosque’s courtyard was filled with so many people that most didn’t make it inside. Children ran around waving the new Syrian flag, the mood like a festival.

This was the first time Syrians performed Friday prayers in the Umayyad Mosque since opposition forces stormed the capital and overthrew Assad less than a week ago.

The head of John the Baptist is believed to be buried in the mosque next to Saladin, a Muslim hero from the 12th century.

The sound of the sermon was faint outside, but the message was clear: The imam asked God to punish the arrogant and the unjust and to punish Assad and his cronies.

Mohamed Yaser thanked God for this newfound blessing and said he’s been waiting for this moment for all of his 70 years. A moment when he felt safe enough to pray here.