In the West Bank, the fall of Bashar al-Assad rejoices the Sharif Yahya family: Hassan learned that his brother Bashar, imprisoned for 40 years in Syria, had been released from Saïdnaya prison. But she also worries that he will not be able to return to the West Bank, because his papers were confiscated by the old regime in Damascus.
2 mins
With our special correspondent in Araqah, Pierre Olivier
Because of power outages lasting five or six hours in SyriaHassan Sharif Yahya says he has a lot of trouble reaching his brother, Bachar. So, he sends her some photos via messages. ” These are the landscapes around us: the Jenin valley, the Nazareth region… Psychologically, he is very affected, so I try to cheer him up, so that he doesn’t feel far from home! »
There ” House » is the village of Araqah, in the northern West Bank. This is where Bachar’s nine brothers and sisters live. The eldest, Fathyia, has tears in her eyes, because it has been 40 years since she heard the voice of her brother, detained in the terrible Saidnaya prison. “ We heard that Bashar al-Assad’s prisoners had been released. I thought it was a joke! But the next day, our brother called us! I wanted to sing, to dance with my grandchildren. Now I want to hug him! »
However, there remains one last obstacle before being able to kiss his 61-year-old brother: his papers were confiscated by the former Syrian regime. The mayor of Araqah, Mohammad Naif Yahya, plans an obstacle course for him: “ First, Bashar must leave Syria to return to Jordan. Then he will have to apply for a passport at the Palestinian embassy to return to the West Bank. If it is too difficult, we will ask for the intervention of NGOs. Because the Israelis will do everything to make our lives complicated. »
According to the mayor, 650 Palestinians are in the same situation as Bashar. This figure, however, has not been confirmed by Palestinian services.