With Syrian President Bashar al-Assad overthrown and now out of the country, Hamilton restaurateur Mohamad Tomeh says he’s looking forward to reconnecting with friends and family he hasn’t seen since leaving his home there more than 10 years ago.
“I am sure that democracy and freedom are coming to Syria,” said a joyful Tomeh, who came to Canada in 2018 and now owns two locations in Hamilton under the name Tomah.
The political situation in Syria has changed drastically in the past two weeks. After a 13-year civil war that displaced millions of Syrians, rebels led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, a former al-Qaeda affiliate, seized power from President Bashar Al-Assad.
On Sunday, Assad, whose family ruled Syria for over 50 years, fled to Russia, prompting celebrations by many, including Tomeh.
Reacting to the news, Tomeh shared a photo on social media of him smiling and holding two baking sheets full of pastries. The caption declared: “Today, Syria is free! And so today, Tomah’s Baklava is also free at both locations!”
Tomeh told CBC Hamilton on Monday he can’t explain how happy he was. He said he wanted to share dessert as well as joy with a community that has been good to him.
He also wants to bring community members who welcomed his family in Hamilton to visit Syria in the future, so they can see what its people have struggled for, he said. His daughter helped to translate part of the conversation.
As Syrian rebels outline their vision for the future of the country, The National breaks down what reignited the fighting, and what the stunning collapse of the decades-old Assad regime means for Syria, the region, and the world.
Because of the “dictator” and “bullies” who ruled Syria for so long, it was no longer safe for Tomeh’s family when they left in 2013, he said.
The war “broke everything,” including his cheese-making business, which was reduced to rubble.
Tomeh had five children at the time and didn’t want them to grow up in a place where all they could strive for was survival, he said, so he and his wife took the family to Egypt, where they lived for five years, opening a new cheese factory and restaurant.
It “was not the best,” there, so in 2018, the family immigrated to Canada and settled in Hamilton, Tomeh said.
While other countries closed their doors to Syrians, “Canada opened everything,” Tomeh said. “I feel grateful for Canada and the people.”
Once things settle down following Assad’s ouster, Tomeh said he will visit family and friends in Syria. Unfortunately he said, some did not survive the past decade.
“Maybe we’ll find the place, but we won’t find the people,” he said.
In 2022, the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights reported that the conflict resulted in around 306,000 civilians being killed between 2011 and 2021. The office said it also documented thousands of cases including civilians being tortured, subjected to sexual violence and arbitrarily imprisoned. It also noted 38 instances of the use of chemical weapons, 32 of which it attributed to government forces.
It’s unclear what will happen in Syria now, but Tomeh said he’s confident Syria is moving in the right direction. “I am sure the new government will be better than the dictatorship.”
Ultimately, Tomeh said, he wants Syrians to enjoy peace and tolerance as they rebuild.
Marwah Kobieh, executive director of the Syrian Canadian Foundation told CBC Toronto many Syrians lost hope that they would ever see new leadership.
“We’re hoping that all the Syrians who are scattered across the world can come back to Syria and just hold each other’s hand and rebuild the country that have been really facing so much for half a century,” he said.