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Editor | L.Y.
Preliminary
The news of Bashar’s hospital poisoning in the past few days has become the focus of media attention.The Syrian government has not spoken about it, but has silently cleared some of the signs of the Bashar’s era.
On October 6, Israeli media alerted on the new decree issued by Syrian President Saleh, which abolished the 1973 Day of Atonement War commemoration and several legal holidays of the Bashar era, and added several new holidays, all of which were characteristic, but sparked controversy in the Arab world.
The four holidays that were abolished each had a special political significance.October 6th, the Day of Atonement War commemoration is the heaviest of them, in 1973, the Syrian and Egyptian coalition launched a raid on Israel on this day, although not recovered land, but is seen by the Arab world as a symbol of the spirit of resistance to the Israeli occupation, and Syria annually holds a parade and veteran commemoration at the Damascus Martyrs Square.
The 6th of May Martian Day carries a long-standing national memory, commemorating the 12 Syrian nationalists who were executed by the Ottoman Turkish authorities in 1916, and is the core ceremony for the Bashar regime to consolidate domestic national emotions. In addition, the Renaissance Party’s iconic “March 8 Revolution Day” and the decades-long “Teacher’s Day” have also disappeared from the official calendar without any transitional buffer.
The decree simultaneously added three new statutory holidays, the choice of time nodes filled with political signals. December 8 was designated as “liberation day”, precisely the day of the exile of Bashar in Russia at the end of 2024, the establishment of the new regime; March 18 was established as “Syrian Revolution Memorial Day”, the beginning of the 2011 anti-government demonstrations in the city of Dela, and the beginning of the Syrian civil war. It is worth noting that the decree for the first time incorporated Christian Christmas, Easter into public holidays, joined with the Muslim tradition of fasting, slaughter, and added Mother’s Day as a national holiday, forming a system of religious festivals and secular memorial days.
Strategic calculations behind the festival
The deep logic of the festival's adjustment is clearly reflected in the dual dimensions of regional diplomacy and domestic governance. The good intention to Israel is most direct, and the cancellation of the Remembrance Day of the War coincides with the crucial phase of the story of secret contact.
According to Reuters, the two countries have established an information exchange mechanism in the security field since 2024. The rumored bilateral security agreement is in the negotiation stage. At this time, the abolition of anti-Israeli anniversaries is interpreted as avoiding the negotiation process. A pragmatic measure disturbed by historical symbols. Although the Israeli Prime Minister's Office did not publicly respond, Ha'aretz quoted internal government sources as saying that this move "created a positive atmosphere for the improvement of bilateral relations".
The cancelled Martyrs Day commemoration was targeted by anti-Ottoman nationalists, while Turkey has always lived with Ottoman heirs, a festival long seen by Turkey as a “historic provocation”.
After the new government took office, the refugee problem and Kurdish armed forces on the border between northern Syria and Turkey need to be resolved through consultation urgently. The abolition of Martyrs' Day was interpreted by Turkey's Daily News as "an initiative to break the diplomatic deadlock". However, this compromise caused dissatisfaction among domestic Kurdish groups-their traditional Persian New Year Nowruz Festival was not included in the statutory holiday. This festival carried the national identity of Kurds, and its absence was regarded as a neglect of the rights and interests of ethnic minorities.
The intention of shaping the image of the West is clearer. The new president and his core team were once listed as "terrorist organization associates" by the United States, and the U.S. State Department offered a reward of $10 million for them in 2020. The inclusion of Christian festivals in statutory holidays is regarded as a key step to get rid of the label of "extremism". This move echoed events such as the new president's visit to Saudi Arabia in May 2025 to meet Trump, and his first appearance on the podium of the United Nations General Assembly in September. However, the U.S. State Department only responded with "internal affairs of Syria", and its silent attitude was interpreted as an acquiescence gesture.
The public opinion storm
After the announcement of the decree, the opposition in the Arab world spread rapidly. Egypt became the first country to make a public statement. In its editorial on October 7th, Al-Ahram denounced this move as "erasing the collective memory of the Arab resistance movement", pointing out that Egypt will hold a grand military parade on October 6th every year to commemorate the Yom Kippur War, and Syria's practice "shook the historical foundation of Arab countries' joint resistance to Israel". The Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has formally submitted an inquiry letter to the Arab League Secretariat, asking the Syrian government to give an explanation. At present, 11 Arab League member states have expressed their support for Egypt's position.
The controversy on social media is even more intense. On platforms such as Twitter and Facebook, the topic of "Defending October 6" quickly hit hot searches in the Middle East, and netizens posted old photos and videos of commemorative activities during the Yom Kippur War. Some residents of Damascus posted photos on social accounts of their families participating in commemorative parades on Martyrs 'Day in previous years, with the caption "Our heroes should not be forgotten." The League of Arab Scholars issued a joint statement saying that the abolition of historical anniversaries "would harm the national spirit and weaken the sense of collective identity in the Arab world."
The reaction at the domestic level showed a differentiated trend. Groups supporting the new regime believed that the festival reform was a “necessary measure to cut off the dictatorship era”, and even a few signs appeared on the streets of Damascus celebrating the “coming of the new era.” But in areas where traditional revival party supporters such as Homs and Aleppo were concentrated, people spontaneously gathered in front of the old government buildings, carrying the martyrs’ day commemorative badge to express dissatisfaction. The religious community responded gently, and Christian Maron Archbishop Gregory said that the festival adjustments “represented a gesture of religious inclusion,” while Sunni religious leaders had not yet publicly expressed themselves.
Historical reconstruction
At the press conference the day after the decree was issued, the Syrian Ministry of Information only briefly stated that the adjustment was "to build a national identity in the new era" and did not respond to specific disputes. But it is widely agreed in the political analyst community that this is a key cultural move in the reconstruction of the country after the war. Research by the China Institute of International Studies pointed out that countries that have just experienced civil war often build consensus by reshaping historical narratives. As an important carrier of collective memory, festivals have become the core tool for the construction of regime legitimacy.
Such refactoring attempts come with obvious risks. Goodwill to external forces may be at the expense of internal identity. The dissatisfaction of Kurdish groups has triggered local protests. Some Kurdish party leaders publicly stated that "the festival list ignores the diverse composition of Syria". The loss of trust in the Arab world may affect the process of Syria's return to the Arab League. Since the outbreak of the civil war in 2011, Syria's membership of the Arab League has been suspended, and the new government has been seeking to restore its seats.
conclusion
Russia's attitude is subtle. As a former ally of Bashar, the Russian Foreign Ministry only expressed "respect for the choice of the Syrian people" after the promulgation of the decree, without further evaluation. However, it is reported that the Syrian-Russian economic cooperation conference originally scheduled to be held in late October has been postponed, and it is speculated that this move is related to the new government's negative attitude towards the Bashar era. It remains to be seen whether the western acquiescence to reform can be translated into substantial economic assistance and lifting sanctions.
On the streets of Damascus on October 7, some shops have started selling memorial badges printed with the word "Liberation Day", while on the old bookstores at the corner of the street, the memorial paintings of the Memorial War Day of the past year are still sold. Behind the change of the festival, a country's difficult balance between historical memory and real interests, this adjustment of time symbols, is quietly rewrite the direction of Syria's national narrative.
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