France is the first Western country to welcome Ahmed al-Sharaa, who with the toppling of Bashar al-Assad last December, shed his fatigues and his Islamist militia leader name Abu Mohammed al-Joulani. The right moment? Yes, if it is time to fully scrap sanctions and help Syria’s economy a chance to recover from more than a decade of civil war. The new masters of Damascus say they need money and time, time to make good on their pledge of an inclusive country that protects its myriad of minorities.
Already, there have been missteps and bloodbaths, the most recent involving sectarian killing between Sunni militiamen and the Druze community – a community present across the borders of Lebanon and Israel, Israel, which has carried out bombing raids in Syria in the name of protecting the Druzes. On that score, what message does Emmanuel Macron send to the Israelis when he welcomes Sharaa?
And with Paris, there is a history: Syria was a protectorate of France until independence in 1946, and in the not-so distant past: the last Syrian leader welcomed to Paris was Bashar al-Assad as guest of honor on Bastille Day in 2008. With hindsight, not a good look despite Assad’s popularity with French conservative and far-right MPs. What’s the right approach this time?
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Nadim HOURY Executive Director of the Arab Reform Initiative
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Myriam BENRAAD International Relations Professor, Schiller University
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Nahed Ghazzoul Researcher at Paris Nanterre University
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Ibrahim Al-Assil Senior Fellow at Middle East Institute
English (US) · 