Decoding the Fall of Assad and Hamas’s Political Pivot | Media Arabic Booster 12/24

December 2024 brought a historic shift in the Middle East with the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria.

For this Media Arabic Booster, we’ll examine how the Arab press reported on this seismic event by looking at the exact headlines they published. We’ll then dig deeper into a fascinating article that explores the Hamas movement’s reaction, showing how its political alliances with Qatar, Turkey, and the Muslim Brotherhood shaped its statement.

Through this analysis, you will learn the essential Arabic vocabulary for discussing regime change, political strategy, and international diplomacy. +Plus subscribers can download the vocabulary as Anki files.

A close look at a headline

We first look at the headlines of major Arabic newspapers covering the fall of Assad’ regime.

Bashar al-Assad’s fall: How the Arab press reacted

The fall of the dictatorship of Bashar al-Assad (بشار الأسد) in Syria occurred on December 8, 2024, during a major offensive by Syrian revolutionary forces. This offensive, led by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (هيئة تحرير الشام) and supported by the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army (الجيش الوطني السوري) and Kurdish forces, marked the end of the Assad family’s rule, which had lasted since 1971. The capture of Damascus (دمشق) was a pivotal moment, leading to Assad fleeing to Russia (روسيا), where he was granted asylum.

Let’s check the headlines of some major Arab newspapers on 9 December 2024:

Let’s focus on the headlines:

The collapse of the Syrian regime has sent shock waves through the Arab world. Authoritarian states are studying exactly what happened there, especially as the economic situation of many people, especially in Egypt, is catastrophic. But tensions are also rising in Jordan, where the king has been under severe pressure, especially since October 7, and in authoritarian countries such as Algeria.

Translation of an article

Let’s look at parts of a longer newspaper article in Arabic. We will translate each sentence carefully. The highlighted words are in the vocabulary list below.

al-Arab: Hamas, the Muslim Brotherhood and congratulations to the Syrians

On 10 December 2024, the London-based daily Al-Arab (العرب) published a front-page report on how the Hamas group in Gaza was dealing with the ousting of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Asad.

Let’s now take a closer look at a few complete paragraphs.

حماس تتصدر قرارا إخوانيا مركزيا بتهنئة السوريين على إسقاط الأسد

Hamas leads a central MB decision to congratulate the Syrians on Al-Assad’s toppling

Section 1

باركت حركة حماس في بيان للشعب السوري إسقاط نظام الرئيس السوري السابق بشار الأسد، ونجاحه في تحقيق طموحاته في “الحرية والعدالة”، في موقف تصدرت به الحركة قرارا إخوانيا بتهنئة السوريين على إسقاط الأسد باعتباره خصما تاريخيا.

ويمثل بيان حماس انقلابا ثانيا على الأسد وحليفيه إيران وحزب الله بعد الانقلاب الأول، الذي أعقب انطلاق الاحتجاجات على الرئيس السوري في 2011، واضطرت الحركة إلى التراجع عنه والذهاب إلى دمشق بوساطة إيرانية لإذابة الجليد بينها وبين الأسد.

In a statement, the Hamas Movement congratulated the Syrian people on the toppling of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime and their success in realizing their aspirations for “freedom and justice,”Through this position, the Movement took the lead in a Brotherhood decision to congratulate the Syrians on the overthrow of Assad, considering him a historical enemy.

Hamas’ statement constitutes a second coup against Al-Assad and his two allies, Iran and Hezbollah, after the first coup which followed the onset of the protests against the Syrian president in 2011. Back then, the Movement was forced to retract its statement and to turn to Damascus, through an Iranian mediation, to thaw the ice with Al-Assad.

Section 2

ويظهر البيان أن حماس مهما غيرت موقفها أو تحالفاتها ظرفيا، تظل حركة إخوانية تحتكم إلى الموقف العام للجماعة وتعادي خصومها حتى لو كان ذلك على حساب مصالحها وتحالفاتها كما حصل في 2011 عندما دعمت الثورة السورية.

وتأتي تهنئة السوريين بإسقاط الأسد ضمن مناخ سياسي تحرص قطر وتركيا على تجييره لصالحهما وإظهار تأثيرهما الإقليمي من خلال التحالف في دعم مجموعات مسلحة لإسقاط الأسد، لاستعادة ثقة الأميركيين، وخاصة الإدارة الجديدة بقيادة الرئيس المنتخب دونالد ترامب، وفي الوقت نفسه -وهذا الأهم- تبريد الغضب الإسرائيلي على قطر بسبب الفشل في الضغط على حماس لإطلاق سراح الرهائن الإسرائيليين.

The statement shows that no matter how much Hamas changes its position or alliances circumstantially, Hamas remains (~ will always be) a Muslim Brotherhood movement, one that abides by the group’s general stand and one that antagonizes its opponents, even if this has to come at the expense of the Movement’s own interests and alliances, as it was the case (happened) in 2011 when it supported the Syrian revolution.

Congratulating the Syrians on the overthrow of Al-Assad falls in the context of a political climate that Qatar and Turkey are keen to exploit in their favor to demonstrate their regional influence through their alliance in supporting armed groups to oust Al-Assad. The aim is to regain the trust of the Americans, mainly the new administration led by President-elect Donald Trump, and at the same time, most importantly, to cool off the Israeli anger at Qatar over the latter’s failure to pressure Hamas to release the Israeli hostages.

Section 3

ويوحي البيان بأن حماس اختارت أن تكون في صف قطر وتركيا، وأنها قد تكون وافقت على إبداء مرونة كبيرة في التفاوض لإنجاح مساعي الهدنة وإعطاء ورقة دعم وتقوية للدور القطري، وهو ما يعيدها إلى الواجهة سياسيا، والأهم أنه يضمن رضاء القيادة القطرية عنها ويؤمّن لها البقاء في الدوحة مع الحفاظ على كل الامتيازات التي من بينها التمويل والإقامة الفاخرة لقيادتها…

The statement implies that Hamas has chosen to side with Qatar and Turkey and that it may have agreed to show great flexibility in the negotiations to make the truce efforts successful and to provide a supportive and strengthening card for the Qatari role. This would bring Hamas back to the political limelight. Most importantly, it would please the Qatari leadership and secure Hamas’ persistence in Doha while preserving all the privileges including funding and luxurious residences for its leadership…

Section 4

ومن المرجح أن يثير هذا البيان خلافات عاصفة داخل الحركة، وقد يؤدي إلى قطيعة بين قيادة الخارج والداخل …

ويعبر موقف حماس عن توجه إخواني مناوئ للأسد ظهر في بيانات إخوان تونس والأردن. ففي تونس بارك حزب حركة النهضة سقوط حكم الأسد في سوريا وانتصار “ثورة الشعب السوري التي انطلقت في 2011 رغم محاولات الإخماد والقمع الممنهج.”…

وكانت جماعة الإخوان المسلمين في الأردن قد باركت سقوط نظام الأسد. وتقدمت الجماعة في بيان الأحد إلى أفراد الشعب السوري “بأعظم التحية والتهنئة لإنجاز ثورتهم المباركة، بعد سنوات من التضحيات الكبيرة والصبر العظيم.”

This statement is likely to stir a storm of differences within the Movement and might lead to an estrangement between the internal (at home) and external (abroad) Hamas leadership…

Hamas’ position expresses a Muslim Brotherhood orientation against Al-Assad that appeared in the statements of the Brotherhood in Tunisia and Jordan. In Tunisia, the Ennahda Movement party congratulated the fall of Al-Assad’s rule in Syria and the victory of the “Syrian people’s revolution that began in 2011 despite attempts at suppression and systematic repression”…

The Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan has blessed the fall of the Assad regime. In a statement on Sunday, the group extended to the Syrian people “the greatest greetings and congratulations for the achievement of their blessed revolution, after years of great sacrifices and great patience.”

Vocabulary list

All the words in the above article marked in color can be found in this table with explanations.

Part 1: Analysis of a headline

Never Make This Mistake in Arabic: How to Use أَبَدًا (abadan) vs. قَطُّ (qattu)

Even native Arabic speakers sometimes struggle with "never" (أَبَدًا and قَطُّ). This article clarifies a common mistake, explaining that أَبَدًا is for future continuity in negative sentences (e.g., "I will never…"), while قَطُّ is exclusively for past tense negative sentences (e.g., "I…

• Grammar
• Translation

2 min

Part 2: Translation of an article

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