On August 23, the world gathers to commemorate the slave trade and its abolition, a historical wound that spanned centuries, leaving profound lessons about the struggle for freedom and human dignity.
We, at the Syrian Future Movement, celebrate this international day, which coincides with the anniversary of the slave uprising in Saint-Domingue in 1791, a revolution that lit the flame of freedom and paved the way for the abolition of slavery. We see this day as an ongoing call to reflect on the values of justice, equality, and the rejection of all forms of injustice and enslavement.
The Syrian Future Movement draws its inspiration from Syria’s current reality, as we live through a challenging transitional phase. We find the echoes of this day echoing in our own reality. Syria has suffered from various forms of modern “enslavement,” whether political through repression and tyranny, economic through deprivation and destruction, or social through fragmentation and conflict. However, just as the 1791 uprising marked the beginning of a people’s liberation, Syria today stands on the threshold of a new liberation, one based on rebuilding a nation of hope and justice after the Syrians overthrew the Assad regime. The struggle of Syrians today, after liberation, to secure their basic needs—water, electricity, and security—reflects the same spirit that resisted slavery in the past: the spirit of dignity and the determination to regain rights.
The Syrian Future Movement sees this day as a symbol of Syrian hope, where stories of struggle throughout history intertwine with our people’s dream of building a free, unified, and prosperous homeland.
Commemorating this anniversary reminds us that freedom is not a gift, but rather earned through sacrifice. Syria, like other peoples who have resisted their shackles, is capable of overcoming the wounds of the past to build a future worthy of the dignity of its people.
The Syrian Future Movement calls on all Syrians to draw inspiration from this international day as a motivation to strengthen national unity and collective action.
Let us make this anniversary a beacon illuminating our path toward rebuilding Syria, not just with infrastructure, but also by rebuilding trust among the people of one nation. Let us work together, inspired by history, to liberate Syria from all forms of injustice, drawing on the strength of will that shattered the shackles of slavery centuries ago.
We recall the immortal words of Al-Farouq: “When did you enslave people when their mothers bore them free?”
