From exile to encore: Wasfi Maasarani returns to Syria to sing of victory
Wasfi Maasarani, a prominent singer and a symbol of the Syrian uprising, took the stage to celebrate «Syria's victory.» The Wednesday performance marked Maasarani's return to Syria after 13 years of exile. While living in Los Angeles, Maasarani had continued to support the Syrian revolution through his music, touring across the US and Europe, reported AP.
The concert was organized by the Molham Volunteering Team, a humanitarian group founded by Syrian students, and also coincided with the one-month anniversary of a rapid insurgency that ousted former President Bashar Assad.
Maasarani's revolutionary anthems, along with those of late singer and activist Abdelbasset Sarout, played a pivotal role in galvanizing opposition throughout Syria's 14-year uprising-turned-civil war, which began in 2011, reported the news agency.
Many opponents of Assad's regime, including Maasarani, fled the country, unsure if they would ever be able to return. Yet, the concert offered a triumphant homecoming, as the audience sang along, some wiping away tears. The dimly lit hall was illuminated by phone lights that swayed in unison with the music. Many in the crowd waved the new Syrian flag—the revolutionary flag, marked by three stars—while a banner reading «It is Syria the Great, not Syria the Assad» was held aloft.
According to AP, one of Maasarani's most iconic songs, "Jabeenak 'Ali w Ma Bintal," which he first performed in 2012, addresses the Free Syrian Army—a coalition of defected military personnel and civilian fighters formed in
