The coming year is promising to be a crucial one in the history of West Asia. Just weeks have passed since the ouster of Syria’s Bashar al-Assad and his replacement with pro-Western leader Abu Mohammed al-Jolani.

Syria was a key member of the so-called “Axis of Resistance” – a coalition of actors opposing Israel and its actions. What will Assad’s departure mean for the resistance against Israel, especially given Jolani’s overt friendliness with Tel Aviv? Given their new government, what is in store for Lebanon and Hezbollah now? And how about Iraq and Yemen?

To discuss all of this and more is returning guest, Ghadi Francis. Ghadi is an author, journalist, and war correspondent who has covered the situations in Syria and Palestine in great detail. Born in Lebanon, she is the author of the book “My pen and pain: One hundred days in Syria” (2012).

Last month, Ghadi joined The MintCast to discuss the fallout of Israel’s attack on its neighbors. During the interview, she set her sights on the Erdoğan administration in Ankara, stating that “Türkiye is as expansionist as Israel – and it is not new!”

We lived in a nation that was called ‘Greater Syria’ that was occupied by the Ottomans for around 300 years. And it stretched from Lebanon to Syria to Iraq. Nineveh, Aleppo, all of that was occupied by the Ottomans. We were part of the Ottoman Empire. We were ruled by them in a dictatorship and in an occupation.”

The defeat of the Ottoman Empire at the end of the First World War, she said, did not bring an end to this occupation. “When you look at the map today, southern Türkiye is nothing but northern occupied Syria. Gaziantep Diyarbakır, Mardin – these are areas that are historically Syria, not Türkiye,” she added.

Despite Assad’s ouster, Francis is convinced that the resistance to Israeli occupation is far from over. Today, she says, some of the most principled and committed solidarity with Palestine comes from Yemen. “God bless Yemen and the Yemeni people,” she said, noting that Yemen is the most impoverished nation in the region but also the most courageous.

Yemen has faced years of Saudi-led bombing, as well as months of U.S. attacks, and yet it has stood up to those and continued to resist. “What can the Americans do?” asked Francis; “Yemen is a vast nation. They have nothing to lose, and they have everything to win,” she added.

Francis recently returned from a trip to Iraq, where she was impressed by the rebirth of the country after decades of occupation. Unlike Yemen, she assessed, Iraq is not in a position to face down the might of either the U.S. or Israel. “If the Iraqis continue to resist on their own and they get attacked by the Israelis, nobody is going to protect them,” she said. “So if they refrain for a while from being in active resistance operations and, rather, being a good and strong community…this itself is a great achievement.”

Mnar Adley is an award-winning journalist and editor and is the founder and director of MintPress News. She is also president and director of the non-profit media organization Behind the Headlines. Adley also co-hosts the MintCast podcast and is a producer and host of the video series Behind The Headlines. Contact Mnar at mnar@mintpressnews.com or follow her on Twitter at @mnarmuh.

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