Remarks on the 13th Anniversary of the Crisis in Syria

Remarks delivered by Andrea Gittleman, policy director for the Simon-Skjodt Center for the Prevention of Genocide, at an event on Capitol Hill co-hosted by the Center and the Syrian Emergency Task Force.

Good morning, I am Andrea Gittleman, policy director of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum’s Simon-Skjodt Center for the Prevention of Genocide. 

It is an honor to be with you today and to co-host this event alongside our longstanding partner, the Syrian Emergency Task Force. It is always an honor to be able to join colleagues who are so dedicated to protecting the people of Syria from mass atrocities, to bolstering stronger efforts to halt these crimes, and to carving paths towards justice.

Every year, we express our sorrow that mass atrocities against civilians continue in Syria—that civilians remain under attack, that thousands remain detained or disappeared, that so many of our Syrian partners continue to work under unthinkable circumstances to bring information about what’s happening to the rest of the world.  

Thirteen years ago, Syrians rose up in order to build a better future. During the past thirteen years, we have seen shocking attacks—mostly perpetrated by the Syrian regime and its allies, Russia and Iran—that have taken the lives of hundreds of thousands of civilians. There are many crises today that deserve our full attention. What is happening in Syria is one of them. That civilians in Syria have endured so much, and that they continue to live under threat of bombardment, detention, torture, and execution, should make us all recommit our efforts to protecting the Syrian people and to promoting the cause of justice and accountability. 

Even while attacks are ongoing, we see the creeping normalization of the horrors of the Assad government’s crimes. This is a government that has disappeared peaceful protesters and subjected thousands to secretive detention, torture, and extrajudicial killing. This is a government that has attacked first responders and hospitals, exacerbating the harm it inflicts across the population. 

The crimes of the Assad government are written in stone, not sand—they cannot be erased either by the passage of time nor the unpredictable tides of political expediency. Yet, some countries have begun re-engaging with Assad, despite the fact that the government continues to detain, torture, and kill civilians. The destruction and horror that the Syrian government has unleashed on the people of Syria can never be considered normal. 

It may sometimes seem as though the Assad government has successfully created an environment of fear, where the risks are too great for Syrians to come forward and speak out about mass atrocities. Those speaking here today, and those across the country struggling for a brighter future, prove that wrong. Our Syrian colleagues who are confronting the Assad regime’s horror with persistence and grace should be a hope for us all. Part of the work of those speaking here today, and of the rest of us who support the safety and peaceful future for Syrians, is to continuously scandalize what the Syrian government has perpetrated—and is perpetrating— against its own people. And part of the work facing us all is to stand alongside our Syrian colleagues on the frontlines of assisting the Syrian people, and to make sure we are doing all we can to halt mass atrocities and hold those responsible to account.

We are honored to be joined by members of affected communities in Syria, who will speak via video, senior US government officials, and other experts on US-Syria policy, to share information on what is happening in Syria now and how the US and the world can best support Syrian civilians today.

It is now my honor to introduce Al Münzer, Holocaust survivor and Holocaust Museum volunteer, for welcoming remarks.

Learn more about the Simon-Skjodt Center’s work on Syria.