SYRIATV — broadcast
20261105 003000 UTC
501 transcript segments
Google Cloud Speech-to-Text API (Chirp) + Gemini 2.5 Flash Non-Thinking
Data courtesy of The GDELT Project (https://www.gdeltproject.org/), from the Internet Archive TV News Archive.
Machine transcription. Treat it as a searchable index of what was broadcast, not a verbatim quotation record.

[00:00:25] titles of the revolution, has a history
[00:00:34] through loans. This
[00:00:44] From promises and projects promoted
[00:00:46] of property documentation and its distribution by the Syrian government under the title of reconstruction
[00:00:49] to proposals that shocked the residents due to its adoption
[00:00:53] of unjust laws and decrees that the overthrown regime
[00:00:57] had enacted. This scene is repeated today in many
[00:01:00] of the devastated Syrian areas, from Al-Qaboun to Jobar, to the Damascus
[00:01:05] a region in countryside, even Old Homs,
[00:01:06] into residential and commercial areas. Aleppo, and Deir
[00:01:07] Ezzor.
[00:01:10] After owning a two-story house in the Damascus neighborhood of Al-Qaboun,
[00:01:14] Nasser Jabri
[00:01:17] the story of Al-Qaboun begins, currently lives in
[00:01:19] believing that this a single room that he was able to renovate amidst the ruins
[00:01:21] of his destroyed house. His wife and children
[00:01:27] formulas, and considered live in a rented house under harsh living conditions. The
[00:01:30] economic deterioration
[00:01:33] and their right and rising prices have exacerbated its severity. I have made a room there
[00:01:35] where my floors were. I cleaned it, as they say, I made a room and put up
[00:01:40] Today, after years of
[00:01:40] and organizational shares, a canopy and I am staying there. What is this story? We don't know
[00:01:43] what to do. I am the biggest
[00:01:47] supporter of the state and of President Ahmed Al-Shara for
[00:01:50] all the world, but also help us a little. Look, look, look.
[00:01:55] According to the residents, Where, where am I going to go? Where am I going to go? I am 60 years old. I left
[00:01:59] my wife. For example, they are living in a rented place, and they can't afford
[00:02:02] to pay the rent. One month we pay the rent, one month we don't eat, one month we eat, one month we don't
[00:02:06] pay
[00:02:07] to which they belong. So, is it
[00:02:08] him to obtain actual alternative housing. the rent. Nasser's story was repeated
[00:02:11] to us many times while preparing this episode about
[00:02:14] Al-Qaboun. Al-Qaboun, this Damascus
[00:02:17] neighborhood, where the percentage of destruction exceeds
[00:02:20] 90%, and most of its residents were displaced in
[00:02:23] 2017 to return most of them after the fall
[00:02:27] of the overthrown regime and find their homes that
[00:02:30] they left standing had become ruins
[00:02:33] after having been homeowners
[00:02:36] and property owners, many found themselves forced to look for
[00:02:40] houses for rent, while they do not have the ability to
[00:02:44] needs more rebuild what they lost. And here the crucial question arises:
[00:02:48] Are we facing a real reconstruction that does justice
[00:02:51] to the residents, or are we facing real estate investment
[00:02:55] that infringes on their rights? A question imposed
[00:02:58] by the presented projects and statements issued
[00:03:02] regarding Al-Qaboun, Jobar, and other areas,
[00:03:04] as the nature of the plans indicates that we are facing commercial
[00:03:08] offers and investment priorities
[00:03:11] that are far from the priorities of the original
[00:03:15] residents and their urgent need to return and settle.
[00:03:20] residents to
[00:03:25] The neighborhood, which includes
[00:03:32] Al-Qaboun, a story of a multi-faceted neighborhood, where three main
[00:03:35] types of real estate uses converged: residential,
[00:03:39] industrial, and agricultural, in
[00:03:42] addition to unplanned urban expansion areas.
[00:03:45] This diversity is linked to the history of the neighborhood's
[00:03:48] establishment and expansion, and to the absence of comprehensive urban planning
[00:03:52] in various stages, which led to the emergence
[00:03:55] of illegal areas and complications in property
[00:03:58] registration. Determining their legal nature,
[00:04:01] Al-Qaboun witnessed since the 1940s
[00:04:05] and then during the 1960s
[00:04:07] of establishment owners? The and 1970s an industrial and commercial expansion
[00:04:11] with the spread of factories, workshops,
[00:04:14] and car maintenance centers, in addition to an industrial
[00:04:18] area that came to include hundreds of small
[00:04:21] and medium-sized establishments. The neighborhood also hosted bus garages
[00:04:24] and depots for buses between Damascus
[00:04:27] and Syrian governorates, which strengthened
[00:04:30] its position and described it as one of the main
[00:04:32] entrances to the capital
[00:04:36] and service uses, instead this project. and an important commercial and service center. A century-old urban area.
[00:04:39] I mean, it's about 100 to 125 years old.
[00:04:43] Today, Al-Qaboun is, you could say, like a neglected
[00:04:46] area, even since
[00:04:50] out of them. And according to this Bashar al-Assad's time, and during Hafez al-Assad's time.
[00:04:53] status of parts of Al-Qaboun was divided into two halves. We had a residential
[00:04:55] section and an industrial section, as they say. The highway separates
[00:04:59] them. This Damascus
[00:05:02] Al-Qaboun consists of three
[00:05:05] area like Adra does neighborhoods: the Factories neighborhood, the residential Al-Qaboun neighborhood, in addition to the Tishreen neighborhood. These three
[00:05:08] neighborhoods form the trust of Al-Qaboun.
[00:05:12] Previously, its fixed boundaries and landmarks were present before the revolution.
[00:05:15] Now, these boundaries are fixed, and the boundaries do not change, but
[00:05:19] the landmarks have changed. The landmarks
[00:05:21] of both neighborhoods have completely changed.
[00:05:27] Each neighborhood in Damascus has its story and history, linked in some
[00:05:31] way to its orchards and rivers. The Damascus neighborhood of
[00:05:34] Al-Qaboun, which was one of the
[00:05:38] and story with Damascus since it was a village in the Ghouta
[00:05:41] of Damascus. To its north, it is bordered by Jobar neighborhood
[00:05:45] to the south, Barzeh neighborhood to the west, and Harasta
[00:05:49] city to the north. Al-Qaboun is considered an important
[00:05:52] link between Damascus and the surrounding rural areas,
[00:05:55] which makes it a vital center
[00:05:58] for transportation and trade. Thanks to its strategic
[00:06:02] location, the neighborhood extends over a network of main
[00:06:05] roads that connect Damascus with neighboring
[00:06:08] cities and towns, making it easy to access from
[00:06:12] various parts of the city. Of course, Al-Qaboun
[00:06:16] is located in the northern area, the northern
[00:06:19] gate of Damascus, and
[00:06:22] work on Al-Qaboun cannot be done unless we work
[00:06:25] in harmony with the surrounding areas, especially, for example,
[00:06:28] Jobar, and in connection with Barzeh and in connection with the Damascus
[00:06:32] countryside.
[00:06:34] That is, a large part of the area is destroyed and
[00:06:38] a part of it is still standing. And with the expansion of Damascus during the second
[00:06:42] half of the twentieth century, parts of Al-Qaboun turned
[00:06:45] into industrial and commercial areas,
[00:06:48] while other parts maintained their old residential character
[00:06:52] to form an area that combines urban patterns
[00:06:55] and different real estate rights. This
[00:06:59] is my destroyed house made of brick, and next to it,
[00:07:03] below, its area is six
[00:07:05] injuries, 150 meters. When we left
[00:07:09] and were displaced, my house was standing. We returned to find it on the ground.
[00:07:13] A large part of the neighborhood's residents left during the displacement campaigns
[00:07:16] carried out by the overthrown regime after its control of the neighborhood in 2017.
[00:07:20] According to many of them,
[00:07:24] they left their homes standing, not demolished, but when they
[00:07:28] returned, the scene was terrifying, as the neighborhood
[00:07:31] had become ruins after the overthrown regime
[00:07:35] demolished it.
[00:07:42] However, the suffering of the residents did not stop at destruction
[00:07:45] and displacement. The neighborhood then entered
[00:07:49] a new phase of attempts to seize it through
[00:07:53] plans and legislations issued by the Damascus Governorate and the Assad
[00:07:57] regime, ignoring the rights of owners and industrial
[00:08:00] establishment owners. When we left Al-Qaboun, there were houses standing,
[00:08:04] meaning the destruction was not of that magnitude.
[00:08:08] So we left and were displaced. We settled in northern Syria in Idlib. Of course,
[00:08:11] when we returned here, we were surprised by the amount of destruction
[00:08:14] we found. Today, they are demolishing and taking out iron from
[00:08:18] its roofs and taking out. I mean, today they are not stealing electricity, nor are they stealing plumbing
[00:08:21] or doors. They are stealing iron from the columns and roofs. I have a two-story
[00:08:25] house. We came after they evacuated us
[00:08:28] by bus. I returned to the country here and found the whole country in ruins, and there was nothing
[00:08:32] left of my house. So where am I going? Where am I going to go
[00:08:34] with myself? The destruction that struck Al-Qaboun
[00:08:38] was not the end of the story. After its residents left, parts of it entered
[00:08:42] a new path of urban planning that had direct
[00:08:45] repercussions on the rights of owners and establishment owners. In
[00:08:49] June 2019,
[00:08:51] the Damascus Governorate approved the detailed organizational plan No.
[00:08:55] 104 for the Al-Qaboun Industrial
[00:08:59] area. The plan aimed to reorganize the area
[00:09:02] and change its urban uses, which opens
[00:09:06] the way for the establishment of residential, commercial,
[00:09:09] and service towers at the expense of large parts
[00:09:12] of the existing industrial fabric. And on September
[00:09:15] 14, 2021, Bashar al-Assad issued Decree No.
[00:09:19] 237, which established the Northern
[00:09:23] Damascus Entrance organization area, which included the two real
[00:09:25] estate areas of Al-Qaboun and Harasta, based on
[00:09:29] plan 104 and on the provisions of Law No. 10
[00:09:32] of 2018.
[00:09:35] We couldn't enter this area after the building. There,
[00:09:38] near Sheikh Ja', we couldn't enter. It was being demolished.
[00:09:42] They were working, destroying, breaking. The demolition crews pulled
[00:09:45] all the iron with excavators, and all these
[00:09:48] plots were standing. All these plots were all houses standing.
[00:09:52] Most of the buildings here were standing. We entered
[00:09:55] after they demolished them all with excavators
[00:09:59] and flattened them. They pulled the iron
[00:10:02] path, the organizational
[00:10:06] the area changed from industrial and agricultural to residential
[00:10:09] and commercial, which opened the door for industrial
[00:10:13] and handicraft establishments from the area and the redistribution
[00:10:16] of land uses. It consists
[00:10:19] of two parts: the industrial Al-Qaboun neighborhood and the residential Al-Qaboun neighborhood.
[00:10:23] The residents refused
[00:10:26] reconciliation with the regime
[00:10:29] and were displaced to Idlib, so
[00:10:32] no residents remained within the neighborhood.
[00:10:35] Demolition and looting
[00:10:39] teams, as they call them, entered, and buildings
[00:10:42] that were not destroyed in the war were demolished
[00:10:46] through looting to extract iron. The residential
[00:10:49] Al-Qaboun was not included in plan 104 itself.
[00:10:52] So the governorate announced in June 2020
[00:10:56] another detailed plan with the number 105
[00:10:59] to organize residential
[00:11:00] Al-Qaboun.
[00:11:07] The residential section, which was previously called residential Al-Qaboun, is on
[00:11:11] an area of 340 hectares, and the section
[00:11:15] that was previously industrial is
[00:11:18] 199 hectares. Of course, currently, it is not possible, I mean, within
[00:11:22] Damascus, for an industrial area to remain, also there is
[00:11:25] the bus station. So now, regarding
[00:11:28] the organizational plan, we are studying several scenarios
[00:11:32] for the solution. Urban planning laws in Syria, quite simply, previously
[00:11:36] transformed from a tool of reconstruction to a tool of collective punishment and seizure
[00:11:40] of the properties of Syrian citizens, including opponents
[00:11:43] and displaced people, and creating demographic and cultural change
[00:11:46] in the areas that were outside its control. One of the most
[00:11:49] prominent problems is that the organization was not limited to changing the shape
[00:11:53] of buildings and streets. It was also linked to the redistribution
[00:11:57] of real estate rights. In the organizational areas,
[00:12:00] rights holders are dealt with according to a system of shares
[00:12:05] instead of retaining the property itself
[00:12:08] and its previous location. With the displacement
[00:12:11] of residents and the damage to documents and records, some
[00:12:15] owners faced difficulties in proving their ownership and following up
[00:12:18] on their rights, while the valuation and share
[00:12:21] distribution mechanisms raised objections regarding the value
[00:12:23] of the shares and the possibility of benefiting
[00:12:27] from them. Between 2018 and 2024,
[00:12:30] the organization procedures and the estimation of plot
[00:12:34] values and the distribution of organizational shares
[00:12:36] in the northern Damascus entrance area continued, despite
[00:12:40] the objections and real estate
[00:12:43] problems. The organizational plan was terminating individual
[00:12:46] ownership, and the compensation or alternative
[00:12:49] housing would only be seen by the owner if he survived the confiscation
[00:12:53] and proved his right. But currently, we hope from the new
[00:12:57] government, born from the womb of the world, to look with
[00:13:00] compassion at the wounds and pains
[00:13:02] of the citizens. And we ask the citizens
[00:13:06] to be patient, because the state
[00:13:09] time to achieve justice, and it needs
[00:13:13] a real opportunity. Of course, all
[00:13:16] the projects do not comply with the wishes of the people of the country.
[00:13:19] Today, it's like stealing from you in plain sight.
[00:13:22] So we want something that is suitable for
[00:13:25] the investor and suitable for the residents of the country, no more no less.
[00:13:29] I mean, today we cannot make the country into a
[00:13:32] as they say.
[00:13:36] In reconstruction, who has the decision and who pays
[00:13:39] the price? The reconstruction process of
[00:13:43] Al-Qaboun faces intertwined legislative, economic,
[00:13:47] and engineering complexities.
[00:13:50] many industrial and agricultural areas,
[00:13:54] has transformed into a model of tension
[00:13:57] between the government's vision for urban development and the individual
[00:14:01] property rights of residents. With the fall of the ousted regime, the reconstruction
[00:14:04] file returned to the forefront, but this time the dispute
[00:14:08] was not only about the plans of the previous regime,
[00:14:11] but also about the formula that the new
[00:14:14] authorities would adopt to finance and
[00:14:17] implement the reconstruction. One of the most important conditions for reconstruction is to preserve the residents
[00:14:21] and their rights,
[00:14:23] so there is no demographic change, no change of residents,
[00:14:27] so that people return. The original settlers should be in their
[00:14:31] own area. There should be no change that reconstruction
[00:14:34] or real estate development leads to their displacement outside
[00:14:38] their preserved area. You are not allowed to build. We will present
[00:14:41] to you a reconstruction project. They presented to us
[00:14:44] a reconstruction project, and they gave us a percentage of 30%.
[00:14:47] I have 150 meters. How much will they give me? They will give me 40,
[00:14:51] 45 meters. What is 45 meters? It's a small
[00:14:56] amount. We don't want
[00:14:59] On March 13, 2026,
[00:15:03] the Damascus Governorate held a meeting to discuss the reconstruction
[00:15:06] of the eastern areas of the capital, primarily Al-Qaboun
[00:15:09] and Jobar, amidst a trend to use real estate development
[00:15:13] companies to finance the project and implement the infrastructure
[00:15:16] and buildings. The proposals
[00:15:19] discussed different formulas for distributing rights between
[00:15:22] owners and investors, including a model that grants
[00:15:26] the investor a share of the area in exchange for bearing
[00:15:29] the costs of financing and implementation. The
[00:15:32] core of the dispute was over the shares and the percentage of what the property
[00:15:36] owner would receive from his property. The governorate, in one
[00:15:39] of the offers, provided compensation of 50% of
[00:15:42] the residential property area and 30% for agricultural
[00:15:46] lands. This means that the property owner gets alternative housing
[00:15:49] equivalent to half the area of his real estate
[00:15:52] ownership and 30% for agricultural lands.
[00:15:56] We followed up with the Damascus Governorate regarding the reconstruction
[00:15:59] of the neighborhood. Many options were proposed.
[00:16:03] The governor suggested that reconstruction should be
[00:16:06] through grants, but no grants came for the country, or
[00:16:11] second option was ruled out, so
[00:16:15] the state would not bear additional burdens. The third
[00:16:17] option was to issue an organizational plan for the distribution
[00:16:23] to the residents, and then people would specialize in the new plots and build by themselves.
[00:16:27] And a fourth proposal was put forward, which is through
[00:16:30] investment. There was a project submitted by the governorate
[00:16:33] for its reconstruction through
[00:16:36] investment.
[00:16:38] The law here is clear: it is forbidden to remove
[00:16:41] even one stone or to undertake any reconstruction before all
[00:16:45] citizens' objections are resolved and their full rights are proven.
[00:16:49] The residents rejected these offers, considering that they are no different
[00:16:53] from the laws and decrees issued by the Assad regime,
[00:16:56] offer will lead to the displacement of residents, demanding
[00:17:00] a modification of the formula to make it more fair
[00:17:03] to their rights.
[00:17:05] Now, part of the neighborhood was a planned
[00:17:07] area before, and it had infrastructure that was taken from
[00:17:11] the land ownerships when it was organized. There is another
[00:17:14] part of the land that is agricultural land.
[00:17:17] This, whether it falls under reconstruction
[00:17:21] or real estate development, is treated as if it were agricultural
[00:17:24] land. So, infrastructure
[00:17:28] is deducted from it, as are public facilities and buildings.
[00:17:33] the problem is not only about the share percentage that the owner
[00:17:37] will receive, but also about how it is calculated,
[00:17:40] distributed, and its location, and whether it will allow
[00:17:45] We submitted approvals to the governorate to
[00:17:49] renovate and rebuild our houses. They didn't allow us. They are not
[00:17:51] allowing us. They said there are investors who want
[00:17:55] to invest in the country. They are not giving us
[00:17:57] our rights. For example, my house is 100
[00:18:00] meters. They are not giving us our rights. We are willing for
[00:18:04] a 100-meter house to give us 75 meters. We want
[00:18:07] it as it was before.
[00:18:10] A Muslim contractor, a local Muslim contractor, gives us 50%
[00:18:14] for reconstruction. My floor is
[00:18:16] four or five stories high. He gives me
[00:18:20] 50% of it, meaning my 150 meters makes
[00:18:24] me at least equivalent to about 300
[00:18:27] meters. So if ownerships are converted into common
[00:18:30] shares in a large real estate project, some
[00:18:34] owners may find themselves with shares insufficient to obtain
[00:18:37] a separate apartment, which may force them to sell
[00:18:40] them, perhaps at prices that do not reflect the true
[00:18:44] value of their properties. Residents warn that
[00:18:48] this could lead to the transfer of ownership of large parts of the neighborhood
[00:18:52] to large companies and investors, at the expense
[00:18:55] of the ability of the original
[00:18:58] return. That is, even regarding the organizational plan or the plans
[00:19:01] that we have been studying for some time,
[00:19:04] this is not done except with the participation of the local
[00:19:08] community and specialists of the local community. Each area
[00:19:12] in its own place. The members of the local community or
[00:19:16] specialists are with us in the study, especially regarding compensation.
[00:19:19] We have several scenarios that we are studying to reach the highest possible
[00:19:23] level of compensation for individuals and property owners.
[00:19:26] The issue of reconstruction is that the country was destroyed
[00:19:30] and will be rebuilt, including the infrastructure. The plots will be
[00:19:34] at the expense of the donor countries or the state will carry out this matter.
[00:19:40] But what about industrial Al-Qaboun, and what about the rights
[00:19:45] problem of Al-Qaboun does not stop
[00:19:48] at residential properties, but extends to hundreds
[00:19:51] of industrial and handicraft establishments that formed
[00:19:54] an essential part of the neighborhood's identity and economy.
[00:19:57] Organizational plan No. 104 and Decree
[00:20:01] 237 changed the organizational uses
[00:20:05] of parts of industrial Al-Qaboun. It opens
[00:20:08] the door for converting the area to residential,
[00:20:11] commercial,
[00:20:14] of the industrial activity for which it was known
[00:20:17] for decades.
[00:20:22] This raises another question: What about the owners of factories
[00:20:26] and workshops? And are their rights limited to the value of the properties
[00:20:30] they own? Or do they also include their rights
[00:20:34] related to practicing industrial and commercial activity
[00:20:37] and the livelihoods of their workers?
[00:20:40] Moving to an alternative industrial
[00:20:43] not automatically solve the problem, as operating and transportation
[00:20:46] costs, labor and market availability,
[00:20:50] and working conditions differ between the two locations.
[00:20:53] With the fall of the ousted regime, residents were surprised by the continued
[00:20:57] implementation of previous plans without reviewing them and
[00:21:01] without the new government clarifying how
[00:21:03] it would deal with the rights of establishment
[00:21:06] and profession owners. Several scenarios for solutions
[00:21:10] are being considered simultaneously, so if the first plan is rejected
[00:21:13] or fails or is not successful,
[00:21:17] we can move to the second scenario. In all
[00:21:20] these scenarios, there are red lines that cannot
[00:21:23] be crossed, including that rights are protected, citizens' rights
[00:21:27] are protected. Even the areas that were irregular, we look
[00:21:31] at them in a humanitarian
[00:21:34] way that preserves the rights
[00:21:36] and
[00:21:38] properties of citizens and their possessions.
[00:21:41] The new organization, considering that Damascus
[00:21:45] has expanded, was previously considered outside the boundaries of Damascus,
[00:21:48] so there are no longer industrial factories. The area will be moved outside
[00:21:52] Damascus city and will be reorganized
[00:21:56] This is good for industrialists. Most of them were given
[00:21:59] facilities to move their factories to outside Damascus,
[00:22:02] and this area will be a residential and commercial area.
[00:22:06] In response to the proposed investment offers, local
[00:22:10] bodies and the Board of Trustees of Al-Qaboun neighborhood called
[00:22:13] for a review of the proposed
[00:22:17] that they do not achieve the desired balance between the owner's
[00:22:21] rights and the investors' share. The organizational shares
[00:22:24] are very unfair to citizens, because the financial valuation
[00:22:28] is very low, not reaching 2 to 3% of the actual
[00:22:31] value of the properties. For example, in Damascus Governorate,
[00:22:34] projects like Marouta City and behind Al-Razi,
[00:22:38] large areas were expropriated, reaching
[00:22:41] 40% of the land area, without compensating
[00:22:45] their owners, under the pretext of including them in public facilities,
[00:22:48] gardens, and roads. So we have projects, something called projects,
[00:22:52] that you come and invest in me or in my land, we don't want it. We
[00:22:56] demand the government and we demand the governorate to come
[00:22:59] and look at us, especially us who were
[00:23:02] the ones who started the revolution. You come
[00:23:06] and look at us and our situation. You
[00:23:09] know, my house. My family was martyred, and my brothers were martyred,
[00:23:13] my cousins were martyred. And this is the situation
[00:23:16] of the whole country. And finally, you come and tell me instead
[00:23:20] of my 100-meter land, you will give me 40 meters or 30 meters
[00:23:24] or 21, 30 meters. And I don't have it. I have been
[00:23:27] displaced for 14 years. I have basically lost my job, lost my children, lost
[00:23:30] my children's future. I had children who were studying, and their future was lost. They participated
[00:23:34] in this revolution. And you come and want to displace me and cause demographic
[00:23:38] change, meaning a continuation of the regime. We can't say it. You are our government. May God
[00:23:41] help you. The objections of the residents focus on the distribution
[00:23:45] percentages of rights, the method of calculating the value of properties,
[00:23:49] and implementation guarantees, and housing allowances during the reconstruction
[00:23:52] period, in addition to concerns about changing the social
[00:23:55] fabric and the spatial memory
[00:23:59] of the neighborhood. Representatives of the residents also demanded
[00:24:02] that other development companies be given the opportunity, and that the
[00:24:06] details of the offers, plans, and contracts be clear
[00:24:09] and announced before any final
[00:24:13] decisions are made. I am from Al-Qaboun. I mean, for generations,
[00:24:16] my whole family is here. The Junaid family is well-known. We are from the residents of
[00:24:20] Al-Qaboun. This is where
[00:24:24] our building is. There were two blocks next to
[00:24:28] Sheikh Jaber Mosque. We left here in
[00:24:31] 2011. The building was standing,
[00:24:35] and all the houses here in this block were standing. This
[00:24:38] miserable regime demolished them all
[00:24:41] with excavators and bulldozers, and they extracted
[00:24:45] the iron from them. The
[00:24:48] destroyed neighborhoods,
[00:24:50] and it is natural that no building permits
[00:24:54] are currently issued, or reconstruction is allowed, because the organizational
[00:24:57] plan is about to be
[00:25:00] issued. So it is better for them to have
[00:25:03] a well-planned urban area that suits Damascus
[00:25:07] and is even better for the citizen. In September
[00:25:10] 2026, the Board of Trustees of Al-Qaboun
[00:25:13] announced its rejection of the proposals in their current form,
[00:25:16] stressing the need to protect the rights of owners
[00:25:20] and preserve the identity and social fabric
[00:25:23] of the neighborhood. This objection
[00:25:26] does not necessarily mean rejecting reconstruction
[00:25:29] as much as it reflects the dispute over its conditions
[00:25:32] and the party that will bear its costs and the share that
[00:25:35] each party will receive. I mean, my children's future,
[00:25:39] if they give me 45 meters, I don't
[00:25:42] have the full meter. It will be worth at least 1,200
[00:25:45] dollars per 100 meters. These are 10,000 dollars. Where do I get
[00:25:49] 10,000 dollars from? I can't. I'm talking about 10 or
[00:25:52] 15 thousand dollars. Ultimately, we want a project that satisfies
[00:25:55] the people and at the same time benefits the investor,
[00:25:58] but there should be no theft, there should be a percentage,
[00:26:01] as they say, that satisfies the residents, so that no one leaves
[00:26:05] Al-Qaboun. I mean, today, someone who owns a plot should not leave Al-Qaboun.
[00:26:08] I mean, today, if I get 30 meters or 20 meters, he can't complete
[00:26:12] this in the current situation. He has to bring it. Al-Qaboun,
[00:26:15] in addition to its real estate and economic value, has a social
[00:26:19] and urban identity that has been formed over
[00:26:22] generations. The old Al-Qaboun, with its alleys,
[00:26:26] houses, and mosques, is different
[00:26:29] from its modern residential extensions and industrial areas.
[00:26:33] These components cannot be condensed into one plan
[00:26:37] without studying the impact on the memory
[00:26:39] of the place and its residents. There is
[00:26:43] a standing and organized part of Al-Qaboun, and it is currently
[00:26:46] inhabited. This has not been touched. It has remained as it is,
[00:26:49] and even in the old town of Al-Qaboun, some
[00:26:53] residents have returned to their homes and renovated them, and
[00:26:56] are now living there. We haven't touched it yet.
[00:27:00] So what about those who lost their homes and belongings and their
[00:27:04] children? As much as possible, as they say, as we
[00:27:08] promised them a decent life, we won't
[00:27:10] steal it.
[00:27:12] From Nasser's small room, which he managed to repair
[00:27:16] in his destroyed house,
[00:27:19] but it does not end at the walls of a house or a roof that needs
[00:27:23] repair. Behind the rubble lie thousands
[00:27:26] of stories of homeowners, workshops, and lands
[00:27:30] who not only lost their properties, but also lost
[00:27:33] their livelihoods
[00:27:36] to live in the place that they built its identity
[00:27:39] for decades.
[00:27:42] displacement and destruction, these people await a reconstruction
[00:27:45] that does not turn them into strangers in their neighborhoods
[00:27:49] and does not turn their loss into an investment
[00:27:52] opportunity at the expense of their rights.
[00:27:55] Reconstruction is not just towers, modern roads, and real estate
[00:27:59] projects, but it is, above all,
[00:28:02] restoring people to their homes and places and their right to determine
[00:28:06] the future of the neighborhood
[00:28:10] possible for Al-Qaboun to be a model for reconstruction
[00:28:13] that restores rights to their owners, or
[00:28:16] will it turn into a new urban project
[00:28:19] that changes the face of the place, while many of its original
[00:28:23] inhabitants find it difficult
[00:28:25] to return to it?
[00:30:31] News bulletin from Syria TV. Welcome.
[00:30:34] بكم
[00:30:37] New Syrian-Saudi agreements include development
[00:30:41] and defense during President Ahmed Al-Shara's visit.
[00:30:43] to the Kingdom.
[00:30:46] Two people were injured by a hand grenade explosion
[00:30:50] in the city of Nawa, west of
[00:30:52] Daraa.
[00:30:57] Civil Defense ends the search for those missing in the floods in the Raqqa countryside
[00:31:00] after finding the body.