JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
Early into his Middle East trip this week, President Trump made a major announcement.
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PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I will be ordering the cessation of sanctions against Syria in order to give them a chance at greatness.
SUMMERS: Those sanctions have been in place for decades. In some parts of Syria, people took to the streets to celebrate this news. Mouaz Moustafa is the executive director of the Syrian Emergency Task Force. He and his family fled Syria in the 1990s, and his organization now runs humanitarian programs there. He joins me in the studio. Welcome.
MOUAZ MOUSTAFA: Thanks for having me.
SUMMERS: I just want to start by asking you for your reaction to that announcement that President Trump made.
MOUSTAFA: Incredible. I think it's a historic moment. And I think a lot of people don't realize how important and historic this moment is. This isn't just a fresh start for Syria. This is actually a real chance at stability and peace in the Middle East more broadly because Syria is so geopolitically important in the region that this goes well beyond its borders.
SUMMERS: On your social media account, you posted that your group, the Syrian Emergency Task Force, played a role in normalizing ties between Syria and the United States, which includes meeting with Syria's new president, Ahmed al-Sharaa. Can you tell us about that meeting?
MOUSTAFA: Sure, I was actually a delegation. We were there about a week and a half ago or so, and we brought this American delegation with us. It included Syrian American Jews wanting to rebuild the oldest synagogue in the world destroyed by the Assad Regime. It included an American businessman, as well, interested in keeping China out of Syria and wanting U.S. companies to work in Syria in the future. And we were supposed to meet with the Syrian president for 15 minutes. The meeting went over 3 1/2 hours.
SUMMERS: Wow.
MOUSTAFA: And we were all, I think, equally excited and impressed. We were excited about the fact that all of Syria and what this new leader was saying Syria's national interests are were exactly what American interests are in the region, like getting rid of ISIS, Iran, Russia, etc., and No. 2, kind of very happy to see that there's this kind of right leader at the right time - despite his checkered past, by the way - but the right leader at the right time to help Syria in this transitional period. And he wanted a partnership with the United States. He wanted and saw in President Trump hope for peace and stability in Syria.
SUMMERS: The last time we spoke with you, back in December, you were literally heading to catch a flight to Syria. As I understand, it was your first time going back in many, many years and since the fall of the Assad regime. Can you just tell us - what was it like to go back there?
MOUSTAFA: So that was my first time going back to Damascus since, like, 2009, and because Damascus was always under the control of Assad - so I could go to liberated areas but never Damascus. When I arrived there, it was like a dream. I mean, I did not know sometimes if that day would ever come, that Syria would be free of this dictator that has ruled alongside - and before him, his father for over 50 years - and backed by the Russian air force, backed by Iranian ground troops and all of these things. And to see Damascus free, to be able to smell the jasmine in the old city that is just beautiful, to see the people - even those that some of which may have been loyal to Assad - feel the freedom of being able to speak their minds, regardless of who is in power, and to physically be able to tear down pictures of Bashar al-Assad on every wall that I saw - ah, it was amazing to see good triumph over evil for once.
SUMMERS: Wow. Now, your organization runs a number of humanitarian programs there in Syria. So I just wonder, in practical terms, what does the lifting of these sanctions mean for those efforts? Does it change the way that you're able to do your work?
MOUSTAFA: It makes life much easier. So look, for example, we're an American org, based in Arkansas and D.C. And just because Syria is in our name, bank transactions, out of overcompliance, get, like, stopped, you know? Or sending cash, sending money to the teachers teaching orphans and displaced children or the women's high school or to the besieged people at the time of Rukban camp was really tough. We had to literally physically take cash and bring it over there to be able to help them. This, amongst many other things, will change. And most importantly, Syria will be able to receive huge reconstruction investment and humanitarian aid way beyond what our little organization does. But it helps us, and I think it helps Syria in a much bigger way.
SUMMERS: Now, before we let you go, I'd just love to hear a bit about what you're hearing from people there in Syria now. What are they telling you about what they want and what they need?
MOUSTAFA: Well, first of all, they're very grateful. They're grateful that all of the sacrifices of a million martyrs, 14 million displaced, you know, just all of the struggle was not in vain. And they're grateful to the United States for lifting these sanctions. They're grateful to President Trump to do so. I know that people stayed out celebrating all night the day that President Trump made that announcement. And now they're hoping for their country to become what the revolution wanted it to be in the beginning, which is a democracy.
And I think for me, I think Syria is the closest Arab country to a true democracy out there because of what the Syrian people have been able to do. And I think the United States, not just as a government but as a people - schools, universities, faith groups - Syria is a place that can be a democracy that can stabilize this region that's been plagued by war. I think it's all of our obligation to help them reach that goal.
SUMMERS: Mouaz Moustafa is the executive director of the Syrian Emergency Task Force. Thank you for coming back and talking to us.
MOUSTAFA: Thanks for having me again. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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