“We will liberate Palestine from the Zionist scum,” people chanted at Damascus’s 63rd International Fair on Friday, the final day of a multi-day event that brought companies and entities from 60 countries to Syria as Damascus sought to reconnect with international markets, according to footage circulated from the event and international media reports.
The event was organized by Syria’s Economy and Industry Ministry together with the Damascus International Fair Administration. For the first time this year, the event also included the Damascus World Economic Forum, a program specifically launched as a platform for dialogue between government, the private sector, investors and international partners, according to the organization Rebuilding Syria.
“Oh Al-Aqsa, be patient, we’re coming, no matter how many years it takes, I swear to God,” individuals recorded at the event chanted in Arabic. “Oh Gaza, be patient, we’re coming, no matter how many years it takes, I swear to God, and we will liberate Palestine from the Zionist scum.”
#Damascus: A viral clip of chants, apparently from Syrian officials in the Damascus International Fair for Gaza, threatening Israelis, today September 4th.
The slogans were:
“Oh Al-Aqsa, be patient, we’re coming, no matter how many years it takes, I swear to God.
Oh Gaza, be… pic.twitter.com/2pV9RCLRcG
— Syria Justice Archive (@SyJusticeArc) September 4, 2026
The fair ran under the theme “Syria Shines Again,” SANA reported, claiming nearly 1,000 participating entities, representing approximately 60 countries, joined. The fair was to have hosted a total of 1.4 million visitors
Western companies took part in the events, according to SANA
In addition to entities representing countries hostile to Israel, SANA reported that a number of Western companies took part in the events. Around 13 companies from Germany participated, along with several American companies.
Notably, only weeks ago, The Jerusalem Post reported on a video showing members of the Syrian Arab Army chanting “I am coming for you Jew…I will make your blood flow in rivers” outside the historic Damascus Citadel.
The outcome of years of anti-Israel indoctrination by the Assad regime
Ghassan Ibrahim, a Syrian journalist and the editor-in-chief of Syria Focus, told the Post that such sentiments were the outcome of years of anti-Israel indoctrination by the Assad regime and argued that such rhetoric would go unchanged until Jerusalem and Damascus make some kind of peace agreement.
“The current government is trying to be pragmatic in its approach. There are a lot of hiccups here and there, but it’s not organized. It’s not a policy. It’s not a strategy. There is mainly a heritage left from the previous regime,” he said. “The approach is toward getting less involved in trouble, trying to focus on sorting out the issues inside the country and de-escalating around the world to reach a peaceful way forward. This would allow the reconstruction projects and development to go through, create a degree of stability, and allow the regime to move the country toward elections and rebuilding the state itself as part of the global system.”
Insisting that it will take time before there is a change of perception, Ibrahim also cautioned the Post on how to view reports of such chants in Arab media, noting that many sites were affiliated with countries that had an interest in preserving the image of Syrians as sympathetic to Gaza to the point they would act against Israel given the opportunity.
‘Evidence of the hostility of the new government in Syria’
Lt.-Col. (Res.) Sarit Zehavi, the founder and president of the Alma Research and Education Center, however, told the Post that such a demonstration would only serve to encourage Israel to maintain its buffer zone in Syria and argued that it was more “evidence of the hostility of the new government in Syria.”
“I would expect a new government to encourage an Israeli booth in the exhibition rather than hearing these kinds of voices,” she added.
