Syrian Alawites mobilize against government-led massacres

The Alawite religious leader in Syria has issued a protest call following attacks carried out by state-sponsored tribal militias in Homs  

News Desk  -  The Cradle 

Thousands of Alawites took to the streets in protest across Syria’s coastal cities on 25 November to demonstrate against government-sponsored sectarian violence, one day after the minority’s religious leader called for mass sit-ins.

The cities of Tartous, Latakia, Baniyas, Jableh, and Homs were filled with protesters. People marched, chanted, and carried signs and slogans rejecting the ongoing violence against Alawites carried out by Syrian government forces and allied militias. Others held signs calling for “federalism,” echoing the call made by their religious leader the day before.

According to local reports, Alawite protesters were shot at and injured by Syrian security forces in multiple cities, while others have been detained and taken to unknown locations. 

Some Christians reportedly also took part in the demonstrations.

The protests come mainly in response to a massive attack on Alawite civilians carried out by government-backed tribal militias two days ago. The attackers entered the Al-Muhajireen neighborhood in Homs, storming and burning houses and shops, vandalizing cars, and firing indiscriminately at residents.

At least two were killed and dozens were injured during the attack, which was framed as revenge for the killing of a married couple from the Bani Khaled tribe in Homs recently. An anti-Sunni sectarian slogan was found written on the wall in blood, prompting some to speculate that the murder was a false-flag aimed specifically at fueling sectarian tensions. 

The Syrian Interior Ministry also said there was no evidence that it was a sectarian crime, adding that it appeared to be an attempt at “incitement.”

As the protests began on Tuesday, residents of Homs spoke to Al Mayadeen about the tribal attack and their fears of an escalated campaign of sectarian violence against Alawites. 

“We thought the years of war were behind us. Suddenly, the sounds of gunfire returned to the streets, and people started running in every direction. My children slept last night in one room away from the windows … I couldn't sleep for a single moment,” one resident said. 

“Everyone is in shock,” another Homs resident told Al Mayadeen. “People are afraid of new sectarian tension. Everyone just wants calm to return.”

The coastal protests come one day after the Alawite religious leader in Syria, Ghazal Ghazal, made a call for people to take to the streets. 

Ghazal urged Alawites to hold “a sit-in in their areas” to demand “federalism and political decentralization, an end to ethnic cleansing, killing, kidnapping, and captivity, and the release of [Alawites] detained in prisons.”

The statement also called on Alawites to document and record all their activities during the protests. 

Thousands of Alawite civilians were massacred in March this year by Syrian government forces during a violent crackdown to quell an armed uprising carried out by members of the community. 

Since then, the Alawite community has been disarmed by Damascus and has been left vulnerable to sectarian attacks and killing sprees. Young Alawite girls continue to disappear as a result of government-linked kidnapping networks, and Alawite men are regularly executed.

Thousands of Druze civilians were also massacred by government forces during clashes in Suwayda earlier this year.

The Syrian army is predominantly made up of what used to be known as the Al-Qaeda-linked Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). Numerous other extremist factions with links to ISIS have been made official brigades in the Syrian military since the fall of former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad’s government and the collapse of his army last year. 

Government violence against minorities in Syria over the past year has prompted some to call for federalism, or the division of the country along sectarian lines. 

Observers have also speculated that Israel, which established a large-scale occupation in Syria after Assad was ousted, has been pushing for federalism in a bid to divide Syria. 

These speculations gained more traction after the massacres of the Druze in Suwayda in July, when Israel was publicly calling for their protection and vowing to “defend” minorities in Syria. 

“The Israeli aim is to keep Syria as a weak state, divided into autonomous zones drawn along ethnic lines, and to prevent the new Syrian government from uniting Syria,” the US think tank, Atlantic Council, said in April.