Thousands of Syrians from the Alawite minority, from which deposed President Bashar al-Assad comes, demonstrated on Wednesday December 25, 2024 in several cities in Syria, after a video showing an attack against one of their sanctuaries.
These demonstrations are the first since the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad. According to witnesses and the OSDH, thousands of Syrians demonstrated in Tartous, Banias, Jableh and Latakia, in the west of the country, where the Alawite community, a branch of Shiite Islam, is very established, as well as in Homs (center).
A protester killed
“One protester was killed and five injured after security forces in Homs opened fire to disperse protesters”indicated Rami Abdel Rahmane, director of the OSDH. A nighttime curfew was declared in Homs and Jableh.
The anger of the Alawites erupted after the broadcast of a video on social networks showing “an attack by fighters” against a sanctuary which was burned in Aleppo (north), according to the OSDH. Five sanctuary employees died, according to the Observatory.
In Damascus, the Interior Ministry assured that the video was “old” and dated from the capture of Aleppo by the rebels, on 1is last December.
“Sowing discord”
“The aim of circulating such images again is to sow discord among the Syrian people”he added, accusing “unknown groups” of the attack.
The new authorities have increased gestures of assurance towards all minorities in a country traumatized by 13 years of a devastating war, which left more than 500,000 dead.
In Jableh, protesters chanted “Alawites, Sunnis, we want peace”indicated a demonstrator, Ali Daoud, calling for “punish the attackers”.
Images showed a crowd marching through the town, waving the independence-era rebel flag. “No to the burning of holy places and religious discrimination, yes to a free Syria”could we read on a sign.
“The situation could explode”
In Latakia, demonstrators denounced “violations against the Alawite community”according to Ghidak Mayya, a 30-year-old protester. “For the moment we are listening to the calls for calm […] But the situation could explode. »
After Bashar al-Assad fled to Moscow in the wake of the rebel offensive, members of the Alawite minority welcomed his fall but said they feared marginalization or reprisals.
According to political scientist Fabrice Balanche, “the Alawites were very close to Bashar’s regime”of which they constituted the “praetorian guard”. He estimates their number at 1.7 million today, or about 9% of the population.
Furthermore, clashes between armed men and security forces who tried to arrest an officer of the ousted power of Bashar al-Assad in Tartous (west), left 17 dead, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. man (OSDH). During these clashes, “fourteen members of the Interior Ministry were killed and 10 others injured”for his part wrote the new Minister of the Interior Mohammed Abdel Rahman, in a press release.
