Beirut (AP) – Syrian government fighter plane I entered Swayda city in the summer With an obvious bid to assert control over the enclave of Minority It was active semi-automatically for years.
That backfired. Continuing sectarian attacks against Druze civilians in combat It strengthened Sweeda’s stance on the government, He pushed himself towards Israel, led some minority to seek separation.
now Druze Group It established de facto military and governmental agencies in Sweida, as well as Kurdish-led authorities in the country’s northeastern region. That’s a big retreat Damascus is struggling to demonstrate its authority He received support from minorities following 13 years of civil war.
when Former President Bashar Assad It was defeated by a Muslim-led rebel in December. Many druzes celebrated, After more than 50 years of dictatorial rules, we welcome a new era. They were happy to give Interim President Ahmad Alshara; a Extremists linked to former al-Qaeda A person who has promised a democratic and inclusive political transition, an opportunity.
Among them was Omar Alcontal, a 21-year-old biology student. His village outside the city of Sweida was then burned to the ground in a July collision.
Now he said, “The main idea is that we must separate (from Damascus) to prevent another massacre.”
The De facto Druze Government
Many Druzes were initially willing to work with new authorities, but the notable exception was Douze spiritual leader Sheikh Hikumat Al-Hijiri, a split and divisive figure who supported Assad and the anti-government protests and now opposed dealings with the new government.
In July, an armed group that partnered with Al-Hijiri clashed with local Bedouin clans to promote intervention by government forces that are effectively flanked by Bedouin forces. Hundreds of civilians, mainly from Druze, were killed, many by government fighters.
Videos surfaced online show an armed man kneeling in a square and killing a Druze civilian who shaved his mustache from an elderly man in an act of humiliation.
Denominational violence has changed the minds of many Druzes about the new authorities and Al Hijiri, who emerged as the dominant Druze figure in Syria. In August he established an agency like the government, known as the Supreme Legal Council.
Dozens of armed factions and militants of Islamic state groups, originally formed to counter drug gangs, were combined under the National Guard. Critics say it includes former Assad’s loyalists and allied militias Amphetamines known as Captagon. It also includes former opponents of Al-Hijri. Most notably, men of dignity, a prominent group that supported cooperation with Damascus before the violence in July.
“We urge all honorable people in the world to stand with the Druzes in southern Syria and declare another region that will continue to protect us until the end of time,” Al-Hijiri said in August that he welcomed people with dignity to the National Guard.
As Al-Hijri did not respond to the interview request, it is unclear exactly what system he is envisaging.
Many Sweida want some form of autonomy in the federal system. A smaller group is looking for total partitions. The local Druze figures, still returning to Alshara, are now widely viewed as traitors.
The Sweida attack, like other minority groups, sounded “a strong alarm bell between the Druze,” said Mazen Ezzi, a Syrian researcher at Sweida, who is now based in Paris.
“Druze will be “very difficult” under this new authority “to maintain some of this new political status quo,” he said.
Israel grabs the moment
Most of the roughly $1 million druzes around the world reside in Syria, with the rest in Golan Heights, which Lebanon, Israel and Israel seized from Syria in 1967 and later annexed.
Syrian Druze takes pride in their historical involvement in the rebellion against the Ottoman Empire and French colonial rule to establish a Syrian state of secular nationalism.
Sheikh Mowafaq Tarif, the spiritual leader of Israeli Druze, was largely rejected by Syrian and Lebanese Druze leaders who opposed Israel and supported the Palestinians.
But what happened in July shook almost a century of Syrian Druze political history, driving many to previous taboo allies.
When violence broke out in Sweida, Tarif called for Israeli military intervention to protect Druze. Israel responded and launched an attack on Syrian government forces and the Syrian Ministry of Defense headquarters in Damascus. Syrian troops retreated from Sweida.
Tarif told The Associated Press that he and Al-Hijri were in “constant contact” and organized delivery of aid to the besieged states.
Tarif has also met with senior western politicians and diplomats, bringing food and medical supplies to Sweida in search of the establishment of humanitarian corridors from the accused southern Syria and Israel. Israeli officials are also calling for a wider demilitarized zone in southern Syria.
Al-Hijiri has publicly thanked Israel several times.
The effect on the ground is clear.
When someone raised the Israeli flag in Sweida in March, residents quickly defeated it. Now, portraits of Alhijiri and Tarif appear side by side in Kalama Square, where people once gathered to celebrate Assad’s downfall Protest against Alshara. Most people raise five coloured flags of the Druze faith, but they also waving Israeli flags.
It’s a sign of “people who are disappointed with nationalism,” Eji said.
Alcontal, a biology student, doesn’t think Israel’s motivation is altruistic, but says that the intervention was a lifeline for many in Sweida.
“It’s not necessarily a love for Israel. They felt safer after the strike. This is very sad,” Alcontal said after protesting at Calamama Square. “You want your own government troops to provide that security, not foreign.”
Damascus is struggling to change courses
Alshara has been trying to appeal to the Druze community since the battle in July, warning that Israel is trying to misuse tensions.
“The mistakes were made by all aspects: the Druze community, the Bedouins, and even the nation itself,” he said in an interview with state television. “Everyone who commits wrongdoing, makes mistakes, or violates the rights of those who have been violated must be held liable.”
The president then formed a fact-finding mission. last month, Damascus has announced roadmap alongside the US and Jordan To return the evacuated Druze and Bedouins, they will deliver assistance to swida and bring a settlement.
Both moves were widely dismissed in Sweida.
Sweida residents, who were killed by gunmen who attacked the village by his fiance and members of his family, accused Damascus of “hiding the attack.” She spoke on condition of anonymity after being threatened with speaking out earlier.
“When (Assad) regime fell, we were the first people to celebrate…but I think Ahmad Alshara is a murderous extremist,” she said.
After visiting the evacuated family, Alcontal is disappointed when he passes another long bread line at a small bakery near a devastated building.
He believes that some druzes “can cause a change in mind…if the government changes its way and reaches out.” But many aren’t.
“As long as this government in Damascus remains, people are leaning towards division or independence,” Alcontal said. “We want to remain part of Syria without this ruling group, but as long as they are there, we don’t know if even federalism will keep us safe.”
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Associated Press writer Melanie Ridman in Tel Aviv, Israel contributed to the report.
