The Christmas manger at the Melkite Greek Catholic Patriarchate in Damascus. (Credit: Mohammad Yassine/L'Orient-Le Jour)
At the headquarters of the Greek Melkite Catholic Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East in Damascus, two men walk across the black-and-white checkered courtyard with their Kalashnikovs in hand."We’re handing them over to the new authorities," said one of them. Three days have passed since the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime and the complete takeover by the Salvation Government led by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS).In the Christian neighborhood of Bab Touma, life is slowly returning to normal, though many shops, including bars and liquor stores, remain closed. Christmas decorations already adorn the narrow alleys of this old district and as night falls, residents gather on the cobblestones and sidewalks, speaking in hushed tones about the day’s developments.Here, there are no outbursts of joy or revolutionary chants, only fears conveyed...
At the headquarters of the Greek Melkite Catholic Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East in Damascus, two men walk across the black-and-white checkered courtyard with their Kalashnikovs in hand."We’re handing them over to the new authorities," said one of them. Three days have passed since the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime and the complete takeover by the Salvation Government led by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS).In the Christian neighborhood of Bab Touma, life is slowly returning to normal, though many shops, including bars and liquor stores, remain closed. Christmas decorations already adorn the narrow alleys of this old district and as night falls, residents gather on the cobblestones and sidewalks, speaking in hushed tones about the day’s developments.Here, there are no outbursts of joy or revolutionary chants, only fears...
