Two Syrian women take a photo in front of a Christmas tree in Damascus on Dec. 19, 2024. (Credit: Louai Beshara/AFP)
Could the fears of religious minorities in Syria since the fall of the Assad regime and the rise to power of the Islamist rebels of Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) finally be well-founded? Several incidents targeting Christian places of worship, particularly in Hama, in western Syria, have been reported in recent days on social networks and commented on by Syrian activists who warn against security lapses and sectarian attacks. An incident targeting an Alawite mausoleum in the Rif of Hama has also been reported but seems isolated for the moment.
'Armed men tried to break a cross'
On Wednesday evening, unknown assailants opened fire on the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Hama after attempting to break a cross erected there, the archdiocese confirmed in a statement signed by the Metropolitan of Hama, Nicolas Baalbaki, and published on Facebook on Friday.
"Armed men tried to break a cross, and young people from the parish asked them not to do so. They then fired in the direction of the archdiocese before fleeing. The police told us that they were captured," the statement said. "We have received numerous calls ... from parishioners ... sheikhs and civil and official figures who have condemned this incident and clarified that it does not represent moderate Islam."
It also called for the establishment of a "secular state" in Syria. A Civil Defense team that came specially from Idlib, the former capital of HTS, also repaired the damage that affected a neighboring cemetery, the archbishopric said.
The attack contrasts with the Christmas trees erected in Damascus, according to AFP photos from Thursday showing people taking pictures in front of a tree in the Syrian capital. A video filmed in Tartous (a former stronghold of the regime) and shared on social media also shows a crowd celebrating the fall of Assad in a space decorated with garlands and snowflakes, all topped with a flag of the HTS rebels.
Jihadist group involved?
Based on testimonies from local residents and activists, the Syrian Network for Human Rights said in an article published on its website on Thursday that the attack on the Greek Orthodox archbishopric was carried out by fighters from the “Salafi jihadist group Ansar al-Tawhid.” Founded in 2017 by elements of the Jund al-Aqsa group, active during the Syrian conflict, Ansar al-Tawhid is said to be based in Sarmine, in the Idlib region, and led by Khaled Khattab, the network explains.
“Hama is one of the richest regions in Syria in terms of confessions, with Sunni, Ismaili, Alawite Muslims and Christians,” the network stated, which called for “preserving diversity and civil peace” in Syria.
Interviewed by L'Orient-Le Jour a few days after the fall of Assad, clerics who had met with the authorities of the new HTS government told them that the group promised to guarantee the freedom of all religious minorities.
A few days after the rebels seized power, the prime minister in charge of the transition, Mohammad al-Bashir, said that the coalition led by the Islamists "will guarantee" the rights of all faiths. But the attacks that have been multiplying recently do not seem to bode well.
West of Hama, a theft was reported this week at the Hagia Sophia church in the predominantly Christian town of Sqailabiya, according to the independent Syrian news website Rozana. Contacted by the website, the parish priest, Father Dimitrios Maher Haddad, said that worthless copper plates and cups were stolen, but that the rest of the church was spared. Built by Russia on the model of the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, which Turkey converted into a mosque in 2020, the church was attacked on the day of its inauguration, July 24, 2022, by a missile launched by a “terrorist group,” according to online reports.
In Qamishli, in northeastern Syria, the premises of the brotherhood of Saint Jacob el-Nasibini, which falls under the Syriac Orthodox Church, were ransacked a few days ago by unknown assailants and religious objects were stolen or broken, Rozana reports, citing the SyriacPress agency.
"The city of Qamishli was already attacked by unknown assailants in the summer of 2023 who ransacked the monument to the martyrs of the Seifo massacre," during the First World War, during which Assyrians and Syriacs were massacred by the Ottomans, the agency noted.
Alawite mausoleum set on fire
The Alawite minority, in power in Syria from 1971 with the arrival of Hafez al-Assad, until 2024 with the fall of his son Bashar, were not spared either. According to a video circulating online, the Alawite mausoleum of Sheikh Ali al-Aaraj was set on fire in the village of Rabiha, in the Rif of Hama, on Dec. 12. Many Syrian Internet users accuse relatives of the fallen dictator of seeking to sow discord. L'Orient-Le Jour has not been able to authenticate this video.
Reacting to these developments, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights denounced on Thursday "the incidents that targeted places of worship in different regions, including against Alawite holy sites near the village of Rabiha, in the Hama countryside, as well as the attack against the Greek Orthodox archbishopric of Hama."
"The SOHR calls on the security services to redouble their efforts to protect places of worship and churches in all Syrian regions ... These actions endanger peaceful Syrian coexistence," it added.