Alawite Syrians crossing the al-Kabir River at the border with Lebanon on March 10, 2025, in Akkar, a few days after massacres on the Syrian coast. (Credit: Matthieu Karam/L’Orient-Le Jour)
Since March 6, thousands of individuals have illegally crossed the Lebanese-Syrian border into Akkar, northern Lebanon, fleeing massacres in western Syria carried out by fighters aligned with the new Sunni Islamist authorities. The violence has killed more than 1,000 civilians, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR). Read more In Akkar, Alawite refugees fleeing Syria Long marginalized, the Alawites — present in Turkey, Syria and Lebanon — have been associated for half a century with the dictatorship of Hafez al-Assad, and later his son Bashar, (of that sect) who fled the country on Dec. 8 after ruling for 24 years. Who are the Alawites? L'Orient-Le Jour offers an overview.Schism of Shiism in the 9th CenturyThe Alawite name is derived from Imam Ali, the cousin and son-in-law of the Prophet Muhammad, whom...
Since March 6, thousands of individuals have illegally crossed the Lebanese-Syrian border into Akkar, northern Lebanon, fleeing massacres in western Syria carried out by fighters aligned with the new Sunni Islamist authorities. The violence has killed more than 1,000 civilians, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR). Read more In Akkar, Alawite refugees fleeing Syria Long marginalized, the Alawites — present in Turkey, Syria and Lebanon — have been associated for half a century with the dictatorship of Hafez al-Assad, and later his son Bashar, (of that sect) who fled the country on Dec. 8 after ruling for 24 years. Who are the Alawites? L'Orient-Le Jour offers an overview.Schism of Shiism in the 9th CenturyThe Alawite name is derived from Imam Ali, the cousin and son-in-law of the Prophet Muhammad,...