Syria: Alawites stage protest amid rising sectarian tensions

Several hundred people in Syria’s coastal city of Latakia gathered on November 25th to denounce a series of attacks targeting the Alawite community, marking one of the largest demonstrations in the country since the fall of Bashar al-Assad, as reported by The New Arab via AFP.

The rare public display of dissent underscored rising tensions after sporadic violence against the minority group.

Crowds filled the streets shouting messages of unity such as “The Syrian people are one”, declaring, “To the whole world, listen to us, the Alawites will not bend.” Security forces were present but did not intervene.

The Alawite community, which the Assad family belongs to, has faced repeated assaults since Assad was overthrown. Hundreds of people were killed in sectarian clashes across the coastal area in March, deepening fears of escalating communal retaliation.

Joumana, a 58-year-old lawyer who declined to give her surname, said demonstrators shared clear demands: “We are one united people. We want armed factions in the region to leave, justice for our martyrs on the coast, and the release of our prisoners… We don’t know what they are accused of.”

Demonstrations were also reported in other localities, with the Supreme Islamic Alawite Council in Syria and Abroad issuing an online call for mobilisation. The appeal followed unrest in Homs that erupted after a Sunni Bedouin couple were killed on November 23rd, with sectarian graffiti discovered at the scene.

Accusations that Alawites were responsible quickly spread, prompting the vandalism of shops and homes in Alawite districts before authorities imposed a curfew, which was later removed. Officials stated the killings were “a criminal act and not sectarian in nature.” There were no records of casualties from the Alawite community.

Another protester, 25-year-old Mona, described the events in Homs as intolerable. “We demand freedom and security, an end to the killings and to kidnappings,” she said, adding that she supported federalism for the Syrian coast, a stance some minority members have voiced but which remains unpopular among the majority Sunni population.

The latest unrest comes against the backdrop of severe sectarian bloodshed in March, when violence swept through the Syrian coast after an attack by Assad supporters on government forces. Authorities said at least 1,426 people were killed.

The New Arab via AFP, Maghrebi.org