Until now, the Alawites in Syria have enjoyed certain privileges. In the past, they even had their own autonomy. Now they fear persecution and revenge for the fact that the Assad clan has bloodyly ruled Syria for 54 years.
Thousands of Syrians have recently protested against attacks on religious shrines of the Alawites in Aleppo. The Alawites are an Islamic minority, whose representative was the deposed dictator Bashar Assad.
"No to the burning of shrines and religious discrimination, no to sectarianism, Yes – "For a free Syria," the protesters' posters read, according to the Arabic channel Al Jazeera.
The protests began in response to a video on social media purportedly documenting attacks on a holy shrine. The video may not be authentic and may show scenes from earlier times. However, the protests show how difficult Syria's transition to democracy will be.
Members of the Alawite minority in particular fear that they will now be subject to persecution and reprisals for the Assad clan's bloody rule of Syria for 54 years. There are also persistent allegations that the Alawites benefited from Assad's dictatorship. In fact, however, it is clear that it is precisely because of their ethnic proximity to the regime that they have paid a very high price.
Who are the Alevis in Syria?
According to various estimates, the Alevis made up 10 to 13% of the population of Syria before the civil war began there in 2011. This religious community belongs to Shiite Islam, but its essence is significantly more diverse.
Alevite Islam arose in the 9th century in northeastern Syria. According to theologians, the Alevis advocate different positions on various fundamental issues of the Islamic religion and the most important rules of behavior for Muslims. These relate, for example, to prayers, social obligations or pilgrimage to Mecca. The Alevis perform their rituals at home, some even accuse them of excessive secrecy. Alevis are not required to wear Islamic headscarves, but are excluded from performing religious ceremonies. Alevis also drink wine during religious rituals, and nature plays an important role in their beliefs and customs. The pilgrimage to Mecca, which Muslims are required to undertake at least once in their lives, according to Alevis, can also be performed symbolically.
Along with the Shiites, they believe in the divinity of Ali ibn Abu Talib, known as Imam Ali. He is considered the first leader of the Shiites in the 7th century. Despite this commonality of belief, Alevis have often been accused of heresy in the past and have been discriminated against by almost all rulers over the centuries – starting from the Christian Crusaders to the Turkish Ottomans.
Emancipation during colonialism
This changed in the early 20th century during the French colonial rule in the region. Their policy of “divide and rule“ led the French to grant the Alevis and Druze special rights that elevated them above the rest of the Muslim population. In 1922, the Alevis even received the right to create their own autonomous state on the Mediterranean.
Then, for the first time in their history, they lived in a country that did not persecute them for their faith. When France withdrew from Syria in 1946 and the country gained independence, the Alevis there had an advantage in terms of power. In 1955, nearly 65% of the army's non-commissioned officers were of Alevis origin. In the coup organized by five officers in 1963, three were Alevis, and one of them was Hafez Assad, who took power in the country in 1971. He surrounded himself with loyal Alevis supporters, and all members of the minority who were disloyal to him, including communists, Assad imprisoned and persecuted.
Dominance in politics and the army
Assad placed the Alevis as a whole under his protection, and anyone who attacked them became an enemy, on whom the state retaliated with violence. Between 1971 and 1981, during the uprisings against the regime, hundreds of Alevis soldiers and other representatives of the community fell victim to attacks by the "Muslim Brotherhood" - a Sunni group with an Islamist ideology. In retaliation, Assad executed nearly 2,000 Muslim Brotherhood members, and the army occupied and bombed the city of Hama, where the Muslim Brotherhood uprising was centered, in 1982. It is estimated that 10,000 to 25,000 civilians died during this period.
Alevites view Islamists as a threat and advocate for secular rule of Syria. Hafez al-Assad and his son Bashar al-Assad exploited this fear of Islamists to manipulate the Alevite community for decades. The Assad regime claimed that only it could protect the Alevites.
Disillusionment with Assad
Alevites have suffered particularly badly during Syria's 13-year war. According to EU figures, up to 70% of young men in some towns and villages with a predominantly Alevite population have been killed or wounded during the war.
Growing disillusioned with Assad, many Alevites have turned against the regime in recent years. Because those who did not belong to the small social elite around Assad's clan lived in the same misery as the rest of Syrians, despite being Alevis.
However, it is too simplistic to believe that Alevis are either "for Assad" or against him. Attitudes in this religious community are significantly more nuanced. The black-and-white view of them, according to experts, does not take into account the impact of socio-economic difficulties that affect Alevis no less than other Syrians.