SYRIA: Christmas tree set alight in Hama and Alawite shrine destroyed in Aleppo (Video)
Christians protested all over Syria and Alawites protested in Aleppo
Hundreds protest in Syria after Christmas tree set alight: Video
Politico (25.12.2024) – Demonstrators took to the streets across Syria on Tuesday to protest the burning of a Christmas tree, two weeks after the dramatic toppling of dictator Bashar Assad. Ruling HTS (Hayat Tahrir al-Sham) say they have detained the arsonists and promised to restore the tree.
The protests emerged after a video spread on social media showing two masked men setting a Christmas tree on fire on Monday evening in the in the main square of the Suqaylabiyah, a Christian-majority town in the province of Hama.
“We demand the rights of Christians,” protesters chanted as they marched through the streets of Damascus. “If we’re not allowed to live our Christian faith in our country, as we used to, then we don’t belong here any more,” a demonstrator told AFP.
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the fighters were foreigners from the Islamist group Ansar al-Tawhid.
Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the main Islamist faction which led the uprising that toppled President Assad on 8 December, said foreign fighters had been detained over the incident, BBC reported.
Another video footage following the incident showed a religious leader from the ruling HTS holding up a cross in sign of solidarity and promising the crowd that tree would be restored by morning.
European leaders have welcomed the end of Assad’s regime as a “positive development” for Syria and vowed to work together with the new leadership to protect the rights of Syrians and prevent terrorism from rising in the area. (BY ELENA GIORDANO)
Alawites protested after the desecration of the shrine by Islamists: Videos 1, 2 and 3
Strana Today (25.12.2024) – In the Syrian provinces, where Alawites live compactly (the toppled Syrian President Bashar Assad belonged to this religious group), protests against the new authorities of the country began.
The video of the riots was published by local telegram channels.
The impetus for them was the information spread in social networks that representatives of the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, who came to power in Syria, burned the Alawite shrine “Abu Abdullah al-Hussein bin Hamdan al-Husibi” and killed five people who were there.
As they write in social networks, armed members of Islamist groups also opened fire on protesters.
Meanwhile, the Syrian Ministry of Internal Affairs accused Assad supporters of organizing protests, saying that they “tried to use rumors and attacked the forces of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, as a result of which several people were killed and injured”.
In the Syrian provinces, where Alawites live compactly (the toppled Syrian President Bashar Assad belonged to this religious group), protests against the new authorities of the country began.
The impetus for them was the information spread in social networks that representatives of the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, which came to power in Syria, burned the Alawite shrine “Abu Abdullah al-Hussein bin Hamdan al-Husibi” in Aleppo and killed five people who were there.
According to social networks, representatives of armed Islamist groups opened fire on protesters.
Meanwhile, the Syrian Ministry of Internal Affairs accused Assad supporters of organizing protests, saying that they “tried to use rumors and attacked forces in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, as a result of which several people were killed and injured”.
Further reading about FORB in Syria on HRWF website