A closer look on the Syrian society uncovers a wide range of various religions and ethnicities. For decades the outer world was unable to figure out the social complexity of a country which was shut off against unwanted views. The Baath regime followed a rigid practice of controlled information, tourists became only to see what the security apparatus allowed and nearly nobody had realized the massacre from Hama in 1982 when tens of thousands inhabitants were killed by the army.
The religious majority are the Sunni. Clear percentage numbers are difficult to predict, estimations vary between 70% and 75%. The other main Muslim group are the Alevites - to whom the ruling dynasty belongs. Further religious communities are Christians (Greek-Orthodox, Catholic, Syriac-Orthodox and Apostolic), Druze Ismailites and Jews.
Beside the Arab originated Syrians the Kurds in the Northeast are the hugest ethnical group, followed by Turkmens, Assyrians, Armenians and Circassians. All in all the ethnical minorities are estimated around 20% of the Syrian civilization.
This melting pot seems to be at first glance a pluralistic eldorado able to get compared with other multicultural hotspots of the world. But its‘ vulnerability was not as usually expected the risk of an oppressing majority rule. Hafez al-Assad had formed an Alawi dominated system in which the political and social key positions are de facto in the hands of the hugest of all religious minorities granting the Christians some exclusive rights to control the major Sunni population. By neglecting equal rights to the Kurds he‘d eliminated the claims of the hugest ethnical group to participate on the political process.
It would be too easy to blame in general all Alevites for the ruthless dictatorship suppressing the Syrian civilians since half a century. Alawi celebrities like the actress Fadwa Suleiman who‘s joining the uprising against Assad taking part on protests in Homs are a positive example of the Syrian togetherness. Similar images are Christians praying together with Muslims for unity among the different religious branches. Those images are standing in drastic contradiction to the official regime language which wants to divide the Syrian civil society provoking sectarianism and mistrust among the different parts of the population. Unfortunately even high representatives of the Christian church in Syria are spreading concerns over the country‘s stability after the regime‘s downfall. But those voices are more defending the privileges granted under the dictatorship than the will of the people.
The whole ruling Baath party system is based on abuse in all its‘ forms. The Sunni majority is abused as second class citizens, drones who are feeding the corrupt elites; the Kurds are abused as not worth to grant them equal rights; the Christians are abused as accomplices who are helping to maintain the power status quo; the Alevites are abused as the black sheep among the herd urged to a collective guilt.
The key to a successful liberation of Syria is unity. The chants ,One, one, one, the Syrian people are one‘ heard on mass protests all over the country are a big thorn in the regime‘s flesh. The Baath unity is not the Syrian unity. The more Syrians from all religious and ethnical backgrounds who are up to now keeping silent because of fear or concerns are joining the quire of true Syrian unity the more isolated becomes the regime itself and the more visible becomes its‘ ugly face of authoritarian elitist terror.
The religious majority are the Sunni. Clear percentage numbers are difficult to predict, estimations vary between 70% and 75%. The other main Muslim group are the Alevites - to whom the ruling dynasty belongs. Further religious communities are Christians (Greek-Orthodox, Catholic, Syriac-Orthodox and Apostolic), Druze Ismailites and Jews.
Beside the Arab originated Syrians the Kurds in the Northeast are the hugest ethnical group, followed by Turkmens, Assyrians, Armenians and Circassians. All in all the ethnical minorities are estimated around 20% of the Syrian civilization.
This melting pot seems to be at first glance a pluralistic eldorado able to get compared with other multicultural hotspots of the world. But its‘ vulnerability was not as usually expected the risk of an oppressing majority rule. Hafez al-Assad had formed an Alawi dominated system in which the political and social key positions are de facto in the hands of the hugest of all religious minorities granting the Christians some exclusive rights to control the major Sunni population. By neglecting equal rights to the Kurds he‘d eliminated the claims of the hugest ethnical group to participate on the political process.
It would be too easy to blame in general all Alevites for the ruthless dictatorship suppressing the Syrian civilians since half a century. Alawi celebrities like the actress Fadwa Suleiman who‘s joining the uprising against Assad taking part on protests in Homs are a positive example of the Syrian togetherness. Similar images are Christians praying together with Muslims for unity among the different religious branches. Those images are standing in drastic contradiction to the official regime language which wants to divide the Syrian civil society provoking sectarianism and mistrust among the different parts of the population. Unfortunately even high representatives of the Christian church in Syria are spreading concerns over the country‘s stability after the regime‘s downfall. But those voices are more defending the privileges granted under the dictatorship than the will of the people.
The whole ruling Baath party system is based on abuse in all its‘ forms. The Sunni majority is abused as second class citizens, drones who are feeding the corrupt elites; the Kurds are abused as not worth to grant them equal rights; the Christians are abused as accomplices who are helping to maintain the power status quo; the Alevites are abused as the black sheep among the herd urged to a collective guilt.
The key to a successful liberation of Syria is unity. The chants ,One, one, one, the Syrian people are one‘ heard on mass protests all over the country are a big thorn in the regime‘s flesh. The Baath unity is not the Syrian unity. The more Syrians from all religious and ethnical backgrounds who are up to now keeping silent because of fear or concerns are joining the quire of true Syrian unity the more isolated becomes the regime itself and the more visible becomes its‘ ugly face of authoritarian elitist terror.
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