Druze demand self determination in largest protest held since deadly clashes in Syria
Some of the protesters waved Israeli flags to thank Israel for intervening on their side during heavy clashes in mid-July between militias of the Druze minority and armed tribal groups and government forces.
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CTV News
41 minutes ago
- CTV News
Druze demand self determination in largest protest held since deadly clashes in Syria
Residents walk past a burned-out military vehicle after sectarian clashes in the Druze-majority town of Sweida, Syria, on Friday, July 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Omar Sanadiki) BEIRUT — Hundreds of people demonstrated in Syria's southern city of Sweida and elsewhere on Saturday to demand the right to self determination for the Druze minority, in the largest protests to take place since deadly clashes in the area last month. Some of the protesters waved Israeli flags to thank Israel for intervening on their side during heavy clashes in mid-July between militias of the Druze minority and armed tribal groups and government forces. Saturday's demonstration comes as Syria grapples with deep ethnic and religious divisions following the collapse of the Assad family rule last December. The transition has proven fragile, with renewed violence erupting in March along the coast and in July in Sweida, a city with a significant Druze population, highlighting the continued threat to peace after years of civil war. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Syrian war monitor, said the protesters expressed their rejection of the interim central government in Damascus and demanded that those responsible for atrocities against Druze be brought to justice. The Observatory said some of the protesters called on Israel to intervene to support their demand of self determination. Rayyan Maarouf, who heads the activist media collective Suwayda 24, said Saturday's demonstration in Sweida was the largest since last months's clashes, and that there were similar gatherings in areas including the nearby towns of Shahba and Salkhad. He added that this is the first time people protested under the slogan of self determination. 'This is an unprecedented change for the Druze in Syria,' Maarouf told The Associated Press. Clashes erupted on July 13 between Druze militias and local Sunni Muslim Bedouin tribes in Sweida. Government forces then intervened, nominally to restore order, but ended up essentially siding with the Bedouins against the Druze. Israel intervened in defence of the Druze, launching dozens of airstrikes on convoys of government fighters and even striking the Syrian Defense Ministry headquarters in central Damascus. Atrocities were committed during the clashes that left hundreds of people dead. The new interim government set up a committee last month tasked with investigating attacks on civilians in the sectarian violence in the country's south. It is supposed to issue a report within three months. The Druze religious sect began as a 10th-century offshoot of Ismailism, a branch of Shiite Islam. Over half of the roughly 1 million Druze worldwide live in Syria. Most other Druze live in Lebanon and Israel, including in the Golan Heights, which Israel captured from Syria in the 1967 Mideast War and annexed in 1981. The Associated Press
Toronto Star
an hour ago
- Toronto Star
Trump greets Putin with a red carpet. Ukrainians feel betrayed.
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — In Kyiv, Ukrainians living under near daily Russian bombardment watched with astonishment as their country's most important ally rolled out a red carpet in Alaska for the man they blame for over three years of war, bloodshed and loss. Natalya Lypei, 66, a Kyiv resident, did a double-take. But the images flashing on her phone screen were real: U.S. President Donald Trump greeted Russian President Vladimir Putin warmly and clapped as the Russian leader approached him, after having been escorted into the country by four American fighter jets.
Winnipeg Free Press
an hour ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Trump greets Putin with a red carpet. Ukrainians feel betrayed.
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — In Kyiv, Ukrainians living under near daily Russian bombardment watched with astonishment as their country's most important ally rolled out a red carpet in Alaska for the man they blame for over three years of war, bloodshed and loss. Natalya Lypei, 66, a Kyiv resident, did a double-take. But the images flashing on her phone screen were real: U.S. President Donald Trump greeted Russian President Vladimir Putin warmly and clapped as the Russian leader approached him, after having been escorted into the country by four American fighter jets. Trump also ignored the arrest warrant issued for Putin by the International Criminal Court that has kept him mostly confined at home or in nations that are strong allies. 'How can you welcome a tyrant like that?' she asked, echoing the thoughts of many Kyiv residents. The red carpet treatment, the lack of concrete decisions for Ukraine and, most significantly, neglecting the significance of sanctions — a policy that could turn the tide in Kyiv's favor — have felt like a betrayal for Ukrainians who have borne enormous suffering in the almost three-and-a-half years since Russia's full-scale invasion. Tens of thousands of Ukrainian servicemen, the country's bravest and most skilled, have been killed and wounded, thousands of civilians have been killed in Russian strikes, and a fifth of the country is under occupation, severing families, properties and Ukraine's territorial integrity. On Ukrainian social media, memes of Putin and Trump walking down a red carpet strewn with dead Ukrainian bodies were widely shared. Zelenskyy had anticipated the meeting would be a boon for Putin and that there would be very little in the way of results. Speaking to reporters in the days leading up to the meeting, he said it would end up being a public relations victory for the Russian leader. Above all else, he was seeking a photo on American soil — which he got in Friday's meeting. It was the first time in a decade that Putin had stepped foot in the U.S., ending international isolation spurred by the 2022 Ukraine invasion; in other words, it was a win. For Lypei, whose serviceman son was killed last year, it was like attending another funeral, a fresh loss. This time, her country's hopes for a just peace. 'It hurts me a lot that my child died in a full-scale war, and today we saw a new funeral,' she said. Her 34-year-old son fought with Ukraine's 79th Brigade and was killed in the Donetsk region, the very area Putin wants Ukraine to vacate as a condition for a truce. 'I do not wish anyone that sorrow, that sadness, those tears,' she said. Natalya Cucil, 60, another Kyiv resident said she was surprised that Trump did not produce any results from the meeting, despite his stated efforts to end the war. 'There are no results and we don't know if there will be, although we always expect something and hope for it,' she said. Pensioner Anatolii Kovalenko, 72, said no matter what was discussed between the two leaders, it is clear his country's adversary has won in the sphere of public relations. 'Putin won this meeting 100%,' he said.
