Syria: Who are the Druze? – DW – 07/17/2025
Syrian minority, the Druze, were at the center of a new conflict, following another outbreak of violence. What began as fighting between local Bedouin groups and Druze turned into an international conflict that saw Israel bombing the center of the Syrian capital, Damascus, this week. A ceasefire has been declared and the death toll stands at over 300.
The Druze have a long history in the Middle East, with communities spread across several countries in the region.
The Druze community is a small Middle Eastern religious sect characterized by an eclectic system of doctrines. They practice a unique Abrahamic religion (the Abrahamic group includes Christianity, Islam and Judaism) which developed from a branch of Shia Islam. However the Druze do not identify as Muslim. They believe in reincarnation and do not accept converts.
In Syria, they are estimated to number around 700,000 and make up about 3% of the country's population. The other main groups in Syria are Sunnis, who make up about 70% of the population, Alawites who make up about 10% and Shia, 3%. The Druze have pressed the new, interim Syrian government, which is Sunni-dominated, to uphold minority rights.
There are around a million Druze worldwide. In Syria, Druze communities are located predominantly in the southern Sweida province, and the Jaramana and Ashrafiyat Sahnaya neighborhoods of the Syrian capital Damascus.
Druze communities are also located in Lebanon, Israel and Jordan.
An estimated 150,000 Druze in Israel hold Israeli citizenship, regularly serve in the army and they are considered fiercely loyal to the state of Israel. Most live in the north of Israel and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
Following the collapse of the authoritarian Assad regime in Syria, there have been mixed responses from the Druze community to the interim government headed by former rebel leader Ahmad al-Sharaa
Some Druze leaders have voiced support for a unified and pluralistic Syria and have expressed willingness to work with the interim government. Others have taken a more confrontational stance. The Druze also operate their own security forces and have resisted centralization under the new government.
More than 100 Druze were killed in clashes with government forces earlier in 2025, which also claimed the lives of some 1,700 people, most of them from the Alawite minority.
Following the withdrawal of government forces from Sweida this week, al-Sharaa pledged to protect the Druze community from violence, saying he would hold accountable "those who transgressed and abused our Druze people, as they are under the protection and responsibility of the state."
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Israel's government says it wants to protect Syria's Druze and there is some support for this position among Israeli Druze. Although there are different factions and opinions within Syria's Druze community, observers say the majority reject Israel's offers of "protection."
Analysts see Israel's posture as a pretext to limit Syrian influence in the south of the country. Israel's prime minister has previously demanded "the complete demilitarization of southern Syria." Israeli troops have also been observed moving beyond buffer zones between Israel and Syria, further into the south of Syria.
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3 days ago
- DW
Syria: Are parliamentary elections a new beginning? – DW – 08/02/2025
Syria is set to elect a new parliament in September. Given the excessive violence in minority areas, the election is likely to be a difficult challenge for both the government and Syrian citizens. In mid-September, Syrians are set to elect their new parliament for the first time since the fall of the authoritarian Assad regime, which had shaped the country's politics for over half a century. The new parliament in Damascus is expected to have 210 members, 60 more than the current provisional parliament, which was formed in March this year. The new parliament will serve for a transitional period of three years, at the end of which a new constitution is to be adopted. Foreign election observers are allowed. Areas that are not under government control at present, such as the Kurdish-controlled regions and the predominantly Druze province of Sweida, which was recently shaken by violent unrest, will continue to have seats allocated on the basis of their population, according to the Syrian state news agency SANA. The fact that elections are taking place is a truly historic moment, said Sarah Bassisseh, a political scientist researching at the University of Tübingen. "Syriais going through a difficult transition phase. But the fact that the country now has a new electoral system gives many Syrians great hope, even if they are aware of the difficulties associated with the elections, particularly the general loss of trust among smaller sectarian and ethnic groups in the government," she said. This makes it all the more important for the country's political leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, to convince these groups that the elections are transparent and legitimate. Middle East expert Birgit Schaebler, historian and professor at the University of Erfurt and director of the Orient Institute in Beirut until 2022, takes a similar view. To characterize the upcoming elections, she compares them to the practices under the ousted Assad regime: under the rule of former president Bashar Assad, two-thirds of the seats automatically went to the dominant Baath Party and its allies. "This meant they could never lose," she told DW. "The parliament was correspondingly weak and it was primarily a debating club that rubber-stamped the president's directives," she explained. That is now set to change: 140 members of parliament are to be elected in a democratic process by regional electoral committees, although the details are yet to be clarified. The remaining 70 members of parliament are to be appointed by interim president Ahmed al-Sharaa. However, the president's significant influence on the elections is seen particularly controversial in Syria, especially since not all citizens and population groups believe that he has truly distanced himself from his former militant Islamist links. "Even in his current government, Ahmed al-Sharaa surrounded himself with people close to him," said Sarah Bassisseh. "It is composed of close associates," she explains. In her view, the appointment of a Christian, Hind Kabawat, as Minister of Social Affairs was intended to demonstrate diversity and inclusivity. "But many Syrians are skeptical that this is a sincere gesture and isn't intended to distract from the fact that the government as a whole is heavily dominated by al-Sharaa's confidants," she told DW. In turn, parts of the population fear that this policy will continue with regard to the new parliament. "It is at least unclear how diverse and inclusive it will ultimately be," Bassisseh said. Scepticism also prevails due to the fact that the remaining 140 members of parliament will not be directly elected, but rather appointed by regional electoral committees. However, Birgit Schaebler doubts that direct elections would even be possible given the severely weakened infrastructure and logistics caused by 14 years of civil war. She points out that al-Sharaa is sticking to the election date despite the recent violence in the Druze region. "He could have postponed it, yet the fact that he has not done so can certainly be seen as a positive sign," she said. Moreover, al-Sharaa is under pressure both nationally and internationally, according to the expert. "The government has lost a great deal of trust as a result of the recent violence and Al-Sharaa must regain that trust," she told DW. The question of who he will appoint to the 70 non-elected seats is likely to be a key factor in this, Schaebler believes. "Of course, ultimately all population groups want to see themselves represented in parliament," she said. It remains to be seen whether religious and ethnic minorities will participate in the election, and if so, to what extent following the violence of recent weeks, Sarah Bassisseh said. She believes that members of these groups are likely to be cautious, at the very least. "It is important here to emphasize that there has been a systematic exclusion of some groups, including women, from state politics and institutions, which was greatly intensified by recent violence," she told DW, adding that "this will potentially pose structural limits to genuine participation by these groups, such as the lack of incentives, lack of safety, and lack of accessibility, just to name a few." Bassisseh finds it therefore particularly questionable whether a fair and genuine participation of different ethnic and religious groups will be seen. "The lack of trust in both the government and the credibility of the electoral process itself might disincentivize authentic engagement of some of these groups," she said, emphasizing that "there isn't a guarantee of fair representation for them in the final 140 seats, any representation they might get from the presidential 70 seats will be tailored to the government's parameters." Schaebler is somewhat more optimistic although she agrees that trust between the government and minorities has been damaged. She also points out that some minorities, such as the Druze, are themselves politically divided. For example, Druze leader Hikmat al-Hijri is not particularly inclined to engage in compromise with the Syrian government. Instead, he maintains close contacts with Israel, whose armed forces provided military support to the Druze in their conflict with Sunni Bedouins and parts of the government forces in July. "Still, I consider it unlikely that al-Hijri's faction could prevail," said Schaebler. She therefore does not expect the Druze to boycott the election. "Not only among the Druze, but also among the other minorities, most people will want to participate in the new Syria, provided the government respects their regional and local interests."
DW
6 days ago
- DW
How recent Syrian communal violence is impacting Germany – DW – 07/29/2025
Fighting between different community groups inside Syria is also causing tensions among Syrians living in Germany. After a brawl on the streets in Dusseldorf, some fear more unrest here. Nobody ever used to ask Hassan which sect he belonged to. The 32-year-old Syrian has been in Germany since 2015, having fled after taking part in his country's civil war on the side of anti-government forces. But now they do. "The level of sectarian abuse and hate speech on social media is intense," Hassan, who lives in Berlin, told DW. Like every other ordinary Syrian interviewed for this story, he didn't want to use his full name so he could speak openly about what is a highly sensitive topic among Syrians in Germany, and back in Syria. "We're losing each other over this." By "this," Hassan means recent violence in Syria that saw two communities, the Druze and Bedouin-Sunnis, begin fighting in the southern province of Sweida in mid-July. The violence started due to tit-for-tat kidnappings between the two groups, and then escalated. It's not the only such inter-communal violence in Syria recently. In March, there was fighting between Syria's Alawite community and other Syrians, after rumors of an uprising. In both cases, there was unlawful killing by most groups involved as well as looting, kidnapping and violence. Also, in both cases, Syria's interim government was unable to maintain security. Those conflicts have now extended to the Syrian community in Germany. "People I used to be close to now seem to think we can't be friends because I'm Sunni," Hassan continued. Hassan's friend, Majid, is Druze and returned from Sweida shortly before recent violence. "I feel like people are so much more intense about this in Berlin," he noted. "I think it's because some of the people here still have an old-fashioned mindset, they still act as if the [Assad] regime is in charge." "Many of us in the Syrian community here have been feeling this shift," confirms Razan Rashidi, executive director of human rights group, The Syria Campaign, who is based in Berlin. "In the early years of the revolution, there was a strong sense of shared struggle. People rarely asked who was Sunni, Alawite, Christian, Kurdish. We were united around opposing dictatorship and calling for freedom." But thanks to recent events, that is changing. On July 20 in Dusseldorf, two groups of several hundred demonstrators met outside the city's main train station. One group was pro-Kurdish, the other supported the interim Syrian government. "After initial verbal provocations, ... a fight broke out," the Dusseldorf police reported. Two people were arrested, one injured and bottles and stones were thrown. The same weekend, at a protest in Berlin, a small group of men in the around-400 strong crowd were heard chanting against the Druze and Israel. Berlin's mayor Kai Wegner, a member of the conservative Christian Democrats, commented on the short video clip, saying that calls for murder and terror were not acceptable in Berlin. Local police are investigating and Wegner threatened to deport the Syrians who made such statements. Syria and Israel have been at war for years and recent Israeli bombing of Syria, allegedly "in defense" of Syrian Druze, has heightened tensions between the Druze minority and other Syrians. For example, Ahmad, a 30-year-old waiter in Berlin, reports he recently stopped talking to a Druze friend. "He said he wanted to buy property in Syria near the Israeli border," Ahmad explains. "You just can't trust these people," he says angrily, referring to the minority. "How could they do business with Israel?" Then he dials it back. "I don't mean all the Druze, just some," he later says apologetically. Most of the footage of the Berlin protest shows Syrians singing revolutionary songs. Arabic-language outlet Syria TV interviewed seven of the protesters. They all said very similar things about their motivations for being there. "This country belongs to all of us. We must all coexist," one said. "We need to stand together," added another. "We organized this demonstration in Berlin to reject interference in the domestic affairs of Syria and the attempts to sow ethnic and sectarian strife," another protester explained. "Yes, there have been some ugly incidents and yes, there are real fears for people who have been threatened. That shouldn't be dismissed," Rashidi says when asked whether Germany might see more violence like this. "But some of the German headlines have been unnecessarily alarmist. Most Syrians came here to escape violence, not to recreate it. The anger and heartbreak we are all feeling is very real. What we are seeing are the aftershocks of an unresolved conflict and lack of accountability back home, and sometimes even here in Europe," she explains. "But the idea that Germany is about to see the Syrian war play out on its streets is exaggerated." At the same time, emotions are running high among the Syrian diaspora in Germany, the largest community of Syrians in Europe. Interviewees and analysts all point to social media making things much worse. There's a huge amount of disinformation and hate speech online, some of it certainly paid for or pushed by parties and governments who'd prefer to see Syria divided. One of the Syria Campaign's projects looks at that, Rashidi points out. She'd like everyone to "urge the EU Commission to implement the Digital Services Act, which is meant to ensure the platforms protect social media users from online hate." A second project calls on the UN and European leaders to do more to prevent division in Syria. Rashidi also believes there should be more support for Syrian civil society organizations that are "working around the clock to document crimes, advocate for justice, heal divisions and fight disinformation." Another Syrian initiative in Germany, the "9th of the month" movement, is also trying to counter tensions. Their name comes from the fact that political prisoners in Syria were released on December 9, 2024, and they want to protest on the ninth of every month. Members come from all around Syria and include activists who were opposed to the Syrian dictatorship even before the war started in 2011. Last weekend, they organized a silent vigil, without flags, outside Germany's Federal Foreign Office in Berlin to protest "massacres, sieges ... and sectarian hysteria." One of the co-founders of the group told DW that just like most Syrians, they reject foreign interference in Syria and also want to see the interim government do more when it comes to justice and accountability. "The movement was established to advocate for a democratic Syria rooted in human rights and the rule of law," the co-founder explained; he wanted to remain anonymous because as yet the group doesn't have a press spokesperson or an official manifesto. "We believe that the fall of the Assad regime is but a first step towards the Syria we want and that we fight for: A Syria for all Syrians."
DW
26-07-2025
- DW
Middle East updates: UK, Jordan working on Gaza airdrop plan – DW – 07/26/2025
The United Kingdom and Jordan are coordinating on a plan to airdrop aid into Gaza, according to British PM Keir Starmer. Meanwhile, dozens more Palestinians have reportedly been killed by Israeli fire. DW has United Kingdom is working with Middle Eastern allies including Jordan on plans to airdrop aid into the Gaza Strip and evacuate children in need of medical care, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer's office said on Saturday. "The prime minister set out how the UK will be taking forward plans to work with partners such as Jordan to airdrop aid and evacuate children requiring medical assistance," read a statement after Starmer held a three-way phone call with French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. During the conversation, the three leaders agreed that the humanitarian situation in Gaza was "appalling" and that it would be "vital to ensure robust plans are in place to turn an urgently needed ceasefire into lasting peace," according to the Downing Street readout. "They discussed their intention to work closely together on a plan ... which would pave the way to a long-term solution and security in the region," it continued. "They agreed that once this plan was worked up, they would seek to bring in other key partners, including in the region, to advance it." In Berlin, Chancellor Merz's office spoke of "large agreement" on the call – despite Germany so far refusing to criticize Israel to the extent that the UK and France have done, with the latter even set to officially recognize Palestinian statehood later this year. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video "We will be coordinating very closely in the coming days to take the next steps," said Merz. The phone call came a day after United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres slammed the international community for turning a blind eye to widespread starvation in the Gaza Strip, calling it a "moral crisis that challenges the global conscience." For the first time in months, Israel said it is allowing airdrops, requested by neighboring Jordan. An official in Amman said the airdrops will mainly be food and milk formula. But the head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini, warned on social media that airdrops are "expensive, inefficient and can even kill starving civilians" and won't reverse the increasing starvation or prevent aid diversion. "A man-made hunger can only be addressed by political will," he said, demanding: "Lift the siege, open the gates and guarantee safe movements and dignified access to people in need." To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Some 40 people died while trying to access humanitarian aid, including 16 who were shot by Israeli forces, in the Gaza Strip on Saturday, according to local Palestinian authorities and medics. Doctors at the Shifa Hospital in Gaza City said that 16 people were killed and another 300 injured near the northern Zikim border crossing waiting for trucks carrying aid. One witness told the AFP news agency that Israeli troops opened fire "while the people were waiting to approach the distribution point." The Israeli military told AFP that its troops fired "warning shots to distance the crowd" after identifying an unspecified "immediate threat." Elsewhere, Gaza's Hamas-run civil defense agency said nine people were killed in three separate Israeli air strikes in Gaza City, eleven in four separate strikes near the southern city of Khan Yunis and two in a drone strike in Nuseirat refugee camp. The Palestinian militant group Hamas expressed surprise on Saturday at suggestions from US President Donald Trump that the group "didn't really want" a ceasefire and hostage release deal for Gaza. Trump made the allegation on Friday after Israel and the United States walked out of indirect negotiations with Hamas in Qatar that had lasted nearly three weeks. "Trump's remarks are particularly surprising, especially as they come at a time when progress had been made on some of the negotiation files," said a spokesman for the Islamist group which launched the deadly attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, which sparked the current conflict. "So far, we have not been informed of any issues regarding the files under discussion in the indirect ceasefire negotiations", he added. Though not part of the Hamas negotiating team, Hamas politburo member Izzat al-Rishq insisted the group had shown "flexibility" in the talks, but Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff accused Hamas of not "acting in good faith." Hello and welcome to DW's coverage of developments in Gaza, Israel and the wider Middle East on Saturday, July 26. In a three-way conversation with his French and German counterparts, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the United Kingdom was working with regional partners such as Jordan on a plan to airdrop aid into the Gaza Strip. Meanwhile, medics and Hamas officials said that dozens more Palestinians had been killed by Israeli fire, some while waiting for humanitarian aid.
