Desecrated Jewish grave & attacks on Druze: Syria’s gov’t struggles to rein in Islamist forces

While the new Syrian government continues to strive for international recognition and sanctions relief, two incidents in recent days have shone a spotlight on the struggles of the leadership, most of which was part of the former Islamist terror group Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, to rein in the Islamist forces in the country.

Among the new government’s most important promises has been the protection of minorities.

However, this was already called into serious question in March, when regime supporters and security forces rounded up and executed rebels and civilians in the majority-Alawite coastal provinces. Some 1,700 civilians were killed in the clashes, according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).

On Tuesday morning, Druze leaders strongly protested after over a dozen people were reportedly killed in clashes the preceding evening.

“Heavy clashes erupted in Jaramana after security forces and affiliated gunmen stormed” some areas of the Damascus suburb which is mainly populated by Druze and Christians, said SOHR.

The clashes followed “the circulation of an audio recording, attributed to a Druze citizen, containing religious insults,” the monitor added.

Charles Lister, a Syria expert at the Middle East Institute, wrote that “a video of a Druze man mocking the Prophet Mohammed went viral in Syria. At first, it triggered an angry online backlash & calls for public decency. Tonight it’s turned violent, amid gov’t force mobilization, protests & clashes in Jaramana, outside Damascus.”

According to Reuters, gunmen from the nearby Sunni towns converged on Jaramana. An interior ministry spokesman claimed that two members of the newly established General Security Service, many of whom were former rebels, were among the dead.

He further alleged that groups of civilians were protesting against the recording when they came under fire from Druze groups.

In addition to the clashes in Jaramana, there was also an attempt by extremist militants to enter the area of the Druze mountain in the Suweida province to avenge the calls against the Prophet, according to Kan News.

Jaramana's Druze religious leadership on Tuesday condemned “the unjustified armed attack” that “targeted innocent civilians and terrorized” residents.

They stressed that the Syrian authorities bore “full responsibility for the incident and for any further developments or worsening of the crisis.”

Israel has vowed to protect Syria’s Druze population, even militarily, if necessary. There was no immediate Israeli comment on the incident.

The town of Jaramana has already once been the particular focus of Israel’s attention when the government publicly instructed the Israel Defense Forces to defend the town amid previous clashes.

“If the regime harms the Druze, it will be harmed by us. We are committed to our Druze brothers in Israel to do everything to prevent harm to their Druze brothers in Syria, and we will take all necessary steps to maintain their security," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a joint statement in March. 

The clashes in Jaramana followed another case of the Syrian government failing to safeguard minorities.

Earlier this week, the Damascus grave of Rabbi Chaim Vital, a prominent Jewish scholar of the 15th and 16th centuries, was vandalized by unknown culprits, who dug a large pit next to the headstone.

While the country has barely any Jews left, Syria’s cities once held large Jewish populations, however, most of them fled either to Israel or the U.S. over the past decades.

The tomb of Vital, who was born in Safed and was a major figure in the Jewish mystic tradition known as kabbalah, is located in the historic Jewish cemetery of the Syrian capital and was a place of pilgrimage and reverence.

The Alliance of Rabbis in Islamic States issued a strong condemnation of this “attack on shared human heritage.”

The group expressed its “deep shock and sadness” over the vandalization, urging the Syrian government to “immediately secure Jewish religious sites, cemeteries, and synagogues, and ensure their protection.”

Syria’s authorities were aware of the incident, inspected the site and began an investigation of the incident, a Syrian security official told The Media Line.

“It appears that the act was motivated by theft,” he said. “We are pursuing those responsible, who will be brought to justice. Such actions are categorically unacceptable and harm the social fabric of Syria.”

He further emphasized that the Syrian government is committed to the protection of all the country’s religious and cultural sites.

Also this week, Syria’s new Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani met with a delegation from the Syrian Jewish community in New York City. They discussed the importance of strengthening communication to address relevant issues, as well as the community’s cultural and historical ties to their Syrian homeland.

The new Syrian government has reached out to the Syrian-Jewish diaspora community, lobbying it to lend diplomatic and financial support for the reconstruction of the war-torn country.