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It has been suggested that Anti-Alawite Sentiment in the 2011-2012 Syrian Uprising be merged into this article. (Discuss) Proposed since February 2012.

Sectarianism has been described as a characteristic of the 2011-2012 Syrian uprising. The opposition is dominated by Sunni Muslims, whereas the leading government figures are Alawite Shiite Muslims. Assad reportedly is supported by most Alawites and many Christians in the country.

Such sentiments of sectarianism amongst the Sunni population have been said to be rooted in that both Hafez al-Assad and Bashar al-Assad are Alawites, a minority many Sunnis see as heretics, and who are placed in the majority of cabinet and government positions. Additionally, the Syrian government allegedly maintains a gang-network known as the Shabeeha, smugglers and drug dealers hired as a shadow militia, whose members primarily consist of Alawites.

Sectarianism

At the uprising's outset, some protesters reportedly chanted "Christians to Beirut; Alawites to the coffin". The opposition accused the regime of agitating sectarianism.

Some commanders of the Free Syrian Army indicated that this is a religious Islamic struggle against a secular regime, one of them claimed that:"For the first time, we are able to proclaim the word of God throughout this land."

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton stated that the primarily Sunni protesters "have a lot of work to do internally" in order to gain the broad public support needed to form a genuinely national movement, and "it is not yet accepted by many groups within Syria that their life will be better without Assad than with Assad. There are a lot of minority groups that are very concerned." The opposition does include some prominent Alawites and Christians.

Christians

Christians and other minorities had been nominally protected under Assad's 1973 constitution, which guaranteed religious freedom. Some may fear that they will suffer the same consequences as the Christians of Iraq and Egypt if the government is overthrown.

Most protests have taken place after Muslim Friday prayer, and the Archbishop of the Syriac Orthodox Church in Aleppo told the Lebanon-based Daily Star, "To be honest, everybody's worried, we don’t want what happened in Iraq to happen in Syria. We don't want the country to be divided. And we don't want Christians to leave Syria."

Christians were present in early demonstrations in Homs but have to abandoned them when Salafi slogans were proclaimed.

According to International Christian Concern, Christians were attacked by anti-government protesters in mid-2011 for not joining the then-burgeoning protests.

According to a CBS News report, Christians are largely in favour of Assad and think that their survival is linked to his governement. However, in late February 2012, the neoconservative Stonegate Institute quoted Syrian Christians as saying their community had been persecuted by the government during the uprising and Christian leaders were forced to voice allegiance to Assad under threat of violence.

Alawites

Following the development of the 2011–2012 Syrian uprising, Alawites in Syria have been subject to a series of growing threats and attacks coming from Sunni Muslims, who are the majority of the Syrian population. Alawites in Syria are a minority, which account for around 12% on the 23 millions residents in Syria. Members of the Alawite sect are afraid of Sunni hegemony, as they were oppressed by Sunnis during Ottoman times and in the early years of the 20th century, the Sunni merchant class held much of the country's wealth and dominated politics, while Alawites generally lived as poor peasants. Following Hafez al-Assad coup, their position in the society improved and they achieved equality of rights due to a secular regime. In the 1980's, the Islamic uprising in Syria happened and Alawites were the main target of the Muslim Brotherhood, an influent Islamist party.

Reuters investigated the mood and the condition of the Alawite community in early 2012. Several Alawites said that they have been threatened during the uprising for their religion and that they feared stating their names in cities where Sunnis are the majority. An Alawi originally from Rabia, near Homs, claimed that if an Alawi leaves his village, he is attacked and killed. Reuters reported that the uprising appeared to have reinforced support for President Bashar al-Assad and the government among ordinary Alawites, with a group of Alawites witnessed by its reporter chanting for Maher al-Assad to "finish off" the rebels. They were also convinced that if Assad fell, they would be killed or exiled, according to the investigation. Several claimed acts of sectarian violence had been committed against Alawites, including 39 villagers purportedly killed by Sunnis. Some also said that in cities like Homs, Alawites risked being killed or abducted if they ventured into Sunni neighbourhoods. As with many reports of killings in Syria during the uprising, Reuters could not independently confirm these reports. While there are Alawite activists opposed to Assad, the group Reuters spoke to described them as isolated. Many are fleeing their homes in fear of getting killed.

A Syrian opposition member said privately that all Alawite men were murderers, while an anti-Assad cleric living in exile in Saudi Arabia said that the Sunnis would feed Alawites to dogs if they seized power. Mamoun al-Homsy, one of the opposition leader, allegedly warned that Alawites should stopping support the government, or Syria would "become their graveyard".

Sunnis

The areas that have fallen under rebels control are mostly Sunni. Shabeeha have been known to carry out killings of Sunnis, prompting kidnappings and killing of Alawites by the Sunni side. In some cases, the killing of Alawites is unprovoked and stems from regular sectarian hatred of an Alawite hegemony.

On 26 January 2012, 14 members of a Sunni family were killed in the mixed Karm al-Zeitoun neighborhood of Homs by the Shabeeha, who entered the district after loyalist had fired heavy mortar rounds on the district. 16 other people were also killed. A local doctor said that Alawites who remained in the area had left four days previously and that it was rumoured this was on the order of the Syrian authorities.

References

1. Sengupta, Kim (20 February 2012). "Syria's sectarian war goes international as foreign fighters and arms pour into country". The Independent. Antakya. Retrieved 22 February 2012.
2. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-06-01/syrian-thugs-are-assad-s-tool-in-crackdown-on-dissent-rights-groups-say.html
3. "Mideast church leaders worried about Christians if Syria has civil war". Catholic News. Retrieved 13 November 2011.
4. May, Cliff (21 July 2011). "The Great Alawite Hope". Townhall. Retrieved 13 November 2011.
5. May, Cliff (25 October 2011). "Syrian Refugees: Itching for a Fight with Assad and His Regime". Time magazine. Retrieved 28 December 2011.
6. ^ "Syria's slide towards civil war". BBC. 12 February 2012. Retrieved 4 March 2012.
7. Klapper, Bradley (11 October 2011). "Clinton says it will take time to help stabilize Egypt, start new pages in Syria, Yemen". 660 News. Washington D.C. Associated Press. Retrieved 1 February 2012.
8. A Tour Inside Syria's Insurgency Paul Wood. December 29, 2011
9. Brown, Hannah (18 May 2011). "Syria Christians fear for religious freedom". Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 12 June 2011.
10. "Syrian Christians concerned about instability at home". The Lebanon Daily Star. Retrieved 13 November 2011.
11. "Christians Under Attack From Anti-Government Protesters in Syria, Christian News". Christian Post. 5 May 2011. Retrieved 12 June 2011.
12. "Syria's Christians stand by Assad". CBS News. CBS Interactive. 6 February 2012. Retrieved 16 February 2012.
13. Bader, Hani (27 February 2012). "Assad Slaughtering Syrian Christians". Stonegate Institute. Retrieved 27 February 2012.
14. http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2011/10/20111010122434671982.html
15. http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/01/us-syria-alawites-idUSTRE81024G20120201
16. http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/31/us-syria-alawites-sect-idUSTRE80U1HK20120131
17. ^ Karouny, Miriam (1 February 2012). "Against Syrian anger, Assad's sect feels fear". Damascus. Reuters. Retrieved 1 February 2012.
18. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/syrians-flee-their-homes-amid-fears-of-ethnic-cleansing-7079802.html
19. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/151013#.Tz2KqtXpj6g
20. http://www.economist.com/node/21547305
21. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/20/world/middleeast/in-homs-syria-sectarian-battles-stir-fears-of-civil-war.html?pagewanted=all
22. http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/3834550.html
23. Oweis, Khaled Yacoub (26 January 2012). "Sectarian attack kills 14 of same family in Syria". Reuters. Retrieved 6 February 2012.

• Articles to be merged from February 2012
• Politics of Syria