The Cracks That Defy Filling: Syria Can’t Stop the Violence That Keeps It Stuck in the Past

Late last month, hundreds of Christian worshippers gathered in Mar Elias Church in Damascus for Sunday services as they have done for years.  

On this Sunday, however, a man carrying a rifle entered the church and detonated a bomb, killing himself and 25 others.  

The attack, wrote Al Jazeera, underscored how the new Syrian government hasn’t been able to secure the country or protect its citizens, especially members of minority groups. At the same time, Syrian leaders say these attacks are attempts to undermine their efforts to create a new state out of the fragments left by ousted dictator Bashar Assad in December.  

“The most important thing is that we remain strong,” said Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa. “There are people who are bothered by the national unity that has happened in Syria.” 

Since December, militant groups such as Islamic State and others have been attempting to take advantage of the chaos and the fragmentation of the new Syrian state to destabilize the government, wrote the Netherlands-based International Centre for Counter-Terrorism. In the church bombing, the killer was part of a little-known, Islamic State-affiliated militant group called Saraya Ansar al-Sunna.  

Meanwhile, the national unity the president speaks of as a done deal is just wishful thinking, analysts say, pointing to increasing outbreaks of sectarian violence and the resistance of some groups to integrating into the post-Assad Syria. 

For example, in May, Druze militias clashed with government supporters, mainly Sunnis, for weeks in southern Syria, drawing in Israel, which said it would protect the group. In another, a week-long explosion of violence in March killed more than 1,000 people, including Christians and Alawites, in clashes with government-affiliated forces.  

Sunni Muslims make up about 74 percent of the Syrian population, followed by non-Sunni Muslims, including Alawites who comprise 13 percent. Before the war, Christians and the Druze had made up 10 percent and 3 percent, respectively, with some believing those numbers have dropped dramatically. 

Still, the new government has also made missteps, analysts say. 

After al-Sharaa ousted Assad and took over the country, he promised inclusivity and amnesty to unite the country after almost 14 years of civil war. He promised minorities they would be protected. 

Some say he has made an effort, including members of minority communities in his cabinet and issuing an amnesty for former members of the regime, mainly Alawites.  

Others say he hasn’t gone far enough. 

For example, after he and his Islamist militia, the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), took over the country, they dismantled the administration, the army, and the security services, all political parties, and fired most of the civil service. He terminated nearly all Alawites, but not members of other groups.  

That’s hardly inclusion, say critics.  

Other issues are undermining confidence in the country’s new leadership, too. Under Assad’s terror-filled rule, nepotism and corruption were widespread. Some Syrians say they are dismayed that Sharaa is continuing that practice, filling posts with brothers and other family members: For example, his brother is now the health minister, while another relative runs the capital, Damascus.  

These moves, analysts say, undermine confidence in the government, contribute to the chaos, and hinder its attempt to push recovery from the war and more than 50 years of rule by the Assads.  

Most Syrians don’t want the old regime back, analysts say, and many are still hopeful that the new government will manage to bring jobs, security, and freedom. But some Syrians say they are becoming increasingly afraid for their safety in the new Syria. As a result, some minority groups are shoring up their defenses, especially the Alawites, who are backed by former members of the Syrian army. The Kurds, who control the northeast of the country, have not yet agreed to be part of the government or integrate their militias into the military. The Druze are continuing to arm themselves, backed by Israeli guarantees for their safety.  

Almost all of these communities are also concerned by moves by the president, who was once a jihadist affiliated with al Qaeda, to impose Islamist rules.  

Syria under the Assads was secular. Now, some officials have begun imposing a stricter interpretation of Islam: For example, some schools have been changing their curriculum to become more Islamist, and some worry about them segregating boys and girls in the classroom. There are also new restrictions on alcohol and an attempt to close bars. Some now worry about the imposition of Sharia law for all legal matters after the appointment of the justice minister, a Sharia judge. 

In June, the government announced new “safety and security” regulations, requiring those using public beaches to cover up: Women are expected to wear a burkini or clothing that covers their bodies, while men are banned from going shirtless outside of swimming areas.  

Because of this seeming turn toward conservative Islam and the outbreaks of violence, some Alawites and Christians are considering leaving Syria, even as millions of Syrian refugees abroad mull a return.  

However, some Christians, in the wake of the attack, say they are angry and fearful but are determined to stay.  

“We’ve survived war, extremism and siege…now, after everything, to be attacked in a church, in prayer, is something else entirely – it’s an attack on our existence,” Danny Makdissi, 25, of Hama, in central Syria, told New Lines magazine.  

He described how, since December, things have turned increasingly tense for the Christian community in Hama: “A Christmas tree in Suqaylabiyah was torched, women started getting harassed for simply walking down the street without a veil – that wasn’t how things used to be,” he said. “Still, Syria is our country. We belong here as much as anyone else…It’ll take time for us to feel safe again.”