Minority Christians fear fall of Assad could usher in Sunni tyranny

international | rights, freedoms and repression | other press Thursday September 29, 2011 12:49 by pat c

An interesting article about the genuine and well founded fears of the Christian community in Syria. The possibility of a sectarian bloodbath is all too real. Just look at the example of Iraq. Also look at the Irish example: when loyalist demagogues in the six counties were rousing up Protestants against Catholics they also made sure that Protestant Socialists suffered in the pogroms. The same threat hangs over Syria.

This is not a statement of support for Assad rather a reminder that if Assad goes and power falls into the hands of fundamentalists there is a risk of sectarian butchery.

Christians in Syria are afraid that if President Assad is ousted, it would spark sectarian bloodshed, a SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT writes in Saydnaya, Syria

ABU ELIAS sat beneath the towering stairs leading from the convent of Our Lady of Saydnaya, a church high up in the mountains outside Damascus, where Christians have worshipped for 1,400 years.

“We are all scared of what will come next,” he said, turning to a man seated beside him, Robert, an Iraqi refugee who escaped the sectarian strife in his homeland.

“He fled Iraq and came here,” said Abu Elias, looking at his friend, who arrived just a year earlier. “Soon, we might find ourselves doing the same.”

Syria plunges deeper into unrest by the day. On Tuesday, government troops attacked the rebellious town of Rastan with tanks and machine guns, wounding at least 20 people. With the chaos growing, Christians visiting Saydnaya on a recent Sunday said they feared a change of power could usher in a tyranny of the Sunni Muslim majority, depriving them of the semblance of protection the Assad family has provided for four decades.

Syria’s Christian minority is sizable, estimated at about 10 per cent of the population, although some say the share is actually lower these days. Although their sentiments are by no means monolithic – Christians are represented in the opposition and loyalty to the government is often driven more by fear than fervour – the group’s fear helps explain how President Bashar al-Assad has held onto segments of his constituency, in spite of a brutal crackdown aimed at crushing a popular uprising.

For many Syrian Christians, Assad remains predictable in a region where unpredictability has driven their brethren from Iraq and Lebanon and where others have felt threatened in post-revolutionary Egypt.

They fear that in the event that the president falls they might be subjected to reprisals at the hands of a conservative Sunni leadership for what it would see as Christian support of the Assad family. They worry that the struggle to dislodge Assad could turn into a civil war, unleashing sectarian bloodshed in a country where minorities, ethnic and religious, have for the most part found a way to co-exist.

The anxiety is so deep that many ignore the opposition’s counter argument: that the government has actually made divisions worse as part of a strategy to ensure the rule of the Assad family, which itself springs from a Muslim minority, the Alawites.

“I am intrigued by your calls for freedom and for overthrowing the regime,” wrote a Syrian Christian woman on her Facebook page, addressing Christian female protesters. “What does freedom mean? Every one of you does what she wants and is free to say what she wants. Do you think if the regime falls (God forbid) you will gain freedom? Then, each one of you will be locked in her house, lamenting those days.”