MENA Minorities

April 22 marked the anniversary of the kidnapping of the two bishops from Aleppo: Syriac Orthodox  Yohanna Ibrahim and Greek Orthodox Boulos Yazigi, who is also a brother of John X, the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch. Jean Aziz Aziz sums up the status quo for Al Monitor and asks some valid questions on this occasion: Fate of kidnapped Syrian bishops still unknown , by Jean Aziz, Al Monitor

With the advancement of the of the regime's campaign in the Qalamoun area, the Christian town of Ma‘lula has been retaken. The town is famous for it's monasteries and had been taken by rebel forces in September last year, when some nuns were also kidnapped. During the recent fighting four reporters of  Hizballah 's  al-Manar TV  were killed by rebels. Syrian Christians long to return to Maloula , by Roueida Mabardi, The Daily Star After Maaloula, Syrian army heads to Zabadani , by Jean Aziz, A l-Monitor Syria fighting leaves Maaloula, a historic Christian town, in ruins ,  b y Patrick J. McDonnell and Nabih Bulos, Los  Angeles Times

A version of this article first appeared on the Carnegie Endowment 's blog  Syria in Crisis  edited by Aron Lund   by Tobias Lang    Protests led by Druze religious sheikhs erupted in the city of Sweida in southern Syria around April 9. The province of Sweida has an overwhelming majority of Druze, a small religious minority that makes up around 3 percent of Syria’s population. Few Druze have so far participated in the protests against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and the Sweida region has accordingly been spared the worst of the civil war, even though fighting seems to have increased recently . At the beginning of the uprising, the Druze of Sweida generally adopted a more neutral stance. But with the growing prominence of Islamist forces within the opposition, attacks on Druze civilians by rebels, and sectarian manipulation by the regime, the Druze community has been increasingly pushed over to the regime’s side. The Druze Leaders...

Why Assad’s Foothold in the Golan Will Endure , by Daniel Stoker, Atlantic Council

I found this picture a while ago on a pro-Assad Druze Facebook site. I perfectly illustrates the cross-secterian narrative of the Assad-regime and carries some subtle and not so subtle messages, like a Christian iconography.  Beside of Bashar al-Assad we see here Sunni Grand Mufti of Syria Badr ad-Din Hasun (down right), Greek-Catholic (Melikite) Patriach Gregory Lahham (top right), an unidentified Shiite cleric who has similarities with Iraqi sayid Ammar al-Hakim (top center) and a Druze shaikh , maybe shaikh al-‘aql Hammud al-Hinnawi (top left). Credit for identiying goes to Aron Lund .

The Institute for Stydy of War has published an extremely detailed and well researchrd r eport on the engagement of Hizballah in Syria : Hezballah in Syria by Marisa Sullivan, Institute for Stydy of War

Fascinating report by Anne Bernard, the Beirut bureau chief of the New York Times, from Saiyida Zainab near Damascus, which houses the Shia shrine of the prophet Muhammad's granddaughter (or one of them to be exact). Protecting the shrine serves as a pretense for the involvement of Hizballah and Shia fighters from Iraq in Syria. Muslim Shrine Stands as a Crossroads in Syria’s Unrest   by Anne Bernard, The New York Times

Ignatius Aphrem II Karim ,  the newly elected patriarch of the Syriac Orthodox church, leaves little doubt which side he supports in the ongoing civil war in Syria: Syria's Al-Assad receives Syriac Orthodox Church's new patriarch   by  Sherry El-Gergawi, Al -Ahram Karim expressed his hope that security and peace would soon prevail in Syria, whose people he said were a shining example of national unity. He further asserted that the Syriac Orthodox Patriarchate supports the Syrian people’s struggle against terrorism and their right to self-determination away from the interference of any foreign side.

There are two more very interesting pieces out on the occasion of Hillal al-Assad's assassination : Who Was Hilal al-Assad? by Mohammad D., Syria Comment The Death of an Assad by Aron Lund , Syria in Crisis  Btw the rumours about the killing of his son Sulayman, which had circulated on Twitter during last week, turned out to be a hoax.

Map: Funerals of Hezbollah Fighters killed in Syria, as of 29 March 2014 by Hisham Ashkar. He localized no less than 313 funerals and has some other great work on bis Blog mostlyoff as well - strongly recommended.

Interview with  Tevan Poghosyan, a member of the Armenian parliament, who has just returned from Latakia (see also here  for a next interview). According to him the Armenian side has suffered no casualties and he renews the claims, that the attack on Kasab has been carried out in coordination with Turkey.

Mor Cyril Aphrem Karim , the Archbishop  for the Eastern United States, was elected as 123rd Patriarch of the Syriac Orthodox Church of Antioch. Upon his installation his name will be Ignatius Aphrem II Karim. The new Patriarch is relatively young (just 48) and was born in Qamishli, in Syria's Hasaka province. Judging by his statements in US-media, he is potentially regime leading.