MENA Minorities

In case you didn't know, Lebanese Hizballah has branched out in Syria. Now the Syrian branch has received a kinda official status by the regime-another sign for the rising influence of Iran on the regime. Ancient diplomat Ignace Levierr provides an analyses for Le Monde , where he operates the blog Un oeil sur la Syrie (which you should read on a regular basis if your French is better than mine). Le Hizbollah syrien prend un caractère officiel by Ignace Leverrier, Le Mond Blog / Un oeil sur la Syrie

An article from  The Syrian Observer about the Idlib Druze   was sent to  me by different sides l ast week . Information on this tiny community is rare these days - in fact I have not read a piece about them since the piece I published on MENA Minorities with Rami About Diab a year ago. Since  then I have refrained from writing an update - the information is too vague. So I was looking forward to read about it in the Observer, even though the title made me raise an eyebrow. The Druze of Idleb: An Example of Positive Coexistence by Yahya Alous, The Syrian Observer Idleb's Druze decided to stay and adapt to the newly emerging situation and go on with their day-to-day life like before Life in the Druze villages in Idleb goes on nearly as normal. This reality has put an end to fears about the impossibility of coexistence under the new conditions arising in the area since the regime lost control of it. The Druze are traveling between opp...

The Assad Regime Under Stress: Conscription and Protest among Alawite and Minority Populations in Syria by Christopher Kozak, Institute for the Study of War

Syria Comment has an interesting piece about the Syrian Social Nationalist Party (SSNP) by Joel Veldkamp . The auther provides much information I have  been totally unaware of myself and portrays the party much as a Christian militia nowadays (even though the party is secular and one of its two main branches is led by Alawite state minister ʿA li Haidar). I really hope for a part 2 since many questions about the SSNP in contemporary Syria remain. Resurgence of the SSNP in Syria: An Ideological Opponent of the Regime Gets a Boost from the Conflict by Joel Veldkamp, Syria Comment

Recently the Israeli Druze have gained the attention of national and international media. This has mainly two reasons: The tragic death of two members of the community in the recent terror attacks in Jerusalem and  Muslim-Druze violence in the Galilee village of Abu Snan .  Jadan As'ad (who is related to former Knesset-member As'ad As'ad), a border policeman from the village of Bait Jann, was killed when a Palestinian driver slammed into a light rail station on November 5. The other, Zidan Saif a policofficer from the village of Yanuh, was killed while he tried to rescue the inmates of the synagogue in Har Hof during the terror attack on November 18. His funeral was that of a national hero with hundrets of Haredim and President Reuven Rivlin in attendence. Additionally, in the mixed village of Abu Snan (one of the few with a Muslim majority and a Druze minority) clashes between Muslim and Druze youth occured, which led to wounding 41 people. The Druze side was using l...

The first is a mere brief article in Foreign Affairs , which aims to present the Alawite community as a non-monolithic. The author argues, that even though discontent is growing "Assad still has the support he needs from Alawite families". I want to add that reports about sporadic tensions are circulating are not so new, they have been circulating at least for over two years. Not Alright With Syria's Alawites by Oula Abdulhamid Alrifai, Foreign Affairs The second is a recent academic article, which pretty much summarizes the existing scholarly work and discusses the  change of Alawite identity from the Ottomans over the French to the current state. There is not much in depth  research on the Alawites, which makes this piece even more valuable (found on Twitter via  @aron_ld ). Sectarianism in Alawi Syria: Exploring theParadoxes of Politics and Religion by Aslam Farouk-Alli, Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, Vol. 34, 3 2014.

Below are the videos (it's both English and German) of the recent conference " Where is the Middle East heading?  Ethno-religious minorities between persecution and self-determination" which was jointly organized by the Moses Mendelssohn Center at the University of Posdam, the Orient Institut Beirut and the Lepsiushaus Potsdam. The conference was hold at the European Academy Berlin: My presentation in German about the current situation of the Druze in Syria starts at 2:35:00 Keynote : Nationalism, nation-states, minority rights, and historical identities in the post-Ottoman space Panel I : Frühes 20. Jahrhundert, Erster Weltkrieg und Neugliederung des Nahen Ostens/Early 20th century, World War 1 and new order in the Middle East Panel II Part1 & Part: 2 Minderheiten, Verfolgung und politische Interaktion/Minorities, persecution and political interaction Panel III : Minderheiten, Konflikte und neue Einflüsse/Minorities, conflicts and ne...

An interesting series of first hand reports about the developments in Suwaida between 2011 and 2013 can be found at Al-Jumhuriya . It‘s a rare source and strongly recommended for everyone who has an interest in Syria's minorities. The articles are a preview of a forthcoming reader on minorities in Syria since 2011 by the German Friedrich Ebert Stiftung , which will present accounts from members of various communities. Sweida: The Static Revolution by Mazen Ezzi part 2 part 3