MENA Minorities

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

At Syria Comment Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi provides a solid overview about current militia-related minority dynamics in Syria briefly touching Alawites (including muqawama as-Suriya ), Druze and Christians (in a SSNP- and an Assyrian context). Minority Dynamics in Syria by Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi, Syria Comment

Clashes broke out in Homs between the National Defence Forces (NDF) and militiamen of the Syrian Social Social Nationalist Party, who are both fighting on the side of the regime. With the increasing importance of militias for the regime, the factionalism of the former is increasing. This leads to the assumption, that such incidents might happen more frequently in the future, since the army (and the revolutionary guards) are extremely overstretched and find it difficult to control their allied militias. What makes this episode even more interesting is the sectarian component: while the NDF here is mostly Alawite, the SSNP in Homs and nearby Wadi an-Nasara ("Valley of the Christians") has a large Christian (mostly Greek Orthodox) following. Fighting among pro-Assad groups points to factional future by Lauren Williams, The Daily Star BEIRUT: Fierce clashes erupted between pro-Assad militias from the National Defense Forces and the Syrian Social Nationalist Party in Ho...

Al Monitor has a nice piece up shining light on the uncommon picture of Christians taking up arms in the Middle East, which is happening now in Syria. The author, Jihad El-Zein, has some interesting points: One of the ironies in this recent Syrian phenomenon is that the Syrian Social Nationalist Party (SSNP), the party that has traditionally been hostile to the Lebanese Kataeb Party, finds itself in the same position as the Kataeb. The Kataeb previously played the key role in the “fighting Christians” phenomenon in Lebanon from 1958 to 1990. And today, the SSNP is appearing as the “fighting Christians” party on the side of the Syrian regime. Of course, this phenomenon didn’t come from a vacuum. The SSNP in Syria has members of all sects, including some Sunnis. But traditionally, the party has spread among the Christian, Alawite and Druze elites (as have the Communist and Baath parties). The growing importance of the SSNP as a militia is definitely signific...