Panel Discussion Report – Navigating the Impact of Conflict on Syria’s Ethnic, Religious, and Tribal Communities: Towards Peace Formation
October 2024
On November 7th, 2024, Professor Raymond Hinnebusch, Director of the Centre for Syrian Studies at the University of St Andrews, chaired a panel discussion presenting the findings of the policy brief “Navigating the Impact of Conflict on Syria’s Ethnic, Religious, and Tribal Communities: Towards Peace Formation.” This publication, authored by Dr. Rana Khalaf, Dr. Haian Dukhan, and Thomas McGee, was commissioned by the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS) in Beirut. KAS is a German political foundation that promotes civic education and political participation through international cooperation and development.
The panel discussion took place just months before the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024.
This report was written by Maya Xuereb, a student in the Middle East, Central Asia, and Caucasus Security Studies (MLitt) Programme, and Lois Seese, a fourth-year undergraduate in International Relations and Arabic. Both are interns at of MECACS.
Dr Khalaf opened the discussion by examining Christian sectarianism, counter-sectarianism, and politically contested education in the city of Idlib. In her contribution Dr Khalaf provided an intersectional contextual understanding of the roles of Christian actors as both victims and perpetrators in the Syrian conflict. Meanwhile, in the context of peace formation, the privileges Christians enjoyed under the regime positioned them uniquely to provide humanitarian aid. The history of French colonial rule during Syria’s formation as a state was examined alongside the majority and minority groups that emerged.
Oral histories passed down through generations highlighted the Christian communities’ discrimination by the Ottomans under the Ahl ad-Dhimma system. What emerged were by experiences of being treated as second-class citizens. Most churches prioritised maintaining their cultural dominance over the community and relationship with the regime over community welfare. The report acknowledges positive instances of Muslim and Christian families exchanging homes in Damascus. While looking into intra-Christian agency, the security dilemma in Al-Hasakah presented an intriguing case faced by Christians in the region, characterised by an ethnic division between pro-regime and pro-Kurdish sentiments. This division, reinforced by housing laws from the Kurdish self-administration, further solidified the perceived threats to the rights of the Christian minority.
Idlib serves as a compelling case study of a city that accommodates internally displaced Arab and Sunni populations. At the same time it is an instructive reminder of how education remains a point of contention. Education plays a critical role in shaping meanings and worldviews, Dr Khalaf noted. This dynamic also elucidates the interest of the Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) administration, as the country’s de facto ruling authority, in directing their attention not only to controlling resources but also to establishing regulatory and constitutive rules. The current administration emphasises education as a source of hope, led by civil society initiatives and supported by international donations, going into child protection measures for internally displaced persons (IDPs), maternity leave for teachers, and resources for disabled students. Yet, planning for educational initiatives is primarily top-down; remedial assistance is offered for eight months before being withdrawn, making the support provided inconsistent and fragmented, which points towards key recommendation from the publication that is to support the sustainable funding allocation for teachers’ incomes and curriculum.
Dr Dukhan’s contribution centred on the issue of homogeneity within the region of Sweida and its Druze community. He discussed the historical neutrality of the Druze community in Sweida during the 2011 Syrian revolution and the shift towards a strong anti-regime sentiment over the past two years. In the report, Dr Dukhan highlighted the collective historical memory of past oppression that had shaped the community’s cautious stance, for example from Adib Shishakli’s brutal military campaign against the Druze in the mid-twentieth century. More recently, security and economic grievances prompted the community’s shift in neutrality, such as the government’s failure to protect the Druze community during the 2018 ISIS insurgency and the 2023 decision to eliminate fuel subsidies, which caused a 140% increase in prices that had consequently devastated the Druze agricultural sector. Novel initiatives for peace within the Druze community centre on cultural and spiritual leaders along with a general emphasis on Druze culture and heritage, supported by international solidarity through social media during the 2011 Spring. The impact of the war resulted in a contestation of traditional spiritual leaders within the Druze community, as militia leaders began to gain influence, heightening the security dilemma faced by the Druze in the civil war.
Dr Dukhan added that in Sweida, the relationship between the Druze community, Deir ez-Zor, and the ‘cadre’ self-administration had dramatically evolved, with a shift in the Druze community’s reality as a religious minority propelling their decision to take to the streets and protest against the regime for the subsequent two years. Their perception of the government was initially shaped by its self-portrayal as a protector of minority rights against Islamist threats. The rendering of their decision towards neutrality had come down to representation of the conflict being between the Sunni and Shiites that would, in this narrative, therefore exclude the community. This perception was rooted in historical experiences and memories of past suppression at the hands of previous leaders, such as Adib Shishakli, who led a military campaign against the Druze community; collective memory played a huge role in their neutral position. He highlights the economic motives behind the shift towards the protest movement, which was driven by severe economic challenges. Security failure and trust in government had eroded after the 2018 ISIS attacks on Sweida resulted in a high number of casualties within the community; the failure from the Syrian government had contributed to a profound sense of insecurity and betrayal to awaken from the ‘legitimacy belief’ that the regime is the protector of minorities.
The assassination of Sheik Wahid al-Balous, a prominent Druze leader and Assad critic who had lobbied for the national cause of the community, led to the rise of criminal gangs connected to the security apparatus of the Syrian regime.
The military conscription among the Druze youth has created significant unrest, fear, and a sense of entrapment in Sweida. Dr Dukhan noted an important shift among the spiritual leaders in Sweida; one of the primary leaders announced his public criticism of government policies and support for the protesters, who had united to galvanise the community against the regime. The novel initiatives for peace formation within the Druze community are centred on cultural and spiritual leaders and a general emphasis on Druze culture and heritage, with international support and solidarity expressed through social media during the 2011 Spring. The impact of the war has led to a contestation of traditional spiritual leaders within the Druze community, as militia leaders began to gain influence, which heightened the security dilemma faced by the Druze during the civil conflict. A case study examined this shift and the initiatives for peace formation at this level, demonstrating how civil society has been crucial in Sweida’s protest movement. Efforts to seek international solidarity were expressed through cultural activities and social media, as discussed in the report, with events aimed at representing heritage and conveying symbolic messages to draw global attention. The impact of the Syrian civil war has fostered a sense of unity in opposition to the regime, involving intellectuals, farmers, former government employees, and elites; cohesion was a vital element in the war’s influence on the Druze community in Syria.
In sum, contested authority has put pressure on traditional spiritual leaders in the Druze community. Local militia leaders have begun to gain influence and challenge the authority of spiritual leaders who once played a central role in guiding the community. The security dilemma in the Druze community intensified following the 2018 ISIS attack. They took matters into their own hands, which increased tensions with various factions and the Syrian government. The push for greater self-reliance in security resulted in a heightened dependence on force through militarisation. Armed groups emerged, and the traditional peaceful way of life shifted towards reliance on force.
Similar to Dr. Khalaf’s findings, Mr Thomas McGee spoke on the importance of sectarian rhetoric in the Afrin and Deir ez-Zor regions. Deir ez-Zor holds an Arab-majority community, although it is Kurdish-led. Mcgee explores the interplay between resources -namely the eleven major oil fields of the region –and the success of local actors and the impact on the non-homogenous community of Deir ez-Zor. Similarly, the Afrin region is politically geared towards the Kurds, though it is an Arab majority. The case of housing, land, and property (HLP) disputes in Afrin, rather than resources, exemplifies the conflict-induced disputes that seem to be framed around identity and impacts the “social fabrication and intercommunal relations.”