ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The spiritual leader of Syria’s Druze community, Hikmat al-Hajari, on Thursday firmly denied claims that Syrian Druze have struck a deal with the country’s new leadership, accusing the current government in Damascus of being "extremist in every sense of the word."
In a meeting with the local community in Syria's southern Suwayda province, Hajari stated that the new government in Damascus is "an extremist government in every sense of the word” and is “wanted by international [courts of] justice." He emphasized that dealing with such a leadership is something the Druze community cannot “approach with leniency.”
Following a swift offensive, a coalition of rebel groups led by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) - headed by Ahmed al-Sharaa - on December 8 toppled the regime of dictator Bashar al-Assad.
Sharaa was appointed as Syria’s interim President in late January. Around that same period, the country’s constitution was annulled, its parliament was dissolved and its army disbanded. Sharaa then vowed to form an “inclusive transitional government that would reflect Syria's diversity,” hold "free and fair elections," and preserve "civil peace" and Syria’s territorial unity.
In recent days, Syrian media reported that the Damascus leadership had struck an agreement “to organize administrative and security affairs in Suwayda,” and that the accord “would allow security forces affiliated with the new Syrian leadership to enter the Druze-majority province and restore state institutions.
However, the spiritual leader of Syria’s Druze community, Hajari, denied on Thursday having reached such an agreement, stating that “there is no entente or understanding with the current government in Damascus” and that “we are working for the interest of our sect, and every sect [in Syria] is strong in its men, cadres and national ideology.”
Druze commander censures interim constitution
Syria’s interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa on Thursday signed a 53-article constitutional declaration that centers on Islamic jurisprudence, stipulates that the country’s president must be a Muslim, and sets a five-year transitional period of the country. It also maintains the name of the country as the Syrian “Arab” Republic and Arabic as the only official language.
Speaking to Rudaw’s Dilbixwin Dara on Thursday, the commander of the Druze operations in Suwayda, Bahaa al-Jamal, rejected the new constitutional declaration as “not accepted” by Syria’s Druze community.
He added that the Druze in Syria “do not accept the constitutional declaration,” stressing that “any political or legal arrangement must be approved by the spiritual leader of the Druze community [Hajari].” He further noted that the Druze “ought to have been included” in the effort to present the declaration as “members of Suwayda province and the Syrian people’s constituents.”
Jamal also claimed that the Druze community does not recognize Sharaa as president, “We will recognize a president of the republic after [he is elected] through fair elections. We do not recognize a terrorist.”
The operations commander of the Druze additionally commented on the violence that erupted in the Alawite-majority coastal areas of western Syria last Thursday, when loyalists of the ousted dictator Assad, launched attacks against security forces affiliated with the new Syrian leadership.
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, reported on Monday that around 1,500 people - mostly civilians - were killed in the violence and that most of the fatalities were caused by government or government-affiliated forces.
Jamal condemned the “massacres” that unfolded in Syria’s western coast, stressing that “they are unarmed civilians” and “not remnants of the [Assad] regime as Sharaa and the HTS claim.” He added that the violence in the Alawite-majority coast is fueling security concerns among other communities in Syria, stressing that the Druze “are prepared, we have thousands of military personnel, however, we will not initiate the first attack. But if we come under military attack… we have the right to defend ourselves.”
Where the Druze stand
The Druze make up around three percent of Syria’s entire population of 23.6 million, mainly residing in Suwayda, according to the European Union data.
Apart from defending themselves against attacks in the areas where they live, Syrian Druze have largely distanced themselves from the Syrian unrest that began in 2011, with many of them avoiding compulsory military service under Assad. The former regime avoided clashes with the community despite frequent anti-government protests.
Following the ouster of the Assad regime, the Druze – along with the Kurdish-controlled northeast Syria (Rojava) – have adamantly called for decentralization, despite Damascus rejecting federalism. Druze armed and political forces in Suwayda have repeatedly reiterated their rejection of disbanding their forces.
Samir Azzam, the Coordinator of the Association of Secular Democratic Syrians, a Druze political group based in Suwayda province, told Rudaw on Wednesday that “the people of Suwayda were protesting a week ago over the poverty and loss of hope under the [current] Islamic regime [in Damascus], expelling Sharaa's representative in the province, along with the police chief he appointed."
Azzam also censured a Tuesday meeting between Sharaa and a group of individuals described by the state-run Syrian News Agency (SANA) as “a group of intellectuals and academics” representing the Druze community, noting that “these people only represent themselves and have no popular support in Suwayda.”
The Coordinator of the Association of Secular Democratic Syrians further insisted that Syrian Druze want “a secular civil state or a decentralized state,” and that “after Damascus accepts decentralization… discussions or negotiations can take place to reach a political solution.” Accordingly, Azzam ruled out an agreement between the Druze community and the Sharaa-led leadership in Damascus any time soon.
It is worth mentioning that Suwayda Governorate, located in the south of the country, had distanced itself from the conflict throughout the years of civil war, as thousands of its young men refused to join the military service imposed by the previous regime.
Until now, some armed factions in the governorate, which had prevented the entry of security forces from the new administration weeks ago, refused to hand over their weapons until a final agreement is reached with Damascus.
Israel has also intervened, pledging to protect the Druze from any attack in southern Syria, which has angered the people of those areas, especially since Israeli forces have expanded their incursions since December of the previous year into several border cities.
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