Scores of Syrian Christians protested within the capital Damascus on Tuesday, demanding larger protections for his or her spiritual minority after a Christmas tree was set on fireplace within the metropolis of Hama a day earlier.
Lots of the insurgents who now rule Syria are jihadis, though Ahmad al-Sharaa, the chief of the primary insurgent group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), has renounced longtime ties to al-Qaeda and spent years depicting himself as a champion of pluralism and tolerance.
It stays unclear who set the Christmas tree on fireplace on Monday, an act that was condemned by a consultant of HTS who visited the city and addressed the group.
“This act was dedicated by people who find themselves not Syrian, and they are going to be punished past your expectations,” the consultant mentioned in a video extensively shared on social media.
“The Christmas tree might be absolutely restored by this night.”
On Tuesday, protesters marched by means of the streets of Bab Touma, a neighbourhood in Damascus, shouting slogans in opposition to overseas fighters and carrying giant wood crosses.
“We demand that Syria be for all Syrians. We would like a voice in the way forward for our nation,” mentioned Patriarch Ignatius Aphrem II of the Syriac Orthodox Church as he addressed the gang in a church courtyard, assuring them of Christians’ rights in Syria.
Since HTS led a swift offensive that overthrew former president Bashar al-Assad earlier this month, Syria’s minority communities have been on edge, unsure of how they are going to be handled below the rising rebel-led authorities.
“We’re right here to demand a democratic and free authorities for one folks and one nation,” one other protester mentioned. “We stand united — Muslims and Christians. No to sectarianism.”
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