Christmas events in Syria amid calls for minority-inclusive rule

DAMASCUS

People celebrate the lighting of the Christmas tree in the Druze-majority Jaramana area of the Damascus countryside on Dec. 22, 2024.

Syria’s Christian community is embracing a new sense of hope as it prepares for Christmas in the capital Damascus on Dec. 24 amid both concerns and calls for an inclusive government for minorities in country following the ouster of Bashar al-Assad.

Many are optimistic about a future marked by greater freedom of expression, stronger social cohesion and inclusivity, while some others raised concerns over the new rulers of Syria, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) movement, which rooted in Al-Qaeda.

HTS earlier maintained that the group will protect minorities and religious sects of Syria but has yet to call specifically for the protection for Christians ahead of the Christmas celebrations. Residents of the Syrian capital Damascus said that HTS has not imposed any limitations on celebrations or prayers this year.

Markets in the city center, illuminated with Christmas lights and trees, are bustling with activities for people of all ages. Visitors can be seen taking cheerful photos by the decorations, smiling and celebrating the season.

However, hundreds of demonstrators took to the streets in Christian areas of Damascus early on Dec. 24 to protest the burning of a Christmas tree near Hama in central Syria,.

"We demand the rights of Christians," protesters chanted as they marched through the Syrian capital towards the headquarters of the Orthodox Patriarchate in the Bab Sharqi neighborhood.

"If we're not allowed to live our Christian faith in our country, as we used to, then we don't belong here anymore," a protestor said.

The protests erupted after a video spread on social media showing hooded fighters setting fire to a Christmas tree in the Christian-majority town of Suqaylabiyah, near Hama.

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the fighters were foreigners from the Islamist group Ansar al-Tawhid.

In another video posted to social media, a religious leader from HTS addressed residents, claiming those who torched the tree were "not Syrian" and promising they would be punished.

"The tree will be restored and lit up by tomorrow morning,” he said.

Meanwhile, U.S. group Hostage Aid Worldwide said on Tuesday that it believes journalist Austin Tice, who went missing in Syria in 2012, is still alive, though it did not offer concrete information on his whereabouts.

"We have data that Austin is alive till January 2024, but the president of the U.S. said in August that he is alive, and we are sure that he is alive today," Hostage Aid Worldwide's Nizar Zakka said.

At a press conference in Damascus, Zakka showed an image he said indicated the locations where Tice had been held from November 2017 to February 2024.

In another development, the U.N. organization assisting in investigating the most serious crimes in Syria said the country’s new authorities were “very receptive” to its request for cooperation during a just-concluded visit to Damascus and it is preparing to deploy.