By Amr Abdallah
DAMASCUS (Reuters) – Syrian Christians attended Christmas spiritual providers on Tuesday for the primary time because the overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad in early December, in a primary check of the brand new Islamist leaders’ commitments to defending minority rights nuns of the nation. .
The service occurred beneath tight safety on account of fears of violence in opposition to Christian websites, with a number of vans belonging to the now-ruling Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) parked across the church.
The pews on the Girl of Damascus Church within the Syrian capital have been stuffed with a combined congregation of younger and outdated, holding candles as hymns crammed the air and echoed by way of the church.
Hours earlier than the service, a whole bunch of protesters gathered in Damascus to denounce an incident wherein a Christmas tree was burned within the northern countryside of Hama governorate in west-central Syria.
Carrying wood crosses, they chanted “We’re your troopers, Jesus,” “With our blood and soul we sacrifice ourselves for Jesus” and “The Syrian persons are one.”
Protester Laila Farkouh mentioned: “We’re demonstrating to demand our rights and denounce… the burning of the Christmas tree and the assaults on church buildings… We don’t settle for this.”
De facto chief Ahmed al-Sharaa advised Christians and different teams that they might be protected in a Syria run by his HTS, a former al-Qaeda affiliate.
Though he himself is a former chief of the Sunni Islamist group, which views Christians as infidels, Sharaa rapidly ditched his jihadist uniform and opted for enterprise fits in his current appearances.
He advised visiting Western officers that HTS wouldn’t search revenge in opposition to the previous Assad regime, whose prime officers have been primarily from the Alawite Islamic sect, nor would it not repress some other spiritual minorities.
However many Christians nonetheless have to be satisfied.
The burning of the Christmas tree is one in every of many incidents concentrating on Christians because the fall of the regime.
On December 18, unidentified gunmen opened hearth on a Greek Orthodox church within the city of Hama, coming into the grounds and trying to destroy a cross and break headstones at a cemetery, the ministry mentioned. church in a press launch.
In one other incident, Reuters journalists noticed a number of SUVs driving by way of Bab Touma, a predominantly Christian neighborhood in Damascus, blaring jihadist chants from their loudspeakers.
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