Syrian Alawites to Begin Five-Day Strike to Protest Gov’t Oppression
Sheikh Ghazal al-Ghazal issued a statement announcing the start of the general strike and a five-day closure from December 8 to 12, Al Mayadeen reported.
He said the strike will continue for five days, and that protesters will not leave their homes during this period as a peaceful response to the current situation.
Explaining the decision, Sheikh Ghazal said that the “day of fall” was expected to be the day of the end of tyranny, but what happened was the “fall of what remains of the homeland”; and that under the slogan of “freedom”.
He added that some are trying to force people to participate in a ceremony that is humiliating and arbitrary.
Sheikh Ghazal continued, “They (Ahmed al-Jolani government forces and affiliate militants) have arrested, killed, slaughtered, kidnapped and burned, and now they are threatening our livelihood with expulsion, transfer, oppression and intimidation to force us to participate in celebrations that are built on our blood and suffering.”
Sheikh Ghazal had previously said in an interview with Al-Mayadeen, “We will never accept a centralized political rule that slaughters us based on our identity.”
He added that “any aggression against the Alawite community will not go unanswered and they will not remain silent in the face of it.”
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Syria’s governing authorities have come under repeated criticism for failing to protect the minorities in the country.
Since the collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s government, the Israeli military has also been launching airstrikes against military installations, facilities, and arsenals belonging to Syria’s now-defunct army.
Israel has been widely condemned for the termination of the 1974 ceasefire agreement with Syria, and for exploiting the chaos in the Arab nation in the wake of Assad’s downfall to make a land grab.
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