Editorials

The Irish Times view on protests in Syria: pressure on the Assad regime

The resurgence of street opposition is the first significant movement since the brutal crushing of the Arab Spring uprising in 2011 which led to a civil war claiming some 500,000 lives

People protest in the Syria's southern city of Sweidalast Friday. The protests in Sweida province, the heartland of the country's Druze minority, began after President Bashar al-Assad's government ended fuel subsidies last month, dealing a heavy blow to Syrians reeling from war and a crippling economic crisis. (Photo by Sam Hariri / AFP)
People protest in the Syria's southern city of Sweidalast Friday. The protests in Sweida province, the heartland of the country's Druze minority, began after President Bashar al-Assad's government ended fuel subsidies last month, dealing a heavy blow to Syrians reeling from war and a crippling economic crisis. (Photo by Sam Hariri / AFP)
Sun Sept 03 2023 - 21:20

A remarkable protest movement has ignited in Syria’s southern province of Suwayda. Initially local anger focused on government cuts to petrol subsidies and the economic plight of 90 per cent of the population described by the UN as below the poverty line. The local currency has collapsed, leading to soaring prices for food and basic supplies. Now demonstrators, no longer cowed by the brutal regime, are also calling for the removal of president Bashar al-Assad.

Protests have also spread to the cities of Damascus, Aleppo, Azaz and the coastal provinces of Latakia and Tartus. These are all government-held areas, far from the front lines of the war in the northwest where there is still sporadic fighting with opposition forces and US-backed Syrian Kurdish fighters

In Suwayda, a city of more than 100,000 people, which is home to the Druze religious minority, most public institutions shut down, public transport ground to a halt and many businesses were only partially open. Demonstrators held up signs citing a UN Security Council resolution demanding a transitional government, or calling for the release of thousands of those forcibly disappeared by the Syrian security apparatus. The ruling Baath party offices were forced to close.

The resurgence of street opposition is the first significant movement since the brutal crushing of the Arab Spring uprising in 2011 which led to an internationalised civil war claiming some 500,000 lives. For five decades the Assad family has ruled with a rod of iron in the face of international sanctions and isolation, dependent on Russia and Iran to survive. But now it is under pressure.

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Assad has claimed to be a protector of the country’s religious minorities and so the support by Druze religious leaders for the protests poses particular challenges to him. Unrest in other parts of the country, however, represent an even greater threat, especially in the strongholds of the Alawite community to which he belongs and on whose support he depends. Here the government response has featured arrests and violence.