Most of the villages and towns of As-Suwayda Governorate in southern Syria responded to the protestors’ “Al-Fazaa” call to join the demonstration today, Friday, in Al-Seer Square in the city of As-Suwayda, where thousands of residents of the province participated in anti-government protests in Damascus, for the sixth day in a row.
It was reported that thousands of citizens flocked to the city of As-Suwayda from the towns and villages of the governorate, while others gathered in the town of Al-Qurayya at the tomb of Sultan Pasha al-Atrash and the martyrs of the Syrian Revolution in 1925, where Sheikh al-Aql Hammoud al-Hinnawi joined the protesters, who delivered a speech in the guesthouse of Sultan Pasha al-Atrash, in which he stressed the The protests are peaceful, and that the people of Jabal Druze are advocates of peace, love and dignity, and everything is harnessed for the sake of the homeland. He said that “the nation, the homeland, and the citizen are an indivisible whole,” in denying the accusation of sectarian demonstrations in the Druze-majority As-Suwayda. He affirmed the keenness of the sheikhdom of the mind on all the sons of the Syrian homeland, and not just the sons of As-Suwayda.
Local sources in Jabal Al-Arab told Asharq Al-Awsat that Sheikh Al-Aql Hammoud Al-Hinnawi is one of three clerics (Sheikhs of Aql) who enjoy strong influence in As-Suwayda. The start of the general strike in As-Suwayda, on Sunday, to an “irreversible pause,” and Sheikh Al-Aql Yusuf Jarbou, who supported the popular movement within the limits of living demands, and avoided confrontation with the regime; In order to preserve the integrity of Jabal Al-Arab, according to what emerged from a statement he delivered at the conclusion of a meeting of the Sheikh of the Mind, in the shrine of Ain Al-Zaman, last Thursday. However, Sheikh Yusef Jarbou’s statement was not welcomed among the demonstrators, who insisted on chanting “the regime’s departure” today, Friday.
A side of the protests in Busra al-Sham today, Friday (AFP)
Video clips broadcasted by activists on social media documented the size of the major demonstration that took place on Friday, the sixth day of the protests, in Al-Seer Square in As-Suwayda. The circulated images also showed remarkable female participation in most of the protests that took place in the governorate.
The demonstrators responded to criticism about raising the flag of the Druze community in the protests, explaining that it bears a sectarian and regional tendency, and may indicate a separatist tendency. A resident of the city of Salkhad, which belongs to the As-Suwayda governorate, said in a video clip broadcast by the “Suwayda 24” website, that the sect’s flag is “a symbol of the dignity and pride of the people of the mountain, and that their revolution today is not a revolution of the hungry, but rather a revolution of dignity and does not concern As-Suwayda alone, but all Syria”.
On Friday, demonstrators raised the flag of the Syrian opposition (the flag of the revolution), for the first time, in Seer Square, in addition to the five-color flag of the Druze community: green, symbolizing nature and land, red symbolizing courage, yellow symbolizing light and culture, and blue symbolizing purity and decency. And white symbolizes brotherhood and peace.
The demonstrators swore in Al-Seer Square to remain united, hand in hand, with all Syrians.
Solidarity with the As-Suwayda protests near Lubb Al-Luz in rural Idlib on Thursday (EPA)
Demonstrations also took place in the countryside of Aleppo (in the north of the country), in which the flags of the Druze community were raised. An expression of solidarity with the demonstrators in As-Suwayda. Pictures broadcast by activists on social media showed demonstrations that took place in Atarib, west of Aleppo, and Marea, north of Aleppo, in which the Druze flag was raised alongside the flag of the Syrian revolution. The flag of the revolution was raised and the demand for “the regime’s departure” was raised.
On the other hand, loyalists to the Syrian regime tried to launch pro-regime rallies in the city of Tartous on the Syrian coast. Video clips showed cars leaving Tartous, in a support rally called for by those close to the regime.
And in the Umayyad Square in Damascus, loyalists of the regime raised pictures of President Bashar al-Assad, before the start of a march of cars that managed to block traffic in the square for a short time, without leaving a significant trace in the exhausted capital under the pressure of living.
Since the beginning of the week, the governorates of Daraa and As-Suwayda have been witnessing demonstrations and protests calling for the departure of the regime, the release of detainees, and the implementation of UN Resolution 2254. During the past two days, the protests expanded to reach the countryside of Deir ez-Zor (east) and the countryside of Aleppo (north).
In another context, the Syrian Ministry of Defense warned that “some suspicious websites and pages, linked to the circles of aggression and conspiracy, are trying to sow chaos and influence the morale of the army and the people, by spreading false news and misleading information related to our armed forces.” The ministry did not explain the reason for this warning.
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2023-08-25 15:27:22
