Thousands of Alawites have fled to Lebanon following sectarian killings on the Syrian coast. Local residents are springing into action, while some fear a spillover of violence.
A tense calm hangs over Jableh, while sectarian tensions remain following extrajudicial killings and property destruction during confrontations between pro-Assad fighters and government forces in the diverse coastal city.
As HTS-led security forces pursue former regime personnel in coastal areas, sectarian rhetoric circulates online, prompting locals to call for a distinction between “the Alawite sect and the Assadist sect.”
When Suwayda’s protest movement began in August 2023, it met with echoes on the Syrian coast, where “a chorus of individual voices” openly criticized the regime from a region considered Assad’s base. But while Suwayda’s uprising continues, the voice of the coast has waned. Why?
