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There are rising fears amongst some in Syria that the federal government of President Ahmed al-Sharaa has the purpose of clamping down on the rights and freedoms of its civilians by selling a extra conservative interpretation of Islam.
Native authorities in Syria’s capital, Damascus, lately banned eating places and bars from promoting alcohol in most components of town. Solely venues within the majority-Christian neighborhoods of Damascus can be allowed to proceed to promote alcohol, however just for takeaway. The transfer sparked minor protests all through the capital, with security forces despatched in to take care of order.
“What you are seeing is strain from one a part of Syrian society, the clerics and kind of harder-line Islamists who’ve a imaginative and prescient, an Islamist imaginative and prescient of how Syrian society ought to be,” Robert Ford, former ambassador to Syria, instructed Fox Information Digital. Syria’s short-term structure is guided by Islamic legislation.
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Christians collect to rejoice Christmas on the Monastery of Our Girl of Saydnaya in Syria on Dec. 24, 2024. (Ali Haj Suleiman/Getty Pictures)
Syria’s social affairs minister, Hind Kabawat, a Christian and the one girl in al-Sharaa’s cupboard, pushed again on the concept that alcohol can solely be consumed in Christian neighborhoods.
“Our neighborhoods will not be locations for alcohol, however the coronary heart of Damascus,” she mentioned in a Fb publish.
“The power of our nation is in its range, and any radical, extremist voice will trigger our nation’s weak point,” she added.
In response to the outcry, Damascus authorities walked again the ban, saying that alcohol purchases might stay in locations essential for tourism, akin to lodges and sure eating places.
The transfer is a big departure for on a regular basis Syrians dwelling in Damascus, the place alcohol was available in bars and eating places for many years, even underneath the authoritarian and oppressive rule of former dictator Bashar al-Assad.
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“Steps like these, which restrict freedoms in Syria, are worrying. Once they have occurred removed from Damascus, the central authorities can argue that it lacks adequate management. However it’s notably significant to see such steps in Damascus since President al-Sharaa dominates there,” Mara Karlin, a former Division of Protection official and professor at Johns Hopkins College of Superior Worldwide Research (SAIS), instructed Fox Information Digital.
“If he’s pushing an Islamist Syria, then it calls into query how a lot he’s transferring past his historical past,” Karlin added.
Al-Sharaa, who led the Islamist insurgent group Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) to victory over Assad, has been on a global attraction offensive since taking energy, visiting international capitals and reintegrating Syria into the worldwide neighborhood.
The Eagles of Antioch protest in Damascus following the burning of a Christmas tree by extremists throughout Christmas 2024. (Obtained by Fox Information)
President Trump even endorsed al-Sharaa, who first met with him in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in Could 2025 and once more in November 2025 when Trump hosted him at the White House, the primary time a Syrian chief had visited the White Home because the nation gained independence in 1946.
Karlin, who testified earlier than the Home International Affairs Committee in February on the challenges facing Syria after the autumn of Assad, mentioned that, whereas the Syrian authorities does embody former jihadists, they’ve been largely pragmatic and non-ideological of their governance.
She famous, nonetheless, that their attain past Damascus is weak and restricted.
“There have been some troubling cases of restrictions on ladies’s freedom, for instance, and indicators akin to these advantage shut scrutiny for proof of the Syrian authorities’s affect and beliefs.”
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President Donald Trump meets with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa on the White Home on Nov. 10, 2025. (Syrian Presidency/Anadolu)
Ford, who was the final U.S. ambassador in Damascus in 2011, burdened that al-Sharaa will not be a democrat and doubtless wish to impose components of an Islamist imaginative and prescient on Syria, however has thus far held again since overthrowing the Assad regime in 2024.
The ordinances in Damascus and elsewhere are imposed by native officers, however these officers are instantly tied to the federal government and are loyal to al-Sharaa and certain assist an Islamist imaginative and prescient for Syria.
Some fear the ban on alcohol might hurt Syria’s fragile post-conflict reconstruction, notably at a time when al-Sharaa is making an attempt to reintegrate Syria into the world economic system and rebuild the nation’s tourism sector.
The World Financial institution estimated Syria’s reconstruction prices are about $216 billion after practically 14 years of civil struggle. Syria’s minister of tourism beforehand mentioned the nation will want at the least $100 million over the following seven years to rebuild the tourism trade.
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Alcohol isn’t the one goal of some native authorities in Syria. Officers within the port metropolis of Latakia in February banned ladies from sporting make-up at work. One other city exterior Damascus prohibited males from working in feminine outfitters to uphold public decency.
Ford mentioned though a number of the native ordinances are a trigger for concern, it’s a home challenge, and Syrians should decide the role of religion in post-Assad Syria.
THE Related Press contributed to this text.
