🕊️ The Ordeal of the Druze in Syria: Between Decentralisation and Institutionalised Secession

The Druze community in Syria now faces a severe trial that threatens its very existence and destiny. This ordeal has arisen from the convergence of three intertwined and contradictory factors. The first is the emergence of a emerging authority in Damascus, one with a jihadist-Salafi background that embraces narrow sectarian orientations. Its political and administrative decisions reflect this bias: a presidential and centralised system, appointments to sovereign and security posts based on loyalty rather than competence, and from a single colour. Power is concentrated in the hands of the transitional leader, signalling an authoritarian trajectory.

The second factor is the stance of the Druze spiritual leadership, particularly Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri, and a significant segment of the community’s cultural and political elite. Their orientations diverge sharply, even diametrically, from those of the emerging authority. The third factor is the geopolitical contest among regional and international powers over influence in Syria. This struggle has crystallised into two broad currents: one calling for stability through the preservation of Syria’s territorial unity, a single state, a single authority, and a single army, supported by Arab states, Turkey, and the United States; the other seeking to transform Syria into a fragile entity built on sectarian apportionment, easily manipulated in its choices and decisions, a vision espoused by Israel and currents within Iran and its Iraqi militias. From Political Dispute to Armed Confrontation The Druze leadership’s demand for pluralism and participation first sparked political debate, before sliding into bloody confrontations that left hundreds dead, thousands wounded, and inflicted heavy losses on Druze and Bedouin property alike.

Waves of displacement followed, with villagers fleeing to the provincial centre and Bedouin expelled from their lands. Notably, security troops and Bedouin auxiliaries abducted dozens of Druze, including women, and transported them outside the province. The clashes subsided only after Israel intervened militarily on behalf of the Druze, under pressure from Sheikh Muwaffaq Tarif, the spiritual head of the Druze in Palestine. Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri, together with civilian and armed forces figures, capitalised on the bloodshed and destruction to stoke hostility against Damascus. In fact, he moved from demanding administrative decentralisation within a pluralist system to calling for autonomy, and ultimately to advocating the establishment of an independent Druze entity.

This demand was accompanied by appeals for international protection, specifically from Israel. His followers raised Israeli flags during protests, invoked the biblical name “Mount Bashan” for Jabal al-Arab, and even paraded images of Benjamin…