Sunnis Threatening to Massacre Minority Alawites

[NeutralCitizen]

As the civil war in Syria continues and the ethnic tension is rising, the country’s Sunnis are threatening the Alawite minority against their continued support of President Bashar Assad, who is an Alawite himself.

Mamoun al-Homsy, a former Syrian MP and one of the country’s opposition leaders, has reportedly recently distributed a recorded message to the Alawite community in Syria, in which he warns its members against supporting Assad.

In the message, al-Homsy called on the Alawites to immediately renounce Assad, warning them that if they do not do so, “Syria will become the graveyard of the Alawites.”

He also stressed that Syria’s Sunni Muslims “will not remain silent” over Assad’s crimes, adding that they intend to abide by the rule of “an eye for an eye” and will “teach you (Alawites) a lesson that you will not forget.”

Meanwhile, the Lebanese-based As-Safir newspaper has reported that the U.S. government is well aware of the danger of widespread revenge against the Alawite minority in Syria after the expected downfall of the Assad regime.

According to the newspaper, this issue was the focus of the talks that were held between U.S. Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, and Syrian opposition leaders in Switzerland on December 6.

The report, which published the protocol of the talks, said that Clinton urged the Syrian National Council, which the U.S. recognizes as the legitimate representative of the Syrian people, to work for unity and promise to act to protect minorities after the overthrow of the Assad government.

Meanwhile, opposition sources in Syria said Thursday that a top Syrian army general, Mustapha a-Sheikh, has abandoned his post. A-Sheikh is in charge of chemical weapons deployment in eastern Syria. According to the sources, a-Sheikh escaped over the border into Turkey in recent days.

A-Sheikh's defection came on the background of what opposition activists said was an increasing frustration among many army soldiers at being deployed to fight against Syrian citizens.

Also on Thursday, the Arab League sent an advance team to Syria to prepare for the arrival of observers who will monitor Assad’s compliance regime with the League's demand to end clashes with opposition forces.

The 10-member team, headed by top League official Samir Seif al-Yazal, includes financial, administrative and legal experts, according to the Reuters news agency, and is tasked with ensuring the monitors will have open access and be able to move freely about the country.

 

[Agni5000]

And some people here talk about Umaha

 

[NeutralCitizen]

Rather the Alwaties are not seen as Muslims by the conservatives many Pakistani's on this forum could be placde in the category of those conservatives, I see the Alwaties similar to the Baathist of Iraq, Alwaties consider themselves Muslim however Conservative Sunni's don't see them as Muslims, you could compare the Alwaties to ahmadyis of Pakistan.

 

[NeutralCitizen]

Syria also has a growing Radicalism of it's Sunni's similar to that of Pakistan, the fact is Hafez al-Assad constructed a minority system, with Christians, Druze and Ismailis, to rule over a Sunni Muslim country, however majority of the sunnis in Syria are very Conservative. Sectarianism Violence could occur unless a solution is found.

 

[NeutralCitizen]

And they should. Alwaites have killed too many innocent Sunnis in Syria. Down with Assad.

Yes the situation is very much similar to that of pakistan, Syria could end up being another pakistan, due to the Rising radicalism of the current Sunni Population.

 

[NeutralCitizen]

The clannishness, secrecy and tenacity of Syria's power elite around President Bashar al-Assad are hallmarks of the enigmatic Alawite faith that unites its members and arouses suspicion among the majority Sunnis.

An oppressed minority for most of their history, Alawites suddenly took control in Syria in 1970 when Assad's father Hafez staged a coup that sidelined the Sunnis. He built a ferocious security apparatus based on fellow Alawite officers.

This year's bloody struggle between Assad's forces and pro-democracy protesters, which has cost thousands of lives, splits the country along a minority-majority gulf made deeper by the fact many Sunnis call Alawites heretics and apostates.

"The political animosities have developed over the past 41 years that the Assads have been in power, but the religious animosities go back many centuries," said Mohamad Bazzi, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York. Like most other Arab countries, Syria has seen conservative Islam spreading in recent decades. This has sharpened Sunni differences with the Alawites, who claim to be mainline Shi'ites and sometimes copy Sunni practices to play down differences.

The government's brutal crackdown on protesters this year has also widened this split, Bazzi said, prompting some leaders of the mainly Sunni opposition Muslim Brotherhood to row back on a more moderate approach they had taken in recent years.

"Lately some statements by leaders associated with the Brotherhood were very sectarian," he said. "Once the sectarian genie is out of the bottle, it's difficult to put it back in."

Sunnis Muslims make up 74 percent of Syria's 22 million population, Alawites 12 percent, Christians 10 percent and Druze 3 percent. Ismailis, Yezidis and a few Jews make up the rest.

AN UNCERTAIN OFFSHOOT

The Alawite religion is often called "an offshoot of Shi'ism," Islam's largest minority sect, but that is something like referring to Christianity as "an offshoot of Judaism."

Alawites broke away from Shi'ism over 1,000 years ago and retain some links to it, including the veneration of Ali, the cousin and son-in law of the Prophet Mohammad.

But several beliefs differ sharply from traditional Islam. Named after Ali, Alawites believe he was divine, one of many manifestations of God in a line with Adam, Jesus, Mohammad, Socrates, Plato and some pre-Islamic sages from ancient Persia.

To orthodox Muslims, this eclectic synthesis of Christian, Gnostic, Neoplatonic and Zoroastrian thought violates Islam's key tenet that "there is no God but God."

Isolated in the mountains near Syria's Mediterranean coast, Alawites taught the Koran was to be read allegorically and preferred to pray at home rather than in mosques.

They were also highly secretive, initiating only a minority of believers into their core dogma, including reincarnation and a divine Trinity, and into rituals including a rite of drinking consecrated wine similar to a Christian Mass.

Like the nearby Druze, Alawites adopted the Shi'ite practice of taqiyya, or hiding their beliefs to avoid persecution.

"Taqiyya makes a perfect qualification for membership in the mukhabarat, the ubiquitous intelligence/security apparatus that has dominated Syria's government for more than four decades," the British Islam expert Malise Ruthven wrote recently.

FEARS OF REVENGE

Oppressed during the Ottoman period, Alawites have played down their distinctive beliefs in recent decades to argue they were mainline Shi'ites like in Iran. This is partly to satisfy the constitutional rule that the president must be a Muslim.

The outlawed Muslim Brotherhood called the Alawites infidels for decades. Leaders of the Sunni movement no longer say this openly, but nobody knows whether the rank and file is convinced.

The ruling Baath Party is officially secular, which has helped Alawites win support as protectors of other minorities.

"Hafez al-Assad constructed a minority system, with Christians, Druze and Ismailis, to rule over a Sunni Muslim country," said Andrew Tabler, Syria analyst at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

"Most of the protesters now are also Sunnis, so the current violence has affected the Sunni population more," he said.

The tension that system produced makes Alawites, Christians and the other minorities fear bloody sectarian violence in revenge against them if Sunnis should regain power.

"If there is a change of regime," Chaldean Bishop Antoine Audo of Aleppo told a conference in Venice last June, "It's the end of Christianity in Syria. I saw what happened in Iraq."

Bazzi said a double car bombing in Damascus on Friday that killed 44 people could be a further escalation of Sunni violence against the Alawite-led state.

"Syria was a major staging area for Sunni jihadis (attacking U.S. forces) in Iraq," he said. "Many of these networks are still in place in Syria. These are elements that view Shi'ites as heretics and Alawites as even more heretical."

 

[BATMAN]

Link please?

 

[NeutralCitizen]

Syria's Alawites are secretive, unorthodox sect | Reuters

Syria: Sunnis Threatening to Massacre Alawites - Middle East - News - Israel National News

 

[Harry_Thomason]

"warning them that if they do not do so, “Syria will become the graveyard of the Alawites.”"

And now watch how West ignores their funded "rebels" promises to do genocide. Btw it already happened in Libya, where "rebels" did genocide (NATO confirmed too), yet nobody in West or UN even blinked, I expect the same in Syria.

 

[TARIQ BN ZIYAAD]

Rather the Alwaties are not seen as Muslims by the conservatives many Pakistani's on this forum could be placde in the category of those conservatives, I see the Alwaties similar to the Baathist of Iraq, Alwaties consider themselves Muslim however Conservative Sunni's don't see them as Muslims, you could compare the Alwaties to ahmadyis of Pakistan.

i don't know what is ur definition of muslims when u divide them in conservatives and non ,however qadyanies r non muslim according to all muslims even shia too .

this sect is not alwaties , it is a nusairi sect which has nothing to do with islam or even shiaism

the opposition of this regime is not only by sunnies there r some from bashar's own sect watch this video , this regime have put so much fear in minorities and specially to its own sect , if these ppl will not come up and criticize this regime there could be some backlash ( which we all don't want )

watch mundhir naqoos ( nusairi منذر ناقو&#1587

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ODMz7BkdM8w

TARIQ

 

[NeutralCitizen]

"warning them that if they do not do so, “Syria will become the graveyard of the Alawites.”"

And now watch how West ignores their funded "rebels" promises to do genocide. Btw it already happened in Libya, where "rebels" did genocide (NATO confirmed too), yet nobody in West or UN even blinked, I expect the same in Syria.

Very true the West will support Genocide.

 

[Rusty]

so lets get this straight.
An oppressive leader who derives his powers from this cult by promoting and enabling them to the detriment of the majority. The Alawites also have control of the military, which has murdered hundreads of people. And it is those evil Sunis fault......for wanting freedome.....
Amazing logic

More examples of how the morally bankrupt west is trying to support oppression and spread hatred and violence.

 

[Bobshouse]

"warning them that if they do not do so, “Syria will become the graveyard of the Alawites.”"

And now watch how West ignores their funded "rebels" promises to do genocide. Btw it already happened in Libya, where "rebels" did genocide (NATO confirmed too), yet nobody in West or UN even blinked, I expect the same in Syria.

which genocide is that?

 

[Don Jaguar]

NeutralCitizen is the biggest troll, he is spreading lies.

 

[NeutralCitizen]

NeutralCitizen is the biggest troll, he is spreading lies.

I didn't make these Articles up.