An Alawite Voice From Homs City

Regardless of the official narratives, sectarian tensions at the societal level are very real in post-Assad Syria. The core issue of sectarianism is not about violence or the risk of it, but rather a more deeply rooted divide between Alawites and the rest of Syria, specifically curated by decades of Assad regime rule. The rapid collapse of the regime has forced a sudden reckoning among Alawites, challenging the long-dominant voices of those supportive of the regime with those of anti-regime Alawites who have been forced to live in the shadows. Rebuilding Syria’s future requires transforming the perception of Alawites both within their own sect and between others: For Alawites, understanding the dominant role they played in supporting the regime and its crimes, while the rest of Syria must accept that they cannot define an entire sect by Assad, that not all Alawites supported his regime.

I spoke with one such Alawite, a young college-educated woman from Homs city who opposed Assad since witnessing the regime’s crimes in her city at the start of the revolution. We spoke about life in Homs, the treatment of Alawites by the new government and security forces, and reflections on the Alawite community after Assad. Her views echo those of some other Alawites I have met across Syria.

How is the current situations in Homs City?

The situation now is way better than in 2011, it was much more terrifying back then. Now we think things are okay and I don’t think anything will be as bad as those years now. Food prices are lower than before, but the main issue for the economy is the fear in society. Most people who are government employees had two jobs, day and night, and now they can’t go to their night shifts. I know many families where the man went to his first job, came home at 3pm and went to his second job from 5pm until 10pm and the wife would also have her own job. But now no one is open after sunset so people lost their second job and only one job is not enough to sustain themselves. Only one or two salaries is not enough now.

Is there a lot of fear in Homs?

There is fear here but it is fear from the unknown, we don’t know what will happen in the future but we are optimistic. For example, government employees don’t know about their future jobs, but our work continues until now. To be honest the salary isn’t a big deal to care about. I am only making $20 a month, so I don’t care if I get fired, I will find a new job that hopefully pays me a real salary. But I think this is a bigger fear for older people who don’t have the skills for new jobs. Younger people with tech skills and language skills, we should be working better jobs anyways.

How is the security situation?

I don’t know why people expected massacres. Those free army are Syrians, they are out friends and colleagues, we were born together and lived together so why did people fear them? I think it is what the regime did over 60 years trying to separate us. People have the right to be afraid because they only know what the regime said about the opposition, that they are all terrorists and sectarian, but it isn’t the truth.

Massacring a specific sect isn’t what the revolution did, its what the regime did. It was a real genocide of Sunnis. The other sect [Alawites] didn’t encounter this in the revolution. In the beginning it was all sects in the protests, but the regime turned it into a sectarian war.

This was not a common perspective [among Alawites] in the beginning, but once people began communicating with other neighborhoods and sects this opinion became more common. Especially after 2020 and the economic situation and hunger was impacting every Syrian, most people turned against Assad. People start questioning all of his actions and lies and the actions of the regime during the war after they started hating Assad for the economy. Now they are asking if these regime claims were ever real.

But there is not enough security in Homs. We don’t military, we want police and traffic police on the streets. After sunset [6pm] no one goes out because they are afraid. There is no electricity and shops are closed. If there were police on the streets people would feel safe and open the markets. Police who are not wanted or criminals should be allowed to return to their jobs. It’s not about how efficient they are its about their numbers, and being visible to make us feel safe.

Are there any inter-faith dialogue efforts in Homs?

There are no structured inter-faith dialogues, and people are still afraid of each other. After 2015 people started calming down and communicating with each other and traveling between neighborhoods. After Assad, those original fears came back for a bit, but now people are returning to their jobs and the markets and the fears are reducing. But there are no formal gatherings in person, just some discussions online. People are still afraid. Every rumor triggers new fears of a massacre or war between sects.

How have the security forces treated you?

When the new army came to our neighborhood, they searched every house for weapons and wanted people, they were very kind and polite and didn’t harm us at all in words or actions, and I heard this from other neighborhoods too. They had a list of names and were searching for weapons. Regarding men who were taken and executed, every family will say their son is innocent. But I believe that most of these men were criminals. However, I am against executions. There should be law and courts and prisons for treating criminals. Otherwise, you risk hurting innocent people. For example there was a military engineer mistaken for a criminal with the same name, and they executed the innocent one. Now the criminal remains free.

There were violations and abuses by some security commanders, but when people spread accusations against these men the government responded and removed them from their positions. I have personally only been in one situation where minorities were harassed. Two or three weeks ago at a checkpoint a soldier asked men directly which sect they are from. We complained to the mukhtar and he told the officer responsible for the checkpoint and they removed the man from the checkpoint two hours after the incident. I go through more than 6 checkpoints every day to work for two months and only encountered this one incident, so you can see that it is not common.

In the previous regime if you complained about someone’s behavior, he would get a raise, and the military police were taking young men by force from the streets to serve in the army. There is nothing like that now.

What was the reaction during the incidents in western Homs?

I have many friends from west Homs. It is really sad to see your friends and families terrified. We don’t know the truth of what happened, if they fought or ran or were hiding. Even the people living in these towns don’t know because they were hiding themselves. I was really sad to see there were innocent names executed, but I was glad to see that most men killed were guilty. But like I said I am against executions in the first place, we can’t do it this way. Now all the military actions stopped in west Homs, and they stopped looking for wanted people in Homs city.

How has the fall of Assad impacted the way Alawites view themselves and Syria?

“We didn’t know” is not a real excuse because you could see every massacre across the news and media. How can you not know there were massacres two blocks away. We heard the mosques mourning all night long. How can you not know? They just talk about the kidnappings and executions now but this happens in every revolution. But what happened in 2011-2014 was way more horrifying than what is happening now. No one on earth had done what Assad did to his own people.

I think that people who were with Assad are in shock now and not accepting the truth. They were brainwashed for 50 years and now that they’ve seen it with their own eyes they are in shock. Maybe movies or Syrian TV shows and books and theatre and lectures will help re-educate people about what happened. Kids need to learn what happened so when they grow up they will tell the next generation the truth about the regime. So now people with clear minds, writers, and celebrities, its their role now to show the truth and make it clear for everyone. Don’t put oil on fire, just show the truth of what Assad did to his people and that the people killed and tortured by the regime were your sister and brother. Your only enemy is Assad and his regime. Syrian people should be together against one enemy, Assad, and demand his punishment and his regime’s punishment.

I don’t understand why people want to stick with the regime’s story, even those who were against him. The regime said this is a sectarian war, this was what Assad pushed for years, so why are people who are against Assad promoting this claim? I had a big fight two years ago with a Sunni man who met Assad once in Homs. He said after prayers Assad kissed his check and he will never wash his cheek again. I told him he is disgusting; I curse the ground on which Assad walks. And he was Sunni and I am Alawite so how can you say all Alawites support Assad?

Do you think there is anyone who can represent Alawite voices now?

Every week someone new says I will speak for the Alawites and we say who are you, we did not choose you to speak on our name. So we have no leaders. It is not like the Sunni community where religious sheikhs are listened to. Alawite sheikhs are ignored, they were appointed by the regime. So what we need now is a political or intellectual figure to lead us.

Is there a rural vs urban divide in the community?

Most Alawite communities in the city are rooted in the countryside, their parents live there and every weekend they return to the countryside where they have family lands. In the harvest season they move back to the countryside before returning to the cities.

How is the situation with ex-shabiha in Homs City?

In the beginning of the revolution many men were involved with the regime in breaking up protests. But after the protests stopped and the free army moved to Idlib there was no need for them. But they stayed with their weapons in our neighborhoods, and they were harming us, their own communities. They robbed us, kidnapped us for money, and just generally harass everyone. They did everything. No one could speak to them or they would just kill you. The police would always say “we can’t do anything to them.” They acted like the city belonged to them. We didn’t like them or want them. When the regime fell they all ran away, especially the commanders. They disappeared like they never existed. We are happy about this, we didn’t want them here.