Syria's Perilous Dawn: A Call for Hope and Action
The world breathed a collective sigh of relief when news broke that Syria’s brutal fourteen-year civil war was over. The fall of Bashar al-Assad’s dictatorship felt like the long-awaited dawn after a dark and bloody night. Yet, our new report reveals, this new day is perilous, especially for the ancient religious and ethnic minorities who call Syria home. While the new leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, presents a moderate face to the West, the facts on the ground tell a story of escalating violence and fear. This is not a time for naive optimism, but for principled action and determined hope.
The report, "Syria's New Chapter: A Perilous Dawn for Minorities Under Al-Sharaa's Rule," lays clear that we must look past the suit and tie and remember who al-Sharaa truly is. For years, he was known as Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, a seasoned al-Qaeda operative who founded and led the terrorist group Jabhat al-Nusra. His organization, later rebranded as Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), has a long history of brutal violence, suicide bombings, and the persecution of all who do not subscribe to its extremist Salafist-jihadi ideology. While he now speaks of unity and human rights, his past is written in the blood of civilians and the suffering of those who fled his rule in Idlib province.
OFWI’s sources on the frontlines paint a horrifying picture that contradicts the new government's promises delivered from the halls of power. Since al-Sharaa’s forces took Damascus, there have been systematic and gruesome attacks on minority communities.
Read OFWI’s exclusive report | Syria’s New Chapter: A Perilous Dawn for Minorities Under Al-Sharaa's Rule
Hundreds of Alawites have been hunted down and killed in their homes. Over 100 Druze were massacred following false allegations, with horrific videos showing men forced to crawl and bark like dogs before being executed. Christian communities, already decimated by years of war, face ongoing kidnappings and attacks, including a recent suicide bombing at a Damascus church that killed dozens.
The report makes a crucial point: there are only two ways to interpret this situation. Either al-Sharaa is cynically lying to the international community to consolidate power, tacitly approving of these atrocities behind the scenes. Or, he is genuinely unable to control the extremist factions that now form the core of his army. Either way, the outcome is the same: Syria’s historic minority communities, the Christians, Alawites, Druze, and others, are in mortal danger. Their very existence, a testament to millennia of cultural and religious history in the country, is threatened.
Faced with this grim reality, despair is an easy option. But hope is a choice, and it demands action. The international community, including Canada, cannot afford to be swayed by geopolitical convenience. Recognizing and legitimizing al-Sharaa’s regime without concrete, verifiable evidence of change is not just a mistake; it is a betrayal of the very values we claim to uphold.
This is our moment to stand for something better. We must amplify the voices of the persecuted. We can insist that our governments make any support, sanctions relief, or recognition of the new Syrian government strictly conditional on the protection of its minorities. We can answer the call for internationally-guaranteed safe zones where vulnerable communities can live without fear. We can demand that those who have committed atrocities are brought to justice, not welcomed under polite cover of diplomacy or boardrooms seeking to do business on the backs of those persecuted.
The people of Syria have endured unimaginable suffering. The end of the civil war should be a promise of peace and security for all Syrians, not just the dawn of a new kind of terror for its most vulnerable. Let us meet this perilous moment not with silence, but with a chorus of voices demanding freedom, accountability, and a future where the rich tapestry of Syrian society is not erased, but celebrated.
Rev. Majed El Shafie is the President & Founder of One Free World International (ofwi.org). The persecution he suffered after converting from Islam to Christianity in his native Egypt inspired its founding nearly 20 years ago.