Druze leadership in Suwayda condemns crackdown on protesters
SUWAYDA, Syria (North Press) – As protests in Suwayda, southern Syria, approaches its 100th day, the spiritual leadership of Druze in Suwayda condemned on Wednesday the Syrian government’s “repression” against protesters.
For over three months, anti-government protests have been taking place in the city of Suwayda and its countryside, supported by Druze leaders and almost all the tribes present there. Their demands include overthrowing the government, implementing UN Resolution 2254, and releasing the detainees.
The spiritual leadership of the Druze al-Muwahhidun group, represented by Sheikh Hikmat al-Hajri, said in a statement, “The corrupt and the criminal, in addition to the occupier and the negotiator of people’s lives and livelihoods, are all different faces of the same coin seeking to achieve their ambitions and implement their projects to erase the landmarks of history,” in what seems to be a reference to the Syrian government and Iran.
He continued, “Today, the voices of our young men, elders, and free women… carry just and legitimate demands peacefully and courageously, expressing their just ideas through a blessed, national, and peaceful movement after they found themselves cornered.”
Al-Hajri, in a veiled statement, denounced all forms of repression that the Syrian government attempts to instill in the “honorable people through repressive methods employed by known entities to silence the voice of the right.”
He said that these methods of repression only serve as a reminder of the ineffectiveness of the government, which has pursued “intimidation on all levels, as has happened and continues to happen recently.”
Recently, there have been multiple occasions where gunmen allied to the government have attacked protesters in Suwayda.
He pointed out that these protesters are the ones “who will triumph because they are seekers of peace and a decent life, and they are not strangers to their homelands.”
At the end of the statement, Al-Hajri extended greetings to all those who have supported and extended a helping hand to them in their demands and protests, expressing gratitude to the Gulf countries, the Maghreb, and some countries around the world who have contributed to issuing UN resolutions related to the Syrian issue.