{"id":136241,"date":"2026-03-17T08:54:47","date_gmt":"2026-03-17T08:54:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/?p=136241"},"modified":"2026-03-17T08:54:49","modified_gmt":"2026-03-17T08:54:49","slug":"damascus-restricts-sale-of-alcoholic-beverages-to-christian-neighborhoods","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/136241\/","title":{"rendered":"Damascus restricts sale of alcoholic beverages to Christian neighborhoods\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>DAMASCUS, Syria (North Press) \u2013<\/strong> The Syrian transitional government issued on Monday a new decision restricting the sale of alcoholic beverages to Christian neighborhoods, citing public complaints and concerns over social conduct.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Damascus Governorate announced that serving alcoholic drinks in restaurants and nightclubs across three neighborhoods will be prohibited under the new regulations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to the decision, the sale of sealed alcoholic beverages will be limited to licensed shops located in three neighborhoods: Bab Touma, Qassaa, and Bab Sharqi. The three neighborhoods are inhabited by the Christians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a statement, the governorate said the measure was introduced following multiple complaints from residents and at the request of the local community, with the aim of curbing what it described as \u201cbehaviors that violate public morals.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The decision stipulates that only shops already licensed under commercial zoning regulations will be permitted to sell sealed alcoholic products.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It also imposes spatial restrictions, requiring a minimum distance of 75 meters between such outlets and places of worship, cemeteries, and schools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Additionally, business owners must sign a notarized pledge committing not to serve alcoholic drinks by the glass within their premises.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Authorities granted a three-month grace period for businesses currently engaged in selling sealed alcoholic beverages within the city to comply with the new rules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The move reflects increasing regulatory measures by local authorities in Damascus to control public space activities, amid ongoing economic and social pressures in the Syrian capital.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>By Abdulsalam Khoja<\/strong><\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>DAMASCUS, Syria (North Press) \u2013 The Syrian transitional government issued on Monday a new decision restricting the sale of alcoholic beverages to Christian neighborhoods, citing public complaints and concerns over social conduct. The Damascus Governorate announced that serving alcoholic drinks in restaurants and nightclubs across three neighborhoods will be prohibited under the new regulations. According [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":136242,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pgc_sgb_lightbox_settings":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-136241","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community","category-syria"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Damascus restricts sale of alcoholic beverages to Christian neighborhoods\u00a0<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"DAMASCUS, Syria (North Press) \u2013 The Syrian transitional government issued on Monday a new decision restricting the sale of alcoholic beverages to\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/136241\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Damascus restricts sale of alcoholic beverages to Christian neighborhoods\u00a0\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"DAMASCUS, Syria (North Press) \u2013 The Syrian transitional government issued on Monday a new decision restricting the sale of alcoholic beverages to\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/136241\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"North press agency\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/NPA.SYR\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-03-17T08:54:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-03-17T08:54:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/The-Syrian-capital-Damascus-2-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"750\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"430\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"semav1\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@NPA_English\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@NPA_English\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"semav1\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/136241\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/136241\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"semav1\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/1cc380944b76ba86440ef8ad099f16a0\"},\"headline\":\"Damascus restricts sale of alcoholic beverages to Christian neighborhoods\u00a0\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-03-17T08:54:47+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-17T08:54:49+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/136241\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":247,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/136241\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/The-Syrian-capital-Damascus-2-1.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"COMMUNITY\",\"SYRIA\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/136241\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/136241\\\/\",\"name\":\"Damascus restricts sale of alcoholic beverages to Christian neighborhoods\u00a0\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/136241\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/136241\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/The-Syrian-capital-Damascus-2-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-03-17T08:54:47+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-17T08:54:49+00:00\",\"description\":\"DAMASCUS, Syria (North Press) \u2013 The Syrian transitional government issued on Monday a new decision restricting the sale of alcoholic beverages to\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/136241\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/136241\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/136241\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/The-Syrian-capital-Damascus-2-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/The-Syrian-capital-Damascus-2-1.jpg\",\"width\":750,\"height\":430,\"caption\":\"Shukri al-Quwatli Street in Damascus, Syria's capital \u2013 North Press\\\/Archive\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/136241\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Damascus restricts sale of alcoholic beverages to Christian neighborhoods\u00a0\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/\",\"name\":\"North press agency\",\"description\":\"North press agency\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"North press agency\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/08\\\/npasyria.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/08\\\/npasyria.jpg\",\"width\":682,\"height\":388,\"caption\":\"North press agency\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/NPA.SYR\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/NPA_English\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/northpressagency\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/channel\\\/UCyGMim0bdq_6W-ryV9WI29A\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/1cc380944b76ba86440ef8ad099f16a0\",\"name\":\"semav1\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/4dd32221f0f6234b81e7d16b824fc92b9c1a8794a5fa04024fb4ddedd3a61599?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/4dd32221f0f6234b81e7d16b824fc92b9c1a8794a5fa04024fb4ddedd3a61599?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/4dd32221f0f6234b81e7d16b824fc92b9c1a8794a5fa04024fb4ddedd3a61599?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"semav1\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/author\\\/semav1\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Damascus restricts sale of alcoholic beverages to Christian neighborhoods\u00a0","description":"DAMASCUS, Syria (North Press) \u2013 The Syrian transitional government issued on Monday a new decision restricting the sale of alcoholic beverages to","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/136241\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Damascus restricts sale of alcoholic beverages to Christian neighborhoods\u00a0","og_description":"DAMASCUS, Syria (North Press) \u2013 The Syrian transitional government issued on Monday a new decision restricting the sale of alcoholic beverages to","og_url":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/136241\/","og_site_name":"North press agency","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/NPA.SYR\/","article_published_time":"2026-03-17T08:54:47+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-03-17T08:54:49+00:00","og_image":[{"width":750,"height":430,"url":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/The-Syrian-capital-Damascus-2-1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"semav1","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@NPA_English","twitter_site":"@NPA_English","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"semav1","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/136241\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/136241\/"},"author":{"name":"semav1","@id":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/1cc380944b76ba86440ef8ad099f16a0"},"headline":"Damascus restricts sale of alcoholic beverages to Christian neighborhoods\u00a0","datePublished":"2026-03-17T08:54:47+00:00","dateModified":"2026-03-17T08:54:49+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/136241\/"},"wordCount":247,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/136241\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/The-Syrian-capital-Damascus-2-1.jpg","articleSection":["COMMUNITY","SYRIA"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/136241\/","url":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/136241\/","name":"Damascus restricts sale of alcoholic beverages to Christian neighborhoods\u00a0","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/136241\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/136241\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/The-Syrian-capital-Damascus-2-1.jpg","datePublished":"2026-03-17T08:54:47+00:00","dateModified":"2026-03-17T08:54:49+00:00","description":"DAMASCUS, Syria (North Press) \u2013 The Syrian transitional government issued on Monday a new decision restricting the sale of alcoholic beverages to","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/136241\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/136241\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/136241\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/The-Syrian-capital-Damascus-2-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/The-Syrian-capital-Damascus-2-1.jpg","width":750,"height":430,"caption":"Shukri al-Quwatli Street in Damascus, Syria's capital \u2013 North Press\/Archive"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/136241\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Damascus restricts sale of alcoholic beverages to Christian neighborhoods\u00a0"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/","name":"North press agency","description":"North press agency","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/#organization","name":"North press agency","url":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/npasyria.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/npasyria.jpg","width":682,"height":388,"caption":"North press agency"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/NPA.SYR\/","https:\/\/x.com\/NPA_English","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/northpressagency\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCyGMim0bdq_6W-ryV9WI29A"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/1cc380944b76ba86440ef8ad099f16a0","name":"semav1","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4dd32221f0f6234b81e7d16b824fc92b9c1a8794a5fa04024fb4ddedd3a61599?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4dd32221f0f6234b81e7d16b824fc92b9c1a8794a5fa04024fb4ddedd3a61599?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4dd32221f0f6234b81e7d16b824fc92b9c1a8794a5fa04024fb4ddedd3a61599?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"semav1"},"url":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/author\/semav1\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136241","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=136241"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136241\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":136243,"href":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136241\/revisions\/136243"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/136242"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=136241"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=136241"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=136241"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}