On social media, one sometimes sees claims that Alawites in Syria are being subject to a ‘genocide.’ Points cited in support of this claim include massacres of Alawites that took place in March 2025, instances of vandalisation of Alawite shrines, instances of seizure of Alawite farmlands by Sunnis, instances of killings of Alawites in the Homs area (often framed as revenge attacks on people associated with the former regime), and instances of Alawite women being kidnapped.
None of the facts behind this claim should be denied or whitewashed. All of these things have taken place, and it is unsurprising that a number of Alawites have decided to flee Syria and take refuge in Lebanon. But it would be wrong to overgeneralise and conclude that a genocide is taking place. Reliance on news coming out on social media can give a distorted The reality is that variations and contrasts exist by locality and sometimes within the same locality. This became apparent for me during a recent visit to the village of al-Sanobar (‘Pine’) in Latakia province, lying on the route between Latakia city and Jableh.
Alawite Shrines of Syria: The Shrine of Shaykh Ali in al-Sanobar
Observations from a village in Latakia
