Although much of the recent focus on Druze in Syria centres on the primarily Druze province of al-Suwayda’ in southern Syria, there is also an originally Druze community in the region of Jabal al-Summaq, located in the northern countryside of Idlib province near the border with Turkey.
The community outwardly declared conversion to Sunni Islam under compulsion first from Islamic State in 2013 and then Jabhat al-Nusra in 2015, but the outward conversion has not protected members of the community from multiple instances of kidnapping and murder over the years, with the most recent incident occurring in the area of the village of Kafr Maris where gunmen opened fire on a service taxi carrying local passengers, killing three people and wounding others.
The new government’s security apparatus is investigating this case, but there is a broader problem of anti-Druze sentiment, espoused by Islamic State and other jihadists, that considers Druze to be legitimate targets for kidnapping and killing on the basis that they are ‘disbelievers’ and ‘apostates’ from Islam- sentiments amplified during the recent fighting in al-Suwayda’ and the accusations of treason levelled against Druze in al-Suwayda’. Incidents like these killings in Jabal al-Summaq also reinforce the rejectionist position of Druze in al-Suwayda’ towards the new government and its military and security forces, as they argue (with justification) that the government cannot protect them against abuses.
In this guest post, long-standing contributor ‘Odoacer’ from the Jabal al-Summaq village of Qalb Lawze comments on the recent killings of villagers from Kafr Maris. Per his estimate, around 100 people from Jabal al-Summaq have been kidnapped and killed since the beginning of the revolution against the regime.
From the funeral in Kafr Maris for the three people killed in the recent attack.