Photo Essay: The Former Alawite Village of Arza in Hama Countryside

Much of the focus on reported violations against Alawites in Syria has centred around the coastal region (Latakia and Tartous) and the massacres that took place in the spring. At the present time, there are still no answers from the state about the extensive investigation it is supposed to have conducted into the massacres, even as the investigation has reportedly been handed to President Ahmad al-Sharaa.

But the coastal region was not the only area where violations took place in that period. Recently, I was able to visit Arza, a village located just northwest of Hama city. Its population formerly consisted of Alawites, until they were subjected to a massacre and expelled in the same month that the events on the coast took place. But far from being devoid of inhabitants, Arza is now populated by Sunnis from a nearby town called Khattab (located northwest of it), although while in Arza I avoided taking photos of these new inhabitants. Some photos from Arza are below.