In the challenge of the new Syrian government, the influential religious minority rejects calls to integrate its militias.
Ailsa chang, host:
In Syria, the new government’s efforts to dissolve militias and establish a national army may face road barriers. One of them is the religious minority Druze. She says she maintains her weapons because she does not trust the new government and fears sectarian attacks. Jane Arraf reports from NPR from the Southern Soyida Province (PH).
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Jane Faraf, side lines: doves in hanging cages of black stone walls are the highest sound in Ain al -Zaman, a Druze shrine in the city of Sweida.
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Unexual person No. 1: (Non -English language occurs).
Arraf: Women come and go, and some bring newborn children to blessings. Druze faith is a branch of Shiite Islam, which has adopted the advantages of other religions, including the belief in reincarnation. Druze constitute less than 3 % of the population of Syria, but they are a majority in Sweden, and the boycott of Syria in the far south, which borders Jordan and the Israeli highlands occupied by the Golan.
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Arraf: In a very Sunni Muslim country, Druze has searched a shelter around the volcanic mountains and fertile soil here. Druze militias secure the region. They say that the new government forces, which were formed after President Bashar al -Assad, fled last December, is not welcome here.
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ARRRAF: In the village of Qanawat, the Druze sheikhs and dignitaries gather in a reception hall, pending the vision of the spiritual leader Druze, Sheikh Hekkam Al -Hijri. Hijri says they fear the group of Islamic militants that overthrew the old regime.
Hikmat Stone: (Through the Translator) Armed terrorist factions are now considered to be responsible for the administration in Damascus. This is not acceptable at the Syrian level or international.
Arraf: The fundamentalism of the Sunni Muslim militants is considered infidels. In 2015, a Sunni militant group killed dozens of Druze in Idlib County, where most of the fighters who support Syrian Prime Minister Ahmed Al -Sharra belong.
Al -Hijri: (Non -English language occurs).
Arraf: The 75 -year -old Al -Hijri says that the talks continue with Shara. But the Druze has not yet agreed to integrate their fighters into the national security forces. Shara tried to assure minority groups that it would be safe in new Syria. However, in March, hundreds of Al -AL, the Shiite sect of the ousted Prime Minister, were killed by Sunni militants near Latakia. Druze is concerned that it will be evacuated to suwayda.
The non -specific person 2: (chanting in non -English language).
Anonymous identity group 1: (singing in non -English).
Arraf: militia fighters welcome them at home.
It is late at night, and we are on the highway between Damascus and Soyida. There are all these buses that belong, and are full of students – more than 1,000 of them – Druze students, from the Druze minority, who returned from the coast, where there were killings of the upper minority.
Unlimited set No. 2: (Singing in non -English).
Arraf: Some of them danced in the corridors in the celebration while crossing the circular checkpoints to the relative safety to boycott their home.
What were you studying?
Amir Al -Badish: I am studying – in fact, from the economy. I am in the year of graduation. (Non -English language occurs).
Arraf: This is the Prince of Al -Badish (PH). He is 23 years old, and he was supposed to graduate within a few months and help build this new Syria. Instead, society has declined to Druze Heartland, and its militias are preparing for the battle. We go to Sheikh Yasser Abu Fakhr’s house. Wafaa Horse (PH), loyalty, is linked abroad.
Yasser Abu Fakhr: (Non -English Specues).
Arraf: His men from the Karama movement have fighters in 100 villages on the mountains, gunmen with guns, guns, missiles and mortars to fight government forces if they have. Some weapons were seized from the rules of the abandoned regime’s army in December.
Abu Fakhr: (Non -English language occurs).
Arraf: “We are ready. We have weapons, and we will not allow them to enter our mountains.” Abu Fakhr, like most militia leaders in Suwaida, refuses to help from Israel, who warned that she would attack the Syrian government forces if they threaten the Druze who also have a presence in Israel. But there are other militias that form.
Unexual person No. 3: (Non -English language occurs).
Tariq Al -Sakhi: (Non -English language occurs).
Arraf: The latest is the Suwayda Military Council, led by Tariq Al -Shouf, an officer who defected from the previous regime.
Chouf: (Non -English language occurs).
Arraf: “We ask the free world led by the United States, and we ask Israel to defend the entire circular nation against any extremist attack,” he says.
The non -specific person No. 4: (Non -English language occurs).
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Unexual person No. 5: (Non -English language occurs).
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Arraf: In a meeting in a village, his host destroyed the cup of coffee he was drinking, a local tradition that indicates his respect. Men are asked to fight with him.
Unlimited set No. 3: (Singing in non -English).
Arraf: Response – Battle Songs. “Our swords are like lightning. We will never accept insult.” Jane Farf, NPR News, Suwayda, Syria.
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