Syria’s Ongoing Political Struggle is Actually a Sectarian One
How sectarianism became the forefront of the Syrian Civil War — Part 2
Hoping to follow the successes of Tunisia and Egypt in overthrowing their unjust regimes, Syria hoped it would be next in line for a democratic future. However, as we all know now, Syria’s uprisings against the Bashar Al-Assad regime ended up destroying the country.
Inspired by the slogans and phrases of the Egyptian revolution, 15 young boys in the agricultural town of Dar’a on the 18th of March 2011 were arrested and brutally tortured for spray painting the phrase “The people want the overthrow of the regime”¹ — one of whom was tortured to death by the Syrian Police². This resulted in the eruption of protests by the parents and other sympathizing citizens calling for justice.
Bashar Al-Assad’s regime responded to these protests with tear gas and violent clashes. These events marked the beginning of the 9-year old struggle referred to as the Syrian civil war today.
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Many factors have come into play for prolonging the ongoing conflict and one of the most debated is the rise of sectarian divides. These divides however were always an underlying issue in Syrian politics and can date back to the 1920s. If you want to understand the history and evolution of sectarianism in Syria, check out Part 1.
After Syria gained independence from the French in 1946, the Sunni majority gained power over the government and army. As expected, the shift of power was faced with resistance from Alawite and Druze minorities. Because of this, the Sunni majority was unable to create stable institutions in Syria and in an effort to ease the political turmoil, the Syrian government held national elections in 1947. Nevertheless, this did not lead to major positive change as shortly after the elections, a series of military coups took place between 1949 and 1954³.
Many believe that these coups only happened because the Sunni elite did not believe that joining the military was a respectable profession. Instead, the Alawite minority dominated the military and organised it.
