As Western politicians explore building ties with rebels who have seized power in Syria, a religious minority has been waging its own campaign to ensure the protection of its members as the country rebuilds.
A representative of this group, the Druse, recently traveled to Washington to meet with lawmakers, members of the Biden and Trump administrations and ambassadors to plead their case.
“We are very worried about the future,” Sheikh Muwafaq Tarif said in an interview in Washington, where he urged US officials to prioritize the protection of Syria's 1.2 million Druze as part of their engagement with the country's new government.
In December, after a long civil war, a coalition of Syrian rebels overthrew President Bashar al-Assad and established an interim government. The rebellion ended the brutal regime, but for Western nations a problem remained: The Islamist group that led the rebellion once had ties to Al Qaeda and the Islamic State, and was therefore officially designated a terrorist organization.
Rebel leaders have abandoned their old agreements and pledged to build a Syria that is tolerant of other faiths. And Western officials, eager for reconstruction to begin, have expressed their openness to working with the Islamist group now in power, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham.
But members of small Syrian groups such as the Druse, who practice an offshoot of Shiite Islam and can also be found in Lebanon, Israel and Jordan, remain skeptical. The spiritual leader of the Druse in Syria, Sheikh Hikmat al-Hajari, expressed caution in a recent interview with a German broadcaster about the promises of tolerance offered by the Syrian leader, Ahmad al-Shara.
Sheikh Tarif, his counterpart in Israel, suggested that Mr al-Shara was not moving fast enough.
“You speak well,” said Sheikh Tarif. “What I hear is that the Westerners are happy and they like what he is saying. But there is great fear among the young. We want statements to be proven with actions.”
Mr al-Shara has sought to distance himself from his jihadist group's roots, promising to write a new constitution, expressing moderate political positions and seeking to reassure Syria's minority population. For example, in the Sweida region in the south, a Druse woman was recently installed as governor.
But some observers have suggested that Mr al-Shara may participate in the mission to open the flow of foreign aid. Already, some measures his new government has taken – such as major changes to textbooks – have raised concerns within Syria about his commitment to religious diversity.
Sheikh Tarif said in his meetings with Western officials, he wanted much-needed economic aid for Syria, as well as for the sanctions imposed on the country to be lifted – but only if there was evidence that the new government would keep its commitments. He said he was also trying to position the Druse community in Syria and the Middle East as important members of the Western nations with the aim of influencing the results of the country and the region.
For centuries, the Druze have survived throughout the Middle East in part by associating themselves with the politics of the countries they live in, even while keeping their religious practices distinct. In Syria, they played an important role in history, leading the French uprising in 1925 that was seen as the nation's first uprising.
“The Druse paid a high price for Syria's independence,” Sheikh Tarif said.
When the uprising against Assad's regime began in 2011, some Druze aligned themselves with rebel groups, although public support was mixed, out of concern that jihadist groups fighting the regime would show hostility to their beliefs. The Druse fighters took part in the rebel attack that removed Mr. al-Assad.
In Israel, the Druse community of about 150,000 people led by Mr. Tarif has in recent years protested against the right-wing government's adoption of anti-minority legislation. “There is a lot to improve,” he said. But Mr. Tarif dismissed criticism of recent moves by the Israeli military to occupy Syrian territory near its border, saying Israel was making sure it was in charge of security.
He noted that Druse leaders and soldiers had lost their lives fighting as members of the Israeli army in the conflict sparked by the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, and recalled the death last summer of 12 young Druse in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights who were killed it's a Hezbollah rocket from Lebanon.
Given their presence in many tribes, Sheikh Tarif said, the Druse see themselves as a potential bridge. “We can show how to live in peace,” he said.
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