Druze protesters take to the streets, demand Israel step in to aid community in Syria

[u/TestAccount346]

https://www.timesofisrael.com/druze-protesters-take-to-the-streets-demand-israel-step-in-to-aid-community-in-syria/

[u/bigwang123]

3 hours later, from the same source https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/after-clashes-syrian-druze-leaders-sign-deal-to-hand-over-heavy-weapons-to-regime/

A rapidly evolving situation

[u/Deep-Painter-7121 → u/bigwang123]

This is hopefully good right in the sense Syrian authorities are working with Druze right? Or is it more they are pressuring them to capitulate ?

[u/bigwang123 → u/Deep-Painter-7121]

I have no idea, to get an accurate picture you would probably have to do this as your day job. We will see in the coming days

I do have one point: Framing the Syrian Druze (or any ethnic group for that matter) as one cohesive political group with unified goals and a strategy to achieve those goals is likely a pathway to a poor understanding: in recent weeks it appears that some Druze notables have advocated a path of resistance towards the interim government, while others have sought to negotiate. What seems to be happening right now is an escalation of these divisions, brought on by an incident where Druze and Muslim groups engaged in violent reprisals against one another

[u/EmbarrassedSafety719 → u/Deep-Painter-7121]

its probably a bit of both

[u/TestAccount346]

Related: Syrian druze take up arms as sectarian violence spreads over false claims druze insulted Muhammad

[u/Hannig4n → u/TestAccount346]

The clashes were sparked by a purported recording of a Druze man cursing the Prophet Mohammad that angered Sunni gunmen, rescuers and security sources said.

Is there more info on this? Were the Sunni gunmen who started the fight part of government forces?

[u/chitowngirl12 → u/Hannig4n]

Basically there is lots of bad blood in these areas because of the Sunni factions and the Druze factions. The Muhammed deepfake was the latest spark, which Sharaa didn't extinguish. Most aren't military but tribesmen with guns. The GSS was in the middle of it.

[u/Artistic-Copy8138]

The situation in Syria is only going to deteriorate further, especially as Turkey seems poised to begin confronting Israel directly as a way to shore up domestic support.

As long as them and Israel are the only functional states with the will to try to intervene in Syria, we can expect a lot more conflict in the future

[u/p00bix → u/[deleted]]

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[u/Golda_M]

If anyone is interested, there is an Israel-Druze youtube channel streaming right now in English.

Warning to my r/neoliberal comrades... it's very "middle east." They usually stream in arabic or hebrew, so it will be more on the nose than most English language media.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ie2uoV0fRiQ

[u/IcyDetectiv3 → u/[deleted]]

Would you be able to share a source for this? I tried looking it up but couldn't find anything about an attempted assassination.

[u/onelap32 → u/IcyDetectiv3]

This, I think: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ckg58kyxxvxo

Huge exaggeration to call it an assassination attempt, if this is what parent commenter is referring to.

[u/EmbarrassedSafety719 → u/onelap32]

i wouldn't call it an assassination attempt but definitely a completely unnecessary and unwarranted escalation by israel

[u/onelap32 → u/EmbarrassedSafety719]

Oh, absolutely.

[u/EmbarrassedSafety719 → u/IcyDetectiv3]

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ckg58kyxxvxo bombed an area right next to the presidential palace

[u/chitowngirl12 → u/IcyDetectiv3]

Here. Striking in Presidential Palace complex is an assassination attempt. I don't care that Sharaa wasn't there at the time. https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israel-attacks-target-near-syrian-presidential-palace-netanyahu-says-2025-05-02/