Protests in Syria over Christmas tree burning

essentialsaltes said:

For Syria’s Christians, Christmas is a time to grapple with hope and fear​

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Decorations at Bab Sharqi in Damascus. (Salwan Georges/The Washington Post)

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Officers with the new Ministry of Interior arrive at Bab Touma in Damascus on Tuesday. (Salwan Georges/The Washington Post)

By Christmas Eve, the capital’s streets were adorned with garlands, lights, and ornaments alongside the new flag. Passersby, many of them Muslim, stopped to take photos. In the courtyards of longtime restaurants, Christmas trees shone brightly as people shared meals and conversation.

On Monday, a Christmas tree was burned down in Hama. In a video, a local HTS official standing next to clergymen vowed to punish the perpetrators, whom he said were not Syrian, and that the tree would be replaced.

[Christians protested in the streets.]

Protests of dissent against the country’s leaders were met with punishing crackdowns under the Assad regime. For now, HTS has allowed them to go on uninterrupted.

“Now there is change, isn’t this freedom? Great, we have freedom, and everyone needs to have their freedom,” said al-Hannat. “We don’t just want to put up Christmas trees and not to be called minorities, we want all our rights.”

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