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Alawites in Syria Cling Desperately to Power

(Jerusalem Post) Editorial - The behavior of the Alawite ruling minority (12% of the Syrian population) conforms with fears it has expressed for 75 years of what majority Sunni rule would mean for them. In 1936, six Alawite notables sent a memorandum to French Prime Minister Leon Blum. To explain why they refused to be annexed to a Muslim Syria ruled by the Sunni majority who regarded them as infidels, they pointed to the treatment of Jews under Islam: "The condition of the Jews in Palestine is the strongest and most explicit evidence of the militancy of the Islamic issue vis-a-vis those who do not belong to Islam. These good Jews contributed to the Arabs with civilization and peace, scattered gold, and established prosperity in Palestine without harming anyone or taking anything by force, yet the Muslims declare holy war against them and never hesitated in slaughtering their women and children, despite the presence of England in Palestine and France in Syria. Therefore, a dark fate awaits the Jews and other minorities in case the Mandate is abolished and Muslim Syria is united with Muslim Palestine...the ultimate goal of the Muslim Arabs." One of the signatories was Sulayman Assad, father of Hafez and grandfather of Bashar.
2011-08-09 00:00:00
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