Protests erupt in Syria after Christmas tree burning

Protests have erupted in Syria over the burning of Christmas trees, prompting the new Islamist authorities to take measures to protect the minority.

A video posted on social media showed a tree on fire in the main square of Suqaylabiyah, a predominantly Christian city in central Syria.

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the main Islamist group that led the uprising that toppled President Bashar al-Assad, said foreign forces had been arrested in connection with the incident.

HTS representatives promised to protect the rights and freedoms of religious and ethnic minorities in Syria.

Protesters took to the streets across the country – through Damascus and Suqaylabiyah in Hama province.

Two masked fighters appeared in a video on social media burning a Christmas tree the night before Christians in Syria prepared to celebrate Christmas Eve.

Footage of the aftermath showed the cult of the ruling HTS rebel group assuring crowds gathered in Suqaylabiyah that the tree would be repaired before dawn.

The man then raised a cross to show solidarity, something the Islamists would not do.

On Tuesday, some protesters filled the streets because of this incident of burning cars.

Some in the Kassa neighborhood of Damascus chanted against foreign fighters in Syria.

“Syria is free, non-Syrians must go,” they said, referring to the foreign fighters HTS claimed had attacked them.

In the Bab Touma neighborhood of Damascus, protesters carried a cross and Syrian flags, chanting “we will sacrifice our lives for our cross”.

“If we are not allowed to live our Christian religion in our country, as we used to do, then we are no longer here,” a protester named Georges told AFP news agency.

Syria is home to many ethnic and religious groups, including Kurds, Armenians, Assyrians, Christians, Druze, Alawite Shia and Sunni Arabs, the latter making up the majority of the Muslim population.

Just two weeks ago, the office of President Bashar al-Assad fell to the rebels, ending the Assad family’s rule of more than 50 years.

How the HTS group will rule Syria remains to be seen.

HTS began as a jihadist group – promoting violence to achieve its goal of establishing a state governed by Islamic (Sharia) law – but in recent years has adopted a more rational, less uncompromising approach.

As fighters marched on Damascus earlier this month, its leaders spoke of building Syria for all Syrians.

On Tuesday the new authorities announced that leader Ahmed al-Sharaa had reached an agreement “with rebel groups… to disband all groups and bring them together under the umbrella of the Ministry of Defence”, according to the Sana news agency.

Prime Minister Mohammed al-Bashir said the ministry would be reorganized to include rebels.

Although the statement said “all parties”, it was not clear which parties were included in the merger.

There are many armed groups in Syria, including some that are opposed to HTS and others that have a very vague relationship with it.

HTS remains designated as a terrorist organization by the UN, the US, the EU and the UK, although there are signs that political change may be on the way.

on friday, the US forfeited a $10m (£7.9m) bonus. in the head of HTS leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, following meetings between senior diplomats and representatives of the group.

The US continues to have a military presence in Syria. It said on Friday it carried out an air strike in the northern city of Deir Ezzor – killing two members of the jihadist Islamic State (IS) group.

The presence of foreign fighters, Islamic extremists, or supporters of the regime interested in creating insecurity and attacking minorities in order to shake the country’s stability is a major challenge that the new Islamic leadership will face.