Syria’s Christians: Caught Between Supporting Assad and Fears of an Islamist Takeover
President Bashar al-Assad appears to have declared war on his own people through a brutal, year-old crackdown that has claimed the lives of at least 7,000 people. So it is perhaps surprising to learn that Syria has long been a diverse society in which minorities and women have enjoyed certain rights and freedoms unknown in most other Arab nations.
Aside from Sunni Muslims, the dominant community, Syria’s population also boasts communities of Christians, Kurds, Armenians, Druze and Greeks.
Assad is himself a minority belong to the Alawites, who are Shia Muslims.