Mohammed A. Salih
Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham: Leading the New Syria
HTS, or the Organization for the Liberation of the Levant, led the coalition that toppled Assad’s regime on December 8 in a campaign marked by minimal bloodshed or retribution against loyalists. HTS originated in 2017 from a coalition of hardline Islamist groups, many with jihadi backgrounds. Its predecessor, Jabhat al-Nusra, was al-Qaeda’s official franchise in Syria, created by the Islamic State of Iraq (a precursor to ISIS) before their split. HTS leader Sharaa was arrested in Iraq during the mid-2000s for planting a bomb while part of al-Qaeda.
Over the years, HTS has undergone ideological shifts, evolving from a group in the transnational jihadi orbit into a Syrian-focused revolutionary entity. Following its campaign against Assad, HTS has displayed surprising tolerance toward non-Muslim and non-Sunni groups, including Christians, Druze, and Alawites. The HTS-led interim government has appointed Mohsina al-Mahithawi, a Druze woman, as governor of the southern Druze-majority Suwaida province. Additionally, HTS has permitted unveiled women in public, let bars in major cities like Damascus function, and allowed New Year celebrations. These gestures of inclusivity have earned the group cautious praise from various quarters inside and outside Syria.
However, as recent remarks by Sheikh Hikmat Hajari, the spiritual leader of the Druze community, reveal, there is deep distrust of HTS among the country’s minorities that could threaten the emergence of a unifying central authority in the country. The group’s actions and governance practices have generated concern. For instance, reports of an Alawite shrine being burned by opposition fighters during the recent anti-Assad campaign in Aleppo caused unrest in the Alawite-majority coastal regions. The Ministry of Education’s proposals to amend school curricula to reflect Islamist views have also drawn criticism. Compounding these issues is recently leaked footage of Justice Minister Shadi al-Waisi overseeing a public execution of two women in Idlib in 2015 on charges of prostitution.
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