Aymenn Jawad al-Tamimi: More On The Druze Militias in Southern Syria

Friday, November 15th, 2013

In light of responses to my previous piece on Druze militias in southern Syria, here are some further thoughts:

1. Druze in opposition: The initial article drew conclusions that the majority of Druze in Syria who have taken up arms do so on the side of the Assad regime and that there is no evidence of a separatist trend even among Druze militias that might be deemed autonomous. In objection to my conclusions it has been claimed that I intentionally overlooked Druze who are on the side of the opposition, whether political or armed.

However, my assessment was clear that a “majority” had taken up arms on the side of the regime, and thus I do not discount Druze on the other side. To give a notable example, we have from the Quneitra region the case of “Katiba Ahrar Ha?r” (Battalion of the Free Men of Ha?r), referring to the Druze village of Ha?r in the Jabal al-Sheikh region.

This battalion was formed on 28 January 2013, in response to some Druze’s disillusionment with regime policies of conscription into the Syrian army as well as apparent extortionist practices on the part of the People’s Committees set up to coordinate the activities of Druze militias with the Syrian army. In the group’s formation video, the battalion declares affiliation with the FSA-banner Military Council of the Quneitra and Golan region.

Figure 1: Announcement of Katiba Ahrar Ha?r on 28 January 2013. Notice the Druze flag on the right and the FSA flag on the left.

In wars with sectarian dynamics, extortionist policies by militias claiming to protect your own sect are hardly surprising. Allegations of such behavior have already emerged from Alawite areas of Homs (a city where sectarian cleansing has been an important element of the urban warfare), and extortion by the Mahdi Army from Shi’a residents in parts of Baghdad during the sectarian civil war in Iraq in 2006-7/8 is well-known: something that helped to create a degree of Shi’i disillusionment with Muqtada al-Sadr’s militia.

Operating in the al-Aqsa area of northern Quneitra, the battalion has even claimed a martyr: Sheikh Ghassan Saleh Zidane, also known as Abu Adna. He was until his death considered the leader of the battalion and one of the mashayakh of Ha?r. The mashayakh are an essential senior component of a Druze locality. On announcing his death, the battalion accused the “shabiha of Ha?r” of killing him in an ambush.

Figure 2: Photo released on 1 April to announce death of Sheikh Ghassan Saleh Zidane. Notice his body covered with the Druze flag. See here for a video featuring the corpse.

Nevertheless, the existence of this battalion does not illustrate a sharp division in the village’s population between pro and anti-regime sentiment. On the contrary, Ha?r remains loyal to the regime, and far more martyrs for the village have been claimed on the side of regime forces, whether of those deemed shabiha or the Syrian army, as the photos below should demonstrate (courtesy of pro-Assad activits in Ha?r). From the evidence, there is no reason to suppose an anti-regime Druze autonomist trend in this area.

Figure 3: Tomb of local martyr and Syrian army soldier Ayham Faheem Hamid.

Figure 4: Amjad Kamal Mustafa. Note the emphasis on his Druze identity.

Figure 5: Bibris Asa’ad Hasoon, a conscripted soldier from Ha?r killed in Idlib province.

Figure 6: Photo from Ha?r on 9 April. Funeral for local martyrs.

Figure 7: Locals in Ha?r commemorate martyrs for the Syrian army and pro-regime militias. Photo from mid-October.

Figure 8: Local martyr Rafat Aatef Nuqur

Figure 9: Ali Hasoon, another local martyr.

Figure 10: Ma’aruf Mashhur Wehbe.

Figure 11: Saleh Badr.

Figure 12: Osama Nazih Rakan.

Like the Jaysh al-Muwahhideen circles, the pro-Assad activists of Ha?r have also featured Jaysh al-Muwahhideen/Abu Ibrahim photos, as below, identical to one in my previous piece but without the Jaysh al-Muwahhideen label but instead advertised “for your eyes, Ha?r.” Again, this puts into doubt the contention that these militias are somehow autonomous and of a non-cooperative orientation vis-à-vis the Syrian army via the People’s Committees. Indeed, these photos of Jaysh al-Muwahhideen/Abu Ibrahim photos are never advertised in any kind of supposed Druze separatist/autonomist circles, but rather among activists of a clearly pro-Assad orientation.

Figure 13: Jaysh Abu Ibrahim Druze militiamen. Photo released this month.

Thus, the case of the village of Ha?r should illustrate my point in my previous piece that the majority of Druze who take up arms do so on the side of Assad. Those in the armed opposition are simply outliers. Common sense should tell us that no community is ever completely monolithic in political outlook, but it is wrong to pretend that the exceptions here somehow point to a sharp split of loyalties amongst the Druze of Syria.

The same goes for Druze figures in the political opposition: they are primarily associated with the opposition-in-exile coalition (e.g. Jabr al-Shufi) that has little credibility on the ground, and so invoking such figures as evidence for Druze sympathy on-the-ground for the opposition is in fact much more dubious than invoking the few Druze who form and join FSA-banner groups.

2. Syrian Druze and Israel: Given the existence of a Druze community in the Galilee area that tends not to identify with Arabist causes and is in fact pro-Israel, one might ask how the Druze in Syria view their Israeli brethren. There is an interesting trend in the Jaysh al-Muwahhideen circles whereby photos are put up of Druze soldiers serving in the Israeli Defence Force’s (IDF) Sword Battalion, as per the examples below.

Figures 14 and 15: Druze soldiers in the IDF Sword Battalion.

Is this reconcilable with the contention in my previous piece regarding Syrian Druze hostility to Israel? Yes. Notice that in these photos the Israeli flag is not openly on display, and these photos, if any caption is given, are advertised as soldiers of “Battalion 299” without any explicit reference to the army in which they serve. The concern here is simply to reflect notions of Druze solidarity and ideals of Druze unity and power. Note also the images below from Jaysh al-Muwahhiddeen circles purporting to show Druze loyalty to Syria in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and resentment over the treatment of Druzes by the “soldiers of the occupation.”

Figure 16: Druze man in occupied Golan Heights waves the flag of Syria. Note Jaysh al-Muwahhideen label in top left-hand corner.

Figure 17: Photo in Jaysh al-Muwahhideen circles purporting to show Israeli mistreatment of Druze in the occupied Golan Heights.

Figure 18: From a Druze page based in Lebanon, which like the Jaysh al-Muwahhideen pages features photos of Druze soldiers in Battalion 299. This photo hosted by the same page shows Druze support for Syria and Syrian nationalist Druze leader Sultan al-Atrash. No similar gestures of Druze support for Israel would be featured.

To round off, here are some more photos of Druze militiamen in Syria put out under the Jaysh al-Muwahhideen label.

Figure 19: From Jabal al-Sheikh.

Figure 20: From the town of Ha?r, Jabal al-Sheikh. Note the fighter wearing a jacket with the Syrian flag.

Figure 21: Near the town of Ha?r in Jabal al-Sheikh. In light of the presence of the Syrian army tank, overlap is implied between Druze irregulars in this area and the Syrian army.

Figure 22: Jabal al-Sheikh.

Figure 23: Druze militiamen in Arna, Jabal al-Sheikh. “Forces of Abu Ibrahim: Jaysh al-Muwahhideen.” Note the Druze colours on the gun in the middle of the photo.

Figure 24: Druze militiamen with the Syrian flag. Note the individual on the right with a portrait of Assad on his shirt.

Figure 25: Druze fighters stand over the corpse of a dead rebel.

Aymenn Jawad al-Tamimi is a student at Brasenose College, Oxford University, and a Shillman-Ginsburg Fellow at the Middle East Forum. His website is http://www.aymennjawad.org. Follow on Twitter:@ajaltamimi

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Comments (12)

Syrialover said:

Again, Aymenn Al-Tamimi buddy get them to fix the pointless outsized photos that make this page look like your personal facebook album.

Don’t you want people to read what you’ve written about the Druze? No, maybe not, instead just look at random and non-edited pictures.

For example, what’s your reason for shoving in our faces a gigantic soppy-looking portrait of some unexplained person named Osama Nazih Rakan – an intimate friend of yours?

And why do we need SyriaComment disrespectfully showcasing photos and videos of dead people?

Over the top, immature and amateurish. Lift the game!

November 15th, 2013, 7:40 pm

Syrian said:

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November 15th, 2013, 9:59 pm

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November 15th, 2013, 10:13 pm

ziad said:

Yarmouk Camp Settlement Falters

An attempt to end the fighting in Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp near Damascus suffered a setback when opposition fighters demanded that they retain a role in managing the camp’s affairs.

According to the agreement, “committees” made up of all the Palestinian factions – with the exception of the Islamist Hamas and the pro-regime General Command group – would then enter the camp to maintain security.

However, a first step to evacuate civilians from the camp on Tuesday morning failed, despite the PLO’s best efforts. Opposition fighters did all they could to prevent local residents from leaving by either taking their identification papers or firing at them if they tried to bypass their checkpoints.

Sources close to the negotiations said that Hamas negotiators objected to the deal due to the participation of Fateh al-Intifada faction in the proposed security committees.

“The negotiations with the fighters have gone nowhere,” said Palestine’s ambassador to Syria, Anwar Abdul Hadi, “due to their insistence that they be included in the administration of the camp.”

He added that the regime looked favorably upon a possible deal, promising to return all services to the camp once the armed groups pull out.

Due to the government offensive underway in the area, the ambassador explained, “the fighters have fled from the town of al-Sbaynah in the direction of the camp,” prompting the PLO to step up its efforts to find a solution before its too late.

http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/syria-yarmouk-camp-settlement-falters

November 15th, 2013, 10:40 pm

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http://www.alquds.co.uk/?p=103582

November 15th, 2013, 11:10 pm

zoo said:

Another excellent and exhaustive analysis of the Druzes discreet but effective role in this crisis. Historically Druzes have played a significant role in the history of Syria’s independence and it is very interesting to observe how they are reacting to this new attempt to submit Syria to the new ‘colonialists’ Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey.

November 15th, 2013, 11:22 pm

In a Kingdom in a state of panic and high anxiety, just like HBJ in Qatar, Bandar is turning out to be a trouble maker rather than a problem solver
Prince Bandar bin Sultan, Saudi Arabia’s Gatsby Master Spy

By Christopher Dickey
November 16th 20135:45 am

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/11/16/prince-bandar-bin-sultan-saudi-arabia-s-gatsby-master-spy.html

…
Over the years, Bandar arranged to lower global oil prices in the service of Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan and both the Bushes. At the behest of the CIA’s Bill Casey, and behind the back of Congress,Bandar arranged for the Saudis to bankroll anti-Communist wars in Nicaragua, Angola and Afghanistan. He was thick with Dick Cheney, and he was so tight with the George H.W. Bush clan—the father, the mother, the sons, the daughters—that they just called him “Bandar Bush.”

Now, the prince is a spy, or, more precisely, the master spy of the Middle East. He is the point man for a vast Saudi program of covert action and conspicuous spending that helped overthrow the elected Muslim Brotherhood government in Egypt and is attempting to forge a new “Army of Islam” in Syria.
….
Bandar’s goal is to undermine Iranian power: strip away Tehran’s allies like Assad and Hezbollah; stop the Shiite mullahs from acquiring nuclear weapons; roll back their regional designs; and push them out of office if there’s any way to do that.
…..
He has put the resources and prestige of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on the line again and again in recent years, and with very little to show for it. Syria remains a blood-drenched disaster practically on the Saudi doorstep. Iraq is sliding every deeper into a new sectarian civil war between Shiites (more or less supported by Iran), and Sunnis (more or less supported by Saudi Arabia). Egypt’s continuing civil strife and economic implosion are turning the country into a black hole for billions of Saudi dollars. And while there may be much to fault in Obama’s policy, it’s not as if Bandar and the Saudis have been innocent bystanders.
…
“Saudi Arabia is not doing well, and the measure of this is the panic of the Kingdom about the American-Iranian rapprochement,” says a Lebanese source, who is close to many backroom negotiations in the region and who asked not to be identified.
..
Last year, according to Saudi sources who’ve worked closely with Bandar, he told King Abdullah that he could solve the Syria situation in a matter of months. The previous intelligence chief, Abdullah’s half brother Prince Muqrin, had not been able to make much headway. But Bandar, as it turns out, has not been much of an improvement.

“His job requires being able to work 18 hours a day and he cannot,” says a Saudi who has collaborated closely with Bandar. He is frustrated and angry and anxious to show off to the world his ability to achieve the seemingly impossible, as he did in the past. But as the same Saudi points out, “being angry is not good in the intelligence business.” And in today’s Middle East, chutzpah just isn’t enough.

November 15th, 2013, 11:36 pm

Heads-up said:

Just so you may know, our well informed and highly reliable sources who work very hard, around the clock and behind the scenes authorized the release of the following very important heads up, in order to keep you up to date with current events.

Our patrons reviewed the material presented in this latest post posted by the owner of the site and his helpers. Our well informed benefactors once again came to the unavoidable conclusion that the material, photos and videos presented in the main posts are sheer propaganda seeking in essence to polish the ugly face of the murderous regime, implying in the process a clear desperate attempt to spread propaganda on behalf of the falling and desperate regime of outlawed perverted criminals of the outcast so-called Assad. In general, the material presented has no bearings whatsoever on the interests of Syria and its people who are fighting the most important war on behalf of all Mankind, the existential fight against humankind archenemy, the Serpent-Head and its proxies. Needless to say, the acts of fabrication and propaganda of this site’s administrators fall squarely and evenly under the definitions of aiding and abetting of criminals of the worst kind in human history. Our benefactors firmly believe that any new posts will only reinforce the same cheap propaganda fueled by the site owner and others who write on his behalf.

As a result of their assessments, our benefactors decided to keep the site on the blacklist. And they would strongly urge readers to exercise extreme caution, sound judgement and critical analysis when reading anything written by the owner or associates of the this clearly suspicious and much-below standards site.

November 15th, 2013, 11:37 pm

Is Qaradawi on the Syrian government’s payroll?

Qaradawi urges Sunnis to help brethren in Syria

Saturday, 16 November 2013
http://thepeninsulaqatar.com/qatar/260976-qaradawi-urges-sunnis-to-help-brethren-in-syria.html

Doha: Noted Islamic scholar Dr Yousuf Al Qaradawi yesterday said Shias around the world were joining arms to fight Sunnis in Syria.

Delivering the Friday sermon at the Omar bin Khattab mosque here, Al Qaradawi said Allah would not let the minority rule the people.

“The believers will achieve victory even though their enemies, among them Shias, are sending strong and experienced fighters from Iraq, Lebanon and groups like Hezbollah. Shias are gathering from different countries to fight the Sunnis in Syria because it is their last trench.”

Al Qaradawi said that the believers should not give up hope and that the Persian state was still supporting groups in Sryia by providing them funds and weapons. He called upon the Syrian opposition to unite against the ‘Shia bloc’. He urged Sunnis to support their brothers in Syria because they were facing difficult times, and some were being forced to look for food in garbage.

Addressing Sunnis across the world, Al Qaradawi said, “You Sunnis, you are 1.5 billion in the world. How have you left your brothers who are being killed in Syria? How have you left innocent children, women and elders, who are being killed?”

He also said that the Syrian dictator could not escape Allah’s punishment for what he has done against Sunnis and the Syrian people.

“Allah will respond to the prayers of the believers and remove them from power,” he said.

On Egypt, he said victory was near because the majority of Egyptians still supported their legitimate president, Mohammed Mursi.

“It is a legitimacy that the people agreed to on January 25, 2011, when elections were conducted. It cannot be ignored, unless new elections take place.”

Al Qaradawi said that the new constitution being drafted by the government seeks to remove articles and clauses that address morality and nationalism.

He also said that during Mursi’s tenure as president people in Egypt had more freedom.

November 15th, 2013, 11:43 pm

The irreversible and determined move of the heroic Syrian Army to retake rebels held territories

Assad’s forces advance in northern Syria towards Aleppo

By Dominic Evans
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/assads-forces-advance-northern-syria-towards-aleppo-184750138.html#VZVNU3X

BEIRUT (Reuters) – Forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad captured on Friday the last of three towns on the south-eastern approaches of Aleppo, state television said, advancing on the city after similar gains around the capital Damascus this week.

Aleppo, Syria’s commercial hub and biggest city before the uprising against Assad erupted in 2011, has been partly held by Sunni rebels and foreign jihadi fighters for more than a year.

But Assad’s army, backed by Shi’ite Lebanese Hezbollah officers and Iraqi militias, has been regaining territory around Aleppo and Damascus to the south, strengthening the president’s hand ahead of proposed, but long-delayed, peace talks in Geneva.

State television aired a report on Friday it said was filmed in the centre of the town of Tel Hasel, 10 km (6 miles) south-east of Aleppo. Black smoke was seen in the background.

The town is the third on the road to Aleppo to be taken by Assad’s forces this month after the capture of Safira, close to a former chemical weapons site, and Tel Arn.
Its capture helps secure army control south of Aleppo airport, which has been closed to most civilian flights since rebels fired at a plane last year, just a week after soldiers drove rebels from a base on the airport’s northern perimeter.
….
But fighters from the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front and the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant had already withdrawn north towards Aleppo, now divided between Assad’s forces and rebels.
…
“It’s a matter of time before the army has full control of Tel Hasel,” said Abdelrahman, who monitors the violence through a network of activists, medics and military sources.

November 15th, 2013, 11:50 pm

Two years after the ‘successful Western made revolution’ Libya continues to live more happy days

At least 32 dead as clashes erupt in Tripoli between residents and militiamen

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/at-least-32-dead-as-clashes-erupt-in-tripoli-between-residents-and-militamen.aspx?pageID=238&nID=58018&NewsCatID=357

At least 32 people were killed and almost 400 wounded in gun battles between Libyan militiamen and armed residents in Tripoli on Nov. 15 in the worst street fighting for months to test the shaky central government.

Prime Minister Ali Zeidan is struggling to control rival militias, Islamist militants and other former fighters who refuse to surrender their arms two years after helping to overthrow Muammar Gaddafi in a NATO-backed revolt.

After the violence, Zeidan demanded that all militias “without exception” leave Tripoli, but the clashes underscored how little his fledging military can do to curb ex-rebels, who have also shut down Libya’s oil exports for months.
…
Libya’s turmoil and the weakness of its border controls are worrying its North African neighbours. France this week said it was considering offering more counter-terrorism training and aid to help Libya prevent militancy spilling over its frontiers.

The French intervention in neighbouring Mali this year drove some Islamist militants with links to al Qaeda across the border into Libya’s lawless southern deserts, where the central government has little or no say.

So far, the capital has been spared the almost daily bombings and killings that plague Libya’s second city, Benghazi, in the east. But when clashes between rival militias do break out, the nascent armed forces are no match for them.

November 15th, 2013, 11:56 pm

Feras A. Atassi
1 hour ago
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November 16th, 2013, 9:40 am