Druze sources in the Syrian city of Suwayda confirmed to Asharq Al-Awsat that there was widespread discontent in popular circles after Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri’s “National Guard” attacked the home of Atef Heneid, known as “Pasha” on Thursday-Friday night, and then on “Friday” in the governorate. Damascus, for a statement in which he strongly criticized Al-Hijri’s statements in which he said that the Druze “share faith with the state”. Israel’ and that they are ‘an integral part of it’.
However, the sources, who preferred to remain anonymous due to the current security situation, told Asharq Al-Awsat that popular criticism of the incident took place “in whispers and in closed rooms and the governor did not witness the movements on the ground”, denying what happened, while Suwayda Governor Mustafa Al-Bakur called for “intelligence and governors” is happening.
Henedi’s family released a statement published on the pages of Suwayda news, where they affirmed that “attacking, shooting and bombing the family, intimidation of women and children is an established criminal offense that we will not tolerate now and in the future by all available legal means,” condemning the reservation. “
The statement read: “The attack and deportation of Atef Heneid is a dangerous and reprehensible precedent that we cannot accept as a family, for Atef or for anyone else.”
The family members said in a statement: “We place the above in the custody of the people of the law, its sponsors, society and its factions to stand up to their responsibility in protecting this fabric and the rule of law and institutions and to prevent such acts from happening again,” stressing that “accountability is a right and a duty and must extend to all nations of July 2. and beyond.”
On the other hand, a statement on behalf of “the people of al-Majdal city” from which Hunaeed hails was released on social media, saying that “after consultations between the people of the city and the stakeholders, it was decided to withdraw him (Atef Hunaeid) from Al-Majdal in order to maintain the strength and security of the city.”
But Druze sources in Suwayda told Asharq Al-Awsat that the announcement was made by National Guard groups that control the town of Al-Majdal.
In contrast to the silence reigning in Suwayda Street, activists found a way to express their position on the incident in social media.
Dr. Fayez Quntar, in a post on his Facebook page on Saturday, opined that “the kidnapping of Atef Huneed and his expulsion from his home and ancestral home threatens to divide Suwayda and the people of the mountain will not accept the suppression of freedoms, the death of a person, and all this is a trait of arbitrariness… the suppression of Bashan, the kidnapping, the deprivation of freedoms and Monopolizing Suwayda’s decisions and her children’s future.”
For his part, the activist Osama al-Halabi confirmed in his post: “The authentic national voices in the mountain will not stop, but will become louder and louder… because the original does not defeat temporary normalization, immediate interests and illusions.”
not fleeting
On Friday night – Saturday, the governor of Suwayda, Mustafa al-Bakur, published a statement on his Telegram account, in which he considered that “the storming of Huneid’s house and guest house and his subsequent arrest and deportation from Suwayda by illegal groups cannot be considered as a temporary incident that can be tolerated.”
Al-Bakur warned of “the danger of repeating these acts until the people get used to them. Silence about a crime today can make it the norm tomorrow, and whoever thinks that this matter does not concern him because it happened to someone else should ask himself: Who guarantees that his house, his guest house, or any of his children will not come tomorrow?”
He added: “We do not call for fighting, nor for revenge, nor for confrontation with arms, but non-violence does not mean the acceptance of humiliation or silence about wrongdoing, and there is a great difference between wisdom and submission, between the care of civil peace and fear being an excuse for silence.”
Al-Bakur addressed the people of Suwayda: “The prestige of society is not created by uncontrolled weapons, but by the position of the people, when they say with one voice: no one is above society, no one is above the law, and no group has the right to be appointed as judge, jailer, and decide the fate of the people. Therefore, according to Al-Bakur, there is a need for “a clear social and civil position, from reasonable people, eminent From people, people of speech and everyone who fears for the future of As-Suwayda, storming houses and guesthouses, denying, arresting, deporting and imposing opinions at gunpoint, regardless of the name and surname of the perpetrator.”
A source in the city of Suwayda said al-Bakur’s statement “had a good effect, but the decision (to solve the Suwayda crisis) is in the hands of the countries of the region and is subject to understanding, and the people have no influence on this matter and decision.”
