Demonstrations in Damascus to protest against setting fire to Christmas tree in Hama

Demonstrators from different neighborhoods in Damascus gathered last night to express their discontent and fears, after a video spread on virtual social networks, showing masked men setting fire to a Christmas tree in the city of Suqaylabiya, which has an Orthodox Christian majority in Hama Governorate, according to France-Presse..

The demonstrators marched through the streets of Damascus towards the headquarters of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate in Bab Sharqi, chanting “We want Christian rights” and carrying wooden crosses, while others raised the independence flag.

One of the demonstrators told  France-Presse: “We are here  because there is a lot of sectarianism and injustice against Christians, under the name of individual actions.”

And added: "Either we live in a country that respects our Christianity and are safe in this country as we were before, or open the door to church asylum for us so that we can leave abroad."

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights stated that the fighters who burned the tree were foreigners and belonged to the Ansar al-Tawhid faction.

In another video, which also spread on virtual media, a cleric representing Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham appears, addressing the residents of the region by saying that the perpetrators of this act are "not Syrians" and vowing to punish them.

Also confirmed, along with Christian clerics and amidst chanting of Christian slogans by residents of the area, that the tree would be restored and illuminated by morning, which is what actually happened.

The leader of Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham, Ahmed al-Sharaa, which along with other armed factions overthrew the former regime president, Bashar al-Assad, on December 8, announced more than once that he would work to dissolve all the factions and annex them to the Ministry of Defense.

Sh-S

ANHA