Syrians condemn hate-inciting slogans in pro-government rallies

Syrian social media users have expressed widespread anger after videos emerged of pro-government demonstrations featuring slogans and chants accused of promoting sectarian and ethnic hatred, according to reporting by The New Arab's Arabic edition Al-Araby Al-Jadeed.

The demonstrations took place after President Ahmad al-Sharaa called in a televised address for public marches marking the first anniversary of the "Deterrence of Aggression" operation that led to the fall of the Assad regime.

The call produced a large turnout of Syrians who simply wanted to celebrate their liberation, but it also led to sectarian scenes and banners that generated significant online controversy, Al-Araby Al-Jadeed reported.

Although the rallies carried a unified political message, videos posted on Facebook showed signs that activists described as direct attempts by a minority to revive divisive and inflammatory rhetoric.

Commenters wrote that the slogans represented "a deviation from the values of the first Syrian revolution" and undermined the principle of citizenship that the country is trying to build. They called for confronting hate-inciting messages and preventing their spread in public spaces.

Activists said the scenes do not reflect the general mood in Syrian society but rather social and political tensions inherited from years of war and fragmentation, which for some individuals have produced a readiness "to revive hatred instead of moving toward reconciliation".

Other Syrians recalled events of the past decade as evidence of the destructive consequences of sectarian mobilisation, warning that tolerance of such rhetoric - even in a political or commemorative setting - could threaten attempts to rebuild trust among Syria’s various communities.

Alongside official calls for mass rallies, opposing voices demanded clear measures to curb hate speech and expand opportunities for national dialogue, Al-Araby Al-Jadeed reported.

Abdul-Halim Suleiman, a journalist and political analyst from Qamishli, told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that Syrian communities "rejected the injustice practiced by previous regimes, and raised slogans of freedom and justice, but the long years of war produced social contradictions fed by the authorities and security services, then came ISIS and currents of political Islam to entrench the division".

He said: "In this way political disagreements turned into insults and resentments, and part of society became a fertile environment for hate speech."

Suleiman added that the transitional government "failed in strengthening trust among Syrians since its formation", arguing that the National Dialogue Conference and the constitutional declaration "were neither inclusive nor able to unite the street", creating space for exclusionary rhetoric that weaponises ethnic and religious identities.

He continued: "Today we see insults directed at Alawites, Druze and Kurds, and verbal attacks against Christians, alongside the promotion of a single sectarian identity as the highest value. This is political and historical ignorance, and the authorities bear responsibility for stopping these abuses before the situation spirals out of control."

Ammar Dioub, a writer and journalist from Homs, told the newspaper that the appearance of a shoeshiner’s kit in one of the demonstrations as a mocking symbol of the Kurds was "an insulting act and a dangerous sign", reflecting a condescending view that strips an entire group of its citizenship.

Dioub said: "Millions of Syrians lived and still live off simple professions such as shoeshining and other manual trades. Mocking a profession means mocking the poor. And the Kurds are full citizens with full rights. Any rhetoric that distinguishes between them and others is racist rhetoric that cannot form the basis of a state, but only of perpetual conflict."

He added that "the ease with which some attack ethnic or social groups reproduces a political structure built on racial and ideological superiority", saying it "should have been officially condemned, not ignored".

"Hatred begins with a small symbolic gesture and then spreads like wildfire. What is happening is not only against the Kurds but against 90 percent of poor Syrians," he warned.