Sources: Burning of a Christmas Tree in Syria Sets Off Protests by Euan Ward

On the 24th of December this year, footage of masked men burning the base of an artificial Christmas tree began to circulate around Syria, causing mass protests in the mostly Christian city of Damascus. Despite the fact that the footage has been confirmed by the New York Times, the reasoning for the burning of the tree and those behind it remains unknown.

While many have their own theories for the incident, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has linked foreign fighters with the burning of the Christmas tree. According to the New York Times, during the 13-year duration of the Syrian civil war, thousands of foreign fighters came to Syria, many of them joining rebel groups opposing Bashar al-Assad dictatorship.

Following the overthrow of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, many of the country’s minorities, such as Christians, Druse, and Alawites, have been fearful of persecution. The new government, however, has tried countless times to reassure the minority communities that it will be safe, making no immediate statements about the protests or tree burning. Shrines belonging to the Alawites have been attacked, likely due to the fact that Assad had favored them during his reign. According to the New York Times, members of the Assad family were also Alawites.

The protests in Damascus involved hundreds of people chanting and marching through the streets bearing wooden crosses. The protests have been relatively small and confined to Damascus so far.