![\"Damascus](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/iStock-1147022856-640x400.jpg\")
<\/p>\nSyrian authorities have banned alcohol in Damascus restaurants and bars, except in several Christian neighbourhoods. Officials say it will \u201celiminate practices that violate public morals,\u201d but critics argue it infringes on civil liberties.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
In an announcement made on Monday, the Islamist-led government announced that the sale of alcoholic beverages would be prohibited in restaurants and nightclubs throughout the city, due to \u201cnumerous\u201d complaints and requests from locals.<\/p>\n
It said the new law was aimed at \u201celiminating practices that violate public morals\u201d.<\/p>\n
Despite this, the sale of alcohol will be permitted in the Christian neighbourhoods of Qassaa, Bab Touma and Bab Sharqi, as long as it is sold in sealed bottles and for takeaway.<\/p>\n
Any outlet selling alcohol must be situated at least 75 metres from places of worship and schools, and at least 20 metres from security facilities like police stations and administrative buildings, according to the legislation.<\/p>\n
It grants bar owners three months to comply.<\/p>\n
What will bars do?<\/p>\n
One bar owner in Damascus told Reuters he would close his establishment. He said he had been expecting such a decree for some time, noting a sharp drop in customers since the Islamist-led government seized power.<\/p>\n
The bar owner, who did not want to be identified, said he saw no point in converting his establishment into a dry restaurant or caf\u00e9, adding that people didn\u2019t come there for pizza or shisha.<\/p>\n
Many restaurants had already changed the way they served alcohol or stopped doing so completely, after rebels led by Ahmed al-Sharaa, a former al Qaeda commander, ousted Bashar al-Assad in December 2024, after 13 years of civil war.<\/p>\n
Some wiped beer and wine from their menus, or started serving alcoholic drinks in tea glasses.<\/p>\n
Social conservatism concerns<\/p>\n
Sharaa has sought to assure Syrians that their rights and freedoms would be protected.<\/p>\n
In his address to the U.N. General Assembly last September, he pledged that Syria was now \u201cbuilding the institutions of a state governed by the rule of law, guaranteeing rights and freedoms.\u201d<\/p>\n
Since overthrowing Assad 15 months ago, the government has largely steered clear of imposing social restrictions on the population.<\/p>\n
But several recent announcements, including a ban on women working in the public sector wearing makeup, and mandatory full-body swimsuits on public beaches last year, have piqued worries that this could be changing.<\/p>\n
While much of Syria\u2019s population consists of conservative Sunni Muslims who generally avoid alcohol for religious reasons, many secular Sunnis, as well as members of other religious and ethnic minorities, view an alcohol ban as a potential infringement on civil liberties.<\/p>\n
Religious divide<\/p>\n
Mohammad al-Abdullah, director of the Washington-based Syria Justice and Accountability Centre, has disputed the legal basis of the move against alcohol sales, saying existing Syrian laws didn\u2019t ban the consumption or sale of alcoholic beverages.<\/p>\n
He added that the decision contradicts Article 12 of Syria\u2019s Constitutional Declaration approved by Sharaa last year, which encases all of Syria\u2019s signed human rights treaties, several of which protect the right to consume alcohol, according to Abdullah.
Some critics also argued that granting exemptions to Christian neighbourhoods reinforces a sectarian divide within the city\u2019s communities.
\u201cThe decision effectively segregates between Muslims and Christians. It implies that Christians should stay in their areas and Muslims in theirs,\u201d wrote <\/a>Syrian analyst Jihad Yazigi on X.
\u201cEven during the late Ottoman period, this type of segregation was starting to disappear.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Syrian authorities have banned alcohol in Damascus restaurants and bars, except in several Christian neighbourhoods. Officials say it…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":24850,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[488,8853,670,8741,95],"class_list":{"0":"post-24849","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-syria","8":"tag-asia","9":"tag-ban","10":"tag-damascus","11":"tag-policy","12":"tag-syria"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@iran\/116249859490553111","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24849","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24849"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24849\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24850"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24849"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24849"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24849"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}