{"id":75013,"date":"2026-04-20T16:58:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-20T16:58:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/75013\/"},"modified":"2026-04-20T16:58:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T16:58:08","slug":"what-a-protest-in-syria-reveals-about-the-countrys-divides","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/75013\/","title":{"rendered":"What a protest in Syria reveals about the country’s divides"},"content":{"rendered":"

Damascus, Syria – A protest in central Damascus<\/a> on Friday turned ugly as brawls broke out between protesters and counter-protesters, highlighting Syria\u2019s continued internal divisions.<\/p>\n

The \u2018Law and Dignity\u2019 protest was organised to demand a number of political and economic reforms<\/a>, like an improvement to living conditions and public services, and the protection of rights.<\/p>\n

This comes amid a deteriorating economic reality for many Syrians, a fragile security situation<\/a>, and concerns about the patchy application of the rule of law.<\/p>\n

Yasmine, 14, came to the protest with her parents because \u201cshe wants to have the same rights as everybody across the world\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t want to have to dream about leaving my country just to have a normal life. As Syrians, we grow ten years older every day because we have been denied our rights,\u201d she explained to The New Arab.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m here because I want the government to hear my voice and know that I want to live, I don\u2019t just want to survive.\u201d<\/p>\n

The demonstration was denounced by pro-government counter-protesters, who arrived ahead of the planned protest to raise Syria\u2019s revolutionary flag alongside the white flag of the\u00a0shuhada. According to them, the protest was organised by individuals associated with the former regime<\/a>, working on behalf of external powers.<\/p>\n

With little initial police presence, violence quickly broke out between the two sides, as counter-protesters attacked several individuals holding placards calling for reforms.<\/p>\n

While riot police soon separated the two opposing sides, it did little to cool tensions. As protesters chanted revolutionary slogans espousing the unity of all Syrians, counter-protesters responded by hurling objects over the heads of the police lines and calling for the \u201cregime thugs\u201d to be kicked out of the country.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe paid for our dignity at the cost of a million martyrs. After more than a decade of war, we need time to recover, yet these people criticise the government. Do they really expect us to become like Switzerland after a few months?\u201d Abu Aboud, a counter-protester, told TNA.<\/p>\n

\u201cLook how our state protects them,\u201d he said, pointing to the lines of police in riot gear. \u201cAssad would never have protected us like this. This is what we fought for.\u201d<\/p>\n

The atmosphere was fiercely hostile. A journalist, Mirella Abu Shannab, was assaulted during a live broadcast. One individual attempted to drive his car through protesters but was apprehended by the security services before he managed to do so.<\/p>\n

As TNA was leaving the protest, two individuals were being pulled apart by police. \u201cWe will be waiting for you,\u201d the pro-government protester warned.<\/p>\n

Whilst Syria has witnessed a number of protests against specific governmental policies, this marks the first sign of dissent towards the direction of travel in post-Assad Syria. [Getty]<\/p>\n

A protest riven by class division<\/p>\n

Information was circulating online ahead of the protest that the organisers were remnants of the former regime<\/a>, fuelling anger and threats of violence. In one video, a man filmed several of his weapons, threatening that \u201cGod willing, tomorrow, we will cut off your heads, pigs.\u201d<\/p>\n

There is little evidence that Assad remnants were behind the protest, although calls to protest were amplified online by individuals and accounts linked to the Assad regime. Instead, it appears to have been organised by a network of activists and dissidents abroad, mostly located in Germany and Turkey.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was also a clear divide between the sides defined by class and regionalism,\u201d Malik al-Abdeh, the Editor-in-Chief of\u00a0Syria in Transition, told TNA.<\/p>\n

Although there were protesters from a range of backgrounds and religions, in general, they appeared to stem from the Damascene secular middle-upper class crowd.<\/p>\n

Pro-government protesters, meanwhile, were more likely to be from the provinces or Damascus\u2019 outer suburbs, which are often more conservative.<\/p>\n

\u201cPart of the anger is that those lower-class regional Syrians suffered most during the war. Whilst the class which is now protesting was largely shielded from the worst of it,\u201d explains Al-Abdeh.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not that the demands aren’t legitimate, but that those protesting didn\u2019t win the right to complain during the war.\u201d<\/p>\n

Demands for reform<\/p>\n

The organisers of the event outlined ten demands ranging from economic issues like halting price increases and curbing monopolies to political reforms such as ensuring transitional justice<\/a> and enabling a genuine political transition.<\/p>\n

The Syrian government, in an attempt to restore the public finances, has cut a raft of subsidies on crucial goods, including fuel and electricity, that have brought skyrocketing prices. Electricity costs<\/a> are up by between 60-800% depending on the tariff.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cLifting fuel and electricity subsidies before wages and social protection could catch up has pushed households into a harder bargain than the transition promised them,\u201d explains Nanar Hawach, senior researcher for the International Crisis Group (ICG).\u00a0<\/p>\n

For now, opposition to Syria’s new government remains limited, but the reaction to Friday’s protest has exposed how Syria remains deeply divided. [Getty]<\/p>\n

In a country where 90% of the population remains under the poverty line, such price hikes can be crippling.<\/p>\n

This is coupled with the Syrian lira\u2019s continued inflation. The fall of the Assad regime and the removal of sanctions<\/a> buoyed the lira, sending it as low as 9,000 to the dollar.<\/p>\n

In recent months, however, it has weakened, now reaching 13,000 lira to the dollar – a troubling milestone that nearly mirrors its frailest point under the Assad regime.<\/p>\n

Syrians are pushing back on \u201cappointments that reward loyalty over competence, budgets and contracts that travel through a narrow circle, and a judiciary without the independence to question either,\u201d Hawach tells TNA.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese are structural choices, and structural choices can be revisited.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, \u201ccorruption is making a comeback,\u201d argues Al-Abdeh. It disappeared after the fall of the Assad regime, he explains, but is now returning, partly because many of the old regime employees are still in place and are returning to their old habits.<\/p>\n

\u201cMembers of the new government are also insufficiently trained to identify and combat corruption,” he adds.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe mood is darkening, but the question is, will it ever translate into a mass movement for change. I am doubtful.\u201d<\/p>\n

An attempt to build an opposition<\/p>\n

Whilst Syria has witnessed a number of protests against specific governmental policies, this marks the first sign of dissent towards \u201cthe direction of travel, targeting the macro-features of the transition itself,\u201d says Hawach.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis protest was a proof of concept,\u201d explains al-Abdeh. \u201cThey were likely hoping to see whether they could get the street to join them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite rumours swirling that the protest was going to be the biggest since 2011, in reality it attracted a relatively small turnout – numbering perhaps in the hundreds – from a relatively narrow part of Syrian society.<\/p>\n

The organisers, being activists living abroad, \u201chave limited reach within Syria itself and can\u2019t command the Sunni street\u201d. He clarifies that a real opposition would need to be a broad-based coalition that incorporates figures who have support in conservative, religious, and provincial circles.<\/p>\n

\u201cEqually, the government holds the Sunni sectarian card. They can credibly argue that, despite our failings, the only alternative is a return to minority rule,\u201d says Al-Abdeh.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor the working-class Sunni, even if you’re poorer than before, the feeling that your people are running the show is a powerful psychological tool for the government.\u201d<\/p>\n

Syria\u2019s post-Assad transition<\/a> is still in its early days. The country has yet to establish a parliament or draft a new constitution, leaving its trajectory uncertain.<\/p>\n

For now, opposition to Syria\u2019s new government remains limited, but the reaction to Friday\u2019s protest has exposed how Syria remains deeply divided, not just over policy, but also over who has the right to demand change, and when.<\/p>\n

Cian\u00a0Ward\u00a0is a journalist based in Damascus, covering conflict, migration, and humanitarian issues<\/p>\n

Follow him on X:\u00a0@CP__Ward<\/a><\/p>\n

Edited by Charlie Hoyle<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Damascus, Syria – A protest in central Damascus on Friday turned ugly as brawls broke out between protesters…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":75014,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[672,147,2665,95,6101],"class_list":{"0":"post-75013","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-syria","8":"tag-ahmed-al-sharaa","9":"tag-economy","10":"tag-post-assad-syria","11":"tag-syria","12":"tag-transitional-justice"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@iran\/116438099721194944","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75013","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=75013"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75013\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/75014"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=75013"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=75013"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=75013"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}