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  • Syrian Druze
The "Unity of Position" conference, held by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in Hasakah on August 8, 2025. Social media

Heading for a showdown? SDF conference riles Damascus

Syria's government needs to centralise decision-making and bring armed groups to heel, but Kurds in the north-east want to establish a 'coalition of the unwilling' with Druze and Alawites. What now?

Subhi Franjieh 13 August 2025
the city of Sweida, following renewed fighting between Bedouin fighters and Druze gunmen, despite an announced truce, in Syria July 18, 2025. Reuters

Illicit economies play big role in Syria’s post-Assad flashpoints

In areas like Daraa and Sweida, local groups are elbowing their way into some of the smuggling voids left by Assad's army and pro-Iranian groups like Hezbollah. That means more to fight over.

Caroline Rose 02 August 2025
a mural depicting Lebanese Druze politician Walid Jumblatt (bottom, R) and Syrian Druze nationalist leader Sultan al-Atrash, in the predominantly Druze city of Beit Jann on November 16, 2023. John MacDougall/AFP

Druze political figures who transformed Syrian history

For more than a century, Druze soldiers and politicians have made their mark on today's Syria. They are still writing their own history, as the recent Sweida violence shows.

Sami Moubayed 25 July 2025
Axel Rangel Garcia

Unravelling the factions, sheikhs, and fighters of Sweida

This Druze-dominated city that has been the scene of fierce fighting in recent days may be a single governorate, but it is home to myriad armed groups with sometimes conflicting agendas.

Subhi Franjieh 24 July 2025
A member of Syrian security forces stands near a vehicle carrying aid as they make their way to Sweida, at Bosra al-Sham town, near Deraa, Syria July 23, 2025. Karam al-Masri/Reuters

After Sweida: the path to peace just got more complicated

The terrible violence in southern Syria this month shows what needs to be done by all actors, and shows what fate awaits if they do not.

Michael Harari 24 July 2025
A member of the Internal Security Forces stands watch at a checkpoint in the village of Al-Mazra'a, after days of violence in Sweida between Bedouin fighters and Druze factions, on 20 July 2025. Karam al-Masri/Reuters

Solution needed: Sweida’s ceasefire is a pause, not peace

The guns may have fallen silent but in Syria's Druze-dominated southern city, they have enforced the status quo. That is dangerous, since it fails to recognise that Syria has now fundamentally changed

Haid Haid 21 July 2025
UN Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen backs the central government's desire for sovereignty over its territory but says that, in a transition period, this is best done through dialogue and by building trust. Al Majalla/AFP

UN envoy to Syria: true loyalty to the state cannot be coerced

Geir Pedersen condemns Israeli strikes and urges genuine dialogue between Syrian authorities and the local Druze community in Sweida.

Ibrahim Hamidi 18 July 2025
A man checks the destruction inside the heavily damaged Syrian army and defence ministry headquarters complex in Damascus, following Israeli strikes on July 16, 2025. Bakr Alkasem/AFP

Why Israel is bombing Damascus troops to 'protect' the Druze

Tel Aviv does not want a military power led by former Islamists on its doorstep, so is throwing a protective missile system around Syria's minorities, whether they want it or not. Will it backfire?

Michael Horowitz 17 July 2025
Men gesture on the day Israeli Druze leader Sheik Mowafaq Tarif hosts Druze leaders from Syria, in the first Druze delegation since the 1973 war, at the Druze village of Julis in northern Israel, March 14, 2025. REUTERS/Ammar Awad

Israel's risky gamble as "defender" of Syria's minorities

Israel's offensive posture in Syria and its offer to "protect" minorities points to broader ambitions that could also end up backfiring

Michael Horowitz 05 April 2025
‭A sign depicting Syrian Druze leader Sheikh Hikmat al-Hajri is seen in Sweida, Syria, on February‬ 25, 2025. Yamam al Shaar /Reuters‬

Attempts to revive the Syrian Druze "state project" in history

The issue of the Druze mountain predates the modern Syrian state itself, but has resurfaced following recent Israeli statements about their intent to "protect" Syria's Druze

Sami Moubayed 16 March 2025
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Al Majalla
Politics

Palestine recognition is great. Now it's time for action.

23 September 2025

The two-state solution is on life support. Israel's genocide in Gaza and its relentless building of settlements in the West Bank are actively destroying the viability of a Palestinian state.

Ramzy Ezzeldin Ramzy
Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi (left) watches as Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani (center) greets US Special Envoy to Syria Tom Barrack after signing an agreement in Damascus on September 16, 2025. AFP
Politics

A "reasonable" Israel-Syria agreement looks imminent

21 September 2025

US envoy Tom Barrack has been shuffling between the two countries ahead of the UN General Assembly in a bid to get something concrete signed this week in New York

Omer Onhon
Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman receives Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif ahead of their meeting in Riyadh. SPA
Politics

Saudi-Pakistan defence pact cements already robust ties

22 September 2025

For decades, Riyadh and Islamabad have been on the same page when it comes to defence and security, but their alliance has always been based on understandings. That is now evolving.

Kamal Alam
Al Majalla
Politics

Charlie Kirk’s killing and the evolution of American division

20 September 2025

The US is witnessing a brutal 'unchaining' of lone operators, with political violence no longer isolated incidents but a recurring phenomenon that feeds on itself

Abdullah F. Alrebh
Dutch writer, journalist and performer Christine Otten attends a photocall during the annual Edinburgh International Book Festival at George Street on August 23, 2017, in Edinburgh, Scotland. Roberto Ricciuti / Getty Images
Culture & Social Affairs

Christine Otten on telling the stories of the marginalised

22 September 2025

The Dutch novelist is famous for capturing the rhythm and style of the poets who became the forefathers of hip-hop, but her work has also brought civil rights leaders and refugees to life

Nesrein El-Bakhshawangy

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OPINIONS

Syria’s new draft tax system: capital over social equity?

Joseph Daher
Joseph Daher

Palestine recognition is great. Now it's time for action.

Ramzy Ezzeldin Ramzy
Ramzy Ezzeldin Ramzy

After the grandeur of Trump's visit, Britons go back to reality

Khaled Kassar
Khaled Kassar

Chatbots: powering the next wave of AI growth

Al Majalla - London
Al Majalla - London
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