By Amr Abdullah
DAMASCUS (Reuters) – Syrian Christians attended Christmas Eve services on Tuesday for the first time since the overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad in early December, in an early test of the new Islamist rulers’ promises to protect the rights of the country’s religious minorities. .
The service was held amid tight security due to concerns of violence against Christian sites, with several vans belonging to the now-ruling Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) parked around the church.
The pews of the Lady of Damascus Church in the Syrian capital were filled with a mixed congregation of young and old, holding candles as hymns filled the air and echoed through the church.
Hours before the service, hundreds of protesters in Damascus had gathered to denounce an incident in which a Christmas tree was burned in the northern rural area of Hama governorate in west-central Syria.
Carrying wooden crosses, they chanted “We are your soldiers, Jesus,” “With blood and soul, we sacrifice ourselves for Jesus,” and “The Syrian people are one.”
Protester Laila Farkouh said: “We are protesting to demand our rights and denounce… The burning of the Christmas tree and the attacks on churches… We do not accept this.”
De facto ruler Ahmed al-Sharaa has told Christians and other groups that they will be safe in a Syria ruled by his HTS, a former al Qaeda affiliate.
Although he himself was a leader of the Sunni Muslim Islamist group, which views Christians as infidels, Sharaa has quickly shed his jihadist uniform and donned business suits in recent appearances.
He has told visiting Western officials that HTS will not seek revenge against the former Assad regime, whose senior figures came mostly from the Alawite sect of Islam, nor will it repress any other religious minorities.
But many Christians are still not convinced.
The burning of the Christmas tree was one of several incidents against Christians since the fall of the regime.
On December 18, unidentified gunmen opened fire on a Greek Orthodox church in the city of Hama, entered the premises and attempted to destroy a cross and smash tombstones in a cemetery, the church said in a statement.
In a separate incident, Reuters journalists saw several off-road vehicles driving through Bab Touma, a predominantly Christian neighborhood in Damascus, blaring jihadist songs from their speakers.