Syria Moves to Curb Influence of Muslim Conservatives

[jetsetter]

Syria Moves to Curb Influence of Muslim Conservatives
By KAREEM FAHIM
Published: September 3, 2010

DAMASCUS, Syria — This country, which had sought to show solidarity with Islamist groups and allow religious figures a greater role in public life, has recently reversed course, moving forcefully to curb the influence of Muslim conservatives in its mosques, public universities and charities.

The government has asked imams for recordings of their Friday sermons and started to strictly monitor religious schools. Members of an influential Muslim women’s group have now been told to scale back activities like preaching or teaching Islamic law. And this summer, more than 1,000 teachers who wear the niqab, or the face veil, were transferred to administrative duties.

The crackdown, which began in 2008 but has gathered steam this summer, is an effort by President Bashar al-Assad to reassert Syria’s traditional secularism in the face of rising threats from radical groups in the region, Syrian officials say.

The policy amounts to a sharp reversal for Syria, which for years tolerated the rise of the conservatives. And it sets the government on the seemingly contradictory path of moving against political Islamists at home, while supporting movements like Hamas and Hezbollah abroad.

Syrian officials are adamant that the shifts stem from alarming domestic trends, and do not affect support for those groups, allies in their struggle against Israel. At the same time, they have spoken proudly about their secularizing campaign. Some Syrian analysts view that as an overture to the United States and European nations, which have been courting Syria as part of a strategy to isolate Iran and curb the influence of Hamas and Hezbollah.

Human rights advocates say the policy exacerbates pressing concerns: the arbitrary imprisonment of Islamists, as well as the continued failure to integrate them in political life.

Pressure on Islamic conservatives in Syria began in earnest after a powerful car bomb exploded in the Syrian capital in September 2008, killing 17 people. The government blamed the radical group Fatah al-Islam.

Continued at: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/04/wo...t/04syria.html

An interesting situation. The meeting of the two modes of thought in the Middle East, post colonial secular nationalism and more recent Islamic fundamentalism, has produced many problems over the latter half of the 20th century and continues to produce problems up till this day. One of the more shocking incidents was the "Hama massacre".

The Hama massacre (Arabic: مجزرة حماة‎) occurred in February 1982, when the Syrian army bombarded the town of Hama in order to quell a revolt by the Muslim Brotherhood. An estimated 7,000 to 40,000 people were killed, including about 1,000 soldiers, and large parts of the old city were destroyed. The attack has been described as possibly being "the single deadliest act by any Arab government against its own people in the modern Middle East".

[Ordie]

Syria is led by the Alawites.

[Anomander]

Completely OT, but has anyone visited Syria? Visiting Crac des Chevaliers has been on my "to do" list for a while, anyone have any experiences to share?

[sheytanelkebir]

been there many times. in fact my wedding was there. damascus is pretty nice (nicer than baghdad anyway). what do you want to know exactly?