An “unprecedented” number of protesters headed towards Suwayda’s Karama square from the early hours of Friday, according to local media Suwayda 24, chanting anti-regime slogans and carrying the flag of the Druze community - an ethnoreligious group which makes up the majority of Suwayda’s population.
The demonstrations, which began on Sunday, were triggered by a surge in prices after the Syrian government decided to lift fuel subsidies.
“Go away, Bashar. We do not want you,” was chanted on repeat during Friday’s demonstrations, as well as the iconic “the people want to bring down the regime” - a slogan which echoed across Middle East and North Africa during the Arab Spring protest movement in early 2010’s.
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) estimated that around 4,000 protesters attended Friday’s demonstrations.
“What differentiates the current movement is that it came as a result of an absolute consensus among the Syrian people,” Abu al-Majed Naser, head of the Truth Research Center, told Rudaw in regards to the ongoing protests in Suwayda, adding “there is an absolute consensus that no good comes from this regime, as it is a subject of Iran. Of the characteristics of this regime are sabotage and destruction, not growth and construction.”
Syrians rose up against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad in March 2011, leading to a full-scale civil war that has claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of Syrian people and has left millions more in need of humanitarian assistance.
Largely assisted by Russian air attacks and Iranian support, Assad restored control over most of the country after 12 years of war killed half a million people and displaced almost half of the Syrian population.
February's disastrous earthquake, which rocked both Syria and Turkey killing tens of thousands, was a catalyst for Saudi-led efforts to normalize relations with Assad, culminating in Arab states readmitting Syria into the Arab League after a 12 year hiatus.
