Religious freedom advocates are calling for U.S. intervention in response to brutal mass killings and human rights violations by radical jihadis and extremists against Syria’s minorities.
Dr. Morhaf Ibrahim, president of the Alawites Association of the United States, stated that the attacks targeting Syria’s Christian, Alawite, and Druze communities are not mere acts of violence but part of a deliberate campaign of terror.
"It’s a deliberate campaign of terror," Ibrahim declared during a Wednesday press conference AAUS hosted on Capitol Hill to discuss atrocities committed against Syrian ethno-religious minorities.
He explained that since the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024, Syria’s religious minorities have faced an escalating wave of violence from foreign jihadis, Assad loyalists, and militias unleashed by Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa.
Following the ousting of President Bashar al-Assad by the Islamic alliance Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, which comprises former Islamic State and Al Qaeda fighters, concerns have grown among advocates for religious freedom about the safety of Christians and other minorities.
In early March, Sunni fighters, in the aftermath of an insurgency supportive of Assad, slaughtered nearly 1,500 members of the Alawite community along Syria’s Mediterranean coast, according to Reuters.
Ibrahim condemned other brutalities inflicted upon religious minorities, including the abduction of women and girls who are then sold into sexual slavery or forcibly married.
On June 22, a bombing at the Mar Elias Church in Damascus killed over two dozen people. The attacker wore an explosive vest as he entered the church during a Sunday morning prayer service and then opened fire on congregants.
He called on the U.S. Congress and the Trump administration to “take immediate action that reflects America’s leadership in defending human rights and protecting minorities,” urging policies that press the Syrian regime to cease sectarian practices and support an inclusive government based on free and internationally monitored elections.
"Syrian Christians who have endured centuries of political repression and sectarian violence now face an existential crisis," said Richard Ghazal, executive director of In Defense of Christians, which advocates for Middle Eastern Christians’ protection.
"With every suicide bombing, every desecrated church, every community exodus, Syria edges closer to losing a 2,000-year-old spiritual and cultural pillar," Ghazal warned.
Before the outbreak of the Syrian Civil War in 2011, Christians accounted for about 10% (roughly 2 million) of the population and coexisted peacefully with Muslim neighbors in a region home to one of the world’s oldest Christian communities. Today, fewer than 300,000 Christians remain in Syria.
Ghazal noted that the ancient Syrian city of Antioch was where followers of Jesus were first called Christians, and that the road leading to Damascus is where the Apostle Paul, then known as Saul, became blind after an encounter with Jesus.
He emphasized that the June attack on the church was more than an act of terror; it signified "a signal of the accelerated cultural and religious erasure."
"The U.S. must condition any formal diplomatic normalization on the Syrian transitional governance, guaranteed to protect minority rights, religious freedom, and enshrine constitutional safeguards," Ghazal asserted.
