Christians protest in Syria after Christmas tree burned

(OSV News) -- A Christmas tree was reportedly set ablaze in a Christian-majority town in Syria, prompting protests in the war-torn nation just two weeks after the ouster of former President Bashar Assad and his regime.

Hundreds took to the streets in the capital of Damascus and other areas of Syria after video spread across social media showing a Christmas tree in the town square of Suqaylabiyah being torched by figures wearing hoods. The town is a majority-Orthodox city within the Hama governorate. The U.K.-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights identified the individuals as Uzbek foreign fighters.

"If we're not allowed to live our Christian faith in our country, as we used to, then we don't belong here anymore," one protestor told Agence France Presse.

According to media reports, a separate social media video depicted a religious figure from Hayat Tahrir al-Sham -- the Islamist group that led the victorious lightning offensive against the Assad regime in early December -- pledging to punish the offenders and restore the Christmas tree. That individual was also reported to have held up a cross as a sign of solidarity.

HTS has publicly promised to safeguard minority rights in Muslim-majority Syria. Its de facto interim leader, Ahmed Hussein al-Sharaa, also known by the nom de guerre Abu Mohammad al-Golani, has sought to reassure Syria's small Christian population that his forces would "ensure your protection and safeguard your property."

"Aleppo has always been a meeting point for civilizations and cultures, and it will remain so, with a long history of cultural and religious diversity,” al-Sharaa said, referencing one of the historic bastions of Christianity in Syria, in a statement posted to the Telegram messaging platform.

Syrian Christian leaders have expressed cautious optimism in the aftermath of Assad's fall that Syria's new rulers will follow through on these guarantees and work for the country's reconciliation.

As of 2024, 16.7 million Syrians are in need of humanitarian aid. More than half of Syria's 23 million pre-war population is displaced, with 5.2 million refugees and 6.8 million internally displaced persons, according to UNHCR, the U.N. refugee agency.

In a recent statement, Bishop A. Elias Zaidan of the Maronite Eparchy of Our Lady of Lebanon, chair of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Committee on International Justice and Peace, called upon the U.S. and the global community to support Syria as it "starts a new chapter in its rich history."

"Those who have taken power have promised to respect everyone and to build a new Syria," he said Dec. 10. "We hope they will keep these promises, but of course, the road ahead remains very difficult."