Anonymousabout 13 hours ago
In March 2026, a Damascus governorate decree restricting alcohol sales to Christian neighborhoods triggered protests and was partially reversed within days, but the episode crystallized deeper anxieties about the direction of governance under President Ahmed al-Sharaa. The incident raised questions about the boundary between Islamic governance and pluralist civil freedoms in a country where 21% of citizens belong to religious minorities and where billions in reconstruction investment hang on institutional credibility.