RESOLUTION - Syria – No freedom without protection of minorities

Preamble:

Over seven months ago, the Assad regime in Syria, which had plunged the country into over a decade of civil war marked by torture, forced disappearances, chemical attacks, and mass killings, was finally overthrown. An initial wave of euphoria and hope for a democratic Syria swept across the international community. European ministers and delegations rushed to meet the so-called transitional government. However, this optimism was quickly shattered. The newly installed transitional regime is led by radical Islamists, many of whom previously operated as militia commanders and perpetrators of war crimes. Under the leadership of Ahmad al-Sharaa (formerly the jihadist commander Abu Mohammad al-Jolani of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham), the regime has enacted a repressive Islamist agenda: implementing compulsory Burkini laws for women in public, introducing a heavily Islamised school curriculum, and systematically replacing local leadership with Islamist loyalists. Former warlords such as Sayf Bulad (responsible for the abduction of Kurdish women in Afrin), Abu Amsha (linked to torture, murder, rape, and ethnic cleansing), and Ahmad al-Hayes (responsible for the abduction of Yazidi women and children) now serve as high-ranking commanders of the new Syrian Armed Forces.

The situation for minorities has drastically deteriorated.

• In March 2025, over 2,000 Alawite civilians were massacred in the coastal region of Syria under direct orders from Damascus. This included coordinated attacks across 40 villages.
• Alawite women and girls continue to be abducted, with many reports of forced conversion and disappearance.
• On 25 June 2025, a suicide bomber linked to the Islamic State detonated himself inside the Mar Elias Church in Damascus, killing 27 Christians during Sunday mass.
• In July 2025, Islamist brigades attacked the majority-Druze southern city of Suwayda, killing more than 1,200 civilians in a two-day massacre. Survivors reported beheadings, drone strikes, and public executions.
• These atrocities follow systematic efforts to forcibly disarm local Druze defence councils, leaving communities vulnerable to regime aggression.

The Syrian regime not only endangers its population but is also actively destabilising the broader region. Its leaders openly praise the 7 October Hamas attacks on Israel and have made multiple declarations threatening Israeli sovereignty. Propaganda channels aligned with the regime blame Israel and Jews for Syria’s collapse and incite regional escalation. While some in Europe continue to normalise or relativise Islamist rhetoric under the guise of “resistance” or “anti-imperialism,” we must speak clearly: Islamism, like any totalitarian ideology, is a threat to minorities, democracy, and peace.

There will be no free Syria until its government protects its minorities, ensures pluralism, and guarantees democratic freedoms. It is also in Israel’s national security interest that another extremist Islamist state does not emerge on its northern border.

EUJS notes that:

1. The so-called “transitional government” in Syria is a violent Islamist regime that suppresses freedom, threatens religious and ethnic minorities, and destabilises the Middle East.
2. The regime has orchestrated massacres of over 3,000 civilians since March 2025, targeting Druze, Alawites, Yazidis, and Christians. 
3. The regime poses an existential threat to minorities in Syria and a strategic threat to Israel and the wider region.
4. Islamist propaganda continues to gain influence in Europe, including through digital radicalisation, revisionist narratives, and apologism for Islamist groups.

EUJS believes that:

1. All people in the Middle East — regardless of religion or ethnicity — deserve to live in safety, freedom, and dignity. 
2. Jewish students and youth bear a historic and moral responsibility to oppose Islamism and extremism, which endanger Jews and other minorities alike.
3. The fight against Islamism must be carried out in solidarity with other minority communities affected by religious fundamentalism.
4. A stable and democratic Syria, in which minorities are protected, is in Israel’s strategic interest and in line with European values.

EUJS resolves to:

1. Raise awareness across European Jewish student networks about the crimes of the Syrian Islamist regime, especially its violence against Druze, Alawite, Christian, Yazidi, and Kurdish communities.
2. Advocate at the EU level against any political recognition or normalisation of the Syrian transitional regime by European governments. 
3. Form partnerships with minority-led organisations and diaspora communities to create transnational solidarity campaigns highlighting abuses in Syria.
4. Condemn publicly any relativisation of Islamist ideology and actively counter it through education and programming.
5. Call on EU member states to halt all deportations of minority individuals to Syria, recognising that members of persecuted communities are at direct risk under the current regime.

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