Blasphemy Chaos: Syria Erupts After Audio Mocking Islam Goes Viral

More than a dozen people were killed in a predominantly Druze city near the
Syrian capital of Damascus on April 29th after violence broke out due to a
purported recording of a Druze man cursing the Prophet Muhammad, which angered
Sunni gunmen.

> https://twitter.com/LionsOfZion_ORG/status/1917501283268804759

Between April 28 and 29, a deadly conflict erupted between Syrian security
forces and local armed Sunni gunmen, which also injured 15 people, in the city
of Jaramana because of an audio recording allegedly from a member of the Druze
minority in Syria.

The clashes, which occurred with small and medium arms fire that killed 13
people according to local rescue workers, began overnight when gunmen from the
nearby town of Maliha and other predominantly Sunni areas converged on Jaramana.

According to Mustafa al-Abdo, the spokesperson of Syria’s Interior Ministry, two
members of Syria’s General Security Service, a newly established security force
composed mainly of former rebels, were also among those killed during the
fighting.

> https://twitter.com/samurai_611/status/1916955974960656513

Abdo denied that the gunmen attacked the town and argued instead that a group of
civilians angered by the voice recording staged a protest that came under fire
from Druze groups.

The anonymous clip went viral on April 26th, igniting outrage among Syrian
activists and religious leaders, and also sparked anger aimed at the residents
of Jaramana, a city located 3 kilometers southeast of Damascus and predominantly
populated by Druze and Christian minorities.

Many in Syria, who are predominantly Sunni Muslim, saw the recording as an
insult to Islam, while others called for restraint and to wait for results from
official investigations before blaming anyone.

> https://twitter.com/itsakram/status/1917274959031705786

The incident also marked another episode of deadly sectarian violence in Syria,
where fears among religious minorities have been growing since Islamist rebels
led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) ousted former President Bashar Al-Assad and
installed a provisional government under the leadership of Ahmed al-Sharaa.

These fears spiked when hundreds of Alawites, a Muslim ethno-religious minority
often associated with the former regime, were massacred in March in an apparent
revenge for an attack by Assad loyalists.

Syria’s Interior Ministry responded swiftly to the incident and tried to ease
tensions by reassuring the public that they had initiated a “comprehensive
investigation“ into the voice recording. It also emphasized that preliminary
inquiries had not yet confirmed the speaker’s identity, despite speculations
online. However, public anger remains high.

> https://twitter.com/AbeAboud/status/1917208642857873622

“Preliminary evidence does not link the voice in the recording to the individual
being accused on social media,“ an anonymous source from Syria’s interior
ministry told the online news site The Media Line.

“Efforts are ongoing to determine the identity of the speaker so they may face
justice under applicable laws,“ he added.

Druze elders also met Syrian security forces to ease tensions and prevent
further escalations.

> https://twitter.com/CGenius53xx/status/1917911963180445827

“What was said by a few individuals against our Prophet represents only them and
is rejected by us and all of society,” Druze religious leader Sheikh Yousef
Jarbou said, calling on both communities to reject efforts to fuel sectarian
division.

Representatives of the Syrian government and leaders of the Druze community
later agreed to hold those involved in the attack responsible, and they also
agreed to work on reducing sectarian and communal mobilization. However, some
Druze leaders and activists blamed the Syrian government for failing to prevent
the attack in Jaramana and warned that it would bear responsibility for any
future repercussions.