Despite the fall of Bashar al-Assad and the rise of some Islamic rebel rule, hundreds of thousands of Christians in Syria are celebrating Christmas publicly for the first time in years.
Despite its Islamic composition, and even jihadist in the part of the new Syrian leadership, the whole of Syria marked last night a week for Christmas Eve, which takes place on the 25th.
And despite international concerns about the fate of Christians in Syria under rebel rule, in accordance with local Christian tradition, Christian population centers in Syria celebrated the holiday openly and publicly. With an emphasis on the city of Homs, where a large population of Christians lives, the traditional fir tree was lit at midnight last night with Christmas lights and even celebrated the occasion with Western music.
In Europe and around the world, great concern has been expressed about the fate of Christians and other minority groups in Syria, under the rule of the rebels. But it seems that the rumors are true, and the leaders of the rebellion like Al-Julani are trying to adopt a pluralistic and almost Western image for themselves. So far, there have been no reports of significant inter-sectarian clashes or government harassment of one population or another.
