00:00Hamdan, thank you. First of all, what does this eruption of sectarian violence in Sweda that we're seeing yet again tell us about the fragility of Syria's post-war landscape, especially in a minority-dominated area like Sweda?
00:12Well, it's important to understand that there are two camps involved in stabilizing Syria and destabilizing Syria. So one camp wants to bring stability, the other camp wants to destabilize it.
00:26And the destabilizing camp are the minorities. Many of them are supported by Israel, and the Syrian government doesn't have control of much of these areas that are inhabited by small percentages of minorities ranging from 10% to much higher percentages like the Druze areas.
00:47So what we see is we see the Druze in Sweda and elsewhere seeing an opportunity to self-govern, have privilege, have power in excess of their place in the society.
01:02And the Kurds, of course, have latched onto them. We saw protests in Germany today where the Kurds and the Druze actually came together,
01:10even though these groups have virtually nothing in common and have never done so in the past.
01:16This sectarian violence is a result of them understanding that there was a program, and that program was to destabilize Syria,
01:25and they could use that program from foreign interference of destabilizing Syria to get power themselves.
01:32And obviously they're supported. When we say the Druze, it's not the ethnic group, the Druze.
01:39It's Hekma Tajiri and militias that have something to gain here.
01:44And many of the Druze have spoken out against them even.
01:47So they're supported by Iran, they're supported by Israel, and they're seeking to take an opportunity.
