For the first time since the stunning overthrow of Bashar al-Assad two weeks ago, Shoukri, a Christian man in Aleppo, is tentatively reopening his shop.
This street, in the Christian heartland of Syria’s second city, is usually packed with bustling drink stores selling everything from French wine to tiny bottles of Jägermeister. It is so well known it is nicknamed “Alcohol Alley,” and Christmas is their busiest time of year.
But all the shopkeepers shuttered their stores in the chaotic but jubilant aftermath of the stunning end of 50 years of brutal Assad family rule. First, videos appeared online showing what looked like rebel fighters tearing down a nearby Christmas tree in Aleppo and trashing the alcohol shelves of the Duty Free sections at Aleppo and Damascus international airports.
Shoukri says that armed men – from an unknown group – have since appeared here on multiple occasions, warning them to hide any drink and even to close. For the Christian store owners they say it is not really about alcohol but what these restrictions signify about their wider personal and religious freedoms.
“They came to this street and said that all shop owners should remove signs of alcohol, so we did that immediately,” Shoukri says as he opens his store, making sure to cover the glass front with cardboard so no one can see inside. “We ripped down our signs or covered the rest with black bags as well. Really it is not about alcohol – but what it means for the future.”
Moussa, 55, who owns a shop nearby, explains that under the law of the old Assad regime, they had a right to open, but now they are uncertain about what the new legal basis will be.
“There are nearly 400 families that work in this kind of trade, including Muslims. Christmas is near, so this a busy period, for us” he tells The Independent, looking worried.
“We are waiting for instructions – all shops in Aleppo are waiting for instructions about whether we can go ahead with this,” he adds.
Isral, 35, meanwhile, is too afraid to reopen his shop. Instead, he has been shuttling Christmas orders to clients from the boot of his car “like I’m stealing from my own shop,” he says.
“Even if the new authorities give us permission to open publicly, no one can protect us. No one can guarantee that individuals won’t take matters into their own hands. There is no real government yet, no real law,” he adds.
Across Aleppo, churches are tentatively preparing for the Christmas period while celebrating the downfall of Assad, whose brutal rule was marked by enforced disappearances, mass detentions and slaughter. Thirteen years of bloody civil war have left heavy scars on this partially destroyed city, which, even in regime-controlled areas, is struggling with water, electricity, and bread supplies.
The Christian population here has been hit hard by emigration during the civil war. Of the approximately 250,000 Christians who lived in Aleppo before 2011, local Christian organisations tell The Independent only 20,000 remain. All appear happy to see Assad go.
But amid the celebration and jubilation is trepidation: What does the new administration mean for them?
Assad, a member of Syria’s Alawite minority, sought to publicly present his government as the champion and protector of secularism and the country’s minorities, although in reality the ferocious and brutal crackdowns on freedoms extended to every part of society.
