The Jableh countryside has had a tumultuous history since the fall of Assad one year ago. It has been the heart of the pro-Assad insurgency dating back to December 2024, and also suffered the worst of the anti-Alawi massacres committed by pro-government armed groups beginning in March.
One town in particularly gained infamy on March 6 as the starting point of the coastal uprising which triggered that massacre: Daliyah. On the evening of March 6, a General Security convoy arrived to conduct an arrest of a local man. The man refused to cooperate and an argument broke out. While arguing, a group of insurgents ambushed the security forces, killing them. A second security vehicle was then ambushed further down the road. Within an hour General Security and army units had come under attack across nearly all of Latakia and Tartous.
Daliyah itself did not suffer any massacres in the aftermath, as happened in other Alawi villages closer to the main coastal highway in the ensuing days. But on June 5 a dispute between dismissed employees and the manager of the town’s post office turned physical and a General Security and military convoy was dispatched to the town. These forces ended up killing three random men and looting several shops by the end of the day.
Throughout all of these events, a small network of media activists attempt to keep the peace in this area. They operate Facebook pages for their respective areas through which they try to counter fake news and share accurate updates about the security situation in the Jableh countryside. They do this through regular contact with locals, town mayors, and regional Ministry of Interior officials. These officials reached out to the men after seeing the good work their pages are doing and now see them as a valuable tool for trust building.
Still, these media activists see themselves as a third party to the conflict in the coast. On the one side is the government, on the other is the pro-Assad Alawites. The media activists stand in the middle, highly critical of both, supporting neither, simply trying to do what they can to support their towns. Their work is similar in fashion to that of the mayor of Beit Yashout, who I met and profiled in September, though these activists hold no official position.
Earlier this week I met with two of these men in Daliyah to learn about the conditions of the town and perspectives of the local community towards their media work and the new government.
Below is an edited version of this interview.
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