Alawites
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Alawites are an ethnoreligious group, many of whom identify as Arabs, who live primarily in Syria and elsewhere in the Levant. They follow Alawism, an offshoot of Shia Islam as a ghulat branch during
Alawites celebrating at a festival in Baniyas, Syria during World War II
An Alawite falconer photographed by Frank Hurley in Baniyas, Syria during World War II.
Saleh al-Ali, leader of the Alawite revolt of 1919
An Alawite woman gleaning in 1938
Bashar al-Assad
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Bashar Hafez al-Assad is a former Syrian politician, medical doctor, and military officer who served as the president of Syria from 2000 until his overthrow in 2024 after the Syrian civil war. As pres
Alawites
…Islam"—particularly the Shia branch. The term "Nusayrites" is now used as a slur and was frequently used as such by Sunni fundamentalists fighting against Bashar al-Assad's government in the Syrian civil war, who use its emphasis on Ibn Nusayr to insinuate that Alawi beliefs are "man-made" and not divinely inspired…
Assad in 2018
Photograph of Bassel al-Assad (1962–1994), Bashar's older brother, who was initially destined to succeed his father in the presidency of Syria, but died in an automobile accident in 1994
Young Bashar al-Assad serving in the military
Assad with Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in Damascus, 3 December 2003