section_path: Responses/Domestic/Demonstrations
section_name: Demonstrations
paragraph_text: Demonstrations
  
  On 9 March, activists in Damascus organized a "silent demonstration", mourning the mass killing of citizens and the deaths of government security forces during the clashes, and advocating for national unity. Approximately several dozen people gathered for this memorial protest, with some participants displaying placards stating "Syrian lives are not cheap."
  
  This initial gathering was soon confronted by counter-demonstrators who chanted anti-Alawite sentiments and called for a " Sunni Muslim state." Physical altercations erupted between the opposing groups of protesters, with counter-protesters accusing initial protesters of ignoring the slaughter of Sunni Muslims under Assad's regime. Members of the original protests responded by stating that they could settle "your score with Assad, we have nothing to do with his crimes." Security forces intervened to end the confrontation, firing warning shots into the air to disperse the crowds.
  
  Also on 9 March, activists in the mainly- Druze city of Suwayda organized a demonstration in Al-Karamah Square condemning the sectarian-oriented massacres against coastal Syrians, and demanded an end to state violence and reprisals towards civilians. Many protesters carried banners juxtaposing the then-ongoing massacres alongside prior massacres under the Assad regime. Several protesters and residents articulated that it is a crime to kill civilians no matter who the perpetrator was, and insisted that the Syrian revolution against the Assad regime was for "a dignified life, not for revenge".
  
  Protests occurred in SDF cities in Hasakah and Qamishli on 12 March, holding banners condemning the recent violence, and photos of recent violence. Protestors called for the perpetrators of the violence to be held accountable and protection of Alawite areas.