The Druze-Bedouin clashes in Syria were not a sectarian conflict | Opinions

The flare-up of violence in Syria’s southern province of Suwayda in July has once again raised fears that the country may slip back into conflict. Media headlines were quick to paint this as another episode in the region’s longstanding “sectarian strife” between Druze and Sunni Bedouin communities. But such framing obscures more than it reveals.

The reality is more complex. While sectarian identities have been invoked during periods of tension, the root causes of this conflict lie…