In a letter addressed to the French prime minister, the Alawaite leaders of Syria ask for the French to stay in Syria. The letter praises the Jews of Palestine and defends the Jews of Syria. Did Syrian Alawaites had any form of relations with Jews in either Syria or Palestine?

by StayAtHomeDuck

The letter in question can be found in the Wikipedia page about Ali Sulayman al-Assad.

corporatedemocrat

It wasn't pro-Jewish as much as it was anti-Sunni domination. Alawites viewed themselves as a minority that would be subjugated by Arab Sunnis. Druze and Circassians and Kurds held similar sentiment.

The entire Alawi psyche was rewritten by Hafez. He changed the way they pray, the way they ethnically identify, the way religiously identify. Before the Ba'ath, Alawis didn't identify as Shi'a, associated with Arabism and didn't practice certain Islamic practices that Hafez injected into Alawism to solidify his rule.

Since 2011 they've been slowly reverting to their pre-Ba'ath identities from what I've seen