ABSTRACT
The Syrian civil war has been painted in the popular imagination and media representations as a conflict that is either purely sectarian (Sunni vs. Alawi, majority vs. minority), or solely socio-economic and geopolitical. The lack of research on the impact of faith on mass violence, including massacres of civilians, requires a broad examination of religious militancy in the violence. Research has looked into the Salafi-Jihadism of the new generation, especially of ISIS and Jabhat al-Nusra. But relatively little is known of the role of Alawite sheikhs in mobilizing young men, and inciting and legitimizing violence in Syria. This chapter discusses the role of Alawite sheikh Ali Khizam by analyzing the discourses, practices, and violence of his involvement in the conflict, using examples from major massacres against Sunnis in Homs and Der ez-Zor. In these massacres, Ali Khizam and his group of mostly Alawite perpetrators used sectarian and religious arguments to legitimize the killings.
