Men of Dignity

Overview

Men of Dignity, or Rijal al-Karama, is a Druze armed movement based in As-Suwayda, Syria. Also known as the Sheikhs of Dignity, it emerged during the Syrian civil war as a local defense force and a challenge to the Assad regime’s demands on the province. Its founder, Sheikh Wahid al-Balous, gained support by defending families who refused to send their sons to fight on the regime’s war fronts. By January 2025, Men of Dignity and the Mountain Brigade were As-Suwayda’s two largest Druze armed militias. The movement took part in the Southern Syria clashes (July–September 2025). [1][5]

Founding and ideology

Sheikh Wahid al-Balous formed As-Suwayda’s first organized movement in 2013 and became the de facto leader of Men of Dignity in 2014. His public defense of Druze families resisting deployment orders brought the movement substantial local support. Those families opposed sending their sons to fight elsewhere in Syria for Bashar al-Assad’s army. Al-Balous also organized local armed protection at a time when residents faced threats from jihadist forces and pro-Iranian forces aligned with the regime. This approach gave the movement a distinct local purpose: protecting the community while reducing its dependence on Assad’s security apparatus. [1][2]

Al-Balous initially accepted continued Assad regime presence in As-Suwayda when it served local interests. He favored stability in the province and did not begin as an outright opponent of Damascus. In 2015, he moved into open public opposition and threatened Assad and his security officers with revolution in As-Suwayda. His position combined resistance to forced conscription with a demand that local people have a decisive role in their own security. Later, after Assad’s fall, Men of Dignity set out a broader political program centered on justice, the rule of law and a national army free of sectarian organization. [1][2][5]

History

The Assad regime made two assassination attempts against Wahid al-Balous; the second killed him in September 2015. His death fractured As-Suwayda’s once-united armed movement into multiple factions. His son Laith al-Balous led one opposition offshoot, the Sheikhs of Dignity Forces. Laith accused the Assad regime, Hezbollah and Iran of assassinating his father. The original Men of Dignity organization and Laith’s offshoot developed separate leadership histories, even as later reporting again described Laith as a Men of Dignity commander or leader. [1][3]

Men of Dignity remained involved in local security after its founder’s death. During protests against Assad rule in As-Suwayda in 2022, armed men identified as Rijal al-Karama were described as playing a substantial security role in the province. The movement’s survival through the civil war made it a significant actor when Assad’s government fell in December 2024 and Syria’s new authorities began seeking to bring independent armed factions into a national military structure. [4][5]

In January 2025, Men of Dignity and the Mountain Brigade issued a joint roadmap for Syria’s next phase. They offered to join a new national army intended to protect Syria and ultimately become its sole national armed entity. They rejected a factional or sectarian army and called for armed groups to stay out of political and administrative affairs. Their roadmap affirmed Damascus as Syria’s capital and committed them to a state based on justice and the rule of law. Druze armed groups also sought to retain their weapons until a constitution was framed and a representative government was established. The offer therefore tied military integration to the shape and legitimacy of Syria’s new institutions. [5][6]

Structure and leadership

Wahid al-Balous founded the movement and led its emergence in 2013–2014. After his assassination, Sheikh Ra’fat al-Balous briefly led Men of Dignity. Abu Hassan Yahya al-Hajjar led the movement from 2017. Laith al-Balous’s Sheikhs of Dignity Forces arose from the post-assassination split, making that offshoot distinct from the organization led by Ra’fat and then al-Hajjar. Laith nevertheless appeared in 2025 accounts as commander of the Men of Dignity militia and, during the July violence, as leader of the Men of Dignity movement. These descriptions reflect the changing use of the movement’s name after its factions divided. [1][7][9]

The January 2025 roadmap was a joint initiative with the Mountain Brigade, rather than a merger of the two factions. Each retained an armed presence while offering to enter a new national army under stated conditions. Their shared program placed military command within a Syrian national framework and called for the eventual end of separate factional forces. At the same time, the conditions concerning a constitution, representative government and nonsectarian organization showed why immediate disarmament was unacceptable to Druze armed groups. [5][6]

Attacks and operations

Men of Dignity’s principal activity was armed defense of As-Suwayda and its Druze communities. During clashes in Jaramana, near Damascus, in late February and March 2025, Laith al-Balous traveled there to mediate between local Druze fighters and Syrian government forces. He characterized the violence as beginning with a personal dispute, urged a local resolution and rejected outside sponsorship. He called for Syria to remain united. After Israel prepared to defend Jaramana’s Druze residents, al-Balous rejected Israeli intervention and accused Israel of using the clashes to pressure Syria’s new government. Israel’s stated protective role and al-Balous’s objection were distinct positions within the wider dispute. [7][8]

During the July 2025 violence in As-Suwayda, Men of Dignity called for de-escalation while mobilizing members to defend the province. It held Ahmed al-Sharaa’s government responsible for failing to secure the area and objected to forces aligned with it taking part in the fighting. The movement rejected any ceasefire arrangement that left those forces in As-Suwayda’s towns and villages. Druze fighters later regained control of As-Suwayda city after clashes with Bedouin and tribal fighters; Men of Dignity spokesman Bassem Fakhr reported that Bedouin fighters were no longer in the city on July 19. Israel struck Syrian government forces during the crisis to protect Druze communities. [11][12][13][14]

Current status

Laith al-Balous’s call for restraint, dialogue with al-Sharaa’s government and an end to Israeli interference differed from Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri’s support for Israeli involvement and confrontation with government forces. Druze leaders therefore did not share a single position on outside intervention. Men of Dignity’s preference for dialogue in July also did not prevent it from fighting to defend As-Suwayda or demanding the withdrawal of government-aligned forces. [9][10][12]

The July clashes changed alliances within As-Suwayda. Men of Dignity, which had endorsed cooperation with Damascus before the violence, was subsequently included in a National Guard formed by Druze factions under al-Hijri’s influence. Its earlier roadmap remains a statement of the movement’s proposed terms for a Syrian national army, while its participation in local armed coalitions reflects the continuing struggle over security and political authority in As-Suwayda. [5][15]