Pages on social media, including the media figure Waheed Yazbek, circulated a report alleging that the precincts of four Alawite religious shrines in the Masyaf area had been bulldozed with heavy machinery, in preparation for turning them into military bases and private rest houses, with their caretakers expelled and residents and visitors barred from reaching them.
The Kashaf team verified the claim by contacting the media official in the Masyaf area, Bashar al-Sheikh, who denied the circulating reports, explaining that the shrines concerned are operating normally, and that the measure taken was limited to preventing people from gathering firewood and cutting trees in order to curb excessive logging in the area.
The official also provided the Kashaf team with recent photographs of the Sheikh Ali and Dhu al-Nun shrines, which showed that they had not been bulldozed.
Why is the report misleading?
Distortion of content: A limited measure concerning a ban on gathering firewood and cutting trees was turned into an account of religious shrines being bulldozed and converted into military bases, while the media official in Masyaf confirmed that the shrines are operating normally, as shown by the recent photographs provided to the Kashaf team.
