This week, municipal authorities in Damascus banned the sale of alcohol in most of the city. Bars and restaurants that have served alcohol there for decades will no longer be allowed to, and it will only be possible to buy alcohol in closed bottles in a handful of Christian-majority neighborhoods, to take away.
This isn’t all that unusual in the Middle East — practicing Muslims are not supposed to imbibe “intoxicating” substances while individuals of the Christian faith may. That is why liquor stores and bars, if there are any, are often found in traditionally Christian neighborhoods around the region.
