Via The Cradle Syrian citizens of the Alawite minority sect took to the streets on Sunday to protest against government violence and sectarian persecution, in line with a call made by the community’s religious leader a day earlier.  Members of the minority sect protested in the Alawite neighborhoods of the central governorate of Homs, and in several towns and cities on the country’s coast, including Tartous, Jableh, and Latakia. Protests also erupted in Hama governorate, including in the city of Masyaf. Alawite Syrians held up banners reading “Federalism is the solution” and “the blood of Alawites is not cheap,” among other slogans. The protesters also expressed anger over the killing of eight Alawite civilians and the injury of over a dozen others in a terror blast at a mosque a few days earlier.  According to local media reports, government forces have attacked protesters in several areas, firing live ammunition to disperse crowds and making arrests at random. Reuters reports that “Three people were killed on Sunday when protests in Syria’s Alawite heartland of Latakia spiraled …