Israel has not only been protecting virtually every persecuted minority in the Middle East; it has, with the help of US President Donald J. Trump, also been protecting the West itself. Has anyone heard a breath of gratitude? On the contrary, many leaders in the West -- most prominently President Emmanuel Macron of France, Prime Minister Keir Starmer of the United Kingdom and Prime Minister Mark Carney of Canada, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of Australia, followed closely by Prime Minister Micheal Martin of Ireland and Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre of Norway -- have doubled down on the side of terrorists, this time Hamas.
Macron's announcement to recognize a fantasy "Palestinian state" not only demolished the negotiations that were reportedly nearing completion for a ceasefire and the return of the 50 remaining hostages; it also might cause the death by starvation, shooting or explosives possibly strapped to them, of the 20 hostages believed to be alive. In so doing, they are betraying not only the sole tiny country that is sacrificing its own people to protect them, but their own increasingly abused citizens as well.
Israel's suppression of terrorist entities that, directed by Iran to destroy the Jewish State, has created an additional challenge for the already overburdened Israelis. Not only is Israel now expected to feed the Gazans -- human-shield victims of the Hamas terrorist group now trying to destroy Israel -- but the Israelis have also undertaken to defend the Druze minority in Syria. The Druze -- a small ethnically Arab religious minority that originated as a breakaway from the Ismaili sect of Shia Islam -- do not consider themselves Muslim. Therefore, the other Arabs in Syria do not consider them Muslim either. For months, regime "security forces" have been slaughtering them. Islamic terrorists believe that they are obligated to slaughter anyone not Muslim, based on passages in the Qur'an:
"And prepare against them whatever you are able of power and of steeds of war by which you may terrify the enemy of Allah and your enemy and others besides them whom you do not know [but] whom Allah knows."
— Qur'an 8:60-Sahih International."[Remember] when your Lord inspired to the angels, 'I am with you, so strengthen those who have believed. I will cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieved, so strike [them] upon the necks and strike from them every fingertip.'"
— Qur'an 8:12, Sahih International."Kill them wherever you come upon them and drive them out of the places from which they have driven you out."
— Qur'an 2:191, Sahih International.
This directive also appears to include Muslims who are not Muslim enough, or not Muslim in the "right way," such as the Ahmadiyya, the Alawites, and historically how Sunnis and Shiites view each other.
The Druze in Syria have been under attack from the forces of Syria's new strongman, Ahmed al-Sharaa, formerly an Al Qaeda-affiliated terrorist with a $10 million bounty on his head. Now that he wears a suit and tie, Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohamad bin Salman apparently asked US President Donald J. Trump, during his visit to the kingdom, to give al-Sharaa a chance to govern Syria – a request to which Trump appeared uncomfortably to agree.
Something appears wrong with this picture. Al-Sharaa promised Trump that he would protect Syria's minorities; so far, he seems to be doing everything but that (here, here and here).
Israel, meanwhile, still the region's "strong horse," has been acting to protect the Druze in neighboring Syria from relentless savage assaults.
Recent Israeli airstrikes on the terrorist regime in Syria persuaded Damascus, at least temporarily, to end its support for the mid-July mass murder of Syrian Druze in and around the city of Suweida at the hands of Bedouins and other local tribes. So much ethnic violence -- also against Christians and Alawites in Syria – reveals a genocidal intent of the new al Sharaa regime. It has apparently sponsored ongoing attacks all along the roads from Damascus to Suweida. These efforts at ethnic cleansing have inspired some Druze leaders to ask Israel for protection, and even annexation.
Israel, under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has emerged as the historic hero of the Druze people, of whom about 150,000 live in Israel. Israel is already favorably disposed to the Druze: they are the only Arab community in the country whose people are drafted into the IDF, willingly.
The IDF takedown of Hamas in Gaza has enabled those Gazan civilians who are opposed to the terrorist group's repressive rule to publicly protest. Sporadic attempts to reject Hamas have taken place in the past; the largest was staged in March. Hundreds of Gazans demanded that Hamas step down from power. In the latest of these opposition demonstrations, on July 21, dozens of protestors in Gaza shouted "Hamas Out." There is still strong reason to doubt, however, however, if Gazans would be more favorably inclined toward Israel if Hamas were gone.
Last autumn's IDF's defeat of another once-vaunted Iranian proxy, Hezbollah, and its military machine, helped to restore the sovereignty of Lebanon. IDF military action was initially designed to permit tens of thousands of evacuated Israelis the ability to return to their homes in northern Israel. Israel's victory over Hezbollah also had unplanned helpful consequences. The many Catholic Christian Maronite villages in southern Lebanon, which Hezbollah terrorists had deliberately occupied and where they had dug a large network of tunnels, are no longer occupied by Islamic terrorists. Now the government in Beirut finally, after decades, may have a chance again to govern the entirety of the country, long terrorized by Hezbollah. For many years, Hezbollah had a more powerful military than the Lebanese Armed Forces.
Similarly, the Kurds of Syria, another embattled minority, are under the gun of al-Sharaa's backer, Turkey. Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has ruled Turkey since 2002, appears to have ambitions to restore the Ottoman Empire with himself as sultan, has also repeatedly tested US patience by targeting the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), composed mostly of Kurds who inhabit northeast Syria. The Erdogan regime asserts that the SDF's Kurds are allied with the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK), considered by Turkey a terrorist group. Presently, the approximately 2,000 US military personnel deployed in Syria help protect the SDF, which is guarding prison camps that hold tens of thousands of Islamic State (ISIS) terrorists.
US President Donald Trump has intimated on occasion that he might withdraw US forces from Syria – a really terrible idea. The vacuum will simply be filled by groups that are no friends of the US or the West. If Trump follows through with a withdrawal, this would provide a need for someone else to safeguard the existence of the Kurds. Would Israel step up to defend Syria's Kurds as well? There is still another tiny victimized Middle East minority, the much-abused Yazidi people, also in northern Syria.
Israel is already over-extended in defending virtually every minority in the region – while receiving nothing but opprobrium from most of the insensate media and many in Europe. They seem not to realize that they are the beneficiaries of Israel's actions, even as they keep on giving away their continent to newcomers who seem intent on replacing Europe's values with their own.
Netanyahu's recent pledge, after the atrocities committed against the Druze by Syria-supported terrorist thugs:
"We have set forth a clear policy: demilitarization of the region to south of Damascus, from the Golan Heights and to the Druze Mountain area. That's rule number one. Rule number two is protecting the brothers of our brothers, the Druze at the Druze Mountain."
Netanyahu's pledge represents the finest dimension of Jewish ethical principles, which should be saluted by those all those who value virtue, and which should solidify Israel's occupation of the moral high ground.
The question remains, however, if Syria's al-Sharaa in is not still just a terrorist, but in a suit and tie.
Dr. Lawrence A. Franklin was the Iran Desk Officer for Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld. He also served on active duty with the U.S. Army and as a Colonel in the Air Force Reserve.
