Middle East Press on: Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon, Jewish, US: New Age Islam's Selection, 26 December 2024
By New Age Islam Edit Desk
26 December 2024
Syria's Future: Lessons To Learn From Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon
Following Kuznetsov's Example: Resist Those Trying To Strip Jewish Ties To Israel
Palestinian Antisemitism Is Now Spreading Across The US
The Connection Between Israel And The Diaspora Will Be Our Legacy Of Light
Arresting Netanyahu On An Auschwitz Anniversary Would Be A Blight On Modern-Day Poland
A New Syria Must Face Its Challenges With Openness, Dialogue
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Syria's Future: Lessons To Learn From Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon
By Muhittin Ataman
Dec 26, 2024
The collapse of the 61-year-long Baath regime initiated a new political process for the Syrian state. The Syrian opposition led by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) overthrew Bashar Assad's regime on Dec. 8 when they took control of the capital city of Damascus. The opposition took over the administration from the Assad-era prime minister. There are many discussions going on about the future of the state. At the same time, some claim that the despotic regime is over and a bright future awaits the Syrian people. Some others have concerns about the future of the state since there are different parameters that can change the course of the developments. Many observers expect difficulties and challenges for Syria, mainly based on previous examples such as Afghanistan, Iraq and Lebanon. Therefore, we have to ask the question, “What awaits Syria in the future?” and answer it by briefly explaining the possibility of several scenarios.
What happened in Afghanistan?
We may compare Syria with the case of Afghanistan. After the Soviet Union withdrew from Afghanistan, different resistance groups began to fight with one another. The state structure failed and eventually, the Taliban took control of the country in the mid-1990s. The 20 years of U.S. invasion followed that. After that 20-year interval, the Taliban came to power for the second time in 2021 after the withdrawal of the American troops from the country.
The developments of the last two weeks in Syria show us that the opposition groups will not repeat the mistakes made in Afghanistan. The new Syrian government has agreed with other opposition factions to dissolve them all and merge them under the Defense Ministry. The government officials have stated that military officers who defected from the Assad regime’s army will also be able to join the new ministry. The government is careful to avoid clashes with other armed groups. Furthermore, the new Syrian government has repeatedly declared that they will not seek revenge against the former regime and suppress ethnic and religious minorities living in the country, such as Sunni Kurds, Shiite Arabs, the Druze community and Greek and Armenian Orthodox Christians.
Will Syria become Iraq?
Another example that we should look at is the Iraqi case. After the U.S. invasion of Iraq and the collapse of the Saddam regime, the state largely came under the control of the Shiite majority. However, the country was politically divided into two spheres of influence, namely American and Iranian. The Iraqi state faced four problems. One was the new state structure based on ethnic divisions, while on the one hand, the central government was restructured based on ethnic divisions. According to the new system, the main executive body, the Prime Ministry, is under the control of Shiite Arabs, while the passive Presidency is under the control of the Kurds. On the other hand, a federal structure was established. They face difficulties in terms of keeping a balance between the two systems.
Also, Iraq largely came under the control of the "two liberators," namely the U.S. and Iran. The new Iraqi governments have been trying to liberate the state from these “liberators” and struggling for absolute national sovereignty and political independence. For now, it is still largely dependent on these two states. There are also alternative armed groups within the country. The existence of the Hashd al-Shaabi militia groups has greatly influenced the state system. Furthermore, the Iraqi sects took revenge on other ethnic and religious groups, which led to mistrust among different ethnic and religious groups living in the country.
In that sense, the new Syrian government cannot turn into the Iraqi case since the Syrian national context is quite different. First of all, the Syrian regime was overthrown by the Syrian armed groups, not by external powers. Second, the main supporter of the Syrian opposition, Türkiye, has a different perspective on the Syrian state. Türkiye supports the territorial integrity of the state. It does not follow a sectarian policy toward Syria. Its inclusive perspective will help the new government to consolidate the national state system. Third, the new government is determined not to allow the Syrian opposition groups to keep their arms. They have a firm position to form a united government.
Dysfunctional system of Lebanon
The third scenario is the Lebanese system, in which the state system is constitutionally designed according to ethnic and religious populations. For instance, the president of the country must come from a Maronite Christian background, the speaker of Parliament from Shiite Muslims and the prime minister from Sunni Muslims. With the change in the ratio of the population, the state system has become dysfunctional. For different reasons, the Maronites are no longer the largest religious group.
The Lebanese case cannot be implemented in Syria since it did not work for Lebanon either. Mainly due to this volatile system, the Lebanese government is unable to secure political stability. Moreover, the historical legacy of the Syrian people is quite different. The Syrian people have been living in peaceful coexistence for centuries. For example, Aleppo is known for its real cosmopolitan nature.
Completely new case
The last scenario is the establishment of a central government, which is the best scenario for Syria and its people. The new Syrian leadership has to establish a central government since quotas for ethnic and religious groups create problems. The Syrian people have a long tradition of peaceful coexistence and a central government is the best scenario for the Syrian state. The new constitution must be all-inclusive and based on equal citizenship, not on group identities. Equal citizenship is important, especially for the Kurds, since, until very recently, thousands of Kurds were denied citizenship in Syria by the Baath regime. I am sure that if external powers do not interfere in the domestic affairs of Syria, the Syrian people will successfully establish a unified government and consolidate the national sovereignty of their state.
https://www.dailysabah.com/opinion/columns/syrias-future-lessons-to-learn-from-afghanistan-iraq-lebanon
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Following Kuznetsov's Example: Resist Those Trying To Strip Jewish Ties To Israel
By Jpost Editorial
December 26, 2024
One of the most moving songs to emerge from the October 7 war, is a paean of praise to reservists sung by Hatikva 6 called “Superheroes.”
It tells the story of how ordinary people – a grammar teacher, contractors, lawyers, bank managers, and others – are thrust into extraordinary situations in the reserves.
The chorus captures this transformation: “Everyone looks normal, but we are a nation of superheroes, and within each of us is a hidden soldier ready to save the world.”
The war has brought out the superhero in many: people displaying unspeakable courage in battle, unfathomable grace in the face of devastating loss, and unimaginable devotion to the nation and its people.
Indeed, unsung heroes walk – often quietly and unpretentiously – among us. And not only heroes from the current war.
A look into Eduard Kuznetsov
On Sunday, a forgotten hero from a different battle – the battle to free Soviet Jewry – passed away at the age of 85: Eduard Kuznetsov.
He was one of 16 young, idealistic Jews – and two non-Jews – who in June 1970 plotted to hijack a small airplane and fly it from Leningrad to Sweden, and from there to Israel. The plan was doomed from the start, and the conspirators were arrested before even getting on the plane.
The ensuing Leningrad Trial became a turning point in the struggle of Soviet Jewry, drawing global attention and ensuring that the Jews of Silence, as Elie Wiesel famously termed Soviet Jewry, would be silent no more.
Kuznetsov was one of the planners and one of two of the 11 defendants – the other being Mark Dymshits – who were sentenced to death. World outrage led to the commutation of his sentence to 15 years in the Gulag, of which he served nine years before being released in a 1979 swap for two Soviet spies arrested in the US. Others involved in the hijacking plot who were sentenced to lengthy prison terms included his then-wife, Sylva Zalmanson, and Yosef Mendelevich.
Those names – Kuznetsov, Zalmanson, Mendelevich – became synonymous with the struggle for Soviet Jewry. Their faces appeared on posters around the world, and their names were worn on necklaces and bracelets by hundreds of thousands who protested and prayed for their release – paralleling the situation today regarding the hostages being held in Gaza.
Kuznetsov, like other Prisoners of Zion and refusniks who fought and paid a heavy price for the right to emigrate, was a hero in the battle for Soviet Jewry.
And they won. The Soviet Union collapsed, and well over a million Russian-speaking immigrants settled in Israel, enriching the population beyond imagination in every field: science, medicine, the arts, and sports. Israel’s hi-tech revolution owes much of its success to the influx of Russian-trained engineers, mathematicians, and computer specialists who arrived in the 1990s. The Start-Up Nation would not have flourished as it did without them.
None of this would have been possible without people like Kuznetsov, who came here and lived their lives – like so many heroes – quietly and far from the public eye. For years, Kuznetsov worked as an editor and journalist in Israel’s vibrant Russian-language press.
The courage of those young Soviet Jews risking everything for their identity is not just history; it is a powerful example for Diaspora Jews today about the value of Jewish identity and the nobility – and even heroism – of struggling to keep it.
The Soviet Union tried to strip its Jews of their religious identity and their connection to the land of Israel.
While there is no comparison between what the Soviet Jews endured and what Jews in the West are going through today, there are strong forces in the West seeking to strip Jews of their ties to Zionism and Israel.
The penalty for not doing so is not the Gulag, and those who feel pressured are not physically constrained from walking away. Instead, the penalty is subtler: being canceled, ostracized, or made to feel uncomfortable for holding such beliefs. Kuznetsov’s example – and that of his peers – was to resist these pressures, not to accept these dictates quietly but to fight back hard.
https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-834877
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Palestinian Antisemitism Is Now Spreading Across The Us
By Tamar Sternthal
December 26, 2024
In 2023, the American Jewish community, which accounts for less than 3% of the nation’s total population, has been on the receiving end of two-thirds of all religion-based hate crimes in the country (1,832 out of 2,699), the Federal Bureau of Investigation revealed in September.
This month, the USA Today news network contributed to the seething cesspool of anti-Jewish bigotry by peddling classic antisemitic tropes.
The nearly 3,000-word article – “‘No one ever asks a Palestinian’: Ohio residents reacting with grief and anger over carnage in the Middle East,” in Ohio’s Canton Repository – appeared December 1 in more than a dozen newspapers across the country, from The Register Guard in Eugene, Oregon to the Palm Beach Post in Florida.
Beyond grief and anger, interviewees unleashed unabashed antisemitism, with one invoking the age-old anti-Jewish myth straight out of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion alleging a Jewish cabal controlling the media, economy, government, and other societal institutions.
“If you have Google behind you, if you have Microsoft behind you, if you have Intel behind you, if you have Lockheed-Martin and Boeing behind you, yeah, of course you’re going to be able to prop yourself up for 76 years,” reporter Charita M. Goshay quoted Hasan Mueheisen without providing further comment. The Palestinian-American interviewee was alluding to alleged Jewish – or perhaps Israeli – control of business and tech giants to sustain the Jewish state.
If Jews really wielded that much power, then presumably they could do something about the itty problem of being the insanely disproportionate target of US hate crimes.
But neither critical thought, nor rigorous journalism, were strong points in the Canton Repository article, which enjoyed national exposure thanks to the USA Today news network.
“We will seek to promote understanding of complex issues,” USA Today network pledges in its “Principles of Ethical Conduct for Newsrooms.” Yet Goshay allows Mueheisan’s antisemitism to pass without comment or challenge, literally giving him the last word.
Goshay extends this deferential treatment to the full roster of her truth-defying interviewees. The anti-Israel accusers freely lob historic and present-day vilification of the “settler-colonialist” State of Israel, bandying about fabricated charges of “genocide, dehumanization, dispossession, and apartheid.”
At no point does the local Ohio reporter, with an out-sized national reach, make clear that the US government has repeatedly rejected the “genocide” smear and repudiated the “apartheid” canard as “absurd.”
In another stroke of ludicrousness, Palestinian-American Rima Rafidi-Kern is quoted without challenge: “We’re the original Christians.” That’s a bald-faced lie. The original Christians were converted Jews. Jesus himself was a Jew, an inconvenient reality of ancient Jewish indigeneity belying the “settler-colonialist” canard.
GOSHAY, A reporter of local Midwestern affairs, loses her way in Mideast coverage, flailing even with basic nomenclature. “Palestine – also known as Israel,” she confounds the no-longer existent Palestine Mandate with Israel, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip.
She bungles the 1947 United Nations plan as “partitioning the territory between the new State of Israel, the kingdom of Jordan and Egypt, and the exclusively Palestinian Gaza Strip.” In fact, the Partition Plan had nothing to do with Jordan or Egypt. As the UN explained: “The plan envisages the division of Palestine into three parts: a Jewish state, an Arab State, and the city of Jerusalem, to be placed under an international trusteeship system.”
The proposed Arab state included not only the Gaza Strip but also the West Bank and a huge chunk of what is now central and even southern Israel (including the city of Beersheba), along with a significant patch of land in the north, encompassing Acre and Nahariya.
But in a colossal misjudgment that sealed their people’s unfortunate fate for generations, the Palestinian Arab leadership rejected the seminal Partition Plan and the surrounding Arab countries attacked the nascent Jewish state. Arab leadership in Haifa, Jerusalem, Tiberias, and other locations encouraged residents to flee, resulting in the Palestinian refugee crisis.
Goshay neglects to mention these key historical events, choosing not to intrude on her interviewees’ uninterrupted soliloquy of singular Israeli culpability for Palestinian displacement.
Moreover, Goshay piles on in her own voice: “Palestinians argue that Israel’s Zionist government has trampled on” Balfour Declaration concerns for protection of Palestinian-owned land and religious rights. “They point to the more than 700,000 Palestinians who were displaced in 1948, with many ending up in refugee camps.”
The journalist’s exoneration of Palestinians for any responsibility reaches the reductio ad absurdum in her depiction of Hamas as thwarted peace activists forced into violence by Israel. Rami Hamdan said, “Hamas began with peaceful demonstrations,” intones the credulous reporter about an organization whose antisemitic founding charter calls “to fight the Jews and kill them.”
“The Palestinian people tried the Martin Luther King way, the way of no violence; they tried it,” Goshay quotes Hamdan of Canton. Apparently, the untold early MLK chapter of Palestinian history has mysteriously been erased from all historical memory and archives, wrongly replaced instead with a bloody trail of hijackings, bombings, and terror at the Olympics.
In this alternate reality, “Benjamin Netanyahu encouraged Hamas to begin because he did not want the PLO.” So talented was the young Netanyahu that he apparently pulled off this feat from New York where he served as ambassador to the United Nations during the time of the Hamas terror organization’s founding.
Goshay’s grasp of present-day reality is equally tenuous. Apparently unaware that more than 90% of West Bank Palestinians live under their own Palestinian Authority government, Goshay broadcasts her ignorance: “Palestinians cannot purchase property in the West Bank. Palestinian vehicles are required to display special license plates, and drivers are restricted to certain roads.”
Palestinians maintain rights in the West Bank
Palestinians, of course, are free to purchase property in Areas A and B of the West Bank, where the Palestinian Authority rules and where most live. Likewise, they may display flags, and Palestinian flags proudly and prominently appear at demonstrations, in funerals, on school buildings, and government institutions.
As for “special license plates,” these are what are otherwise known as Palestinian license plates. The Palestinian Authority issues Palestinian license plates to its citizens and the Israeli authorities likewise issues Israeli plates to its citizens.
While Palestinians are restricted from entering Israeli communities in the West Bank, Israeli citizens are forbidden from entering the Palestinian Authority-ruled Area A. Israelis who nevertheless enter Area A, either because they are lost or because they defy the prohibition in search of shopping or other services, often do not make it home alive.
Rafidi-Kern’s unchallenged fabrication, therefore, that Israeli settlers “can come to the houses of the Palestinians, and they claim this is theirs” is as inspired as her “original Christians” lie of biblical proportions.
SO THOROUGH is the USA Today network article’s denial of any Palestinian agency that it blames the Jewish state for Palestinian antisemitism.
“I have yet to meet a single Palestinian in my entire life who has been taught to hate Jews or anybody for their religious faith, or lack of faith for that matter. That was never taught to us as children. The only time you see someone go to that extreme is if they have faced the brutality of the occupation, which can lead somebody to escalate to that level and target specific people,” said Hamdan, without being challenged.
In fact, Palestinian children in the West Bank and Gaza Strip are systematically indoctrinated to hate Jews from a young age. Government-controlled Palestinian television teaches anti-Jewish hatred and violence. Nahoul, a giant bee on Hamas TV, urged children to shoot Jews. Assud, the Hamas rabbit, promised to eat Jews. Schools and summer camps carry the names of terrorists who slaughtered Israeli civilians; textbooks treat subjects like physics and math as an opportunity to teach Jew-hatred.
An Anti-Defamation League survey in 2014 found the world’s highest concentration of antisemitic sentiment in the West Bank and Gaza, with 93% of those surveyed embracing anti-Jewish views.
“Hate and the blame culture go hand in hand, for they are both strategies of denial,” wrote the late Rabbi Jonathan Sacks. “’It wasn’t me, it was them, I acted in self-defense, I am the victim, not the perpetrator.’ The murder of the innocent then becomes a holy deed.”
Does USA Today’s news network really want to export the unholy nexus of hate, blame, and violence to communities across America, lending a hand to the most ancient bigotry and supplying perceived justifications for the next hate crime perpetrator?
https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-834875
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The Connection Between Israel And The Diaspora Will Be Our Legacy Of Light
By Mark Wilf
December 26, 2024
Another Hanukkah is upon us, and with it comes a greater responsibility than ever to spread light that cuts through the darkness.
With a multifront war ongoing in Israel and antisemitism rising around the world, it may feel difficult or even unnatural to focus on light at a moment like this. Nonetheless, it is time to help the Festival of Lights live up to its name.
It is crucial to acknowledge the current challenges and, simultaneously, to keep them in perspective. Growing up around Holocaust survivors – both in my household and throughout my community - it was always striking how strong, resilient, and hopeful those individuals were despite their experiences with unfathomable darkness. They built their lives around Judaism, family, and love for Israel.
Today, we see the same shining qualities from the Israeli people in the aftermath of the heinous atrocities of October 7. They do not allow trauma and grief to define them. Rather, they respond through volunteerism, connection, engagement, empathy, and bravery. From the soldiers on the battlefield to the family members and friends of the hostages, their grit and determination are unrelenting.
In Israel and across the Diaspora, the current generation has something that my parents’ generation did not during the Holocaust – the tools and the strong identity that empower us to fight back. And the most effective way of fighting back against darkness is to spread light.
In that regard, world Jewry has resoundingly answered the call since October 7. From campuses to communities to city councils, advocates for Israel have been energized by an awakening and a unifying force.
For many in the global Jewish community, the tragedy of October 7 has made clear a reality that was not as apparent before – a renewed connection with Israel and a deep understanding of the importance of Israel’s existence are indispensable ingredients to a vibrant Jewish life.
Several of The Jewish Agency for Israel’s initiatives demonstrate the extent to which the Diaspora is stepping up for Israel right now.
Communities2Gether is pairing 26 Israeli communities highly affected by October 7 with Jewish communities worldwide. Each overseas Jewish community commits to offering at least three years of sustained support to the impacted Israeli town or kibbutz, including financial support of $250,000 annually over three years.
Building off the existing success of the Partnership2Gether program, Communities2Gether develops the deep connections that strengthen Jewish communities and a sense of Jewish peoplehood in Israel and worldwide.
This past summer, Campers2Gether brought more than 1,500 Israeli teenagers who have been displaced or otherwise affected by the war to Jewish camps in North America and across the Jewish world. This generated positive experiences for the Israeli teens, utilizing the camp community to convey a healing sense of unity while simultaneously providing a platform for global Jewish youth to understand Israel on a personal level.
Support of Jews worldwide
The generous support of Jews worldwide also enables The Jewish Agency to operate and expand essential programs such as Youth Futures and the Fund for Victims of Terror.
One of Israel’s leading positive-intervention programs, Youth Futures partners teen mentors with at-risk children for a long-term period of cooperative learning and growth. The Jewish Agency recently announced a $13 million expansion that will double the program’s budget and enable it to serve 1,600 additional children nationwide. Youth Futures is also now formally recognized as a national program for rehabilitating children.
The Fund for Victims of Terror is operating on a wider scale than ever before, given the number of murdered on October 7 and the extent of the property damage throughout communities in the Gaza border region.
In as quickly as 48 hours following a terrorist attack, every single individual who suffers either injuries or property damage receives a $1,000 check from the Fund for immediate needs. The Fund also provides long-term rehabilitation grants for up to three years and ongoing support to the victims as they navigate the days after an attack, with this financial support totaling approximately $6,000.
Now, The Jewish Agency is using this Hanukkah to double down on spreading the light. We are organizing “Global Glow,” the world’s largest digital hanukkiah, connecting Jewish communities from every corner of the globe.
Participants light a virtual candle to be part of this unequivocal display of unity, while the resulting digital hanukkiah is also being projected throughout the eight days of Hanukkah on the National Institutions building in Jerusalem and on billboards at central junctions across Israel.
Global Glow underscores the special connection between Israel and the Diaspora. This connection is a source of light, building the Jewish people’s strength, resilience, and hope. In defiance of darkness, our light will continue to grow, just like the miracle in which one day’s worth of oil grew to last for eight days.
https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-834882
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Arresting Netanyahu On An Auschwitz Anniversary Would Be A Blight On Modern-Day Poland
By Steven Burg
December 26, 2024
In a shocking display of misplaced priorities and historical amnesia, Poland has declared its intention to arrest Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should he attend the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. This decision, rooted in a misguided adherence to a trumped-up International Criminal Court (ICC) warrant, not only disrespects the solemnity of the occasion but also reveals a disturbing undercurrent of antisemitism that continues to plague parts of Europe.
The irony is palpable. A commemoration meant to honor the victims of one of history’s darkest chapters could be marred by the arrest of the leader of the lone democratic Jewish state. This farcical situation highlights a fundamental misunderstanding of historical responsibility and contemporary geopolitics.
Poland’s stance is particularly troubling given its complex history with the Jewish people. While some Poles heroically risked their lives to save Jews during the Holocaust, there were many other instances of collaboration and complicity. The country has long struggled with acknowledging this dual legacy, often preferring to cast itself solely as a victim of Nazi aggression rather than confronting the full spectrum of its wartime history.
This reluctance to fully reckon with the past stands in stark contrast to Germany’s approach. Germany has embraced responsibility for the Holocaust, making it a cornerstone of national education and memory. Poland, on the other hand, has often shied away from such introspection, as evidenced by controversial laws aimed at policing how the Holocaust is discussed.
The threat to arrest Netanyahu is not just a diplomatic faux pas; it’s a symptom of a deeper problem. It reflects a willingness to weaponize historical memory for contemporary political purposes. By prioritizing adherence to a controversial ICC warrant over the significance of the Auschwitz commemoration, Poland demonstrates a concerning lack of perspective.
This situation also exposes the double standards often applied to Israel. The Jewish state is simultaneously accused of being an all-powerful oppressor and a vulnerable target, depending on which narrative serves the accuser’s purpose. This contradictory portrayal is a hallmark of antisemitic rhetoric, where Jews are cast as both too strong and too weak, too assimilated and too foreign.
The world’s selective outrage towards Israel is nothing new. For years, Israel faced suicide bombings and attacks on civilians with minimal international sympathy. Now, as similar tactics spread globally, there’s a belated recognition of the threat Israel has long confronted. This pattern of ignoring Israel’s security concerns until they become global issues is both short-sighted and morally bankrupt.
POLAND’S decision also raises questions about the ICC’s role and the politicization of international justice. The court’s focus on Israel, while ignoring or downplaying atrocities committed by other states, undermines its credibility and effectiveness as an impartial arbiter of international law.
Moreover, this incident serves as a stark reminder of the persistence of antisemitism in Europe. Despite decades of education and remembrance, old prejudices resurface in new forms. The threat to arrest Netanyahu at an event commemorating Holocaust victims is a particularly egregious example of how antisemitism can manifest in ostensibly principled stands.
As we approach the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, the focus should be on honoring the victims, educating future generations, and reaffirming our commitment to “Never Again.” Instead, we find ourselves embroiled in a diplomatic controversy that distracts from these crucial objectives.
Poland must reconsider its position
It’s time for Poland to reconsider its position. The country should recognize that its moral obligation to honor Holocaust victims far outweighs any perceived legal duty to enforce a controversial arrest warrant. This anniversary should be an opportunity for reflection, reconciliation, and renewed commitment to combating antisemitism and all forms of hatred.
The international community must also take a stand, as EU countries such as Hungary, Bulgaria, France, Romania, and others, who have said they do not support the ICC’s arrest warrant on various grounds at this time.
Hungary, another country with a checkered past when it comes to its involvement and collaboration during the Holocaust, even went so far as to extend an official invitation to Netanyahu to visit the country and swore to ensure his safety and immunity from the ICC.
Allowing the leader of the Jewish state to be threatened with arrest at a Holocaust memorial event sets a dangerous precedent. It emboldens those who seek to delegitimize Israel and trivializes the memory of Holocaust victims.
Let us not lose sight of the lessons history has taught us. The fight against antisemitism is being fought now, perhaps more than ever since World War II. Intolerance in all forms is far from over.
This fight requires vigilance, courage, and a willingness to confront uncomfortable truths – qualities that seem sorely lacking in Poland’s current stance.
We must do better in honoring the past, protecting the present, and securing a future free from the scourge of antisemitism and hatred in all its forms.
The writer, a rabbi, is Aish’s CEO and the chair of Aish Ha’am, a new party that will be running for the World Zionist Congress this spring. He has also served on the Board of Governors of the Jewish Agency for Israel and as an executive board member of the Rabbinical Council of America.
https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-834878
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A New Syria Must Face Its Challenges With Openness, Dialogue
Eyad Abu Shakra
December 25, 2024
It must be said that very few of us anticipated the developments in Syria that unfolded over a month ago. A 54-year chapter in the history of the country ended in less than two weeks — a massive achievement.
The ease and speed with which the Bashar Assad regime was brought down surprised even the most optimistic observers hoping to see this shift. However, since the temporary military leadership took control of Damascus, we have seen some offer predictable critique of various behaviors. I believe that with more consultation this criticism would have neither emerged nor been justified.
I do not have in mind the criticism from vehement opponents who consistently showed their allegiance to the fallen regime despite its crimes nor the hypocrites who, as they say, greet the bride’s family and leave with the groom’s family. Rather, I am thinking of the anxious silence or apologetic criticism from forces that are keen on seeing this liberation succeed, just as they were hoping that the revolution would win in 2011.
These forces, which represent most of the population — call them the silent majority or ordinary citizens — across class and sectarian lines, have an interest in seeing this change succeed. No one is as keen as they are on ensuring that the transitional phase proceeds with as little pain, complications, skepticism, and retribution as possible. Otherwise, the nation’s body could be left with deep wounds that are difficult to heal and prone to infection.
The mistakes of the past few days have been relatively minor, and can thus be easily overlooked. Through trial and error, lessons can be drawn for the future. However, repeating these past errors in the coming days and weeks could turn them into harmful sins that could hinder the transition. I believe it would be useful to draw attention to some uncomfortable truths.
At the forefront of these is the fact that this liberation is now under intense local, regional, and international scrutiny.
The local scrutiny is from within the country. While the fall of the Assad regime has certainly been welcomed, a broad segment of the population does not want to replace one dictatorship with another. This means that there is a need for consultation, openness, and dialogue rather than replicating the experience of the “Idlib government,” despite all the positives we saw there.
Then there is the regional scrutiny. Syria’s borders with two neighboring countries, Lebanon and Iraq, are clearly still regarded as unsafe by the interim Syrian leadership. This is clear from the escape of several major figures in the Assad regime to these countries, exploiting the de facto control of sectarian armed forces backed by a powerful regional sponsor.
On the other hand, two other influential regional powers not only have a stake in what is happening, but also claim the right to protect their borders and ensure what they consider to be regional security. Indeed, as soon as the regime fell, the significant contribution made by Turkiye to victory in the north became evident.
Meanwhile, in the south, the danger of Israel’s expansionist intentions became apparent as its army breached the ceasefire line in the Golan Heights, occupying the strategic peak of Mount Hermon and launching air raids on dozens of Syrian military targets. This situation speaks volumes about the extent of the Israeli leadership’s seeming confidence in the intentions of the Assad regime, throughout the reigns of both father and son, to secure its northern borders.
Another highly important truth concerns those who benefited from the Assad regime for a long time amid claims that they have indeed been removed or have fled. However, first it must be said that they have not disappeared or been crushed. And second, there are still external entities providing them with support.
Consequently, the longer it takes for the achievement of liberation to mature — with minimal complications — the more opportunities these remnants and their supporters will have to regroup, rebuild their forces, and reformulate their inciting and misleading rhetoric. This could potentially lead to a reversal of the current accomplishments.
On the subject of international scrutiny, Western powers, and global organizations in which these powers wield significant influence, are watching developments closely. Logically, the historical change that ended the Assad family’s rule would not have proceeded as smoothly, given Russia and Iran’s military presence, without the consent of Western powers, primarily the US. They agreed to allow the end of what they saw as an anomaly in a sensitive region and the arrival of a new administration whose intentions remain obscure.
Washington, in particular, and its Western allies generally, have recognized that maintaining the status quo in the Middle East is no longer tenable. There appears to be a belief that there is a need for a new and different approach to political Islam, the aspirations and fears of minorities, and religious-based terrorism.
These Western allies also are not willing to tolerate any blackmail, including through a nuclear program. In addition, there is a need to address the Ukraine crisis more seriously, in particular containing Russia, which is on the agenda of rising far-right entities on both sides of the Atlantic.
In light of these considerations, the message from the US diplomatic mission’s meeting with Ahmad Al-Sharaa, leader of Syria’s Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham, in Damascus was clear. It told us a lot not only about Washington’s vision for the role of this new Syria in the Arab Levant region, but also about what type of Syrian administration would be internationally acceptable, from the US viewpoint.
The new Syria cannot afford to make mistakes as it takes up two main challenges that concern its government and standing in the global economy. The first is hammering out an accord regarding its governing philosophy, especially in dealing with the nation’s diverse communities. The second is determining its economic and financial positions, which includes harnessing its human and natural resources, and gaining international trust.
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2584284
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