[TheJC] The massacre unfolding against the Druze in southern Syria, in which hundreds of civilians have been slaughtered, is not just another footnote in a region otherwise filled with constant bloodshed and turmoil. This is a moral test for the international community, and those who claim to stand for human rights and seek to rebuild the country torn apart by decades of civil war and the brutal dictatorship of the Assad regime.
In recent days, we have witnessed Druze civilians systematically hunted, humiliated, and murdered by forces loyal to, or possibly even part of, the Syrian regime of Ahmad al-Sharra: the jihadist-turned-would-be statesman, and new darling of the international community. That same international community has remained largely silent in the face of this unfolding massacre.
But silence is complicity.
As Holocaust survivor Elie Weisel implored us: "We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. Sometimes we must interfere."
That is precisely why Israel chose to interfere with military action, to defend the Druze.
The Druze of Sweida are not pleading for your sympathy, they are demanding their inalienable right to live in peace and dignity, with full civil rights. What happens next will reveal whether the international community truly seeks a new Syria, or will continue rewarding tyranny with silence. For Israel however, silence was simply not an option.
We all know what the "international community" is doing and it's not praising Israel for taking a strong moral stand on the side of good and humanity.
[PUBLISH.TWITTER]
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