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Assad and Esav Will Be Forgotten — Only the Righteous Will Be Remembered
It’s a sight that the world has seen time and again — but somehow, it is a shock each time it happens. A vicious tyrant brought low, his carefully constructed empire crumbling and collapsing under the weight of its own brutality. This week, it happened — and it unfolded before our eyes in real-time.
Bashar al-Assad, the once-dominant ruler of Syria — and son of a father who was the dominant ruler of Syria — appeared untouchable. Despite 13 years of civil war, Assad held onto power, aided and abetted in his authoritarian rule by Iran and Russia, always there to ensure the rebels never seized control.
But history is merciless to those who rule through fear alone.
Like so many despots before him, Assad’s spectacular fall was both inevitable and cautionary, echoing the collapse of countless oppressive regimes in recent history: Ceausescu in Romania, Gaddafi in Libya, and Saddam Hussein in Iraq.
But Assad’s fate not only echoes these modern fallen tyrants; it also follows a far older script. One could compare him to Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, the infamous Fatimid Caliph of Egypt, whose erratic and oppressive rule alienated his people and plunged his reign into chaos, and earned him the title, the “Mad Caliph.”
Ascending the throne in 996 at the tender age of 11, Al-Hakim initially showed promise but quickly descended into a pattern of bizarre and despotic behavior — not unlike Bashar al-Assad, the seemingly gentle and refined ophthalmologist from London who, in 2000, succeeded his father Hafez amid widespread international hope that he would usher in a softer, more progressive era for Syria, only to perpetuate and even amplify his father’s oppressive rule.
Just like Assad, Al-Hakim enforced laws that bewildered and terrorized his subjects. Religious minorities, particularly Christians and Jews, but also Muslims, faced fierce persecution and vicious pogroms, which included the destruction of their places of worship.
Even his own advisors and allies began questioning his sanity as he declared himself a divine figure. In 1021, Al-Hakim mysteriously disappeared, and many believe that he was assassinated by those closest to him.
And what about Al-Musta’sim, the last Abbasid Caliph of Baghdad, whose complacency in the face of danger ended in the catastrophic Mongol destruction of his capital and his own humiliating death in 1258?
Al-Musta’sim presided over a city once the jewel of the Islamic world. But by his time, the Abbasid Caliphate had been reduced to little more than a shadow of its former glory. The caliph, known for his indecisiveness and weak leadership, grossly underestimated the threat posed by the marauding Mongols, led by Hulagu Khan, who were systematically conquering the surrounding regions.
And the similarities to Assad don’t end there. Despite repeated warnings and opportunities to prepare for an inevitable attack, Al-Musta’sim faltered, failing to muster an adequate defense or seek effective alliances. His arrogance and misplaced confidence in Baghdad’s reputation as an invincible cultural and religious hub left the city exposed.
When the Mongols finally laid siege to Baghdad, they met little resistance, and the ensuing massacre was one of the most devastating and violent in medieval history. Hundreds of thousands of residents were slaughtered, the city’s famed libraries — including the House of Wisdom — were burned, and Baghdad was left in ruins.
As for Al-Musta’sim himself, he was captured by Hulagu, who rolled him up in a carpet and had him trampled to death by horses. His demise marked not only the end of the Abbasid Caliphate in Baghdad but was also a powerful demonstration of the brutal consequences of leadership defined by complacency and miscalculation — not dissimilar to what we saw this week.
But perhaps most evocative of all, in light of what we saw this week, is the story of Boabdil — Abu Abdallah Muhammad XII, the last Muslim Sultan of Granada, who surrendered his kingdom to Spain’s Catholic Monarchs in 1492.
As Boabdil fled into exile, he reportedly stopped on a hillside to look back at his lost realm. Overcome with grief, he began to weep, prompting his mother’s scornful rebuke: “You weep like a woman for what you could not defend as a man.”
One wonders if anyone whispered those words or something similar to Assad as he hightailed it to Moscow this week, leaving his country in tatters. Like Boabdil, Assad’s reign ends not with dignity or resolution, but in disgrace, as he leaves Syria shattered and divided, with much of its territory in the hands of Islamic fanatics whose brutality rivals his own.
History’s judgment of Assad will be as unforgiving as that of Boabdil: a ruler whose failures were both inevitable and avoidable and whose legacy is one of ruin.
And yet, as we reflect on the dramatic fall of Assad and the forgotten legacies of tyrants and losers like Al-Hakim, Al-Musta’sim, and Boabdil, we are reminded of a striking passage in the Torah that provides timeless insight into the nature of power and legacy. In Parshat Vayishlach, the Torah lists the names of Esav’s descendants — one “Aluf” after another (Gen. 36:15-43): “Aluf Teiman, Aluf Omar, Aluf Zepho, Aluf Kenaz…”
The Aluf titles imply chieftains, leaders, mighty figures in their time. But the question is inescapable: Why does the Torah dedicate precious space to these forgotten, seemingly irrelevant people? What purpose does this passage serve, recounting a lineage that has no lasting significance?
The answer lies in the Torah’s subtle but profound message about the nature of power. These were individuals who, in their day, seemed mighty and important, wielding authority and commanding respect. People lived or died at their whim. Armies marched, land was conquered, lives were impacted.
And yet their power was fleeting and shallow, rooted purely in conquest and temporal strength. They left behind no meaningful legacy, no enduring contribution to humanity, and no ethical framework by which the world might remember them. Their names survive only as worthless reminders of how empty their power truly was, and how history has erased them from any narrative of significance.
Contrast this with Jacob and his descendants, whose legacy transcends physical power or political dominance. Jacob’s strength — and the enduring legacy of the Jewish people — lies in the covenant with God, the divine ethical rule they uphold, and the moral compass they provide to the world.
While the Alufim of Esav’s lineage have faded into obscurity, their power nothing more than a historical footnote, Jacob’s descendants continue to endure and thrive, making their positive mark wherever they are. Their influence is not measured in fleeting military victories or in their ability to kill or torture those they control, but in the eternal values they represent.
The juxtaposition is striking and deliberate. Bashar al-Assad, like Esav and his descendants, may have controlled territory and wielded the power to kill hundreds of thousands of people, but in the end — he was and is nothing, and his legacy is nothing.
The power of the Esavs and the Assads, no matter how overwhelming it may be in their day, is hollow when measured against the enduring values of justice, compassion, and faith. Ultimately, it is not the Alufim of the world who are remembered, but those who commit themselves to something far greater than themselves. Such people are recalled forever, and their deeds are remembered and valued for eternity.
The author is a rabbi in Beverly Hills, California.
The post Assad and Esav Will Be Forgotten — Only the Righteous Will Be Remembered first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Hezbollah Says Lebanon Move on Army Plan Is ‘Opportunity,’ Urges Israel to Commit to Ceasefire

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam and members of the cabinet stand as they attend a cabinet session to discuss the army’s plan to disarm Hezbollah, at the Presidential Palace in Baabda, Lebanon, September 5, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
Hezbollah official Mahmoud Qmati told Reuters on Saturday that the group considered Friday’s cabinet session on an army plan to establish a state monopoly on arms “an opportunity to return to wisdom and reason, preventing the country from slipping into the unknown.”
Lebanon’s cabinet on Friday welcomed a plan by the army that would disarm Hezbollah and said the military would begin executing it, without setting a timeframe for implementation and cautioning that the army had limited capabilities.
But it said continued Israeli military operations in Lebanon would hamper the army’s progress. Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Lebanese information minister Paul Morcos stopped short of saying the cabinet had formally approved the plan.
Qmati told Reuters that Hezbollah had reached its assessment based on the government’s declaration on Friday that further implementation of a US roadmap on the matter was dependent on Israel’s commitment. He said that without Israel halting strikes and withdrawing its troops from southern Lebanon, Lebanon’s implementation of the plan should remain “suspended until further notice.”
Lebanon’s cabinet last month tasked the army with coming up with a plan that would establish a state monopoly on arms and approved a US roadmap aimed at disarming Hezbollah in exchange for a halt to Israeli military operations in Lebanon.
Qmati said that Hezbollah “unequivocally rejected” those two decisions and expected the Lebanese government to draw up a national defense strategy.
Israel last week signaled it would scale back its military presence in southern Lebanon if the army took action to disarm Hezbollah. Meanwhile, it has continued its strikes, killing four people on Wednesday.
A national divide over Hezbollah’s disarmament has taken center stage in Lebanon since last year’s devastating war with Israel, which upended a power balance long dominated by the Iran-backed Shi’ite Muslim group.
Lebanon is under pressure from the US, Saudi Arabia and Hezbollah’s domestic rivals to disarm the group. But Hezbollah has pushed back, saying it would be a serious misstep to even discuss disarmament while Israel continues its air strikes on Lebanon and occupies swathes of territory in the south.
Hezbollah Secretary General Naim Qassem last month raised the specter of civil war, warning the government against trying to confront the group and saying street protests were possible.
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UK Police Arrest Dozens at Latest Protest for Banned Palestine Action

Demonstrators attend the “Lift The Ban” rally organised by Defend Our Juries, challenging the British government’s proscription of “Palestine Action” under anti-terrorism laws, in Parliament Square, in London, Britain, September 6, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Carlos Jasso
British police arrested dozens more people on Saturday under anti-terrorism laws for demonstrating in support of Palestine Action, a pro-Palestinian group banned by the government as a terrorist organization.
Britain banned Palestine Action under anti-terrorism legislation in July after some of its members broke into a Royal Air Force base and damaged military planes. The group accuses Britain’s government of complicity in what it says are Israeli war crimes in Gaza.
Police have arrested hundreds of Palestine Action supporters in recent weeks under anti-terrorism legislation, including over 500 in just one day last month, many of them over the age of 60.
On Saturday, hundreds of demonstrators gathered near parliament in central London to protest against the ban on Saturday, with many holding up signs that said: “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action.”
London’s Metropolitan Police said officers had begun arresting those expressing support for Palestine Action. Police did not say how many arrests were made but a Reuters witness said dozens of people were detained.
Palestine Action’s ban, or proscription, puts the group alongside al-Qaeda and ISIS and makes it a crime to support or belong to the organization, punishable by up to 14 years in prison.
“I can be unequivocal, if you show support for Palestine Action – an offense under the Terrorism Act – you will be arrested,” Met Deputy Assistant Commissioner Ade Adelekan said on Friday. “We have the officer numbers, custody capacity and all other resources to process as many people as is required.”
Human rights groups have criticized Britain’s decision to ban the group as disproportionate and say it limits the freedom of expression of peaceful protesters.
The government has accused Palestine Action of causing millions of pounds worth of criminal damage and says the ban does not prevent other pro-Palestinian protests.
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Macron’s Meeting with American Jewry ‘Won’t Happen’ Amid Palestinian Recognition Drive, Surge in Antisemitism

French President Emmanuel Macron speaks during a press conference in Paris, France, June 12, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Stephane Mahe
i24 News – French President Emmanuel Macron attempted to set up a meeting with American Jewish leaders later this month on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.
i24NEWS has learned that the meeting won’t happen, firstly because Macron was only available for the meeting ahead of the UN General Assembly during Rosh Hashanah, and yet, a person invited to meet with Macron and who has knowledge of the discussions told i24NEWS the sit-down simply wasn’t going to happen, anyway.
“I think the organizations, for the most part, would not have participated,” the person said, adding that AIPAC, the Anti-Defamation League and the American Jewish Committee would have likely received invitations, among other entities.
“The guy has a 15% popularity rating in France. It’s not our job to help him out,” the person said.
Asked by i24NEWS whether Macron’s push for greater Palestinian state recognition or his lack of action in tackling antisemitism at home led to the stance of organized American Jewry, the person said it’s more of “the climate” which allows one to say ‘Look, the American Jews met with me,’ regardless of the content.”
The person said they are sure, if a meeting would have happened, that everybody in the room would have taken a hard line with Macron, including his “statements on Israel, the failure to respond to antisemitism” and France’s announcement this summer that it will recognize a Palestinian state later this month, and is leading an effort to get more countries to do the same.
But, the person told i24NEWS they are convinced that, in the end, while no final decision actually had to be taken, there was enough pressure that a consensus would have been reached to decline the meeting.
Of the timing of Rosh Hashanah allowing for leadership to not be forced to officially say no to Macron, the person said “G-d saves us every time.”
Another source familiar with the matter noted that it cannot be ruled out that Macron may eventually succeed in arranging a meeting with certain representatives, as the organizations are not a single unified body. However, he is unlikely to be welcomed by the overwhelming majority of groups representing American Jewry.
i24NEWS has also learned that French President Emmanuel Macron explored the possibility of visiting Israel ahead of the convention, but was advised by the Prime Minister’s Office that the timing was inappropriate. The message came as Macron continues to push for recognition of a Palestinian state, a move Israel strongly opposes. Sources further told i24NEWS that Israel is weighing additional retaliatory measures against Macron, including the potential closure of the French consulate in Jerusalem, which primarily serves Palestinians in the West Bank.