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The Druze Massacre in Syria Proves We Must Find Ways to Protect Minorities in the Middle East
Smoke rises while Syrian security forces sit in the back of a truck as Syrian troops entered the predominantly Druze city of Sweida on Tuesday following two days of clashes, in Sweida, Syria July 15, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Karam al-Masri
A humanitarian tragedy is unfolding in southern Syria, in the heart of the Sweida province — the homeland of the Druze community. The people in Sweida are still paying decades after Western powers carved out artificial nation-states across the Middle East.
Hundreds of bodies — men, women, children, and the elderly — have recently been brought to the only remaining functional hospital in Sweida. Some corpses were just left in the street due to lack of space. Doctors were brutally murdered. One was reportedly killed while performing surgery, another shot in front of his children. Eyewitnesses report that forces carried out executions, desecrated corpses, looted homes, and set neighborhoods on fire. In a symbolic and degrading act, Druze religious leaders had their mustaches forcibly shaved — an insult reminiscent of the humiliations endured by Polish Jews following the Nazi invasion in 1939.
What began as a local skirmish between Sunni Bedouin tribes and armed Druze fighters quickly escalated into a full-scale onslaught by forces loyal to Syria’s de facto ruler, Ahmad al-Sharaa, that ordered the uprising to be crushed with an iron fist. A whole community was plunged into anarchy and targeted violence.
Some 125,000 Druze live in Israel today. They are loyal citizens who serve in the IDF, lead municipalities, and are integrated in every aspect of Israeli public life. Many are closely following the events across the border. Some young Druze Israelis even attempted to cross into Syria to aid their brethren, risking confrontations with IDF soldiers. Israeli Druze leaders, along with security officials, have worked hard to contain the situation and prevent further escalation.
The US recently brokered a ceasefire between Israel and the al-Sharaa regime, with backing from Jordan and Turkey. Yet what is being celebrated as a diplomatic breakthrough risks becoming a moral failure if it is not followed by a concrete plan to protect minorities.
A tweet from US Ambassador Tom Barrack — “We call upon Druze, Bedouins, and Sunnis to put down their weapons and together with other minorities build a new and united Syrian identity…” — reveals a deep misunderstanding of Syrian realities. There is no such thing as a “united Syrian identity” — there never was, and there likely never will be. Calling on targeted minorities to disarm, with no clear mechanism for their protection, is to abandon them to slaughter.
Like Iraq, Jordan, and Lebanon, Syria is a colonial fabrication — an artificial state imposed on a patchwork of sects, tribes, and rival ethnicities. King Faisal I, a Hashemite with no local roots, came from the Hejaz and was installed on Syria’s throne by French decree. From that day to this, Syria has never known lasting stability. An Alawite minority, making up roughly 15% of the population, has ruled through brute force over Sunnis, Kurds, Assyrians, Christians, and Druze alike. There is no “Syrian people” — only a crumbling mosaic of communities clinging to ancient survival strategies.
The only viable way to guarantee the safety of the Druze and other minorities is to support, openly or discreetly, the establishment of a Druze autonomous zone in Jabal al-Druze. Such an entity existed between 1921 and 1936, and similar proposals were floated in Israel during the late 1960s. A fractured multi-tribal state cannot ensure safety for anyone — but a decentralized Syrian confederation, in the style of Switzerland or the UAE, just might.
The State of Israel, which refrained from sending ground troops into Syria but acted in the air to defend the Druze, must now take a clear political stance: no more clinging to the failed ideal of “one Syria.” Instead, Israel should promote a viable cantonal solution that allows minorities to govern themselves securely.
The West, having carelessly created Syria, must understand: asking the Druze to “unite with the Sunnis” under an imagined national identity is to repeat a century old political and moral crime. Ambassador Barrack’s tweet, urging minorities to lay down their arms and rally around a fictitious “unified Syrian identity” echoes the very illusion that plunged Syria, Iraq, and Libya into chaos. If this is the best path Western diplomacy has to offer, then we are on the wrong track.
We, the Jews of Israel, cannot stand idly by while our Druze brothers and sisters are massacred just 40 miles from our border. This is not just a matter of solidarity, it is a matter of conscience. A people that has endured genocide cannot allow another to fall victim to mass slaughter, especially a community to whom the State of Israel owes so much — on the battlefield, in civil society, and in our shared vision of genuine partnership. Silence now will be remembered not only as a moral failure, but as a betrayal to its own citizens.
Itamar Tzur is the author of The Invention of the Palestinian Narrative and an Israeli scholar specializing in Middle Eastern history. He holds a Bachelor’s degree with honors in Jewish History and a Master’s degree with honors in Middle Eastern studies. As a senior member of the “Forum Kedem for Middle Eastern Studies and Public Diplomacy,” he leverages his academic expertise to deepen understanding of regional dynamics and historical contexts.
The post The Druze Massacre in Syria Proves We Must Find Ways to Protect Minorities in the Middle East first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Former Columbia University President Appointed as UK Economic Adviser
Columbia University administrators and faculty, led by President Minouche Shafik, testified before the US House Committee on Education and the Workforce on April 17, 2024. Photo: Jack Gruber/Reuters Connect
i24 News – British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has named Minouche Shafik, former president of Columbia University, as his chief economic adviser at Downing Street, a move aimed at stabilizing the country’s fragile economy and averting a potential budget crisis.
Shafik, an economist of Egyptian origin with dual British and American nationality, has held senior roles at the Bank of England, the IMF, and the World Bank.
She later led the London School of Economics and was elevated to the House of Lords in 2020.
Her tenure in the United States was more turbulent. Shafik stepped down as president of Columbia University in 2024 after just a year in office, amid fierce criticism over her handling of pro-Palestinian protests following the Hamas attacks of October 7, 2023, and the subsequent war in Gaza.
US officials accused her of failing to confront antisemitism on campus, while students and faculty condemned her decision to call in police to dismantle protest encampments.
Since returning to Britain, Shafik has played an active role in policy and cultural institutions. She advised Foreign Secretary David Lammy on international aid reform, has chaired the Victoria & Albert Museum since January, and led the “Economy 2030” inquiry for the Resolution Foundation, where she argued for reforms to the UK’s system of wealth taxation.
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Israel Mulls West Bank Annexation in Response to Moves to Recognize Palestine
The Jordan Valley. Photo: Юкатан via Wikimedia Commons.
Israel is considering annexation in the West Bank as a possible response to France and other countries recognizing a Palestinian state, according to three Israeli officials and the idea will be discussed further on Sunday, another official said.
Extension of Israeli sovereignty to the West Bank – de facto annexation of land captured in the 1967 Middle East war – was on the agenda for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security cabinet meeting late on Sunday that is expected to focus on the Gaza war, a member of the small circle of ministers said.
It is unclear where precisely any such measure would be applied and when, whether only in Israeli settlements or some of them, or in specific areas of the West Bank like the Jordan Valley and whether any concrete steps, which would likely entail a lengthy legislative process, would follow discussions.
Any step toward annexation in the West Bank would likely draw widespread condemnation from the Palestinians, who seek the territory for a future state, as well as Arab and Western countries. It is unclear where US President Donald Trump stands on the matter. The White House and State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A spokesperson for Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar did not respond to a request for comment on whether Saar had discussed the move with his US counterpart Marco Rubio during his visit to Washington last week.
Netanyahu’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether the prime minister supports annexation and if so, where.
A past pledge by Netanyahu to annex Jewish settlements and the Jordan Valley was scrapped in 2020 in favor of normalizing ties with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain in the Abraham Accords brokered by Trump in his first term in office.
The office of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The United States said on Friday it would not allow Abbas to travel to New York for the United Nations gathering of world leaders, where several US allies are set to recognize Palestine as a state.
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Israel Pounds Gaza City Suburbs, Netanyahu to Convene Security Cabinet
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks to the press on Capitol Hill, Washington, DC, July 8, 2025. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
Israeli forces pounded the suburbs of Gaza City overnight from the air and ground, destroying homes and driving more families out of the area as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security cabinet was set on Sunday to discuss a plan to seize the city.
Residents of Sheikh Radwan, one of the largest neighborhoods of Gaza City, said the territory had been under Israeli tank shelling and airstrikes throughout Saturday and on Sunday, forcing families to seek shelter in the western parts of the city.
The Israeli military has gradually escalated its operations around Gaza City over the past three weeks, and on Friday it ended temporary pauses in the area that had allowed for aid deliveries, designating it a “dangerous combat zone.”
“They are crawling into the heart of the city where hundreds of thousands are sheltering, from the east, north, and south, while bombing those areas from the air and ground to scare people to leave,” said Rezik Salah, a father of two, from Sheikh Radwan.
An Israeli official said Netanyahu’s security cabinet will convene on Sunday evening to discuss the next stages of the planned offensive to seize Gaza City, which he has described as Hamas’ last bastion.
A full-scale offensive is not expected to start for weeks. Israel says it wants to evacuate the civilian population before moving more ground forces in.
HAMAS SPOKESPERSON TARGETED
Netanyahu confirmed on Sunday that Israeli forces had targeted Abu Ubaida, the spokesperson of Hamas’ armed wing. Defense Minister Israel Katz said that Abu Ubaida was killed. Two Hamas officials contacted by Reuters did not respond to requests for comment.
Gaza health authorities said 15 people, including five children, were killed in the attack on a residential building in the heart of Gaza City.
Abu Ubaida, also known as Hozayfa Al-Khalout, is a well-known figure to Palestinians and Israelis alike, close to Hamas’ top military leaders and in charge of delivering the group’s messages, often via video, for around two decades, delivering statements while wearing a red keffiyeh that concealed his face.
The US targeted him with sanctions in April 2024, accusing him of leading the “cyber influence department” of al-Qassam Brigades.
In his last statement on Friday, he warned that the planned Israeli offensive on Gaza City would endanger the hostages.
On Saturday, Red Cross head Mirjana Spoljaric said an evacuation from the city would provoke a massive population displacement that no other area in the enclave is equipped to absorb, with shortages of food, shelter and medical supplies.
“People who have relatives in the south left to stay with them. Others, including myself, didn’t find a space as Deir Al-Balah and Mawasi are overcrowded,” said Ghada, a mother of five from the city’s Sabra neighborhood.
Around half of the enclave’s more than 2 million people are presently in Gaza City. Several thousand were estimated to have left the city for central and southern areas of the enclave.
Israel’s military has warned its political leaders that the offensive is endangering hostages still being held by Hamas in Gaza. Protests in Israel calling for an end to the war and the release of the hostages have intensified in the past few weeks.