A Massacre of a Minority in Syria and…Crickets from the World
The persecution of a religious and cultural minority. The intentional massacre of hundreds of civilians in cold blood. The Alawites of Syria are under siege by the Islamists that drove out former President Bashar al-Assad, with their very lives in danger as you read these words. And not a single human being in the wider world cares enough to make their plight a front-page headline; because, as has been proven time and again, “No Jews, no news.” If the world cannot find some way to blame it on Israelis/Jews, the world will either find a way anyway or simply ignore the suffering of their fellow humanity. The Uighurs say hello, by the way. Remember them? No?
As I warned about several months ago, as Assad fled Syria to sit on Putin’s lap, radical Islamists took control of the ancient crossroads of civilizations; the strategic and cultural nexus that is Syria. The Islamic fundamentalists of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) are not the “good guys” of the Syrian civil war; a war that is apparently still ongoing despite the hopes of the world that the violence would be over by now. They are unleashing reprisals on the Alawite community now under their rule for the simple fact that Assad was an Alawite and enjoyed some measure of support from that base. There were some hundreds of security force militiamen still fighting for Assad that clashed with opposing forces in the coastal cities of Latakia and Tartus; and the Islamists have used that as an excuse to begin an actual genocide of the Alawites of Syria. No one knows exactly how many Alawite civilians have been killed now over the course of the last three days; certainly in the mid-hundreds. It could be over a thousand.
This is why Israelis cannot take the rest of the world seriously when it chastises them for their perceived moral failings. It is so obviously manufactured outrage on account of Israel being the one and only Jewish state that what little constructive criticism there is often gets thrown out along with the mindless hate. No one cares when Arabs kill other Arabs; like when the Hashemite King Hussein of Jordan killed thousands of Palestinians in ‘Black September’. There is no ‘All Eyes On Latakia’ social media campaign. There are no UN resolutions condemning HTS as the illegitimate and illegal occupier of Syrian territory. There are no accusations of ‘genocide’ being leveled by South Africa’s governing ANC party against the heads of HTS in the International Court of “Justice”. There are no ICC arrest warrants out for Abu Mohammed al-Julani, the radical militant now at the head of Syria’s interim government. Things will only get worse from here for the people of Syria, and absolutely no one in the entire world cares. Because they can’t blame the Jews for it.
As far as news from Israel goes, I am at a bit of a disadvantage with the timing of this newsletter. In a few hours there may be a breakthrough in Qatar on the ceasefire deal, whether ‘Phase One’ is being extended or ‘Phase Two’ is a go. Allegedly there were also backroom talks between Hamas and an American negotiator—for what purpose, I cannot even guess at. Israel still controls the Philadelphi corridor on the border with Egypt; a must for stopping Hamas from resupplying. If I were a betting man, I’d think that a deal to get all the remaining hostages out from Gaza would be agreed to by both parties even if Israel has to withdraw from all of Gaza; that seems to be the popular sentiment in Israel, and of the many things Bibi is, he’s no political fool. I am seeing now that this war is likely far from over no matter what is agreed to in the deal. Hamas will fight to the bitter end. Their ideology demands it of them. If they are allowed to resupply, it will only prolong the war and the suffering of both Israelis and Palestinians.
When will Islamists realize that the fall of Islam from being the cultural and scientific center of the world is not due to impiety, but rather the failure to liberalize and capitalize on the strengths of every individual? When will they realize that they blaspheme the name of Allah with every beheading and terror attack and mass murder spree carried out in the name of their God? Every woman raped and killed on October 7th is a sin against God and Humanity. By their own sick, twisted logic they should demand their own stonings for the disgrace they have brought to Islam. Ayatollah Khamenei, the most immoral human being on the planet, deserves infinitely worse treatment than his “morality police” gave to Mahsa Amini. And of the monsters that murdered Kfir and Ariel Bibas with their bare hands…not even Dante could have dreamed of a fitting eternal punishment for them.
The Islamic caliphates used to be the center of learning of the entire world. The Renaissance of Europe would not have happened but for the torch of human progress being carried by the Islamic world through the Dark Ages; and for their distracting the horse lords of the Eurasian Steppe from conquering too far to the northwest. You might laugh at it now, but a more liberal Islam is not as radical of an idea as you may believe. It’s just unpopular at the moment. Our modern Islamic world is a cautionary tale in what happens when you let religious nutjobs control, well, everything. Once children are raised to follow the downwards spiral of radicalism, it can be very hard to break successive generations out of it.
The last great Islamic empire—the Ottomans—collapsed a scant hundred-and-two years ago; and the Islamic world has never truly recovered. This is the great catastrophe that has led to the rise of ‘political Islam’, i.e. Islamism, which seeks to convert the world to their various different interpretations of Islam by force. But they will never succeed. They cannot. Islam cannot conquer the world through violence; the attempt only ever makes Islam weaker in our new world order. If it wishes to convert the world, it must do so peaceably through strength of argument alone—like all other religions do now in modern liberal democracies.
Islamists miss the hard-learned lessons of their forebears. Success on the world stage depends on tolerance, not intolerance. Violent tyrannies are almost always short-lived, and the ones that aren’t quickly lead to destitution and the inability to do anything but feebly hold on to power over a ruined society. The causes of the Ottoman collapse are as numerous as the cats of Istanbul; but chief among them is the fact that (forgive the ironic description) convoluted, Byzantine-like rule of Empire simply cannot compete with the flexibility of liberal democracies and the freedoms they grant that lead to human flourishing.
Religious fundamentalism is the great cancer of our world. It is intolerance personified. I beg of you, do not tolerate it in your communities. It is the gateway to hell, not heaven. Just ask the countless victims of it through the millennia.
And the most baffling part of it all—the part that will have future historians scratching their heads for centuries—is the fact that the Islamists have useful idiots across the world that are not themselves Islamic fundamentalists, but side with them all the same. It is literally like Little Red Riding Hood helping the Big Bad Wolf prepare herself for supper. They will eat you infidels alive. Just ask secular, progressive, liberal Iranians what happened when Khomeini rose to power.
Islamists eat ‘bleeding hearts’ for breakfast. The “Democratic Socialists of America” are just one contemporary example of these, for lack of a more apt description, total morons. Siding with the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Russian Federation to…fight imperialism. Yeah, not the brightest bulbs in the garbage bin. For anyone that knows Russian history, the antisemitism of certain modern “progressives” should make a bit more sense in this context. They’ve been drinking from the font of Russian/Soviet antisemitic propaganda for decades; from a wellspring centuries old.
The depths of human stupidity are endless. Unfortunately, many of our fellows have plunged headfirst into the abyss. I can only do what I can to restore sanity to the world. Until next week, stay safe and sane.
CHANGES TO SUBSTACK SUBSCRIBER EXCLUSIVE POSTING SCHEDULE: I am moving the exclusive schedule from a post every week to a much longer monthly post. This will allow me to really dive into the topic at hand instead of just a surface-level examination or life update. I know with the less frequent posts the value of the Substack premium subscription will be called into question; but I believe that this will ultimately lead to more value for my subscribers. Quality over quantity. And it will give me articles I can point to not just to justify the value of the subscription, but to demonstrate my talents as a legitimate writer and thinker of my time. Please consider joining my premium subscribers on Substack; I want to expand A Dose of Sanity to the world, and I need your help to do it.
I will also be looking at other ways to monetize and grow. I am considering running sponsorships and ads—if anyone knows any Israeli or Jewish-owned businesses (or just businesses owned by good people) that may be interested, please reach out to me; especially ones that offer services or goods for a global market. I have made a convenient email for business inquiries: Adoseofsanitynewsletter@gmail.com.
Cheers.