354 - Saving Syria, Gaza, and the West Bank

Syria deserves every chance that the U. S., Europe, and Israel can give it to come in from the cold. No one can be absolutely sure that its new rulers have in fact moved away from Islamist extremism and their former alliance with al-Qaeda, but every dawn in Damascus brings apparent evidence that Ahmed al-Sharaa and his Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) compatriots have embraced a progressivism that shows that he and they have moved on. These tendencies, and the evolution of HTS need to be encouraged, not rebuffed or hindered.

That means that Washington needs to follow Paris and London in lifting sanctions and hence making it possible for al-Sharaa to deliver positive economic results and good governance to his recently liberated peoples. It makes no sense to hinder Syria's seeming transition from the obscene dictatorship of Bashir al-Assad to a struggling, but not yet obsessedly fundamentalist, regime. Indeed, by making it more possible for al-Sharaa to deliver improving living conditions and stability to his people, Washington could help create conditions for a conceivably rejuvenated Middle East. That should be Trump's objective as he travels this week to the region.

Washington would do well to restrain Israel from presuming to defend the Druse minority in Syria from their own government. Israel has been using the pretext of championing Druse rights even though the Druse have not invited Israel to do so. In fact, leading Druse have specifically agreed to move their own militias into the to-be-formed Syrian national army. The Druse religiously are an offshoot of Sunni Islam, with unique cabalistic and syncretic (some aspects derived from Judaism) components. Al-Sharaa and his followers are Sunni believers, whereas the al-Assads (son and father) are Alawites, a Shiite sect.

Israel has bombed Damascus and largely usurped control of those parts of Syria south of Damascus that lead to Israel, especially lands adjacent to the Golan Heights that Israel annexed in 1981. Israel says that it wants to protect its Golan flank from potential Syrian assaults, and to exert its deep power in that strategic area. It is the homeland of the Druse, hence Israel's decision to become the (unwanted) protector of the Druse. But interfering in that way to ensure Israel's security also makes it difficult, if not impossible, for Syria to become the kind of Middle Eastern nation that could ensure a more peaceful and developmentally advancing Levant.

Under the Assads, Syria was an ally of Iran and a conduit of weapons and funds from Tehran to Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza. That was why Israel in recent years periodically bombed or strafed Syria, hitting ammunition and weapons depots and transfer stations. But Syria is no longer in Iran's orbit. To keep it independent and the new regime focused on establishing a working rather than a revolutionary state, Washington and Tel Aviv should do everything they can to help al-Sharaa succeed in governance and security, not to enhance instability or to embolden those of his followers who may prefer continued combat to steady growth and improved livelihoods.

Iraq, the east, is well under Iran's political sway. It would be foolish not to support and make the reformed Syria stand out in the Middle East as a potential linchpin of sense. This does not imply that Syria will become a democratic bastion in a largely monarchical, authoritarian, and religiously extreme part of the world. But it could, if assisted smartly from outside the way President Emmanuel Macron of France has suggested, give Middle Easterners a model of reasonable governance, tolerance, and uplifted economy to be emulated. Syria could become a post-dictatorial success if only the West and Israel will cooperate.

Israel and Gaza

Israel has its own security concerns and battles with Arabs, of course. That is another reason why it is a mistake to invade Syria. In the West Bank, driven by the extremist views of Israel's finance and security ministers, and never checked by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, Israel is destroying Palestinian homes and villages, even widening roads (for security or settlement purposes) and displacing hundreds of Palestinians. Every such initiative makes a two-state solution less and less possible. Ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Givr and their extreme followers want to annex the West Bank and push Palestinians out. Trump and Washington's lamentable new political ambassador to Israel seeks to do the same. But to where would they go? No one knows. But marginalizing Palestinians and, if possible, extirpating them so that all of Judea and Samaria can be occupied by Israelis is the unsustainable, illegal, and immoral goal.

Hamas' atrocities and its resistance to releasing the hostages and leaving for Qatar gives Israel the massive excuse to attack non-Jews everywhere. Israel's security arguably requires some if not much of this unholy maneuvering. But being vindictive in the West Bank and bombing Gaza to smithereens loses the ultimate contest for public opinion, support, and sympathy. It also risks greatly weakening the very Arab interests that could ultimately support Israel against outside extremists.

At least, finally, it appears that Israel will attempt to govern/administer Gaza. That could reduce crime and enable relief supplies and food to be distributed fairly. It also means that Israel will now have control mechanisms in place to sort ordinary Gazans from Hamas operatives. That could in theory at least enable Israel, if it is smart, to regain a little trust from ordinary Gazans. If it supervises aid distribution fairly, it could also regain a little local favor. This attempt to govern rather than only bomb Gaza has been too long in coming. Let us see if Israel can make it happen. But it must stop harassing Syria and bulldozing the West Bank.

Most of all, Gazans are suffering from intense Israeli-organized food insecurity. Numbers of Gazans have already starved. Children experience intense malnutrition. It is well past time for Israel to let aid supplies come back into the Strip AND to manage distribution in a manner that keeps food out of the hands of Hamas. Netanyahu and his supporters need to practice compassionate justice in order to facilitate a meaningful human and physical reconstruction in Gaza.