Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Letters

Supply Kurds and Protect Israeli Druze

The conflicts in Syria have increased the complexity of the Middle East and exacerbated the instability in the region. Terrorists have taken advantage of the instability, and have made dramatic territorial gains in Syria and Iraq. They now threaten two minorities — Kurds and Druze. The Kurds, who are non-Muslims, are starting to receive military aid from the U.S., and this should be increased since they are trustworthy and reliable fighters willing to take on ISIS and other terrorist groups. We should send equipment and supplies directly to the Kurds and not through the Iraqi Army. The Druze minority, a Muslim off-shoot sect, is threatened by ISIS and al-Nusra. There are 800,000 Druze in Syria with most of them living in the southern province of Sweida, which is near the Israeli border. Israel, which is home to 125,000 Druze who are deeply assimilated into the Israeli military and Israeli society, cannot allow the Druze of southern Syria to be decimated and possibly suffer genocide. Israel should provide a safe Syrian territory for the Druze and equip them so they can defend themselves. If necessary, Israel should provide direct military intervention to protect the Druze of Southern Syria.

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.

In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.

At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.

Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.

Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly. 

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.