Islamists kill American amid massacres on Christians, Druze
Islamists in Syria have killed an American citizen and his family amid calls from the Trump administration to end the massacres against Christians and Druze.
Attacks by Bedouin tribes on the Druze communities that began earlier this month in the Sweida province come just weeks after Islamic jihadists massacred Christians at the Greek Orthodox Mar Elias Church in Damascus on June 22nd. The suicide bombing and shooting attack killed at least 25 Christian worshippers and wounded 63 others.
The Syrian government has said it is pushing for a ceasefire between the Druze and Bedouin factions, but reports from the region say the government’s Islamic forces are themselves attacking Druze and Christian communities. Islamists view both Christianity and the Druze faith, fellow Abrahamic religions, as heretical. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), 326 Druze fighters and over 262 Druze civilians were killed, mainly by government forces, as of last week. Of the civilians, at least 182 were executed.
Those executed include an American citizen named Hosam Saraya, a 35-year-old Syrian immigrant who studied in Oklahoma. Saraya was identified in a video as one of eight men, all family members, who were shot by government forces after storming the family’s home.
“Some of them were wearing military fatigues, some of them were dressed like Bedouins … one of them was wearing a General Security uniform … the black one,” a female relative told CNN, adding, “They told us we are the army of Ahmad Al-Jolani (the Syrian president).”
State Department: ‘Rape and slaughter’ must end
On Saturday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio called for the rape and slaughter of civilians to end.
“The U.S. has remained heavily involved over the last three days with Israel, Jordan and authorities in Damascus on the horrifying & dangerous developments in southern Syria,” said Rubio in an X post. “The rape and slaughter of innocent people which has and is still occuring [sic] must end.”
“If authorities in Damascus want to preserve any chance of achieving a unified, inclusive and peaceful Syria free of ISIS and of Iranian control they must help end this calamity by using their security forces to prevent ISIS and any other violent jihadists from entering the area and carrying out massacres,” he continued. “And they must hold accountable and bring to justice anyone guilty of atrocities including those in their own ranks.”
Zero outrage
The mass killing of civilians in Syria has been met with zero outrage from “anti-genocide” influencers who have built large followings by accusing Israel of “targeting innocent civilians.” Pro-Palestinian voices like Dave Smith, Candace Owens, Greta Thunberg, Piers Morgan, Andrew Tate, and others have yet to condemn Syria’s jihadist government for the mass killings or even express sympathy for the targeted civilians.
On Tuesday, Dave Smith responded to a tweet calling him and his colleagues out for their silence. Rather than condemn the massacres, however, Smith rounded on the user.
“Are you guys actually this stupid? Do you know so little about what led to this horrible situation in Syria that you think it’s a win for the Israel defenders over the non-interventionists?
“We were the ones warning about this for years. Move on to your next bullsh*t attack,” he wrote.
Netizens pointed out that there appear to be no records of Smith warning about Islamic attacks against Christians and Druze.
Candace Owens, though she has yet to weigh in on the massacres, commented in March about Islamic attacks on Christians, though she claimed they were a “Zionist” plot orchestrated by Israel.
