Palestine is not free from the river to the sea (meaning cleansed of Jews), but Syria is free in the same way. That is, cleansed of infidels, apostates, Christians, Jews, Kurds, Yazidis, Alawites and I don’t know who else. Free to kill, torture, cut off heads, and of course free to trade in slaves. Market liberals and orthodox Muslims have finally found common ground.
If one sympathizes with Israel, one could not but sympathize with the secular regime in Syria and one could not but sympathize with the protector of Christians, Bashar Assad. I do not hide my deep regret and a certain sense of guilt for being a citizen of a state that has actively contributed to the destruction of another country and millions of lives by a monstrosity called orthodox Islam. In this situation, I would understand the pleas to take in refugees and would seriously consider giving the empty room I use as a storage room for books. But my reason knows that is not possible. We are overwhelmed by Ukrainian migrants and cannot safely distinguish between a Syrian Christian or atheist and a hidden Muslim. Accepting anyone is too dangerous.
It is common knowledge that Americans abandon their allies at any time and under any circumstances. Now we know that the Russians do the same. And if any state wants to survive in a Muslim neighborhood (which may be our situation within a generation) it must become a militarized state behaving aggressively enough to inspire fear. Israelis are hated by most of the world, but they are alive, and their children are not being sold in the marketplaces. I wish that were true of the Syrians.