Why The Syrian Civil War Is Not Like Jews Fleeing Nazi Persecution
U of Nottingham doctoral researcher Sumantra Maitra writes at Quillette that there's a one-sided narrative being put out, and it conveniently ignores who's leading the other side -- "Jaish Al Fatah, a group of people who are ideologically aligned to Bin Laden and Al Nusra."

And consider how grateful the Jews running from the Nazis were to escape to other countries -- how they have worked to become a part of those societies and to be a credit to those societies:

No Jewish 12 year old boy ever tried to plant a bomb in a Christmas fair in their host country, like one that ironically happened around the same time Jebreal published her despatch. Jewish 17 year olds didn't rape and murder teenage aid workers.

Maitra continues:

What is baffling ... is the constant comparison of Syrians with Jews escaping Nazis. The Jews in 1930s Europe didn't possess weapons funded by external powers, to start a subversive revolt against a corrupt but overall stable and secular leadership. The Jews of one sect weren't locked in a deadly battle with Jews of other sects, both funded by external powers in a deadly game of geopolitics. They were not pawns in a great game of chess between two religiously similar but sectarian rival powers. The Jews were not fragmented within themselves when it came to being persecuted as they were being uniformly persecuted all across Europe.

And, most importantly, the Jews also didn't bear any hatred for the new world where they moved to flee persecution. They did not harbour any ill will against their host civilisation and countries. And were more than willing to change and assimilate to fit into their host cultures, and didn't expect their hosts to accommodate their needs.

These historical facts are wilfully neglected in comparisons with Syria, exposing the ideological tilt of the false prophets of humanitarianism. Middle Eastern sectarian civil wars are caused by medieval cultural and social constructs -- unlike the one sided persecution of Jews in Europe 80 years back. It is the structural problem of the region, exacerbated by regional geopolitics, and to be solved by the local regional powers. The Western public understands that. Barack Obama, for all his faults, and to his credit, partly understood that, as does Boris Johnson and Donald Trump.

If one genuinely cares about the civilians who are suffering, they would want to stop the war at any cost, rather than fan the flames further. That would mean coercing their own sides to also lay down arms, and come to the negotiation table. Either they are willing or incapable of doing that, in which case the war is doomed to carry on, to its bitter end.

I am no Putin apologist, and a cursory glance at my research papers and published articles would prove that. But it is as illogical, unrealistic, and frankly puerile to expect Assad and Putin to give up without fighting against foreign funded Islamist revolt. If any pundit is not pointing out this simple fact, they are lying to the public, and should be called out at once.

And let's stop with the Nazi equivalence. It is morally wrong, ethically dishonest and intellectually indefensible. And denigrates the 6 million Holocaust victims who perished under actual, systematic, mechanised, state orchestrated Nazi tyranny.

Much as I am in favor of immigration and think it's wonderful that we are a country of immigrants, the fact remains that Islam calls for the death of non-Muslims and promises those who murder for Allah a fast-track to salvation.

We need to consider Muslims separately from Islam, and I do. I know that most Muslims do not practice their religion this way; but the fact remains that many do.

Another problem is that the Quran is said to have been handed down from Allah, not written by men, so it is considered unchangeable and unquestionable -- along with the calls for Muslims to advance Islam through murdering non-Muslims and installing Islam as a global religion.

What this means is that reform of Islam may be impossible.

Solutions, anyone?