Following an evidently accidental Israeli hit on a Catholic church in Gaza, the world is in a paroxysm of fury at the “cruelty” of Israel. But as Christians and Druze continue to be slaughtered by Syrian jihadis and Israeli soldiers are regularly ambushed by Palestinian terrorists with scarcely any international interest, the double standard is painfully apparent.
Without wishing to downplay at all the tragedy of the three killed in the Gazan church strike that Israel says was an accident, the reality is that war is messy, and lack of civilian casualties cannot be guaranteed, especially in Gaza, where terrorists always use civilian structures as shields to stash weapons and hide bases. The important distinction is that Israel will even endanger its own men to avoid civilian casualties in Gaza, despite the overwhelming support for jihad among Gazans, which is why Israeli soldiers are still being ambushed and murdered. In contrast, the Syrian government, the Palestinian Authority (PA), and Hamas all deliberately kill civilians in brutal ways.
Pope Leo XIV demanded that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agree to a ceasefire after the tragic Gaza church accident. What Leo is willfully ignoring, as his predecessor Francis did, is that the ceasefire really isn’t up to Netanyahu, who has attempted ceasefires multiple times in this conflict. Hamas and the other Palestinian terrorist groups, with the support of the PA, are never going to stop killing Israelis until and unless they (the jihadis) are all dead.
Meanwhile, there are still 50 Israeli hostages in Gaza. Is the pope worried about them? And is Leo willing to highlight the fact that the reason there is only one Catholic church left in Gaza is because the Muslims in charge there fully live up to their religion’s commands to persecute non-Muslims, particularly Jews and Christians?
50 hostages are still held captive by Hamas in Gaza.
We will not rest until every last hostage comes home.🎗️
LET THEM GO NOW. pic.twitter.com/BC5Pmxu681
— Israel ישראל (@Israel) July 17, 2025
Or what about Syria? After a deadly jihadi massacre of Christians in Damascus, Leo spewed pablum about a “path to dialogue.” You cannot dialogue with jihadis who see war as a form of worship and believe their demon-god will reward them in eternity for killing you. As a devout and dedicated Catholic, I say with all sincerity that the pope has his priorities out of whack and his understanding of the Middle East seems grossly lacking. Persecuted Christians deserve better.
In fact, Christians and Druze in Syria are currently being slaughtered by Sunni Muslim Bedouins with the assistance of Syrian government forces. Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the terror group that now controls Syria, just had its terror designation removed by the Trump administration, which seems determined to pretend that the jihadis who spent years fighting Americans and killing Christians and ethnic minorities are suddenly interested in reforming. Of course they aren’t.
While the Syrian regime was killing and slaughtering civilians in Swaida, it also made sure to burn the Saint Michael Greek Church in Sawara. They are like White Walkers—intent on destroying every living being. And let’s be clear: do not normalize with Al Qaeda either. pic.twitter.com/ebcafyvoD4
— Greco-Levantines World Wide (@GrecoLevantines) July 15, 2025
Besides burning churches, HTS troops are intent on massacring both Christians and Druze. Israel targeted Syrian government forces in response, but most of the world is deaf to the cries of the Syrian victims, including America. And as Jihad Watch reported, a Syrian “general security” officer was caught on audio saying, “Every Druze must be killed. Show no mercy to the old, to the young, or even the babies.”
In a leaked recording, a member of Syria’s ‘General Security’ can be heard saying: “Every Druze must be killed. Show no mercy to the old, to the young, or even the babies.”
The ‘General Security’ is a policing body responsible for enforcing order in areas controlled by HTS… pic.twitter.com/gtdSLkQO5y
— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) July 15, 2025
Related: Syrian Government: Once a Terrorist, Always a Terrorist
As I said before about al-Sharaa/al-Golani and his HTS, once a terrorist, always a terrorist:
The speech of Syrian President Ahmed al-Shara was a display of support for the jihadists attackers (in al-Shara’s words: “The Bedouin tribes as a symbol of noble values and principles”) and blaming the victims (the attacked Druze minority).
Al-Shara spiced all this with…— Gideon Sa’ar | גדעון סער (@gidonsaar) July 19, 2025
Finally, to return to Gaza, at least nine Israeli soldiers have been killed in a series of attacks in recent weeks in Gaza. Were their lives not valuable? Where is the international outrage about their deaths? What about the young Israeli mother and newborn baby killed by Palestinian terrorists in May?
The furor over the Gaza church isn’t because the world cares about Christians. It’s because the world hates Israel.
(Incidentally, Israeli Interior Minister Moshe Arbel challenged assertions that evangelical Christians were being denied visas, and one group supposedly in jeopardy — ICEJ, which is certainly pro-Israel but also spread favorable propaganda about “Palestinians” — is still apparently operating normally in and praising Israel. It seems, as usual, there was a lot of missing context and misunderstanding.)
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