-

The Complex  Middle East                                                            #346

By Hank Silverberg 


Commentary 

Israel Helps The Druze

Israel has been vilified in parts of the media and in parts of Europe for the continued war in Gaza, which remains a disaster for those who live in that enclave. It is still controlled by Hamas, a political and military group that continues to hold Israelis hostage and has never really cared for its own people and has in fact killed many of them. But Israel has been a force for stability in that region for decades and has continued to seek peace with its neighbors. That has been met with hostility both political and violent.  

In the Middle East, right and wrong are not simple. 

This week for example, came another twist in the region's complex reality.   

 Syria fell apart after Bashir Assad was ousted from power after a long civil war that killed millions of Syrians. But the various factions continue to attack each other. Through most of that civil war the Druze population of Syria, about 700,000 people, remained neutral, not favoring or opposing any side. Druze are an ancient offshoot of Shia Islam dating back a thousand years and at present don't consider themselves Muslim. So now, with a very weak new government, the Druze have become targets of Muslim extremists and Bedouin bandits. 

There is a substantial Druze population inside Israel (150,000) where they have been woven into the fabric of the country and have lived in harmony for decades. About 20,000 live on the Golan Heights adjoining Syria, and more live near the border with Lebanon. Many Druze have served in the Israeli Defense Force. Four Druze serve in the Israeli Knessett. That symbiosis dates back to World War Two, where Druze joined the British Army in the region and fought along side Jews who did the same. The Druze population helped protect Jews from the Nazis. So when Israeli Druze asked the Israeli Prime Minister for help in protecting their brethren inside Syria, he responded with air strikes against both the Syrian government and the groups attacking the Druze.   


That ended rather swiftly on Friday when a ceasefire between Israel and Syria was arranged by the U.S. Ambassador to Turkey, Tom Barrack.  Syrian factions agreed to put down their weapons, for now. But the region remains fragile. One interesting twist: nearby Azerbaijan, which has a southern border with Iran and has a diplomatic relationship with both Israel and Syria, has been helping to stabilize the Syrian government. The world has concentrated so much on the fighting in Gaza and the Iran/Israel/U.S. disputes, it has ignored the rest of the complicated politics of the region. Nothing is simple in the Middle East. 

https://www.thejc.com/news/world/who-are-druze-israel-defending-yznu3maj

https://www.cnn.com/2025/07/15/middleeast/israel-strikes-syria-sectarian-clashes-druze-intl


A Quiz For You

For people not born in the USA but who came here as LEGAL immigrants, the goal most often is to become a U.S. citizen through the Naturalization process. The first step is getting a green card to legally stay and to work in the United States. Then to become a citizen you  must be over 18 and you must have permanent resident status for at least five years. Assuming you are not convicted of a crime or deserted from the military, you can apply to be a citizen. Millions of people have done it. The final step is taking a citizenship test. It's done orally, with no time to look up the answers. You must simply know them. 

Here's one of the practice tests with questions for 2025.  Can you answer them all correctly?  (Answers at the end of my blog.) 


1) Why is the Declaration of Independence important? 

2) Name one power that is only for the states. 

3) What group of people were taken and sold as slaves?  

4) There were 13 original states. Name five.

5) Dwight Eisenhower is famous for many things. Name one.  

6) What major event happened on September 11, 2001 in the United States?

7) Name three national U.S. holidays.

8) How many Supreme Court Justices are usually needed to decide a case? 

9) How long do Supreme Court Justices serve? 

10) Who can vote in federal elections, run for federal office and serve on a jury in the United State?

The answers are easy. But I suspect many Americans citizens could not pass this test. Here's a link to other sample tests in case you want to try:   

https://www.uscis.gov/citizenship/civics-practice-test-2008 


News You May Have Missed!


New Solar System Found

Astronomers have found a new solar system just forming around a sun-like baby star. 

It's the first time such a discovery has been made thanks to teamwork by the European Southern Observatory and NASA's Webb Space Telescope.

The two agencies say they have identified minerals forming the new solar system around the proto-star they have labeled HOPS-315. That star is much younger than our Sun. It's only 100,000 years old, while our Sun is 4.6 billion years old. It's likely the baby star is still gaining mass and getting bigger.   

On its social media page, the Planetary Society wrote, "This is the first time this early state of planet-building has ever been observed outside our own Solar System."  https://x.com/exploreplanets/status/1945498731681374387

The new system is 1,300 light years away. (A light year is approximately 5.88 trillion miles.) It could be another million years before there are actually planets orbiting that star. So it's unlikely anyone from Earth will be going there any time soon. You will find more at this link:  

https://youtu.be/5LelpfhBtWk



Dumbest Quote of The Week!

This dumb quote is not about politics. I'm sure there were plenty of them I missed. But tops on my list this week is a comment by Seattle Mariners All-Star Catcher, Cal Raleigh, about the end to the MLB All-Star game. There was a 6-6 tie at the end of nine innings, so MLB had set up a ridiculous way to break the tie. They called it a "swing-off," in which four players chosen by their managers, hit "home run derby" style--in other words, batting practice homers, to see which team wins the game. 

Kyle Schwarber, of the Phillies, won the contest giving a game victory to the National League. He received the MVP award for the game, even though his swings came after the "game" was over.  

It's a stupid idea. It was boring to watch and not good for the sport. So this week's dumb quote goes to Raleigh for this comment after the "swing-off" was over: 

  "It's good for the game, it's good for baseball, it's good for the fans." 

No Cal, it wasn't.  

-------

Quiz Answers 

1) Declared our independence from Great Britain.

2) They listed "provides for education of the young," but a more complete answer is "anything the Constitution doesn't prohibit."   

3) Africans  (Not complete. Native Americans were also enslaved by the original colonists.) 

4) Choose any five: Connecticut, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts  Virginia, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Maryland, New Hampshire 

5) 34th President of the United States. (Supreme Commander of allied forces during WW Two). 

6) The terrorist attack, on the World Trade Center 

7) Thanksgiving, July 4th, Memorial Day (and many more)

8)  Five justices 

9)  For life   (They list "until retired" which is technically incorrect) 

10) U.S. Citizens


(You suggestions and comments  are welcome)

My recent book "The Campaign" can be purchased at the links below. Or you can buy a copy by emailing me at:  HankSilverberg@gmail.com for instructions on how to get a copy at a reduced price and with my signature)                       

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B084Q7K6M5/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0

My NEWEST book is now available. It is designed for use in Public Speaking and entry level communications classes. 



Comments

Post a Comment

Reactive comments are welcome. Please keep it civil. Any direct attack on the blogger or those who post is not welcome and will be deleted.

Popular posts from this blog

-
Image
A Taxing Week By Hank Silverberg A few years back while doing a story on the financial stability of a local hospital, I was reading through the facility's annual report.   It kept referring to “negative patient outcome,” and it took me a few minutes to realize they were talking about the death rate among patients. Over the years, while covering numerous county boards and city councils, I often heard politicians talk about the need for more “revenue enhancements,” and it was clear that "revenue enhancements" was a code word for taxes.   So, I begin this week’s blog with an old saying slightly modified. There is nothing certain in life except negative patient outcome and revenue enhancements. It’s been a taxing week. I had to write a fairly large check to the U.S. Treasury to meet the April 15 th income tax deadline, and like millions of Americans, I am not happy about it.  Don’t get me wrong. I fully believe that each citizen should pay their fair share of...
Read more
-
Image
Information Control                                #321 By Hank Silverberg I am not one of those people who has panicked over the first two weeks of the Trump administration. He has been doing exactly what he said he would do, so as annoying as it is, no one should be surprised.  But there are a few things that are making me very nervous. At the top of the list, something many Americans may have missed, is the administration's efforts to control ALL news and information coming out of Washington, not just from the White House, but from the entire federal government.    For example: since 1996, the Centers for Disease Control has been publishing the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR). It keeps the state health departments, doctors, and the public up to date with  things like flu outbreaks, Measles, West Nile Virus, Covid-19, and other respiratory viruses and illnesses. It allows ...
Read more
-
Image
Conspiracy                                                                                         #330 By Hank Silverberg Here we go again with nonsense conspiracy theories. First, there was the release of more documents from the Kennedy assassination and the absolute certainty from some that the documents would detail some kind of conspiracy beyond Lee Harvey Oswald acting alone. The CIA? J. Edgar Hoover's FBI? Castro? We have heard this nonsense for decades, and so far no one has found any smoking gun.  Then came Signalgate, as some have started to call it. The screw up by Trump's security experts that allowed battle plans for an attack on the Houthi rebels in Yemen to be discussed on an unsecured chat site where a reporter was mysteriously allowed to watch ...
Read more

Contact Form

Name

Email *

Message *