Tag: druze

Hope

Posted on by Keith Dvorchik

As I wrote in my last post, I have struggled to write of late. I had a long conversation with a friend and mentor last week where the topic came up. He talked about how hard it was for him to read much of what I was writing because there was so much pain and suffering being highlighted. He was appreciative that I pointed it out and that I was sharing what was happening but also wished there was more hope.

I realized that is what has blocked me from writing. There are so many challenges in the world today and the need to fight against these challenges is so great, that I had been consumed by them. The time I have taken away from writing has enabled me to refocus. While I will continue to fight against the Jew hatred that is growing, while I will continue to call out and fight against the lies being told about Jews and Israel, while I will continue to fight against the many problems coming from both the American political left and right, I will also dive deeper into the things I get to see, do and participate with that give me hope. Without hope, we are lost. There are plenty of things that give me hope so I am going to begin highlighting some of what I see that inspires me and gives me hope for a better future.

I have the privilege of working with Dror Israel, an Israeli organization that focuses on education, leadership, and community building. I have been able to visit their programs in both 2024 and 2025. I want to share two stories that truly inspire me about a better future.

In 2024, we went to visit Kibbutz Eshbal in the Galillee, a Dror Israel community. At Kibbutz Eshbal, they have a boarding school for at-risk youth. Part of the program there is a therapeutic stable where they learn how to take care of and ride horses. The program teaches these at-risk children responsibility. If they don’t feed the horses, they don’t eat. If they don’t clean the stables, the horses are living in filth. If they don’t exercise the horses, they don’t get what they need. Suffice it to say that the stables are clean, the horses both fed and exercised.

While visitng the stables in September of 2024, we met a young girl who was in the boarding school and participating with the program at the stables. We walked over to talk with her and noticed how she looked a little rough. She told us that she was in 11th grade and had just started at the boarding school a few months ago. That explained why she looked a little rough. We asked her what she thought of the boarding school, Kibbutz Eshbal, and Dror Israel. I’ll never forget her reply.

She told us that this place saved her life. She told us before she came here she was spending nights out on the streets, “doing bad things.” It was pretty clear what she meant by “bad things.” The gratitude in her voice, her body language, and her eyes is something I will never forget. While she looked rough on the outside, she was cleaning up and warming up on the inside.

In October of 2025, I was back at Kibbutz Eshbal, seeing different parts of the work of Dror Israel. We, of course, returned to the stables. The stables represent so much about healing. About responsibility. About growing up. About giving children something that is not only theirs but is their responsibility. As we were walking around the stables and talking with the head of the program, I looking over to my right where a young girl waved at me. I turned to my colleagues and said, very softly, “I think that’s the girl we met last year.” Why did I ‘think’ it? Because she looked so different. She was not rough but very put together. There was a calmness about her. A peace. Where the year before I saw a troubled girl trying and hoping to put a life together for herself, the girl standing to my right had put a life together. She had found herself. I walked over and said, “I think we met you here last year.” She smiled and said, “Yes. We did. That’s why I waved to you.” I was blown away. While it was the same girl, it wasn’t the same girl. The transformation in just a year was so unbelievable. We talked about what she was doing, her goals when she graduated high school in the summer of 2026. How much her life had changed. All because of the people and programs of Dror Israel. All because people cared about a random child who needed help. To this day, it warms my heart, puts a smile on my face, and inspires me to make a difference. I never got her name. I didn’t take pictures either time I met her. Both are things I regret. I’d like to be able to follow her journey so I’m trying to find out who she is.

The second story that inspires me comes from my visits to Dror Israel programs in 2024 and 2025 as well. Dror’s affiliated youth movement, HaNaor HaOved VeHaLomed (NOAL), is 102 years old. It’s a Labor Zionist Youth Movement that is in every Druze Village and 58 Arab villages with more than 20,000 Arab children involved in an Israel Zionist Youth Movement. Let that sink in. More than 20,000 Arab children are choosing to be a part of an Israeli, Zionist, Youth Movement.

In 2024 we had the opportunity to visit the youth movement in the Arab Village of Ein Mahel. The Mayor of the village came to talk to us because the youth movement was so important to him that he put his own daughters in it. Think about that deeply. The Mayor of an Arab village thought that an Israeli, Zionist youth movement was so important that he made sure his own daughters participated. We met with leaders of the movement in the village who shared their stories of the impact of this Israeli, Zionist youth movement on their own lives. And then we got to meet some of the kids. They didn’t speak English. I don’t speak Arabic. Yet we connected. We smiled. We laughed. It was wonderful and beautiful.

With the children in NOAL in Ein Mahel – Sept 2024

One of the leaders we met is a man named Shadi. Shadi is in his mid 30s and grew up with the movement. He shared his October 7th story with us. The world doesn’t hear Israeli Arabs’ October 7th story. The impact it had on him. He was out of the village, taking his son for a haircut. When he heard what happened and was happening, he raced home, to the safety of his village. Why? Because he didn’t know who was going to try to kill him. Would it be the terrorists because he is part of an Israeli Zionist Youth movement and has Jewish friends? Would it be Jews because they thought he was a terrorist? Would it be Arabs because they thought he was a terrorist? He asked us who did we think were the ones who checked on him? Who was it that cared enough to make sure that he was ok? It was his Jewish friends from the youth movement. That’s what shared society looks look. Real friendships. Real connections. Real caring.

With the leaders of NOAL in Ein Mahel – September 2024. Shadi is in the blue shirt two people from my left.

A year later, in October 2025, I was with Dror Israel in a different Arab village. This time is was the Arab village of Jisr Al Zarqa. This is one of the poorest Arab villages yet amazingly, is the only one that actually is on the Mediterranean Sea. Beachfront access for one of the poorest Arab villages. We heard about the impact that Dror Israel and NOAL have with the children of this village. How the program they partner with, Surfing for Peace, is actually keeping these children in school. Keeping them out of trouble. Teaching them responsibility. Shadi joined us in the village and as he drove us from the village to our next meeting, we began to have a fascinating conversation. He began sharing with us the challenges he faces being an Arab, Israeli, and Zionist.

First, the world doesn’t think an Arab can be a Zionist. Especially an Israeli Arab because how could an Arab living in Israel believe in Jewish self-determination? In a Jewish state? The media shows us a narrative to generate clicks and views, not to share facts. Secondly, the current Israeli government is problematic for Israeli Arabs. That doesn’t make Israel unique, as the United States has similar issues with our government and different groups. England, France, Spain and Canada have issues with antisemitism and a lack of protection from the government. The conversation with Shadi was long and deep and not long enough. We got to the next meeting and stayed in the car to continue the conversation. It was hard to stop and go to the next meeting. It was the type of conversation that doesn’t happen enough in today’s world. Near the end, Shadi invited me to come back in a few months to join him for the Arab teen leaders retreat. Unfortunately I couldn’t attend in early 2026 but it is now on my bucket list. Think about that – a Jewish guy in America has on his bucket list to go to an Arab teen leadership retreat that is part of an Israeli Zionist Youth movement. I think that could break the internet. People might think it is A.I. It so defies the narrative being pushed.

When I think that things are dark and the future is bleak, these are two things that I can look at that show there is hope. They show that there is a real chance for a brighter future. Instead of listening to the talking heads, those who are filled with hate to get those clicks and views, I choose to look at what’s really happening. The people I have met and that I know who are changing the world. Our future does not have to be bleak, depressing, or dark. Dror Israel reminds me that if we choose to take action ourselves, if we become the change we want to see, the world can be bright.

I hope that I get to see that girl at Kibbutz Eshbal before she graduates. I look forward to my next visit with Shadi and continuing and expanding our conversation. I can’t wait to go to another Arab village and interact with the Arab children who are choosing to partcipate in an Israeli Zionist youth movement and visit my first Druze village where the Druze children are doing the same.

Hope is alive. It’s up to each of us to grab it and expand it.

Truth

Posted on by Keith Dvorchik

The media around the world is mostly rotten. We have seen just how bad it is over the past 14 months with lies being told over and over again. The media promoting the lie of Israeli genocide. The lie of Israel starving the people of Gaza. The lies that ‘Jews deserved this’ and the lie that this is only about Israel, not about Jew hatred.

I get so fed up with the media lies that I mostly tune out the main stream media. No matter what station you watch or what newspaper you read, they are not giving you news and facts, they are giving you the narrative that they want to tell. From the word choices they use to the videos they choose to show, it’s a reminder than the news divisions are based in the entertainment division and it’s about getting views to sell more ads, not about telling the truth.

Today I want to write about and show truth. It’s not easy to find and it takes work on a daily basis to learn and understand what is really happening rather than the lies that are so easily told to us and that many believe. You can use these with your friends who don’t understand or who believe the lies because that’s all they hear.

We have known for a long time that they use actora in Gaza to simulate deaths and injuries. The same person has died multiple times in multiple locations. Dolls are used to simulate babies. Footage from Assad’s genocide in Syria (over 500,000 murdered) are shown to be in Gaza a decade later.

The acting isn’t very good and they don’t even try to make the actors look different when they die multiple times. The dolls are often easy to see. The footage they use from Syria is easily proved to be from there or was footage shown a decade ago. Here is another egregious one. This actor pretends to be a “victim” but accidentally uses the wrong foot while limping with a supposed broken foot. It’s only after he is hit in the head by the man ‘helping’ him that he switches the foot he is walking on from the broken one to the other one. The media lying isn’t even good, yet so many believe it. Jew hatred is real.

With the revolt in Syria and the fall of the Assad government, there is now a push to claim that Israel is trying to colonize Syria. The rebels, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), are headed by a leader with long ties to Al Qaeda, Abu Mohammad al-Jolani. al-Jolani has ties and connections to Isis as well. This is not a group you want to just assume the role of Assad. Israel took action. They destroyed the Syrian navy. They destroyed the Syrian air force. They destroyed the Syrian chemical weapons. They destroyed the Syrian rockets and launchers. They took control of the border with Syria to keep the people of Israel safe.

The IDF now estimates that 86% of Syria’s air defenses have been destroyed, which makes Syrian airspace a now much safer flight route for the entire world. The army says this opens up the opportunity to bomb Iran’s nuclear sites, yet another benefit to the entire world. A nuclear Iran is a danger to everybody.

The UN responds as you would expect. UN António Guterres said he was “deeply concerned by the recent and extensive violations of Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.” This is while Syria is the middle of turmoil and there is grave danger to the Israeli people if no action was taken. Of course, Guterres has done everything he can to ensure that Israel is constantly in danger. He then calls for an urgent de-escalation by Israeli forces and a withdrawal from the Golan buffer zone. Once again, Guterres calls for the destruction of Israel. The media refuses to tell the truth.

For more than a decade, the media has lied about Syria. They kept the use of chemical weapons by Assad on his people quiet. They kept the brutality of his prisons a secret. They downplayed every Syrian death while using images from Syria to accuse Israel of killing Palestinians. Now that the Assad regime has falled, the truth is slowly coming out. In the Free Press, they just released an incredible report about Assad’s Sednaya prison. It’s a must read. The video inside the prison is haunting and chilling. Words like death camp and slaughterhouse are used and may be an understatement

The media bears responsibility for the ‘forced disappearance’ of 96,000 people. The media is responsible for the continued horrors that occured in Sednaya prison. The more I read about Assad and the torture and murders that were committed there, the more horrified I am. The angrier I become that the media, and the world, allowed this to happen once again. While this time the Jews weren’t the target, Jew hatred and antisemitism was used to cover up this brutality. How is Assad not wanted by the ICJ? how are those who participated in this brutality and barbarism not being held accountable by the world? The hypocrisy is deafening. Another example of the truth not mattering.

Astoundingly, the Druze leader of al-Suwayda in Syria made a powerful statement: “We refuse to live under rebel rule. We want Israeli rule and to be part of Israel.” This city of 120,000, mostly Druze with a large Greek Orthodox community, are openly stating that they want to be Israeli. The government that the ICJ and even some members of the US Congress call genocidal is a desirable place for minorities to live. A minority group is openly stating that Israel is the best country for them to live in. The truth is once again hidden by the outrageous lies. The people of Syria know. The Druze of Syria understand that they get freedom and human rights by being governed by Israel. The UN, the ICJ, the media, and especially some of our US members of Congress should be ashamed as their lies are outwardly being exposed.

It isn’t enough that the Druze leader of al-Suwayda openly states they want to be governed by Israel. Quite incredibly, we are seeing and hearing the same thing from the Druze villages on the easter Golan Heights. This video is from a Druze community in the southern Syrian village of Hader. The individual speaking calls for their village to be annexed to the Israeli side of the Golan Heights. The response further exposes the lies the UN, the ICJ, the media, and some of our US members of Congress propogate about Israel. “We agree. We agree.” they chant. The speaker goes on to talk about how they want to live with dignity and freedom….. in Israel, as Israelis. How do the liars explain this? They don’t even try. They ignore the truth instead.

The challenge for the Druze people of Syria is that while the southern Syrian village of Hader and the villages referenced in the video are close to the Israei border, the Druze living in Suwayda are in what is called Druze Mountain. It is not contiguous to Israel. The people living between the Eastern Golan and Druze Mountain are Sunni Arabs. Would they want to be a part of Israel? Would Israel want them to be a part of Israel? One thing we do know. If Druze Mountain and the Druze villages on the eastern Golan Heights became part of Israel, then Israel would not only be the Jewish state, it would also be the Druze state. How would Jew haters figure out a way to call Israel an apartheid state when it was the home not just to Jews but to the Druze as well? The facts would be inconvenient but the media doesn’t care about facts or truth. They would find a new way to twist the truth and lie about Israel.

When you want to hear truth from the media, you have to listen closely. You have to search and then hope they don’t lose their jobs for telling the truth. Erin Molan, from Sky News in Australia, has been telling the truth regularly. This past week she was fired for doing so. As she left, she recorded this powerful video. Listen to her words. You won’t hear them on ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, MSNBC, FOX, BBC, or any other network. You used to hear it on Sky News but you won’t any longer. Listen to her words. Listen to the power of the truth. Imagine if this was the message we got in the United States from our media. Imagine if this was the message from the BBC and throughout Europe.

Thank you Erin for speaking out. Thank you for not shrinking in fear when they fired you for telling the truth. Thank you for making this video and for beginning something new. Perhaps you will lead a revolution that will bring the media back to reporting the truth. To having morals and ethics. To not being entertainment but being news. Watch and listen to this remarkable journalist. You won’t be disappointed.

Finally, we are now at day 434 of the hostage crisis. In 10 days, they will have been kept by these monsters as long as the American hostages were kept by Iran. The difference is the brutality. None of the American hostages taken by Iran were murdered. We know many of the Israeli hostages have been murdered by Hamas. None of the American hostages were sexually abused by Iran. We know many of the Israeli hostages have been sexually abused by Hamas. Look at the image below. 64 hostages are believed to be alive. Look at their faces. 36 are believed to be dead with Hamas keeping control of their bodies. 100 human beings tortured and abused. 434 days. It is unimaginable. It is horrifying. It should be the lead story on the news every single day and night. We should know every single one of their names, faces, and stories. Their families should be our families. Our media shows no compassion Our media shows no moral backbone. They should be ashamed. We should be ashamed. I pray every single day that the hostages are released and come home. I pray every single day for their health and welfare. May they all come home before we reach day 444.

We are all Druze

Posted on by Keith Dvorchik

Before October 7, 2023, I have been concened about hatred and antisemitism. I have spoken about it frequently for more than a decade. When the hate groups started their public attack on Jews in Orlando, I spoke about it on the news with regularity. October 7th was still shocking and I haven’t stopped since then. This week I have reached a breaking point.

What brought me to my breaking point this week? The reaction to Hezbollah bombing a Druze village where kids were playing soccer. The Druze are are an Arab and Arabic-speaking esoteric ethnoreligious group from West Asia who adhere to the Druze faith, an Abrahamic, monotheistic, syncretic, and ethnic religion. They are citizens of Israel and serve in the IDF. They love Israel and are a part of Israeli society and culture. When anybody calls Israel an apartheid state, the Druze are one perfect example of how that is a lie.

I have been to Druze villages, met Druze people, and had a meal together. They are wonderful and warm people. This bombing broke my heart. 12 children were murdered as of this time with 4 coming from one family.

Not in order – 10 of the 12 names of the murdered children. Fajr Laith Abus Saleh, 16, Amir Rabie Abu Saleh, 16, Hazem Akram Abu Saleh, 15, John Wadie Ibrahim, 13, Izel Neshat Ayoub, 12, Finis Adham Safadi, 11, Yazan Naif Abu Saleh, 12, Alma Ayman Fakhruddin, 11, Naji Taher Halabi, 11, Milad Muadad Al-Sha’ar, 10.

The bombing made me angry but the response to the bombing and murder of these children playing soccer is what took me past the breaking point. The BBC headline was offensive. The example below shows what they wrote and what they should have written.

Then there are tweets like this where Hezbollah terrorists are celebrating the murder of these children. We saw the celebration on October 7th as Hamas recorded themselves ecstatic over murdering Jews.

Hamas has vowed to do October 7th over and over again. Hezbollah, another Iranian proxy, will do the same. The Iranian regime wants the eliminate the Jews and Israel. If the celebrations on October 7th weren’t enough (and they were more than enough), the celebrations of the murder of these Druze children shows the world who we are dealing with.

Audio recording of a terrorist celebrating killing 10 Jews with his parents on October 7

Yet the response from the world is shocking. Instead of being angry and seeing the evil of these terrorists, the Biden administration is urging a ‘measured response’. Vice President Harris (and prospective Presidential nominee Harris) has not said anything publicly. The UN remains silent. Amnesty remains silent. UNICEF remains silent. These are children, citizens of Israel, that were massacred. Unlike Hamas, there are no military bases here. There were no attacks from this Druze village. This was purely an attack on civilians but Hezbollah using rockets provided by Iran.

Victims from the Hezbollah bombing of Druze children playing soccer. May their memories always be a blessing.

Speaking of Iran, reports have come out that not only has Iran threatened war should Israel retaliate but American leadership has been talking with Iran to ensure them that they won’t allow Israel to respond in whatever way Israel determines necessary. Iran, two weeks away from breakout for nuclear weapons due to the disasterous JCPOA. Iran, the world’s largest state sponsor of terrorism. Iran, who wants to establish a caliphate and calls America ‘Great Satan’. Iran, who murders their own people.

I talk a lot about leadership and the lack of leadership that we face in today’s world. Our leaders are more interested in appeasement than leading. Their willingness to cave in and show weakness to avoid war has emboldened others to create war. Russia-Ukraine. Hamas-Israel. Hezbollah-Israel. China is threatening Taiwan. Iran, Russia, and China have joined forces to create a new axis of evil. Our leaders have forgotten that peace comes through strength, not through weakness and appeasement. They have forgotten that our Declaration of Indepence clearly states:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

That is the promise of America and we are not living up to it. These children murdered in the Druze village and their families and friends have been robbed of this. Our leadership is more interested in staying in power than doing their duty and living up to American values and morals.

We don’t know what the future holds. We don’t know how Israel will respond to this attack. Will it be full scale war with Hezbollah? Will it also be war with Iran? What will the United States do if it is war with either or both? How will the UN blame Israel for being attacked?

One thing we know is that Israel will protect her citizens. This Druze village was an Israeli village. The people murdered were Israeli citizens. It will not go unanswered. The question is how will the world respond? Will they support Israel’s right to defend herself and exist? Will they stand on the sidelines quietly? Will they criticize Israel, refuse to support her, and potentially support Iran and Hezbollah? Will they pay attention to the fact that the children murdered were Druze-Israelis and not Jewish Israelis?

Approximately 83% of the Druze population serve in the IDF. They are passionate about their country Israel. They are patriots. In Lebanon, 5% of the population is Druze. When Israel attacks, will the Lebanese Druze help Israel with Hezbollah? So much is unknown as a result of our approach of appeasement. Is this the time when China will attempt to take Taiwan? Will Russia use this as an opportunity to increase their efforts in Ukraine?

The world is unstable in a way it hasn’t been for decades because of a lack of leadership. The fear of war has only created the reality of war. Having just returned from Israel less than 2 weeks ago, my heart breaks for this Druze village and the Druze people. It breaks for the IDF soldiers who are now preparing for war with Hezbollah and their families. Leadership is hard. It is challenging. It is making tough decisions because they are the right ones, not because they are easy or because that’s what a section of the vocal public says they want. Leaders lead. They take risks because they understand that playing it safe often ends up doing just the opposite.

We are all Druze

I went to minyan this morning. It’s not something I do regularly but it is something I do monthly because it’s run by friends and the Rabbi who I learn with. The people there are friends and I enjoy being together as a community. I use the time to really think about both what I have been learning with Rabbi Ehrenkranz and my connection with God. Today, I chose to wear my IDF Tzizit. I don’t wear tzitzit and haven’t since I was in Jewish Day School in 5th grade. Yet today, I had to wear them. I had to do whatever it may take to help the Jewish people. I put on Tefillin and my tallis. I prayed with my friends. I asked God to keep Israel, the IDF, and the Jewish people safe. I prayed for the souls of the Druze children who were murdered. I was an active part of the Jewish community.

We all have a role to play. We need to hold our leaders accountable. They need to hear our voices. We need to be connected as Jews, whatever that means to you. Some do it through prayer. Some do it through actions. Some do it through Tikkun Olam. Some do it through study. Some through ritual and some through holidays. Others through food. It doesn’t matter what you do, only that you do something and it is meaningful to you.

How will you take action today to benefit the Jewish community, Israel, and the world? What role will you play in ensuring a bright future? Our actions matter, whether it is with our friends, our neighbors, our local community, our statewide community, or our country. Every one of us has the ability to change the world one person at a time. I urge you to take the time to do that before it is too late.