Prominent US Jewish Group Expresses ‘Horror and Anguish’ at Plight of Syrian Kurds Facing Turkish Military Onslaught

As President Donald Trump once again belittled the Kurdish allies of the US in Syria in remarks to the press on Wednesday, a leading American Jewish advocacy organization spoke of its “horror and anguish” as the Turkish military offensive in northern Syria showed no sign of slowing down.

“We have been watching the unfolding events in Syria regarding the Kurdish community with horror and anguish,” David Harris — CEO of the American Jewish Committee (AJC) — said in a statement on Wednesday.

“Innocent lives are being lost as we speak, while the US government turns its back and the UN Security Council is rendered impotent by Turkey’s and Syria’s friends,” Harris argued.

The AJC’s comments came as Trump bluntly defended his decision last week to pull all remaining US troops out of Syria — leaving stalwart American allies such as the Syrian Democratic Front (SDF) and the Kurdish YPG militia to the mercy of a militarily far better-equipped Turkish invasion force.

Playing up the Kurds’ new-found dependence on the Syrian regime of President Bashar al-Assad and its Russian sponsor to protect them from Turkey, Trump depicted the stateless nation of 25 million people as simply one more warring Middle Eastern tribe.

“Syria has a relationship with the Kurds — who, by the way, are no angels,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “Ok? Who is an angel? There aren’t too many around. But Syria has a relationship with the Kurds. They’ll come in for their border, and they’ll fight. They could bring Russia in. And I say, ‘Welcome to it.'”

The AJC’s Harris said that his organization would be hosting a solidarity event with the Kurds at its headquarters on Manhattan’s east side on Friday morning.

“The Kurds have stood up when we needed them most,” Harris said. “Now it’s our turn to stand up — to say, in Hebrew, ‘Hineini,’ or, ‘Here I am.'”