Massacre Underway in Syria: Why Israel Should Support the Kurds Thu Jan. 22, 2026

·31 min·2 clips

Thousands of Yazidi Kurdish women were kidnapped and sold into sexual slavery, and the missing are still unaccounted for.

Shanna Fold sets up the conversation as something a little different from the usual format. She says Eliana Elian called her in a bit of a panic about violence against the Kurdish people in Syria. Elian joins as an independent political analyst with an academic background in politics and security, and she focuses on Kurdish affairs, especially Israel-Kurdish affairs. The discussion starts with what is happening in Syria right now and whether the crisis is new. Elian says it has been going on for about a month in different ways. She then explains the Kurdish and Yazidi relationship. Yazidis are described as Kurds who are non-Muslim and followers of the Yazidi faith, which she notes is now a closed faith. The conversation then widens into the broader map of Kurdish life across the Middle East. Elian lays out how Kurds are divided between Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey. She stresses that the Kurdish population is large, not small, and says it is around 50 to 60 million across Kurdistan and about 10 million in diaspora. The history of border drawing in the Middle East comes up next. Elian argues that the borders were drawn quite randomly by the British and French, with Turkish involvement at the time, and that the Ottomans and Persians tried to hold on to as much territory as they could. The show keeps returning to the point that Kurdish communities are not equally protected by the states around them. Elian says Kurdish areas in Syria are especially at risk. The host keeps pushing for background that helps listeners understand why these communities are under so much strain now. The conversation also circles back to the political meaning of Israeli support. Elian argues that Israel has allies among Kurdish people and should recognize the strategic stakes. She says support does not have to mean boots on the ground. Instead, it could take the form of diplomatic pressure, intelligence sharing, and other forms of support. She also points to people in the U.S. government and Congress who are already putting pressure on behalf of the Kurds. The episode closes on that policy argument, with a reminder that ongoing violence against the Kurdish people in northeast Syria is affecting Israel and Israeli policy right now.

As heard by us

Urgent foreign-policy discussion connecting violence against Kurds in Syria to possible Israeli support.

The episode opens on violence against Kurds in Syria and argues that Israel should not stay on the sidelines. It then widens into a practical conversation with Eliana Elian, moving from basic context on Kurdish people and Yazidis to what Israeli support might actually look like,…

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If you want a blunt interview on Kurdish violence in Syria and what it means for Israel, press play.

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