One thing many people underestimate is the unfathomable depth of trauma that Assad's crimes in Syria have seared on our collective psyches the past 9 years.
When they speak about normalizing relations with Iran's regime, or about opposing action against Assad, or about admiring Putin, or about the "resistance" of Hezbollah - they don't realize just how deeply and impossibly triggering that is. We cannot see any of this neutrally.
And I"m not here to reach out to any of these people or to apologize for the way me and an entire generation of Arabs (and non Arabs) react. Rather I'm saying: This is who we are. Syria will always be my moral razor and one of my deepest wounds.
So when they act all surprised at how severe and uncompromising your reaction is, don't apologize to them. They should be the ones apologizing to you.
