by Frank R Wolf, The Hill
At 87 years old, after decades in the halls of Congress, I have learned that history does not merely repeat itself — it warns us.
In 1985, I stood in Romania as Nicolae Ceaușescu bulldozed churches. In the 1990s, I fought to lift the arms embargo so Bosnian Muslims could defend themselves against ethnic cleansing. I visited and advocated for Christians and Yezidis who were being persecuted and displaced in Iraq. I have slipped into Tibet to witness the silent suffering of Buddhists, and I met with Catholics and house-church leaders in China and met with Premier Li Peng to seek the release, by name, of the many wrongly imprisoned under his hand of tyranny.
One of my last speeches in Congress was a warning about the growing antisemitism on American campuses — a sentiment that has exploded into our consciousness over the last two years.
In 1998, I was proud to lead the charge for the International Religious Freedom Act. I believed then, as I do now, that the right to worship is the foundational pulse of a free society. But today, that pulse is weakening in Syria.
Syria is the cradle of Christianity. It is the land where the Apostle Paul was blinded by light on the road to Damascus. Yet today, the ancient communities of Christians, Druze, Alawites, Yezidis and Kurds are facing a surge of violence, including killings and displacements.
Christians are fleeing Syria to the point where their ancient communities may disappear. In its just released 2026 annual report the bipartisan U.S Commission on International Religious Freedom has recommended Syria as a Country of Particular Concern, a designation reserved for the most egregious violators of religious freedom.
The current instability under the leadership of Ahmed al-Sharaa is not merely a regional hiccup. It is a global security fuse. As president, al-Sharaa brings a pedigree of association with al Qaeda, a history that cannot be ignored. His apparent lack of control over his own forces has turned Syria into a vacuum of accountability where minority groups are the primary victims.