Following the bombing of the Al-Ahli Arab (Baptist) Hospital in Gaza on Tuesday, October 17, 2023, the Syrian regime declared national mourning and ordered flags to be flown at half-mast in solidarity with the victims of the Israeli attack.

The hospital has been operating since 1904. 

It was originally established by the Church Mission Society affiliated with the Church of England. 

Between 1954 and 1982, it was managed by the medical mission of the Southern Baptist Convention. 

Since the 1980s, it has been operated by the Episcopal Anglican Church in Jerusalem.

The regime’s response might appear humanitarian or pan-Arab in spirit—if it weren’t responsible for the destruction of more than half of Syria’s healthcare sector. 

According to a 2021 United Nations report that documented the toll of the Syrian war, 70% of healthcare workers had fled the country during the years of conflict, and more than 50% of healthcare infrastructure had been damaged or destroyed.
 

One cannot forget the horrifying massacre caused by an airstrike from the Syrian regime that targeted Al-Quds Hospital in Aleppo on the night of April 27, 2016, killing over 40 civilians, including two doctors and four nurses.

By 2022, the number of hospitals across Syria had reached 113, with 26% only partially functional and 27% completely out of service.

Schizophrenia is a severe, chronic mental disorder that affects a person’s thinking, perception, and behavior—making them seem detached from reality. 

It involves delusions, hallucinations, and disorganized thoughts and actions that impair daily functioning and relationships.

Similarly, a form of “political schizophrenia” can afflict states, especially those suffering from internal tensions and contradictions. 
This often results from factors like political corruption, where public authority is misused for illegitimate personal gain—a description that precisely fits the Syrian regime.

The regime’s conflicting behavior is a striking example of this political schizophrenia. 
While it claims to uphold human rights and moral principles, its actions tell an entirely different story.

This raises an urgent question: Can the Syrian regime truly condemn the hospital bombing in Gaza while it has bombed hospital after hospital across Syria? 

This blatant contradiction highlights the regime’s lack of credibility as a protector of human rights—or even of its own people.