There isn’t a single detail in Syrian-Lebanese peace activist Rawan Osman’s story that isn’t striking, and at the top of the list stands her unwavering support for Israel.
Born in Damascus to a Syrian father and Lebanese mother, the 40-year-old woman, who grew up in a Hezbollah stronghold, became a pro-Israel activist overnight following the Hamas onslaught on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Since then, she has devoted herself to creating content for the Arab world, explaining the reality in Israel and challenging widespread Arab narratives while sharing her personal story, reaching millions across social media.
“Growing up in Lebanon, I was fond of Hezbollah; I thought they were heroes who saved us whenever Israel attacked us,” she recalled. “I grew up in a very antisemitic surrounding. I had never seen a Jew or an Israeli until my mid-20s, when I moved to France and lived among Jews. And the first time I saw religious Jewish men, I had a panic attack.”
‘A recovered antisemite’
That panic attack became a turning point.
“That moment changed my life, because I wanted to know: I’m not a fearful person; why did I behave this way? They didn’t even look at me. I realized it was because I was sharing the same space with a Jew—the enemy.”
The experience led Osman to examine the beliefs that had caused her to view Jews as enemies, pushing her to research both regional and Jewish history. In stark contrast to the anti-Israel environment of her upbringing, she now identifies herself as “a recovered antisemite.”
“If we are going to cure a disease, then we have to have the correct diagnosis,” she emphasized. “This brainwashing process we went through led to many deaths. It led to senseless wars. It has to stop. I refuse to live in a world where the atrocities that took place on Oct. 7 are condoned, justified and even celebrated—baklava was distributed on the streets in Berlin, where I live. How insane is that? Celebrating what?”
Osman’s social media presence sparked unprecedented responses from Syrians, Lebanese and Iranians who condemned the Oct. 7 massacre, which led to her first invitation to Israel.
However, her choice to support Israel has come at a heavy personal cost: Her family has cut all contact with her.
Now, on her seventh visit to the country, we met at the Peres Center for Peace and Innovation in Jaffa in December, conducting our interview in the late Israeli President Shimon Peres’s office—a fitting symbol of peace.
“When I say [to non-Jews that] I am a recovered antisemite, it means, ‘I was in your shoes,'” Osman explained. “Many Arabs and Westerners are antisemitic. They hate the Jews and believe that the Jews hate everybody except their own people. And if I am pro-Israel today, there’s a reason—Israel is not our enemy. Our enemy in the region is the Islamic regime in Iran.”
‘The Israelis are doing you a favor’
When discussing Syria’s future, Osman noted receiving numerous messages from Syrians concerned about Israeli involvement in the country post-Assad.
“I told them, first of all, you have to listen to the Israelis, not to Al Jazeera,” she said. “Second, [the Israelis] are doing you a favor. Remember, you have weapons, rockets, missiles, chemical weapons, and you have a lot of drugs. So, think about how many groups, criminals and terror organizations are trying to access whatever is in Syria.”
Osman further stressed, “Many Syrians agreed with me. They said, ‘We are fed up with the ‘Axis of Resistance.’ We want Damascus to look like Dubai, not like Gaza, and we want peace with Israel.'”
Of the events unfolding in Syria, she said, “These are historic times.”
Expressing optimism about her homeland’s future, she added, “Syria will receive help, will receive support. Anything is better than Satan, better than [ousted President Bashar] Assad, who even managed to get humanitarian asylum [in Russia]. How crazy is that? A world that celebrates the arrest warrants issued against Israeli leaders [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu and [former Defense Minister Yoav] Gallant and believes Hamas’s narratives, but did not protest Assad receiving humanitarian asylum.”
Osman sees transformation coming to the entire Middle East: “I am optimistic, and I do believe that peace will happen sooner than I ever imagined. We have a moral obligation to fight till the end, to be a light for everyone in this world. It doesn’t have to make much sense to people. It’s emunah [“faith” in Hebrew]. I feel it in my heart the same way after Oct. 7, when I came to Israel and I told every Israeli who was in doubt, shattered, depressed, broken-hearted—Israel will prevail, b’ezrat Hashem [“with God’s help”].
Originally published by Israel Hayom.