Druze in Golan Heights and Israel divided over how to save …

Posted By on June 18, 2015

Members of the Druze community take to the streets on Monday (Inna Lazareva)

Followers of a highly secretive faith which is derived from Islam and incorporates elements of mysticism and Greek philosophy, the Druze number approximately 140,000 in Israel and the Golan Heights. In Syria, there are approximately 700,000, alongside communities in Lebanon and Jordan. Traditionally, the Druze have pledged allegiance to whichever political power they find themselves governed by.

Separated from their family members after Israel took over the Golan Heights during the 1967 Six Day war, those in Israel proper actively identify themselves as Israelis and even serve in the Israel Defence Forces (IDF), while those in the Golan Heights refuse for the most part to take up Israeli passports and identify themselves as Syrians.

Yet both groups are united in their growing fears for relatives across the border, following the defeats suffered by the Assad regimes troops in southern Syria.

Druze villages that have traditionally aligned themselves with the Assad regime have been exposed to brutal attacks from Isil and al-Qaeda-affiliated Jabhat al-Nusra rebels. Only last week, more than 20 Druze were killed by Jabhat al-Nusra fighters in Idlib province.

The situation is really hard on all of us, says Rima Romia, a blonde-haired woman in her fifties who was born in Damascus and was one of the first Syrian brides to cross over into the Golan Heights in 1986.

I feel like there is a fire inside me. I wish they could open the border so we could cross to Syria in support of our people.

Some express their feelings even more aggressively. We want to kill Daesh [Isil] and Jabat al Nusra, says Nader, 30, a farmer from Majdal Shams.

If Daesh come, we will go across the fence and help our people there, he says. We are not afraid.

According to an elderly lady throwing rice in support of the demonstrators, Druze families in the southernmost As-Suwayda governorate have taken matters into their own hands, forming small guard groups to protect their villages from attacks. They dont sleep because they guard all night, she says.

Go here to read the rest:
Druze in Golan Heights and Israel divided over how to save ...


Comments

Comments are closed.

matomo tracker