Discover Top Posts Tagged with #the druze

If a Druze state successfully forms in southern Syria, do you envision the Golan Heights being ceded to it? Since this Druze state will be a close ally of Israel and Golan is majority Druze (plus Daraa Governorate is majority Muslim, so any majority Druze area would help a Druze state maintain a Druze majority)? And there would ostensibly no security concern handing Golan over to a friendly entity?

Or is Golan needed to have access to Mount Hermon? Oh, and should Israel push to have the Druze majority areas of Lebanon incorporated into a (possible) Druze state? I know this is all pie in the sky but what’s the best outcome for Israel and the Druze, in your opinion?

Autonomy within Syria and Lebanon, with Israel being their official security guarantor? Their own separate state (and that brings us back to the question of borders)? Union with Israel (which itself would make a deliciously ugly shape on the world map)?

You dont cede territory out of good will, you exchange it for things you want, like peace or treaties. Since the Druze are already friendly, there is no need to offer them any extra territory, nor would they want it because its more land to protect and spend limited resources on. Regardless, I doubt Israel would ever cede the Golan to anyone. Even if al Jewlani came crawling on his knees and pinky promising the bestest peace that ever peaced Israel wouldnt let go of the Golan. It basically watches over the entire country, letting go of it would create a HUGE security risk.

I dont think Israel has the means, resources or right to meddle in Lebanon to the point of transferring Lebanese territories to a new Druze state lmao thats 1. a recipe for disaster, and 2. up to the Druze to decide. A Druze state in Syria would realistically only include the Jabal Druze area and the territories west of al Suweyda all the way to the Golan, which are populated by Sunni Muslims and some Druze (closer to the Golan). The Druze will have to figure out how to deal with them too in their new state, if it happens. I hope it does, as it will be another step in dismantling the Sykes-Picot mess the Euros cursed us with.

#israel #syria #the druze

Israel Steps In to Defend the Druze While the World Looks Away, Guest Commentary - Read breaking news headlies with a Christian perspective

by Jonathan Feldstein

If you’re not watching developments unfolding in Syria with the Druze and Israel’s response, you should. You should also ask why you’re not seeing reports of these. One reason you may not be hearing about this is because it’s a situation of Arabs massacring other Arabs (though, albeit Arabic speakers, or Moslems slaughtering other Moslems and other minorities, though Druze do not consider themselves Arab or Muslim), which is “normal” and widespread throughout history. You’re not hearing about this because the Jews and Israel are not only not to be blamed, but they are the saviors of the Druze.

Who Are the Druze?

Druze are an ethnic and religious minority of several hundred thousand to one million. They live primarily in Syria (the largest number), Lebanon, Israel, and Jordan. Their religion is largely secretive and generally considered an offshoot of Islam with other influences. Their prophet is Jethro (as in the father-in-law of Moses). Because they are a small, close-knit religious and ethnic community indigenous in southern Syria, Lebanon, northern Israel, and Jordan, they have close family connections separated by the artificial borders made up by Britain and France as new nation states were created a century ago after WWI.

Because Druze are such a small minority, over the centuries they have undertaken a practice to be loyal, even nationalist defenders of the countries in which they reside. In Israel, that’s especially the case, which I will discuss below. In the case of Syria and Lebanon, where most Druze live, they are considered loyal Syrians and Lebanese. They are not looking to establish their own Druze State as do the Kurdish minority in Iran, Iraq, and Turkey, or other religious and ethnic minorities. However, because they are such a small minority, and are seen as infidels by Moslems, they are often persecuted specifically in Lebanon and most recently in Syria.

In Israel, since the establishment of the State in 1948, Druze have been a loyal minority, referring to themselves as the cousins of the Jews. As citizens, Druze are the main Arabic-speaking Israeli minority who are drafted and actively serve in the IDF, but uniquely in prominent combat units. Proportionally, the Druze have lost an exceedingly high percentage of soldiers as compared to other sectors of Israeli society. In most, if not every, major Israeli Druze community, there is also a military cemetery, with graves etched with the names of soldiers from their communities, in Arabic, memorializing those who have fallen in combat on behalf of the Jewish state.

Druze have served in countless leadership positions throughout Israel, including the Knesset (parliament), as government ministers, diplomats, and, of course, in senior IDF positions. It’s noteworthy that the highest-ranking IDF soldier killed in combat since the war against Hamas began was a Druze Israeli.

Parenthetically, there is a relatively large Druze community in the Golan Heights, which has lived between two worlds since Israel took over the territory and annexed it after the Six-Day War. Concerned that Israel might return the Golan to Syrian control, most never accepted Israeli citizenship that they were offered for fear of the implications on their families in Syria, or for themselves as “traitors” were they ever to find themselves under Syrian control.

#the druze #syria #israel #arabs massacring arabs