Israel’s Grieving Druze Community
"The world will know us through this tragedy," says Israel's former emissary in Atlanta.
Dave Schechter is a veteran journalist whose career includes writing and producing reports from Israel and elsewhere in the Middle East.
Reda Mansour is sharing the grief of his Israeli Druze community.
Mansour, who served as Israel’s Consul General to the Southeastern United States from 2006 to 2010, is a member of that relatively small religious and ethnic group.
On July 27, a rocket fired from Lebanon by the Iranian-backed Hezbollah exploded into a soccer field in the Druze town of Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights. A dozen children and teenagers were killed and 30 wounded.
“The sight of 12 white coffins in one row was shocking,” Mansour wrote in the Times of Israel, an online newspaper. “It had been difficult to identify them from what remained after the bombing; the innocent beautiful faces and the eyes staring at you from their photos are too difficult for us.”
The Druze religion, whose history dates back 1,000 years, is an offshoot of Ismaili Islam, with a set of beliefs drawn from many influences. An estimated 1.5 million Druze live in Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and Israel. An estimated 150,000 Druze, living mostly in the north, comprise 1.6 percent of Israel’s population.
The Druze have a complicated relationship with Israel, which captured the Golan Heights in the June 1967 six-day war. A barrier separating Israel from Syria at Majdal Shams was dubbed the “shouting fence,” because for many years, before the advent of mobile phones, that is how members of bisected families shared information.
Israel annexed the Golan Heights in 1981, an action recognized internationally by only the United States, in the form of a proclamation signed by then-President Donald Trump in 2019. The rest of the world views the Golan Heights as Syrian territory under Israeli occupation.
About 20 percent of Druze in the annexed Golan Heights have accepted Israeli citizenship, a figure said to be increasing even as many maintain an identification with Syria.
Druze serve in the Israel Defense Forces; in fact, they are over-represented in combat units and the Israeli police. Mansour noted that in the first month of the war in Gaza 10 percent of the fallen soldiers were Druze.
“The Druze community plays a vital role in Israeli society, contributing to the country’s defense forces and holding positions in government and public service. Their unique religious and cultural heritage adds diversity to the fabric of Israeli society,” Mansour told the AJT.
Mansour was Israel’s first non-Jewish career diplomat and its youngest-ever ambassador when appointed at age 35. He served as ambassador to Brazil, Ecuador, and Panama and held consular posts in Atlanta and San Francisco. His Atlanta peers chose him as the dean of the consular corps. Mansour “departed well-liked and appreciated,” the AJT reported at the time. A published poet and author of short stories, Mansour returned as a visiting professor at Emory University from 2017 to 2018.
The Druze community plays a vital role in Israeli society, contributing to the country’s defense forces and holding positions in government and public service. Their unique religious and cultural heritage adds diversity to the fabric of Israeli society.
His social media posts reflect the Druze community’s anger with Hezbollah and irritation with the Israeli government.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was jeered in Majdal Shams by residents who considered his condolence call to be lip service after the fact. “The Druze community’s stance on the Netanyahu government’s responsibility for the conditions that led to the attack may vary. However, the general feeling is that the government failed to protect the north,” Mansour told the AJT.
“The ongoing challenges posed by conflicts with Hamas in Gaza and the impact of Hezbollah’s actions in northern Israel certainly place a strain on Israeli society. The country is resilient, but the situation undoubtedly presents significant challenges,” he said.
In support of Iranian-backed Hamas, Hezbollah — which wields considerable political influence in Lebanon — has fired thousands of rockets into Israel. Upwards of 100,000 Israelis have fled their homes. Israel has responded by firing on Hezbollah rocket sites and targeting its commanders.
Hezbollah possesses 120,000 or more rockets and missiles, perhaps 10 to 20 times more than Hamas, and can field a fighting force of 30,000 and 20,000 reservists, according to a report issued in March by the Center for Strategic and International Studies. A major escalation of the conflict in the north would make “the current war in Gaza look like a minor dust-up,” CSIS warned.
Mansour told the AJT: “Given the risk of escalation in the conflict with Hezbollah, Israel must carefully consider its response to ensure the safety of all citizens and minimize further tensions in the region. Iran has built a fire ring around Israel made by Shiite militias. Israel has to remove this threat as early as possible. If we drag our feet we will meet a very dangerous situation down the road.”
While the world watches, the Druze grieve. “The world will know us through this tragedy, and it will learn about the noble culture of courage and generosity that has sustained us for 1,000 years. We will bring this heinous crime of Hezbollah to the four wings of the earth. The memory of our angels will not be forgotten,” Mansour wrote on Facebook.
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