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Long Loyal to the Assad Regime, Some Golan Druze Are Changing Their Tune

(Vocativ) Assaf Uni - Until the 1967 war, when Israel gained control of the Golan Heights, the area's Druze, who now number around 30,000, were Syrian citizens, and most longed for their land to be returned to their home country, where many still had family. Until a few years ago, Syrian flags fluttered above buildings in Majdal Shams, the largest Druze town in the Golan, and most residents refused Israeli citizenship, which the state offered them after officially annexing the area in 1981. For young Druze in Majdal Shams, however, the war against Assad has been a wake-up call. "It's an event which totally transformed the reality of this community," says an older resident. "If you ask an elder in this village, he will say, 'I am Syrian.' If you ask a teenager, he will say, 'I am Druze.'" Firas, a young Druze, says, "The whole village is waiting for someone to break the taboo. I would say it's just a matter of time before we all have blue [Israeli] IDs."
2014-10-17 00:00:00
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