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Arab Druze Village Proud to Serve in Israel's War

(AFP-France24) In the Druze village of Hurfeish, near Israel's border with Lebanon, mostly women remain after many men had left to join the front lines of war. This community in Galilee, brightly adorned with Israeli and Druze flags, has been flush with patriotic fervor since Oct. 7. The unprecedented Hamas attack on Israel galvanized Hurfeish into action to support the troops. A local factory was refitted to produce military uniforms. Cars are dotted with blue and white stickers - the colors of the Israeli flag - bearing Arabic script. Of the 7,000 villagers, nearly "80% work in national defense," in the army, police, intelligence, or penitentiaries, said Hassan Rabakh, leader of an armed self-defense group formed after the Hamas attack. "We are very close to the Lebanese border, at four km. as the crow flies, and in our village we have no fence. So we have two vehicles constantly patrolling," Rabakh said. In the Druze village of Yanuh-Jat, neighboring Hurfeish, hundreds took part in a religious ceremony to honor Lt.-Col. Alim Saad, killed in clashes on Oct. 9 with Hizbullah just a few km. away. "He evacuated his soldiers and went back alone," his brother Kamal Saad, also a soldier, said. "He sacrificed himself so they don't do to us like they did in the south."
2023-11-14 00:00:00
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