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The Druze Reveal a Road Not Taken in Israeli-Palestinian Relations

(The Hill) Jeremy Shapiro - Israel sent planes and troops into Syria to defend the Arab Druze religious minority, attacking the armed groups that attacked them. The Druze are not Muslims. Their religion originated as an offshoot of Islam 1,000 years ago. The Druze in Israel have been loyal citizens ever since the creation of the state of Israel. The Druze religion teaches its adherents to be loyal to whatever state they live in. The Druze volunteered to serve in the Israel Defense Forces. Many serve in elite units and are officers, including generals. This relationship of loyalty is the reason Israel came to the defense of the Druze in Syria. Israeli Druze number 150,000 and comprise 8% of the Arab population of Israel. The hypothesis that Zionism is fundamentally based on racism is refuted by the story of the Druze in Israel. If the Palestinians did as the Druze did, then the intermittent violence of Israeli self-defense would not exist. Israel's use of force against Palestinians is the result of Palestinian use of force against them. The story of the Druze in Israel shows that the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict did not have to be the way it has been. The writer is an adjunct faculty member of the Department of Psychological Sciences at Case Western Reserve University.
2025-05-18 00:00:00
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