Can you blame them? If you belonged to a small religious minority, would you rather belong to Israel or to Syria? Now that the IDF has taken over the Syrian side of the Golan, including the summit of Mount Hermon, the Druze living in that area, previously ruled by Assad’s regime, have asked the Israeli government to annex them. More on this request can be found here: “Syrian Druze call to be annexed to Israel: ‘What’s our fate, brothers?,'” by Ohad Merlin, Jerusalem Post, December 13, 2024:
“What’s our fate, our brothers?”
-“Israel!”
Viral videos circulating on social media depicted a gathering of dignitaries from the village of Hader, on the Syrian side of the Golan Heights, speaking in favor of joining Israel.
In the videos, a dignitary who spoke in front of a crowd of dozens, said: “In the name of the all the people of Hader, and if anyone objects, please say… if we have to choose, we will choose the lesser evil – to be annexed to the (Israeli) Golan!”
The speaker argued that Israel for them is ‘the lesser evil,’ warning that ‘the other evil coming our way,’ meaning the Islamist militias, would “take our wives, our daughters, our homes.”
The Druze in the village of Hader in the Syrian Golan are understandably worried. Now that the Assad regime — which they did not openly oppose because Assad protected minorities — has fallen, they wonder if the rebels will treat them harshly. They put little stock in the assurances of Mohamed al-Jolani that minorities have nothing to fear. For jihadis, the Druze are practically Infidels. And the Druze know what that means. Now that the IDF has taken over the Syrian side of the Golan, the Druze in the area want them to stay. They know from their Druze brothers on the Israeli side that the Jews treat the Druze fairly. Indeed, for the Druze in Israel, service in the military is mandatory, and some Druze have risen high in the IDF’s officer corps; the exploits of Druze fighters in the IDF are given widespread attention in the Israeli media.
The speaker continued, arguing he speaks on behalf of several villages in the region: “We are with those who preserve our dignity… I don’t mind if anyone is taking pictures or recording – we ask to be annexed to the Golan… The fate of Hader is the fate of the surrounding villages, we want to ask to join our kin in the Golan, to be free from injustice and oppression,” to which those present at the convention replied shouting: “We agree, we agree!”
‘Fear of retaliation’
A source from Syria explained to the Jerusalem Post that, as opposed to the major Druze population concentrations in the Suwayda area, who have protested against the Assad regime for over a decade, these villages in the Syrian Golan area have remained largely loyal to the now overthrown regime. The source explained that they now fear violent acts of retaliation from other Syrians who were opposed to the Assad regime. They also called on Israel to trust their good intentions, despite their former alignment with Assad.
“These villages were in fact an enclave surrounded by rebel groups, most of them Sunni Islamists,” added Dr. Yusri Khaizran, senior lecturer in the Department of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies at Shalem College and a research fellow at the Harry S. Truman Institute for the Advancement of Peace at the Hebrew University.
“For years Israel faced a conflict: on the one hand, it sought to create a certain mechanism of understandings with rebel organizations in the Golan Heights; while on the other hand, Israel’s commitment to the Druze community in Israel prompted it to create a balancing equation, signaling to the Islamists that they will not be allowed to invade the Hader enclave and carry out violent mass massacres against the Druze.”…
Israel managed to protect the Druze living in the Syrian Golan before the fall of Assad by making clear that the IDF would respond if the jihadi rebels in the area tried to invade the Druze villages on the Syrian side. They were under Israeli protection; the IDF was just a few kilometers away from those villages. Now their Druze residents don’t want the Israelis to leave. They’re afraid the jihadis would otherwise come after them.
The Druze on the Syrian side of the Golan have seen Syria fall apart. They don’t know what is to come, but quite understandably they are afraid of the jihadis; they don’t put their faith in Al-Jolani’s assurances. And the Druze have relatives on the Israeli side of the Golan, with whom they communicate, and they know that the Druze in Israel are safe, protected by the state and well-treated. Why, they reason, can’t they simply be annexed, if they want, by Israel to enjoy the benevolent rule of Israel? It’s a request that, if Israel were to grant it, would raise holy hell at the UN at this latest “act of occupation” by the Israelis. In lieu of annexation, that Israel simply cannot grant, shouldn’t the UN take that request seriously and find a way to protect the Druze on the Syrian side of the Golan? Why shouldn’t this very small non-Muslim minority, the Druze, have a refuge on both sides of the Golan, where the IDF can continue to protect those on the Israeli side, and UNIFIL troops protect those, who have asked for such protection, on the Syrian side?
The Druze in the Syrian Golan are absolutely correct in wanting to have their villages annexed by Israel. If there were justice, that is what would happen. But the “international community” at the UN would never allow such a result. Instead, with pressure from the US and the countries in the EU, the UN might be persuaded to provide peacekeepers for the Syrian Druze, to make sure that whatever happens in Damascus, the Druze in the Golan will be protected from attack. And who knows what the future might hold, if an Islamic regime in Damascus were foolish enough to start a war against Israel? After the inevitable Syrian defeat, the IDF might well decide, this time, to permanently hold onto the Druze villages in the Syrian Golan, and annex them the way it annexed the southern part of the Golan Heights in 1981.
࿗Infidel࿘ says
Are the Israelis likely to do that, given that there’s likely to be strong opposition to such a move, first from the Arab League, then from the OIC and finally the UN? As it is, Israel generally struggles in the world diplomatic community proving its virtue even for self-defensive acts, such as the invasion of Gaza. This one would be totally rejected, even if the local Druze in those border areas wanted them
It would also be harder for the IDF to defend those residents on the other side of Mt Hermon. On Israel’s side, the mountain not only acts as a wall but also provides them oversight on Damascus. But if they had these areas, those would be harder to defend
Magooey says
After the Israel War of Independence the Arab countries threw almost all their Jews out and confiscated their lands and property. The Jews lost five times the size of Israel in land to these Arab countries. It is past time for this amount of land to be ceded by Arab countries in compensation to the State of Israel. Further Israel should choose which territories are to be given in compensation with consideration to economic and security issues. Also since the Arab countries are currently Judenrien, the land ceded to Israel should be similarly situated. This would not influence the population of Druze or Kurds who territories may be involved.
Billy says
Turkey and the 50+ Islamic Countries(the OIC) are Terrorist States against America and ALL Non-Muslims. Moreover, Islam is a deceitful, totalitarian, terrorist, pedophilic Criminal Gang Enterprise against all Non-Muslims by using discrimination, deception, hatred, rape, murder, and violence to gain ultimate power and control as taught in Islamic Law and in Islam’s Quran. Furthermore, Islam’s supremacist-genocidal Ideology, its intolerant Muslims, its propaganda Schools, its foreign terrorist Organizations, and its ‘Convert-or-Die’ Mosques fund, teach, inspire, and promote ‘Threats and Incitement of Violence’ as well as never-ending terrorism, loathing, and segregation against women, children, and all Non-Muslims(eg. Quran 2:191-3; 4:65, 89, 100; 5:14,82; 8:65; 9:5,14-15,29,111; 33:26; 47:4; 65:4; 98:6-7 and more).
Tony says
Israel should do what it wants and ignore the OIC and all Muslims.